Va vol 35 no 6 june 2007 by EAA Vintage Aircraft Association

GEOFF ROBISON PRESIDENT, VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

AirVenture's Type Club Experience

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is practi cally right around the corner now, and it's shaping up to be another real win ner of a show for 2007. I often wonder just how many of our loyal members who read this magazine every month have yet to make it to Oshkosh for the world's greatest aviation event. If you are one of these individuals, I really must ask: "What are you waiting for?" Each year it amazes me how this event continues to attract so many never-seen-before, beautifully restored aircraft and a display of virtually every flying gizmo known to man, all high lighted by many new and interesting aviation technologies. One of the many activities around the VAA area during the annual EAA convention is the very active and popu lar type club aircraft parking/camping area . This large group of very dedicated individuals goes to great pains to re store, maintain, and operate many dif ferent vintage-specific aircraft types. As you can imagine, throughout the often lengthy restoration of these aircraft, re lationships are certain to be built with the leadership and representatives of the many varied type clubs that have devel oped and flourished over many years. So when we first began offering the type clubs the opportunity to park and camp together at Oshkosh, it was an immediate hit. We have an "embarrass ment of riches" in that regard. So many great aircraft and clubs, with a finite amount of space. For the club member, what a great opportunity to bring your restored air craft to Oshkosh, and park it among dozens of other similar aircraft. Chances are excellent that you will go home with at least a half dozen new ideas about en

hancements or modifications for your own flying machine. Each year at Osh kosh we are able to highlight only a few aircraft types. This year we are hosting three specific groups: .The International Stinson Club will be conducting a "mass arrival" on Sunday, July 22, at 9:30 a.m . with 50 vintage Stinsons. • The Beechcraft owners are celebrat ing the anniversaries of both the Beech and the Bonanza with a type club group of more than 20 vintage Beech craft aircraft. • We are also hosting a group of more than 20 Pi per Comanches to round out the field of type club air craft for the 2007 event. The type club parking/camping area always seems to be very popular, and has proven to be successful and fulfill ing for not only those of us who plan and implement this initiative, but es pecially for the members and enthusi asts who take the opportunity to walk among these aircraft and visit with their proud owners. See for yourself the kind of fun and camaraderie enjoyed by par ticipating in this wonderful activity. I would be remiss here if I failed to give proper recognition to the many members of the Vintage Parking & Flightline Safety Committee and their valued volunteers for their efforts in making this initiative so safe and suc cessful each and every year. I specifically like to recognize the extensive efforts of Tim Fox, who during the off-season takes on all of the pre-planning efforts that are critical to the success of this im portant Vintage initiative. Thanks, Tim! The type club parking and camping area can be found on the flight line at rows 74W through 84W (on the west side of

the main north-south pavement, Wit tman Road), which is just north of the ultralight area of operations. I have one other good-news item to share with the membership this month. During the spring board meeting, your Vintage Aircraft Association board of di rectors voted to further extend the eli gible years of the Contemporary class of vintage aircraft to those aircraft manufac tured on or before December 31, 1970. Now, I fully understand and recog nize the fact that maybe not all of the membership will embrace the news of this enhancement of the Contempo rary category, but I would remind every body it wasn't all that long ago that we heard the grumbling about all of those postwar aircraft being parked among the antiques at Rockford. You remem ber them-we call them "classics." This initiative was actually brought to the Vintage boardroom by EAA's Vin tage Aircraft Association judges as a re sult of continuous contacts from the owners of these aircraft who wish to not only engage themselves in the Vintage movement, but also to have their air craft judged at Oshkosh each year. So, please join me in welcoming these lat est additions to the f1ightline at Osh kosh this year. EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007, the world's greatest aviation celebration, is 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'ndA~

N E VOL. 35, NO.6

2007

J u

CO N TE NTS IFe

Straight & Level AirVenture's Type Club Experience by Geoff Robison

News

Sun 'n Fun 2007

Just "Plane" Tommy

Th e story of the Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation

Part II j

by Al Kelch

The Poulton Family's Chief

Aeronca IlBC

by Budd Davisson

The Birth of Taylorcraft

Creating a classic design

by Chester L. Peek, Ph. D

Mystery Plan e Extra

The Butler Manufacturing Co.

NL- 13 biplane

by Wesley Smith

Pass It to Buck

Th e very beginning of airworthiness

certificates, pilot certificates

by Buck Hilbert

Mystery Plan e

by H.G. Frautschy

Calendar

Classified Ads

COVERS FRONT COVER: Danny Poulton of Belton, South Carolina restored this Aeronca with two personal goals in mind . The first find a project that fit his goals and skill levels; for more on his significant personal achievement, see Budd Davisson's article starting on page 16. EAA photo Bonnie Kratz, our photo pilot was Bruce Moore. Special thanks to Pau l Fertitta of SI. August ine Rorida for the use of his Piper Lance photo plane. BACK COVER: John Van Surdam 's 1934 Waco YKC is covered in the morning dew as another day starts at Sun 'n Fun. Our coverage of the annual event starts on page 4 .

STAFF

EAA Publisher Director of EAA Publications Executive Director/Editor Executive Assistant Ma naging Editor News Edi tor Photography Advertising Coordinator Classified Ad Coordinator Copy Editor Director of Advertising

Tom Poberezny David Hi pschman H.G. Frau tschy Jillian Rooker Kathleen Witman Ric Reynolds Jim Koepnick Bonnie Kratz Sue Anderson Daphene VanH ullum Colleen Walsh Katrina Bradshaw

Display Advertising Representatives: Nort heast: Allen Murray Phone 856-229-7180, FAX 856-229-7258, e-mail: a/lelllllllrrayf!!'rllillrisprillg.com Southeast: Chester Baumga rtner Phone 727-532-4640, FA X 727-532-4630, o-mail: cbllllllli J i @lllillriSprillg.COIII Central: Todd Reese I'hone 800-444-9932, FAX 816-741-6458, e-mail: torid@Spc-lIIag.colII Mountain & Pacific: John Gibson Phone 916-784-9593, e-mail: jollllgibsOtl@.ispc-mtlg.com

Europe: Willi Tacke Phono +498969340213, FAX +498969340214, e- mail: willi@flyillg-pages.col1l

VI NTAGE AI RPLAN E

Staggerwing Museum Adopts New Name The board of trustees of the Stag gerwing Museum Foundation Inc. has changed the name of its museum to the Beechcraft Heritage Museum. "The new name more accurately re flects the museum's commitment to preserving the rich history of Beech craft as well as fostering aviation ed ucation," said Michael Greenblatt, president of the foundation . Beech Aircraft Company built their first aircraft in 1932, and that very airplane is now the centerpiece of the museum. Officially designated the Beechcraft Model 17R-l, this distinc tively original and beautiful aircraft design became affectionately known as the "Staggerwing." The foundation expanded in 1995 by adding the Twin Beech 18 Soci ety division. The museum's footprint was increased in 1997 by the dedica tion of the Twin Beech 18 Hangar. On display is one of only three existing prewar examples of the Beechcraft Model 18 Twin Beech. In 2001, this facility was enlarged and rededicated as the Alton E. "Chuck" Cianchette Hangar. The Bo nanza/Baron Museum division was launched in 2003, with the first phase of hangar construction dedicated in 2004, and the second phase in 2006. This hangar houses two of the old est 1947 Beechcraft Model 35 Bonan zas, the first Model 55 Baron built in 1960, and the one-fifth scale original Bonanza wind tunnel models from 1945. The Beechcraft Heritage Mu seum is planning a special celebration during its annual convention October 10-14, as 2007 marks the 75th anni versary of the founding of the Beech Aircraft Company and the produc tion of the Staggerwing, the 70th an niversary of the Twin Beech, and the 2

JUNE 2007

Stinsons in Type Club Parking In addition to the two other clubs selected for parking in the Type Club parking area, there will again be a gaggle of Stinsons to behold in this special area created in the Vintage Showplane parking area. Type Club parking is just south of the EAA Volunteer Emergency Aircraft Repair shack, just west of Wittman Road, the main north-south road on the convention grounds.

60th anniversary of the Bonanza. All Beechcraft and aviation enthusiasts are invited to attend. Event informa tion is available on its website at www. BeechcraftHeritageMuseum.org. The Beechcraft Heritage Museum is open to the general public and is located 70 miles southeast of Nash ville, Tennessee, at the Tullahoma Re gional Airport (THA).

EAA AirVenture Awards Ceremonies to Change in 2007 In past years, all of the coveted EAA AirVenture Lindy aircraft awards (ex cept for Warbirds) were presented to gether on AirVenture Saturday night at Theater in the Woods, but that's going to change in 2007. Rotorcraft, Ultralights, Homebuilts, Seaplanes, and Vintage awards will be presented at individual ceremonies to allow re cipients to receive their honors at events attended by their peers. Here is the new schedule of awards presentations for EAA AirVenture Os hkosh 2007. (Event times will be an nounced on www.AirVenture.org as plans are confirmed.) • Rotorcraft awards-Theater in the

Woods on Friday evening, July 27. • Ultralight awards-Saturday eve ning, July 28, during the annual Ul tralight party at the Nature Center. • Homebuilt aircraft awards-Sat urday evening, July 28, at a Honda Motorcycles Forums Plaza location to be determined. • Seaplane aircraft awards--during the annual Watermelon Social dinner on Saturday evening, July 28, at the EAA Seaplane Base. • Vintage aircraft awards-Satur day evening (7-8 p.m.), July 28, at Theater in the Woods. The EAA Warbirds of America will continue to present its AirVenture awards on Saturday evening in the EAA AirVenture Museum's Eagle Hangar. For more about the new award cer emonies, listen to the EAA AvCast at www.EAA.org/podcast, featuring H.G. Frautschy, executive director of EAA's Vintage Aircraft Association, discuss ing the changes.

EAA AirVenture Website Has What You're Looking For Find out what you need to know about The World's Greatest Avia

tion Celebration at www.A irVenture. org. This year's special events and at tractions, forums and workshops, ac commodations, Osh kosh area travel information, and more are all a few clicks away. Also check out our biweekly EAA AvCasts, www.EAA .orglpodcast, for a collection of audio presentations fea turing aviation people, events and is sues, and EAA AirVenture updates.

And the Winner Is ... Top Gun! Paramou nt Pictures' blockbu ster 1986 movie Top Gun received th e most votes in the Great est Aviation Movie of All Time poll conducted on the EAA AirVenture website from Feb ruary I -May 2. The story of naval avi ator Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, played by EAAer Tom Cruise, received 20.47 percent of the total votes cast. The 1949 film Twelve O'Clock High placed second in the balloting with 17.4 per cent, while Memphis Belle (1990) gar nered 12.16 percent. Other films in the fi n al poll in cluded Battle of Britain (1969), 11.78 percent; Spirit of st. Louis (1957) and The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), each with 8.59 percent; Those Magnificent Men in Th eir Flying Machines (1965), 7.15 percent; The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), 5.18 percent; and The High and the Mighty (1954), 4.08 percent. During EAA AirVenture Osh kosh 2007, attendees can watch Top Gun, which also stars Kelly McGillis, Va l Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, and Tom Skerritt, on the large, outdoor screen at the EAA Fly-In Theater, presented by Ford Motor Company and Eclipse Aviation. (Date to be anno u nced soon at www.AirVenture.org.) Other movies to be shown this year at the EAA Fly-In Theater incl ude: Spirit of st. Louis, Flying Tigers, Wings, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Apollo 13, and Twelve O'Clock High The EAA Fly-In Theater is located adjacent to EAA's Camp Sch oller and is open each evening (weather permit ting) from Sunday, July 22, through Saturday, July 28. The walk-in theater is reminiscent of the famo us drive in theaters of the past , comp lete with popcorn! Th ere is no admission

We were saddened to hear of the deaths of Doug and Sharon 8eechel of Cotter, Arkansas , on April 22. Doug and Sharon perished in the crash of their Murphy Moose, as they attempted to land at their home airport next to the White River. A longtime VAA member, Doug was active in both vintage and homebuilt aircraft circles and en joyed flying his Moose and Aeronca Champ. Always ready with a gleam in his eye and an offer of something cool to drink , he and Sharon were gracious hosts to the many guests who stopped by the Moose at a fly in . We 'll miss them greatly.

charge fo r the theater, which is open to all AirVe ntu re gu ests. Each eve nin g's sh ow begins at approximately 8:30 p.m ., with an in trod uction by a celebrity presenter, fo llowed by a classic aviation fi lm at about 9 p .m ., shown on a pro jection screen mea suring five stories high . EAA thanks everyon e wh o voted, both in the initial Greatest Aviation Movie nomin ations and in the fina l web poll.

EAA Praises FAA Proposal to Extend Duration of Ainnen Medical Certificates The FAA plans to extend the dura tion of third-class medical certificates from three years to five years and first class medicals from six mont hs to a year for pilots under age 40. This action will help to make more resources avail able for oth er pressing medical certi fication processes, such as th ird-class special issuance medical certificates. Marion Blakey first mentioned the

proposa l last year during her "Meet th e Ad minist ra t or" session at EAA AirVenture. EAA, whose Aeromedical Advisory Council works continually with the FAA to remove medical certi fication barriers, has been highly sup portive of this effort. "Period ic medica l exam ination is of certain value, but no t many sign ificant conditions are discov e red on ro utine examinations on pil o ts below age 40," said Cou ncil Cha irman Dr. Jack Hastings. "This cha n ge wi ll hopefu ll y allow the Aerom edical Certification Division to d evo t e grea t er time and atten t io n t o prob lem aeromedica l cer tificati ons and achieve the goal of tim ely decisions." FAA estimates that 175,000 fewer fi rst class certifica t es and 90,000 fewer third-class certificates would be renewed over 10 years, resulting in a cost savings to airmen estimated at $85 million.

EAA Urges Aircraft Buyers to Make Sure Autofuel STCs Are Legit EAA has learned of severa l recent in stances where aircraft sellers have attempted to pass their aircraft off as having an autofue l supp lementary type certificate (STC) without the re quired documentation. EAA and Peterson Aviation are the only organ izations that have issued autofuel STCs and placards since the program began in the early 1980s. EAA advises would-be aircraft buyers to make sure any aircraft purported to have an autofuel STC indeed has one. Contact Petersen Aviation through www.AutoFueISTC.com. e-mail EAA at dwalker@eaa.org, or call 920-426-4843 to see if the records are on fi le. Also, check to see if the aircraft has placards on the wings next to the fuel inlets. If there are no placards, it's possible that someone fraudulently used a copy of an STC or has misrepresented the air craft to a potential buyer. An autofuel STC can save you a lot of money over the years and can add to the value of your aircraft when you want to sell. continued on page 32 VINTA GE AIRPLANE

The Sun 'n Fun Fly-In is a great way to shake off the winter blahs and jumpstart the summer flying sea足 son. If you 're a northerner like I am, by the time baseball season starts, you're more than ready to peel off a sweatshirt or two and fly in shirtsleeves. Sun 'n Fun is all about that attitude; fly in, relax, enjoy visiting with your friends , and soak in a good dose of "Vitamin Av, " vitamin Aviation, that is. The vintage aircraft area , overseen by the fine folks of VAA Chapter 1, was filled with a mix of familiar alu足 minum and tube and fabric friends , as well as a basket full of one-of-a kind airplanes, including a rare Travel Air lOB and Saab 91 Safir. Tucked back the corner near the trees was an equally rare Bucker Bestmann , a pretty low-wing German training aircraft. And how about Dean Tilton who along with his friends Dusty and Todd Rhode have not one but two of the rare Arrow Sport biplanes! Cap off the week with a fine picnic on the lawn in front of the Vint age Aircraft Headquarters, and you have the makings of a great week to start the 2007 fly-in season. Let's see both the people and airplanes we enjoyed seeing during Sun 'n Fun 2007.

The seaplane base moved this year from the city park to a point on the southwest side of lake Parker. The new location gave the spectators outstanding views of the take-off and spot landing competitions, including this takeoff drag race between a pair of SeaBees. Despite what you see here, eventually the yellow Seabee, flown by Bill Bardin, won this round. 4

JUNE 2007

Lew lIakd's Aeronca 7AC ChcInp has been neatly restored with His custom color scheme. Lew's Champ took home the top Classic hp category (0-100 hp) award. Idon't know of too many people who don't subconsciously hold their breath each time they see this done! Thankfully, the three professionals performing this ac~ John Mohr in the Stearman, Todd Green (the stuotman) and Roger Buis, Otto the helicopter's pilo~ perform this act regularly, and are exceptionally proficient The "Untied Team" performed their act during the daily air show. RIGHT: Basically restored by Richard Blazer, Tullahoma, Tennessee, this Taylorcraft's new owner, Dick Lawrence of Pensacola, Florida has been busy tweaking this 1946 model. Dick's Taylorcraft was selected as one of the top category award winners at Sun nFun. Tom Ramsey, Julie~ Tennessee lost his hangar and sold the restored Taylorcrafl H.G. FRAUTSCHY

The Arrow Sport biplane is one of the few open足 cockpit airplanes built with side-by-side seating, and few of this make remain. But here are two of them, restored by Dean lilton and his wife Christine (far right). From left to righ~ we have the owners of the newest Arrow Sport restoration, NC9327, Todd, Willie and Dusty Rhode, with the Rhode's grandson Kyle in the cockpit

LEFT: Now here's asound you don't hear too often in the vintage parking area---piper Stan Berry of Williston, Florida serenaded us and instantly drew an appreciative crowd as he played while the sun set below the trees. VINTAGE AIRPLANE

The pudgy litHe Stinson 10 may be abit on the rare side, but irs just so cute you can't help stop and watch as it taxis by. This example is owned by Julian Thomas of NiceviHe, Rorida.

Good thing those bullet holes are painted on!

Chuck Story brought this nice post-war Aeronca llAC Chief mounted on apair of Edo 1400 floats. Chuck's from Haslett, Michigan.

Dan Tubbs' Taylorcraft looks as crisp and clean as a southern gentleman's summer white seersucker suil Dan hailsfrom Altamont,Tennessee. 6

JUNE 2007

H.G. FRAUTSCHY PHOTOS

Left Jeff and Suzette Deaton in the proud owners of this outstanding customized 1954 BeedJcraft Bonanza. Always among the top airplanes at any event in which it is shown, the Beech won the top Classic category prize at this year's Sun 'n FIHI. Jeff and Suzette brought their son Blake, age 5, along for his first camping Sun 'n fun adventure, where he channed us all.

BELOW: One of the very rare airplanes on display duro ing this year's kick off to the fly-in season was this Czech足 buiH Bucker Bul8l Bestmann, owned and flown by Richard Epton of Brooks, Georgia. Winner of the Most Unique Clas足 sic aircraft award, we'll have afeature story on this 1949 low-wing trainer in afuture issue of V'mtage Airplane.

Willie Ropp, now 95 years young, (inset) re足 stored this 1933 Travel Air CW seaplane nearly two de足 cades ago, and it's still going strong. Based at Brown's Seaplane Base in Winter Haven, Rorida, it was flown during the seaplane fly-in by Willie's daughter Belle.

H.G. FRAUTSCHY PHOTOS

Sometimes you just need to use the transportation you have to get your newfound treasures back to your car!

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

The Grand Champion Antique award was presented to Less Whittlesley's 1939 Lockheed 12A Electra Jr, which was also the Antique Grand Champion at last year's AirVenture Oshkosh 2006.

RIGHT: Unless you're awor1d traveler who's been to Europe, it's unlikely you've ever actually seen the Saab Safir 91, alow-wing trainer built by the automobile!air craft manufacturer. Lars De Jounge, who now hails from Vero Beach, Florida, has lovingly restored this example, which was presented with an Outstanding in Type award. Lars tells us he plans on bringing the airplane to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007.

One more time? The Luscombe Silvaire Aircraft Company (also known as Renaissance Aircraft) is now located on the Historic Flabob Airport in Riverside, Califor nia. The company is planning to produce the venerable Luscombe Silvaire as their model LSA-8, powered by the newly available Continental 0-200 engine.

www.luscombe·silvaire.com/ 8

JUN E 2007

Some folks think the Franklin 6A4-165-B3 engine was afactory option at the Aeronca factory for the 15AC Sedan; it was no~ as the original STC was issued to Maine Air Service. It certainly adds just alitHe more "oomph" to the performance of this fine 4-place airplane, as owner Don Wilson can attesl Wilson's recent beautiful restoration, which features seaplane door conversions and the very handy STC'd fueling steps supplied by Burl's Aircraft Rebuild of Chugiak, Alaska. Burl holds the Type Certificate for the Sedan, and has been steadily adding to the available parts list _ _ _~~~_ _ _~........ for the Sedan.

H.G. FRAUTSCHY PHOTOS

RIGHT: William Sharpe from nearby Tampa, Florida brought his 1962 Mooney M20C over to Sun nFun for aday or so.

Even an altercation with arunway logging truck couldn't keep restorer/ pilot Jeff Smith of Asheboro, North Carolina from Sun nFun with his bril路 liant restoration of his 125 hp Temco Globe Swift. First purchased by Smith in 1996, he's carefully been restoring and polishing the essentially stock air路 plane for the past decade, creating abeautiful showplane.

Gorgeous weather was the norm for nearly every day during this year's Sun nFun, and the annual picnic for the Vintage Aircraft area, hosted by VAA Chapter 1(Florida Sport Aviation Antique and Classic Association-FSAACA) is always abig hit with the Vintage crowd, as you can see by the nearly standing路room only crowd. VINTAG E AIRPLANE

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One of tile Inmdreds of volunteers on hand to help put on tile annual spring migration to Florida, Bill Wedlund of Jacksonville, Florida gives the stop signal to Kennit Sutton of Naples, Florida as Kennit taxis in with his turbine DeHavilland Beaver conversion.

Ron Haynes brought his lovely Piper Cub to Sun nFun from New Port Richey, Florida. Parked near the emergency aircraft repair building (that's afork lift behind the Cub), Ron's Cub looked like just the ticket for enjoying the Florida air with the window and door open.

Bill Scott of Springhill, Florida, restored his Stinson 108-3 with no intentions of selling it but the new owner, Jim Gibson from Polk City, FL worked on him for several years before he finally gave in_

Kent Pietsch's 1942 S-l Interstate Cadet is flown in airshows all over the world (in January he flew in the AI Ain Aerobatic Show at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) and is now decorated in the colors of his new sponsor, Jelly Belly jellybeans.

JUNE 2007

An earty Model TA hydro in the air. Note the tubular wing tip floats.

The story of the Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation

Part II

BY AL K ELCH

PHOTOS FROM THE WILLIAM

THOMAS, JR. COLLECTION VIA ROBERT

Preface

1982-The following three-part article on the Thomas Morse Aircraft Corp., although extensively edited and further researched by me, should be credited to Robert C. Elliott of Daytona Beach, Florida, who sought out William T. Thomas Ir., still living in Daytona Beach. Mr. Thomas generously shared pictures and recollections of his father plus some ma terial from the personal collections of Paul D. Wi/son, one of the three original test pilots. Robert submitted to me fresh ma terial on the earlier portions of the Thomas airplane venture. On researching several older articles, I zeroed in on a wonderful In 1913-1914 the attention of the Thomas Aeroplane Company was turned to the development of flying boats, following the similar course of Glenn Curtiss. The first machine was quite crude, with a wooden hull and the top deck covered with canvas, powered with a six-cylinder 90-hp

ELLIOTT

two-part story in two 1960 issues of American Airman, ex tensively researched by Frank Strand with a great deal oforigi nal contact with William Thomas Sr. Frank had permission to use all ofthe material he had gath ered to put together one more article specially tailored for Vin tage Airplane magazine on the Tommy-Morse Scout of World War I fame. For the real Tommy buffs, it would pay to seek out his extensive two-part story in the American Airman for lune and luly 1960. Frank also did Profile No. 68 published by Pro file Publications Ltd., P.O. Box 26, 1A North St., Leatherhead, Surrey, England.

Austro-Daimler engine. The develop ment of this phase of Thomas flying boats went through some sleek ma hogany-hulled versions on to develop the first metal-hulled hydroplane in America. Along with the flying boats, several interesting types developed, including a two-place version of the REPRINTED FROM

Vintage Airplane AUGUST

same airplane, both powered by 90 hp Austro-Daimler engines. In ad dition, a single-place monoplane, reminiscent of the Bleriot, was flown using a 40-hp Maxi-motor. This Thomas monoplane proved unsuit able for exhibition work. It was about this time another Mr.

1982

VI NTAGE AIRPLANE

An early Thomas tractor hydroplane with single float and wing tip floats.

Riglrt-side view of a 1916 hydroplane, two-place Model B-3, Austro-Daimler powered.

A much earlier Thomas hydroplane with a 90-hp Austro-Daimler engine. The forward section of the hull had a fabric cover to furnish protection from the spray.

With a 90-hp Austro Austro-Daim ler engine, this metal-hulled Thomas hydroplane's fuel tank was located on top of a wing.

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"Two Guns White Cap," chief of the Blackfoot Indians, with pilot Ralph Brown. W.T. Thomas, at right. The In· dian brought the whole tribal family to witness the flight. Once off the water, the chief let out a war whoop to let ev· eryone know he was quite pleased. The Brindley Street plant in Ithaca, New York, about 1915, where the T·2 and D·2 tractor planes were built.

Thomas was due to be added to the company. This gentleman had no relation to the founders of the com pany, but he was destined to change and influence the company's direc tion substantially. Mr. B. Douglas Thomas became the chief engineer and airplane designer. He had an ex cellent aircraft background, having previously worked as assistant air craft deSigner for Vickers Ltd . and, later, Sopwith Aviation. Through sim ilar circumstance, he also worked for Glenn Curtiss, where he assisted in designing the famous Curtiss Model J tractor and the famous Jenny. He also took part with Lt. Porte in designing the America, the first multiple-engine flying boat, built for the purpose of transatlantic flight. Upon being employed by the Thomas Bros. Airplane Co., B. Doug las Thomas designed its first success ful tractor biplane. The model was deSignated T-2 and was similar to the Model J Curtiss, except for the addiMorris Chain Co., Ithaca, New York, a subsidiary of Borg·Warner, where W.T. Thomas eventually merged his interests. Mr. Morris owned control· ling interest, with W.T. Thomas as vice president. VINTAGE AIRPL A NE

The board room group dis足 cussing aircraft business. Left to right: Harold Bliss, B.D. Thomas, GeorgeAbel, Jerome Freed, Mr. Morris, W. T. Thomas, Raymond Ware. B.D. Thomas was no relation to W.T. Thomas.

Employees of the Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Co., Ithaca, New York, Brindley Street plant.

H might be Frank Burnside standing beside the large trainer at the Thomas School of Aviation, near Hhaca, New York. Note that the ailerons were em足 ployed up top wing only. Ex足 haust stacks rose from the top of the engine and were attached to pipe, which wrapped around both sides of the fuselage. W.T. Thomas flying school was the first Board of Regents Chartered Aviation School in New York State. This plane was possi足 bly a Model 0.2. 14

JUNE 2007

Side profile of an assem bled Thomas Aero Motor. The hand crank was pre ferred to swinging the prop on a geared ltwo-to-one) engine. Note the individual cylinder primers beside spark plugs.

tion of two nose skids and the 90-hp Austro-Daimler engine. It had a top speed of 83 mph and could climb 3,800 feet in 10 minutes, carrying a l,OOO-pound load. The performance of this machine added to the prestige of the company's having hired a new de Signer, and resulted in an order from the British Ad miralty for 24 Model T-2 airplanes, its first sizable order. Wit h two pre v i 0 u s One of 15 Model SH-4 hydroplanes built by Thomas-Morse for the U.S. Navy in about 1916. It moves from Hornell, New was powered with a 149-hp Sturtevant engine. York and Bath, New York, the brothers looked for a new loca signed and built a 135-hp geared commissioned in the Royal Flying tion in which to expand. Ithaca, New engine with the help of designers Corps. This brought a number of pi York, at the southern end of Cayuga GeorgeAbel and Harold Bliss, also two lots to the shores of Cayuga Lake as Lake was a natural choice, with flat of the founders of this new division. World War I gained intensity. fields for takeoff and landing, and a In 1915 two seaplanes, designated The expansion and all of the activi 40-mile-long lake, constituting an SH-4 and SH-5, were built for the ties had put considerable financial strain ideal seaplane or flying boat test area. Navy, and the D-5 tractor plane was on the Thomas companies. A refinanc This, coupled with the cold-weather developed for the Signal Corps. Fur ing was accomplished by merging the ability to fly from the ice, resulted in ther development in 1916 resulted in airplane and engine division with the production of the SH-4 seaplane, and flying school, then merging with the an ideal location. Morse Chain Co. of Ithaca, New York. Shortly after the move to Ithaca, IS were built for the U.S. Navy. B.D. Thomas designed a new model, With the prestige of not only an Thus the final name that is so well theD-2 tractor biplane. This was the airplane company, but also a mo known ... Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corp. first use of the new Thomas enter tor company and a flying school, was born January 31 , 1917, in time to prise, which was to build its own en The Thomas School of Aviation was build the famous World War I fighters. To be concluded in next month's gines. This auxiliary company, called picked by the Canadian government ....... The Thomas Air Motor Co., had de- for pilots who would train to become issue of Vintage Airplane. V I N T AGE AI RPLA NE

L0023Nnr

•

SIAI!We:l uO~lnod all~

There seems to be two distinctly different types of people in the world of little airplanes: those who love and adore the Aeronca Chief and those who wouldn't know an Aeronca Chief if they found it floating in their coffee. It's not a question of liking it or disliking it, because it's one of those airplanes that has such a low recognition factor that a relatively

small percentage of the pilot popu lation even knows it exists. In some ways that's a good thing, because it has helped keep the prices down for those who want a Chief of their own. One of those is Danny Poulton of Bel ton, South Carolina. The Poulton's Chief is not your av erage Chief. We're all used to seeing the 11AC (65 hp) or the 11CC (85 hp)

-the postwar Super Chief-but theirs is an lIBe. We're not sure it ever car ried a name, but maybe we should call it the Not-Quite-Super-Chief. It came out of the factory in 1947 with a C8S-8, which meant no provisions for a starter. Not a normal one, anyway. It had a McDowell starter, which was a combination of ratcheted sprockets and a lever that worked very much like the pull starter on a lawn mower with the cable going back to a han dle in the cockpit. By the time Danny bought the airplane as a project in Michigan, the starter had long since disappeared. In fact, everything fire wall-forward had disappeared. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Danny had owned a number of airplanes in the past and, in fact, had learned to fly while he was still in high school. "We had aviation on my mom's side of the family," he says. "My un cle was an airframe and powerplant mechanic (A&P) and a fUll -time cor porate pilot, and he encouraged me." He progressed through a number of airplanes, most of them some vari ation of the Piper PA-28 line, includ ing an Arrow, although a '63 C-l72 did follow him home one day. "I met Donna and aviation be came part of our life," he says, "In fact, we were married in a 421 Cessna at five thousand feet over Anderson, South Carolina." Danny didn't get into vintage air planes until four years ago with the Chief. It was a form of therapy, because he was on a crusade to lose weight. "I had let myself balloon up to 460 pounds, and if I was going to live, I had to lose the weight. I had two sons, Dale and JD, and a wonderful wife, and I didn't want to lose all of that just be cause I was overweight. So, I started looking for an airplane to rebuild as a way to keep myself busy. We live on an airpark and we had a great guy, Gene Richburg, living just down the run way from us. He was 82 years old at the time and knew everything there was to know about rebuilding airplanes, and he volunteered to help me." So, Danny launched on two proj ects at the same time, both of them VINTAGE AIRPLANE

Danny Poulton holds open the top cowl to reveal the Continental C-SS installation. It appears Danny has decided not to trust his Chief mechanical fuel gauges, which are known to be troublesome, and is using an old standby, the wire and cork float gauge so common prior to World War II.

In keeping with the restrained nature of Danny's customized Chief, a few nice touches, such as the upholstered side panels and polished control wheel caps, brighten up the otherwise original-looking cabin. Look closely and you can see the toe brake pedals on the pilot's side of the cockpit. Those pedals are seen only on the UBC, UCC, and lSAC Sedan.

The tubular structure of the landing gear is covered with an aluminum fair ing, leading to a nicely finished pair of replica fiberglass wheelpants. The small cable attached to the trailing edge of the landing gear is a safety cable. It was originally installed in case of a fail ure of the originally installed phenolic piston within the oleo strut. Later, after an airworthiness directive (47-20-02) and Aeronca Service Helps and Hints No. 12 required changing the pheno lic part to one made of aluminum, the need for the cable was negated, but most owners keep it, just in case! monumental. The first was to lose weight, and the second, to find a proj ect that fit his goals and skill levels. "I didn't look long and actually found the Chief on eBay. It belonged to an A&P in Michigan, who had started to rebuild it and then decided to put it up for sale. I hadn't done anything like this before, so I was re ally not sure of what I was doing, but I hooked up my trailer and headed up to Michigan to buy the Chief. That was in July of 2003." What he saw, when he got to Mich igan, was enough to encourage him, so he loaded it up and brought it back to South Carolina. As is always the case, however, he wouldn't really know what he had until he did a thor ough inventory back home. The large dorsal fin on the llBC Chief (also used on the UCC) makes identifi cation of the higher-horsepower Chiefs a bit easier.

JUNE 2007

"When we unloaded at home, Gene came over and we spread the entire collec tion of stuff out to see what was missing and what kind of work was going to be needed. In general, the air frame was actually in great shape because the A&P had already started work ing on it and had finished the major compon e nts. The wings were mor e or less complete and fini sh ed, and th e work was beautiful. About all th ey ne eded were the leading edges and to be covered. "The fuselag e tubing had been cleaned and painted, and most of the fu selage wood was usable, too . Part of th e airplane's condition is prob ably because it had only 400 hours on it and had spent most of its life stored inside somewhere. We don't h ave much of the airplane 's history, but you could see by looking at the wood and steel that it hadn't been left outside to rot like so many Chiefs have been. "When we were done inventorying it, we found a lot of missing or unus able stuff that I hadn 't noticed when picking it up . It had no tail wheel or wing struts, and the doors were not only the wrong doors, but were badly crushed . There were no control yokes and all of the logos were missing. Same thing for all of the interior up holstery boards . Plus, there was es sentially nothing firewall-forward ./I It's still easy for most of those who h ave restored airplanes to remem ber what it was like in the days be fore co mputers . The dozens of trips to fly-markets, the phone calls, and the constant surveillance of Trade-a Plane were not only aggravating, but added a huge amount of time to fin ishing the project. Danny came into the Vintage world PC, post computer, so he was able to take full advantage of cyber searching for parts. "Besid es buying the airplane on eBay, that service proved to be a ter rific source for some of the rarer parts I needed. Among other things, that's

What's in a Model Number? By H.G . Frautschy The differences between the llBC Chief and the llCC Super Chief are tough to spot, but in today's sport pilot market, one distinction can spell the difference between flying one and just owning one. Both airplanes are powered by the Continental C85-8 , and both came equipped with the rather clever McDowell starter. The McDowell was vilified by some as being a cheap substitute for an electrical starter, but having had one for years on my Super Chief, I'd have to say it's one of the neatest inventions added to the postwar lightplane. If treated with respect and used in the way the manufacturer intended , it worked perfectly. It did have one design weakness that could have been easily solved , but it didn't last long enough on the market to make it that far. The McDowell was activated using a cable with a ball, swaged on the end. Because of the way the ball and cable were retained in the starter's pulley sheave, the cable would fray and then break just below the ball, or an overly enthusiastic pull on the starter cable would pull the ball right off the end. If Mc Dowell had used a small fitting inside the sheeve to allow for a straight pull on the cable (and if the cable had a ball and shank swaged fitting) , I'm convinced the McDowell would have been much more popular. It allowed for a lightweight starter to be installed on an airplane intended to be flown by casual travelers who were interested in ease of use and safety. It allowed my wife and her instructor, both petite women , to independently fly the airplane without requiring a flip of the prop by someone else. As long as the engine was in good tune and one could reasonably expect the airplane to start when the impulse magneto fired, the McDowell was a great way to pul l the prop through safely. The 11BC and 11CC interiors were similar, with a slight edge going to the llCC for a few interior appointments added to enhance the automobile-like feel to the cockpit. Hap Granier, the designer of the interior of all three postwar Aeroncas, worked his magic on the Chiefs to give them a small sedan or coupe feeling. Bedford whipcord upholstery and side panels, the zebrawood pattern wood-gra in-printed instrument panel, and control wheels instead of control sticks all contributed to that atmosphere. Both the 11CC and 11BC featured a large dorsal fin, but the 11CC had a different elevator/ stabilizer configuration. That fact is sometimes lost on re storers and aircraft modifiers , who incorrectly (and illegally) put the earlier 11AC or llBC stab/ elevator combination on an llCC. The 11CC has an aero dynamically balanced elevator, designed to meet the hands-off gliding speed requirements of the then-new CAR 03 regulations . Aeronca also had the llCC certified in the Utility category as well as the Normal category, with maximum gross weights of 1 ,290 and 1 ,350 pounds, respectively. That right there is a major difference in the airplanes as they are viewed in the market today. The 11BC, with a maximum gross weight of 1,250 pounds , is sport pilot eligible, while the llCC , by virtue of its 1,350 weight, is not. Interestingly, a few llCC additions made it into the llBC as well. Both Chiefs, as well as the four-place Aeronca Sedan , shared the same rudder/ brake pedals , with toe brakes instead of the heel brakes seen on the Champ. Both feature flight characteristics similar to the Champ , with the Ch iefs having the edge when it comes to cross-country flights. With a 70-pound baggage al lowance and up to 23 gallons of fuel on board, the Chief is a great traveling machine, if you 're not in a hurry. But when you 're flying something as pretty as a Chief, who's in a big hurry? VINTAGE AIRPLANE

BONNIE KRATZ

Danny Poulton's Aeronca Chief features a custom color scheme that is reminiscent of the original decoration composed by Hap Granier for Aeronca's side-by-side personal airplane.

4012E

I~g:O:t~t~h~e~iiiiiiiii"ii• • • •

where control yoke covers with the Aeronca logos, the ash trays, the bezels, and the air box for the cabin heat. I even found the pi tot tube and hand brake on eBay. If I would have had to physically search for all of that stuff, I'd probably still be looking." Wag-Aero came to the rescue in supplying the struts and wing lead ing edges. III was able to use most of the origi nal boot cowl, but the original nose bowl was really bad and was cut for the McDowell starter, so I used an STC'd fiberglass replacement. If I find a good original, I may change that." 11Th is airplane came out of the fac tory with toe brakes, which were with th e airplane, and I stayed with the mechanical brakes and just installed new pads. You don't really need 20

JUNE 2.007

brakes on the air plane for anything, so they work just fine." Danny was planning on flying the airplane a lot and added a venturi so he could run an artificial horizon and added air vent holes. "When we were doing the inte rior there was no kit available for the headliner, so a neighbor, Phyllis Dal ton, sewed one up using the original material found on Chiefs. That was really tedious. Then, I made the side panels and covered them with Airtex fabric and had to fabricate a new bag gage door and make the boards for the seats. "The panel had already been cleaned, so the wood grain was gone, but I decided not to try to put it on. I did, however, make two metal glove

compartments for it. "The sliding windows were original to the airplane, but the polished prop isn't. I just thought it looked bet ter polished." When the airframe was done and ready to be covered, Danny went with Poly-Fiber and shot it with Aero thane ... but not in the original col ors or scheme. IIAirtex had some sample seat covers for the airplane that were inexpensive, so I bought them and had the paint mixed to go with the seat covers. Also, the paint stripes aren't original. They

mimic the factory scheme, but aren't exact. I should also mention that I had some help with the fabric from Larry and Phyllis Dalton, who helped cover the airplane. This was my first time, and they made it easy. " Since Danny had no engine, he was starting from scratch in that area. The original was a C8S-8, but with his papaerwork he found a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) that opened interesting, new avenues. "There was part of an STC in our paperwork that would let me install a -12 engine and that would allow me to have an electric starter, which I re ally wanted. The problem was that the STC wasn't complete. Plus the -8 mount is

"I had two sons, Dale and lD, than the 12, so it's not a plug-and play change, and I expected some problems getting the paper work straightened out. "I called the At lanta Flight Stan dards District Office and really lucked out. The Co lumbia Federal Avia tion Agency (FAA) field examiner came out, looked the airplane over, and said he'd be happy to clean up the paperwork and submit it to Atlanta for me. What I thought was going to be a problem turned out to be quite easy." Unfortunately, Danny found out that things don't always go easy when restoring an airplane, and his headaches came in the form of his first engine.

and a wonderful wife, and 1 didn't want to lose all of that just because 1 was overweight. So, 1 started looking for an airplane to rebuild as a way to keep myself busy."

"I bought a C8S-12 that had been 'overhauled.' I had flown it for about 22 hours when one cylinder lost a lot of compression, so we pulled the jug. When we got inside, we found that the rod was just banging around in there and was loose on the crank. When we split the case, we found the crank was badly scored and a lot of metal had gone through the engine, so I had to find another one. "The second engine was freshly overhauled by an FAA-certified shop in 2000, after a prop strike. The guy I bought it from was building a homebuilt and was afraid that the engine was going to sit too long before his project was completed, so he sold it. Everything checked out to be perfect, and it has been humming along with no problems since day one." "We flew the airplane for the first time July I, 2006, and I had a local pilot, Gary Dalton, do the test hop. I don't mind telling you that I was ner vous watching it. When I flew it for the first time, I had only 10 hours of tail wheel time I'd logged while getting my tail wheel endorsement. I was a little nervous then, too, but everything went beautifully. When we flew it, it was al most exactly three years to the day that we unloaded it from the trailer. "When I started, I guess I became a little compulsive about working on it. I'd eat in the hangar, work until 10 or 11 every night, and sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night and go out and work on it. When I'd get home from church on Sunday, I'd change clothes and go out and get something done. I'm glad I did it that way, because it really helped me with the other problem ." In the process of restoring his Chief, Danny m et several goals. The first was finishing and flying his own Chief, but the second, and more im portant, was taking control of his life. From the time he started the Chief to the time he flew it, he lost 230 pounds and added no telling how many years to his life. Most people have difficulty committing to just finishing an air plane, so Danny is to be congratu lated for two jobs well done. ~ VINTAGE AIRPLANE

~The B·

thof

Creating a classic design BY CHESTER

PEEK, PH .D.

Could you, in three months' time, design and build a new light plane, without tools or factory, and with very little money? Impossible, you say! But that is just what e.G. Tay lor did in the spring of 1936 when he introduced the legendary Taylor craft to the aviation world. Here's the story: In the last week of December 1935, e.G. Taylor was confined to his bed, ill and completely discour aged. Days before, he and Bill Piper Hangar at Butler, Pennsylvania, 1936. Still in use today. had signed a legal document that dissolved their troubled partnership. For Taylor's share of the Taylor Cub company (which was in debt more than $90,000), he received approximately $5,000, to be paid out in small installments over three years. Byron Shinn knew Taylor well, both as a customer and friend. In a 1991 letter, he describes Taylor's situa tion and subsequent events. "Back in the 1930s, we had a small manufacturing com pany located in one of the hangars on the Butler, Pennsylva nia, airport, called The Shinn Devices Company. We made aluminum wheels for aircraft, 4 bead diameter, 700X4 tire, and at that time sold them to most of the light aircraft man ufacturers, including the Taylor and Piper organization in Bradford, Pennsylvania. We had a quite complete machine shop, and engineering design business . "I remember how Taylorcraft got started. One very cold winter day, probably in December 1935, I drove up to see Taylor in Bradford. The roads were terrible, ice coated, and I almost had several ac cidents. When I got there I found Taylor sick in bed and in a very discouraged frame of mind. He had just been 'kicked out' of his company by Piper, and had little or no money or employment. I told him, with his abilities as an aircraft de signer and builder, that he should certainly try to get back in the business, and offered to help if I could. I went back to Butler and contacted D . Bar Peat, who was a promoter, a very nice fellow, who was running the Butler Ken SchoHer, about 1980. airport. I asked if he could raise some money to start Tay 22

JUNE 2007

TAYLORCRAFT

BY C. 6. TAYLOR

STABLE ECONOMICAL

PlmBUR6H-BUTLER AIRPORT, BunER, PA.

FAST A NEW LIGHT PLANE LOW.PRICED First Taylorcraft ad, February 1936 Aero Digest.

Carlson and Harold White, who were engineers; Ken Tibbits and Les Sal chow, Parks College graduates; along (11.8 kcJh.o.) . WioJ Ioadma' 5.8 1b•.JIt.' with mechanics Colby Carpenter and (29.3 kc./""l). Weicht empty 570 Ibs. (259 =r~~:br'Tc ~~;ai~~~wd~ kg.). U ..falload 420 Ibs. (190 kc.). Payload removable fin; elentor. and stabiliurs in 181 lbo. (82 kc'l' Gr... wei,ht m lbo. (449 ter<hanaeable right or IefL Landing rear kcr Bant,. I Ibs. (5 kg.). Fuel 10 gals. =ev:bsor~ :closed~ ~~es';: William Crawford. All these men had good, secure jobs with Piper, and dur ~L~,!!;,,~L11t1,iLk h.p. color ocJlulosc finish with trim. Two-place flex-wine seat 39 inches ,ide--by-lide ; cabin fabric lined and fire-wall sound proofed; all ing the Depression, you NEVER left a ~~~"!>am~ ~ h.m~'~49 k.p.h.). . l~ m.p.h. (51.h. .). control cables and fittinp in the cabin are Sem<e «iliaC 101,000 ft. (4260 m.). imb fully enclosed. Baggag. compartment 6- X job. Yet these men, deeply loyal to 9- X .w- back of seaL per min. 400 It. (122 tn.). Crui,;"g rang. 2.10 mi. (371 1aD.).

Taylor, came with him to this chancy ~.... F.....,. : welded "eel tub;"g; ~~6"oo-~~b,::!S~ four JODIeI'ODS of proareqjve diameters; wbeds, DuPont Pluticell. 1rindJhield, rulr wood faired and fabric conrcd; removable her mounted illltrume:nt p&De1. new venture. All would eventually maine mouat j streued fot SO h.p. installa· ~ Aeromarinc altimeter, U. S. 011 tion. W;"g: two paDdJ bolted to fuselafe.

fabric _ ; oectioo With ~~:itf:r:a; ~~:: rise to responsible executive posi eJlipticalJy rOUDded tips; JOlid 'apruce JPlrs: pass or other instnunmts extra. tions with Taylorcraft. First Taylorcraft specifications. Photo is of a model. Ken Scholter, a local mechanic, was hired as a welder. Contempo rary reports credit him with most of the welding on the new plane. For tunately, he was also an amateur photographer and documented the building process on film. He fur nished most of the photos shown in this article. Shinn resumes: When Taylor came to Butler he had very little money; we all had very little money at that time. I believe he got a small settlement from Piper for his share of the Cub company. This was in the depths of the Depres sion . We doled the money out a few dol lars at a time and started to build the first plane. We used our machine shop to make the draw bench to make the rib parts, and to make most of the parts, jigs, and dies that required machining. An engineering department was set up; I hired a draftsman when Ray Carl son moved down from Bradford. Tay lor and the mechanics would make the Byron Shinn, about 1936. parts, and then the draftsman would lor up again in the airplane business. He, along with Col. make the drawings. We designed a new wheel for the plane,

Breckenridge and some others, did raise a little money, about lightweight and very strong, being constructed of an alumi $1,000 as I recall, enough to include the building of the jigs num stamping fastened to a cast aluminum end rim. Tay and fixtures and the first plane. We moved Taylor and his lor and I also developed the new tapered axle, which was

family to Butler, rented him a house, and started work in a lighter and less costly. A new Goodrich tire size, 6:00 x 6,

vacant hangar on the Butler airport. SeveraL of Taylor's men was used.

The plane was designed and built during the first four

from Bradford came with him. Actually, six key Bradford employees left Piper and to five months of 1936. This must have been some sort of joined Taylor in the new enterprise. They were Ray record. When the plane was finished, the test pilot, Tibbits, TAYLORCRAFT Model A

Z.place

*ATC

metal ribs fabricated from drawn NicraJ sec B_ Span 36' (11 m.). Length 22' tions : sinc:lc drag wire bracinc; built-up (6.7 m.). Heicht 6' 8" (2.1 m.). Wm, area metal frame ailerons. fabric COYered and of 169 fL> (15.6 m,l). Power Ioodiaa 2IS IbsJh.p. the balanced type with DO exposed horns. ' ATe pending.

... during the

Depression,

you NEVER

left a job.

Yet these men,

deeply loyal

to Taylor,

came with him

to this chancy

new venture.

VINTA GE A IR PLANE

One day we came to work

to find trucks backed up

to the hangar, and Taylor

hauling away all the

Taylorcraft parts,

Batch of Shinn 8:00 x 4 wheels.

jigs, and fixtures.

Fuselage structure.

started the test flights . First he taxied the plane up and down the runway, then flew it the length of the runway just off the ground, then made flights a bit higher, and finally made circuits. The plane flew very well but would not stall. The CAA required proper recovery from a stall, so Taylor worked on the horizontal tail surfaces so that a stall could be induced, and the plane passed the CAA tests. Taylor was a design genius. The CAA had just released a new-design wing curve, and Taylor was the first, I ffi believe, to use it. The wing curve was ~ ~ faster and had a soft stall." ~ This was the NACA 23012 airfoil. z ~ Taylor once told the author that in 1935 he built a set of wings for the Cub using that airfoil, but Piper ve足 toed the change. They were hanging on a wall when the Bradford factory burned in 1937. Shinn says: "I started an advertising campaign beginning with a very small ad in Aero Digest saying, IIS omething new is coming in Aviation!" The next ads told a little more. People were very enthusiastic about the new plane. It was much advanced over the Cub, be足 ing faster with side-by-side seating and wheel controls. Before long we had re足 ceived down payments from over 50 customers, $200 each as I recall. This ffi was due to correspondence with old ~

~ ~

Taylor Cub dealers and the Aero Di足 gest ad." In a 1992 interview, Bob UJ '" Taylor, e.G.'s son, confirmed this. He remembered his father waking z

Wing details. 24

JUNE 2007

C.G. Taylor and a Model ATaylorcraft, 1936.

First A-40 run-up, May 1936. him up one night in Butler and showing him $10,000 in down payments. The first ad appeared in the February issue of Aero Digest and is shown on this page. A later ad showed a photo of the plane, but since no plane had been com pleted at that time, it was actually a snapshot of a model C.G. Taylor built on his kitchen table. First the new trademark, Taylorcraft, was used, but when Beechcraft threatened legal action, claiming Taylorcraft sounded too much like Beechcraft, the ads were changed to read "Airplanes by G.G. Taylor." However, they resumed us-

ing the Taylorcraft name after sev eral months. Shinn continues: "D. Bar Peat was always trying to promote the plane. On Sundays they would put on an air show at the Butler airport, and 200 to 300 people would at tend. Som e way he got the Taylor craft to lead the way when all the planes taxied by the grandstand at the Cleveland Air Races." Meanwhile, in the hangar fac tory, the prototype plane was be ing rushed to completion, but not fast enough to suit Taylor. He '" once told the author, "I was away ~ from the plant for three days, hav o ~ ing given instructions to complete § the engine mount. When I returned it was not done. I hung the engine in the right place with a chain hoist, we cut the tubing to (it, and it was done in an hour." On May 1, the Continental A-40 engine, SIN 635 , was run up for the first time; then on May 8, Taylor signed an application for an experimental certificate. Only eight days later, on Saturday, May 16, CAA in spector R.A . Young witnessed the test flight and issued certificate X-16393 to the first Taylorcraft, SIN 25. Ap proximately three months had elapsed from the time construction was started until the new plane was air borne. A remarkable achievement. It was a beautiful plane, sleek and streamlined, a far VINTAGE AIRPLANE

Test flight of the first Taylorcraft, May 1936.

IT'S A

BEAUTY GRACEFULLY

1 rr¥~~.:A1~~~ :)';.~ ~-

- -=- ,..(/;=-

=. --.-

I '

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CONTINENTAL MOTOR

Plttsburqh·BuUer Airport

•

Bu tler. Penna .

STREAMLINED

C. G. TAYL O R

•

F.A.F.

51495·00

.. .

......

April 1936 ad in Aero Digest. cry from Taylor's boxy, square-cornered E-2 Cub. With side-by-side seating and wheel controls, it rivaled much larger, more expensive planes, such as the Waco and Stinson. Weight had been kept to a minimum; the pro totype weighed only 570 pounds. It was much faster than the Cub. The first prospective customers who flew the plane verified the advertised cruising speed of 80 mph. In a race with two locals, an Aeronca C-3 and a Kinner Fleet, the Taylorcraft won easily. The investors at Butler were elated. With nearly 100 orders and down payments received for their new plane, they envisioned a rapid production buildup and the prospects of a thriving, profitable enterprise. Their faith, however, had been misplaced. Shinn continues: "But, unknown to D. Bar Peat and

me, Taylor had been talking to others about financing and a place to manufacture the plane. One day we came to work to find trucks backed up to the hangar, and Taylor haul ing away all the Taylorcraft parts, jigs, and fixtures. They moved to Alliance, Ohio, where they got one year's free rent on a large old airplane factory, financing, and tax breaks. D. Bar Peat and I retained a lawyer to try to get back our in vestment, eventually getting back some shares ofTaylorcraft 26

JUNE 2007

stock instead of money. And Piper quit buying my wheels and switched to Hayes!" Happily, Taylor and Shinn soon put their legal dif ferences behind them and remained good friends and business associates for many years. Shinn was not alone in his disappointment when the unexpected move came. Scholter was out of a job. In 1992 he made this comment: "They left Butler owing me almost a month's pay, which I never got. But they did give me a very nice letter of recommendation." The Alliance Review newspaper proudly announced the arrival of the new aircraft enterprise in its July 9, 1936, edition. But that is a story for another day. . . ......

Author's note: When researching my book, The Taylorcraft Story, in 1992, I was privileged to personally interview four pri mary information sources regarding the Butler, Penn sylvania, events: e.G. Taylor, Bob Taylor, Ken Scholter, and Byron Shinn. The history above was taken from those interviews and contemporary newspaper articles.

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MERCURY

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EXTRA

The Butler Manufacturing Co. NL-I3 biplane BY WESLEY SMITH

The March 2007 "Mystery Plane" is the 1932 Butler Manufacturing Co. NL-13 biplane designed by Albin Kasper Longren (sometimes simply re ferred to as the Longren NL-13). A.K. Longren had a very long and interesting aviation career. Born in a log cabin near Clay Center, Kansas in 1882, he was the one of 14 children born to Swedish immigrant home stead farmers Charles and Emma Lon gren. In 1901 he took a business course from the International Correspon dence School (ICS), which he followed up with an ICS diploma in mechanical engineering from 1907-1911. Longren's interest in aviation be gan with his observations of Henry L. Call in 1908. Call, originally a New York lawyer, author, and socialist, had moved to Girard, Kansas in February of 1908 in order to construct a large and ungainly flying machine powered by two 20-hp Curtiss B-4 engines. Known as the "Mayfly" and "The Chicken" (among other colorful names), the air craft failed to fly despite modification. Call enjoyed the support of the na tional socialist newspaper An Appeal to Reason and constructed several aircraft under the aegis of The Aerial Naviga tion Company of America, starting in 1908, before the company changed its name. Beginning in 1911 , Call manu factured two-cylinder and four cylinder horizontally opposed air-cooled engines, which h e mar keted to would-be aviators through 28 JUNE 2007

advertisements (primarily in Aircraft and Fly magazines, published by Al fred W. Lawson of 1920 Lawson "Air liner" fame) . The two-cyli nder Call was rated at 45 hp and the four-cyl inder engine was rated at 90 hp. Call engines were among the first aircraft engine to be fitted with mufflers, an individual muffler being attached to the exhaust port of each cylinder. With his brother E.J. Longren and a mechanic named William Janeke, Longren constructed a Curtiss-type pusher biplane in Topeka, Kansas. Be gun in the summer of 1910, the To peka I was not completed until the fall of 1911. Fitted with a 60-hp Hall-Scott A-2, a water-cooled V-8, the Topeka I became the first successful aircraft to be completed in the state of Kansas. Longren made his first flight on Sep tember 2, and on September 5, 1911 he made two flights ; the first flight reaching about 225 feet in altitude and covering 1.5 miles, and the sec ond reaching about 300 feet and cov ering six miles. Of course, Longren was only one of numerous individuals who built Curtiss-type pushers. Plans for early Herring-Curtiss machines were pub lished in Aeronautics and other avia tion periodicals, as well as in books. With some individual alterations, many such aircraft were built in the United States prior to America's entry into World War 1. At any rate, Longren soon went into the exhibition business with

H. Young, renaming the Topeka I as the Dixie Flyer. The words: "Dixie Flyer - A.K. Longren - Aviator" were painted on the underside of the Topeka I/Di xie Flyer's monoplane canard. Between 1911 and 1914, Longren gave 1,372 exhibition flights in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Colorado for the Young Aviation Co. In 1912, Longren built a second Cur tiss-type with a Hall-Scott A-2. This air craft incorporated the improvements Curtiss had made to his newer aircraft during 1911-1912, and in due course, the mid-gap ailerons were moved to the trailing edges of the upper wing. This aircraft was sold to Longren's for mer student and friend Phil Billard, who used it to give exhibition flights. This aircraft, sometimes known as the Topeka II, was presented to the Kansas State Historical Society in 1938, where it still exists as a display. In the spring of 1914, Longren took time to marry Ms. Dolly Trent. Later that winter (1914-1915), Longren built his first entirely original aircraft design - a two-place tractor biplane, again se lecting the reliable Hall-Scott as the powerplant. During an exhibition at the Dickson County Fair at Abilene on September 9, 1915, the aircraft stalled on takeoff and was destroyed, hitting an automobile that was leaving the fair grounds. Longren's passenger was rela tively unscathed, but Longren suffered a broken leg and several internal injuries. While recovering from his inju ries in early 1916, Longren, with Phil

Billard, began the construction of his fourth aircraft, the Model G. The Model G was a clean two-place tractor biplane with a strong resemblance to a Curtiss IN-4. In fact, it was powered by a Curtiss OX-2 and was intended for sale to the warring European powers. However, only two were sold: one to the Kansas National Guard, the other being used for exhibition flights. Late in the year, Longren built a small tractor biplane, sometimes re ferred to as the Longren Bus. The con struction featured a three-ply wooden monocoque fuselage and was built for William Burt of Okmulgee, Oklahoma. A second machine was constructed for Lester Miller of Dallas, Texas, who in tended to use the aircraft for aerobatic exhibitions. By late 1917, Longren had moved on to another two-place design known as the Model H. As in the case of the earlier Longren Bus, the Model H used a wooden monocoque fuselage . The Model H was powered by a Cur tiss 90-hp OX-5 engine; unfortunately, while on his way to Kansas City, Mis souri, Longren suffered an engine fail ure near Wakarusa, Kansas. The aircraft was destroyed in a crash, which proved fatal to a cow standing in the field in which Longren was forced down. He was made to pay $100.00 in restitution to the angry farmer. After that, interest in the Model H faded away. Late in 1917, Longren became involved with Frederick W. Buck, M.D., M.E. and applied for a posi tion as chief engineer with the Buck Aircraft and Munitions Co. of Den ver. To what extent Longren became involved with Dr. Buck is unknown . Buck (a long with Elmer Sperry, and later, Charles F. Kettering at Dayton Wright) had plans to develop and sell an "aerial torpedo" - essentially a small 50-hp biplane "cruise mis sile," which was intended to fly on a preprogrammed course, then shed its wings at the proper time and place, depositing a bomb contained within the crude fuselage framework. Longren's career took another path after his debacle with the Model H. After failing to establish a new air craft company in Overland Park, Kansas , Longren eventually took a

position at McCook Field as an air craft inspector. The Great War had cost Longren's friend Phil Billard his life, when he was killed in a flying accident while serving in Issoudun, France. Longren's position at Mc Cook had allowed him the opportu nity to examine every domestic and foreign-built aircraft tested there un til the time of his departure in 1919. On June 17, 1919, Longren formed the Longren Aircraft Corp. in Topeka, Kansas, using a former woolen mill in the Oakland suburb as the site for the new corporation. The first aircraft to come out of the plant was the rebuilt Model H, now resurrected as the H-2. It is unclear as to how the H-2 differed from the earlier Model H, but by mid 1920 Longren had gone in yet another direction with the construction of the two-place Model D-2 - a small aircraft powered by a three-cylinder "Y" con figuration Lawrence Model B engine of 35-60 hp. Within a year, the D-2 had evolved to become the Longren Model AK Sport. Described in the pages of Avia

tion and Aerial Age Weekly, (Volume 11, Number 12. Sept. 29,1921, pages 336-337; and Volume 14, Num ber 3. Sept. 26, 1921 , pages 55-56, respectively) the two-place Longren Sport, or Fibre Sport, was a sensational design that incorporated the three-ply laminated wooden monocoque fuse lage of the 1916 Longren "Bus" and the 1917 Model H, and a set of folding biplane wings to facilitate storage. It is unclear as to how the fuselage of the Sport may have differed from ear lier Longren monocoque construc tion techniques, if at all. However, a 1925 Longren patent describes the use of diamond-shaped wood fibre shell (procured from the National Fibre Co.) being covered with an additional two layers of wood laminations on either side. The fu selage was made in upper and lower halves, using steam-pipe-heated con crete male and female molds clamped together using 6,000 pounds of pres sure. The sections were then trimmed and dried, with special provision for humidity control, before being joined

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

to a framework of grooved ash longe rons and formers. The fuselage form ers were made of three-ply materials; engine-bearing formers were made of a seven-ply material. The formers were, in turn, attached to the fuse lage shells with screws. Finally, the fu selage was varnished inside and out with Valspar varnish, the exterior re ceiving a coat of pigmented varnish before a final clear coat. Sold with both Lawrence Model L 2 three-cylinder Y-style and Anzani six cylinder radial engines, the Longren Fibre Sport was flown in several nota ble Midwestern aviation events during the early 1920s. During the American Legion Air Meet at Kansas City (Octo ber 31 - November 3, 1921), the Sport made 38 consecutive loops while being flown by N.D. Trinler. Two Sports were also flown during a special efficiency race held at Omaha, Nebraska on No vember 11. An AK Sport, again flown by Trinler, placed second, with a speed of 77.91 mph when flown over a 153 mile triangular course. Later that No vember, two AK Sports were placed at the disposal of the Kansas City Star to deliver newspapers from Kansas City to Lawrence, Kansas in record time. During a game between the Missouri Tigers and the Kansasjayhawks, a tele graph wired a play-by-play account of the football game to the Star's office. The newspapers were then promptly set, printed, and delivered via aircraft to the Lawrence street vendors be fore departing fans were even able to reach their homes. After establishing a climb record for Longren aircraft in 1922, the Longren Sport attracted the attention of custom ers from as far away as China and the Soviet Union. In 1923, the U.S. Navy became interested, and on February 19, 1924, Lt. j.B. Kneip flew the accep tance tests for the first of three Lon gren AK Sports that were sold to the Navy (serial numbered A6745 through A6747) . The first machine was shipped to Washington, D.C. for testing at the Anacostia Naval Air Station, while the other two were delivered to Pensacola. However, documentation of their sub sequent testing and use by the Navy remains elusive. 30

JUNE 2007

Photos of Longren Sports and the later NL-13 show the distinctive Lon gren company logo painted on the side of the fuselage, and perhaps a few words need to be said about it. This consisted of four capital ilLs" joined at the top of each letter. This formed a crux gammata, or "swastika," although the direction the letters pointed was counter-clock wise, as opposed the symbol's use on aircraft flown by Nazi Germany, in which the bottom of the ilLs" point in a clockwise direction. Prior to its adoption by the Nazi Party, this ancient symbol was seen as far afield at the Southwest ern United States, where it was a sacred symbol of Native Americans, and in In dia, and in Runic Europe. During The Great War, the Indian head emblem of Seaplane Pilots Association (SPA) 124 included a crux gammata as part of the headdress worn by the Native Ameri can chieftan. In its time and place, it was considered as a symbol of good for tune and was in no way considered to be an insult. In fact, after World War I, Finland adopted a grayish-blue crux gammata inscribed within a white circle as the national insignia for its aircraft. In Longren's case, the ilL" was inscribed with a second ilL" and the rest of the letters in Longren's surname. In addi tion to that, a circular logo and was placed at the center of the emblem, to which a set of wings and a propeller reached out to a point near the tips of the ilLs." So, as it turns out, the Lon gren "swastika" was covered by what might roughly be considered a crux immissa, or crucifix. Longren had no connections to fascist idealism. The company logo, which originated in the Midwest in the early 20s, was simply a clever play on the primary letter in Longren's surname. No matter how good an aircraft the Longren Sport was, the company could not survive on such limited orders, and the last aircraft was sold in May of 1924. The remaining company assets, patents, and facilities were sold at an auction in March 1926. The Longren Sport was resurrected briefly in 1928 when the American Eagle Aircraft Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri built a solitary aircraft as the Model A-429. However, the aircraft was much different than the

original Longren Sport, and the design was not pursued further. Following the collapse of his company, Longren was hired by Willis Brown to become vice president of production at the Spartan Aircraft Co. in Tulsa. When Brown left in 1929, Longren also moved on to be come a design consultant at the But ler Manufacturing Co. at Kansas City. Butler had planned to manufacture the Butler Blackhawk biplane. However, the company was unable to do this and all manufacturing was halted in 1931. At this pOint, Longren made a deal to build a new airplane -- the NL-13. Registered as X12538, and sporting the distinctive Longren fuselage logo, the NL-13 ("NL" possibly standing for "New Longren") fuselage was built us ing a new machine-forming method for heat-treated duralumin sheets. The upper and lower fuselage halves of the 1932 NL-13 biplane were joined to "T-shaped" longerons and riveted to gether. Fuselage formers also made of liT" cross-section were riveted to the halves, creating a very strong duralu min semi-monocoque fuselage. Like the earlier Longren AK, the NL-13 had twin side-by-side seating. The powerplant of the aircraft was a Martin 333 of 120 hp. With the exception of the wing spars, the NL-13 was of all-metal construction, the wings being fabric covered. The aircraft was first tested by George Gay in August of 1932. At that time, Gay worked for the aeronautics branch of the Civil Aeronautics Administra tion (CAA.) The aircraft was found to be slightly tail-heavy. This was cured by a slight stabilizer adjustment. The engine also suffered from a slight over heating problem. This was corrected by enlarging the cooling louvers and sub stituting the original propeller with an other type. The NL-13 had a span of 28 feet and a length of 22 feet. Apparently the goal of the NL-13 was to obtain a military contract. After further testing at Roos evelt Field, Long Island, New York, the fuselage of the NL-13 was sold to the United States Army Air Corps and underwent stress evaluation at Wright Field, Dayton, OhiO, in june 1933. After slight modification to some of the stiffcontinued on page 37

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EAA Seeks to Preserve Access to Repair Station Services EAA cautions that proposed aircraft repair station certification regulations could harm many small general avia tion shops and adversely affect air craft owners seeking to maintain the airworthiness of their aircraft. The FAA estimates the cost for de veloping and implementing a new quality system called for by the pro posed regulations at $34,500 per re pair station. Many small operations cannot afford such an expense, and it could force some to close their doors. "We fear that these requirements would ultimately result in dimin ished availability of qualified and experienced maintenance expertise, especially for the vintage fleet," said Earl Lawrence, EAA vice president of industry and regulatory affairs. "Air craft owners could be forced to use maintenance facilities with less spe cialized experience on their aircraft type, making it more difficult to com plete major repairs and changes to small aircraft, potentially impacting safety as well." EAA also questions the feasibility of requiring repair stations to main tain an approved capability list for each make, series, and model of air craft it's permitted to work on. Many small operators often inspect and maintain virtually hundreds of air craft types, creating an administra tive nightmare. EAA is willing to discuss how the FAA could best address its quality concerns while ensuring the own ers of small aircraft continue to have ready access to repair station services. One suggestion EAA proposed is to exempt, or lessen, requirements for smaller shops with fewer than a given number of employees. EAA's full comments can be found at www.EAA.org/communications/ eaanews/Repa i r_Station_NPRM_Draft.pdf The notice of proposed rulemaking is at http://DMSES.DOTgov/docimages/ pdf99/431749_web.pdf ....... 32

JUNE 2007

Arlene Martinez in the right seat with volunteer Young Eagles pilot Paul Rachels. The EAA Young Eagles program, the world's most successful youth aviation initiative ever, has registered the 1.3-millionth Young Eagle flown. She is Arlene Martinez, age 12, of Yuma, Arizona, who took her flight on March 17 at Somerton Airport (54AZ) in a Cessna 170 piloted by Paul Rachels, EAA 633950. Rachels is president and Young Eagles coordinator for Yuma EAA Chapter 590. "Arlene was very enthusiastic," said Rachels, who has flown 123 Young Eagles. "She definitely enjoyed the flight and would like to do it again."' He always gets a kick out of how kids react to their special flights. "It's as incredible an experience for me as it is for them, and I have 700 hours of flight time." Steve Buss, EAA Young Eagles executive director, called it "another important milestone" for the program, which this year marks its 15th anniversary year-the birthday will be marked at AirVenture this year. " It's wonderful to recognize Paul and Arlene's flight, but we also applaud the outstanding continuing support and enthusiasm for Young Eagles by our members. We extend our congratulations to all who have helped the program reach this unprecedented level of participation."

Nominations Due June 15 for EAA Young Eagles Awards Each year EAA honors several special volunteers at EAA AirVenture with the annual Young Eagles awards, and there's still time to nominate a deserving per son for 2007. Nominations for the following awards are being accepted through June 15: • Chapter Coordinator • Field Representative • Ground Support Volunteer • Young Eagles Humanitarian (presented for efforts to reach special needs Young Eagles) • Young Eagles Horizon Award (recognizing efforts to go beyond the basic Young Eagles flight) Awards will be presented at a special ceremony held at EAA AirVenture Muse um's Eagle Hangar on Wednesday, July 25. To download the official nomination form, visit www.YoungEagles.org/volunteers/award_nomination.pdf.

BY BUCK HILBERT

The very beginning of airworthiness certificates, pilot certificates For many years I've talked and writ ten about the beginnings of the Aero Club of America (ACA), now known as the National Aeronautic Associa tion (NAA). I've explained how this pioneer era appointed Orville Wright as the chairman of the Contest & Re cords Board, and how a pilot registra tion program came into being. The World War I pilots returning home were barnstorming and other wise doing their best to make a living in aviation. That led to attempts to register and somehow civilize these

"barnstormers" and promote some order and safety to their flying . It had one other side effect. No record at tempt or air show (or air meet, as they were called back then) could be staged without the approval of the Aero Club, which was affiliated with the international governing body the Fe deration Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) . The contestant was required to be a member of the Aero Club, which then issued a certification to the pi lot. Hence, the FAl"Sporting License" old-timers would show was signed by

Certifying Aircraft and Pilots

AIRWORTHINESS CERTIFICATE

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Orville Wright. It was a requirement of the federal government. No federal requirement for a pilot's certificate would come into being until the Air Commerce Act gave that authority and responsibility to the Department of Commerce on May 20, 1926. In all of the information I've read on the early days of the ACA, later the NAA, there was never any men tion of aircraft standards or airwor thiness certificates. I never ques tioned it, and as a matter of fact I never gave it a thought. Then along comes friend and Vin tage member "Mitch" Wohl from Barrington, Illinois, and he drops two books on my desk. The first one I picked up was titled A Symbol of Safety. This book was first published in 1923 and tells all about the found ing of the Underwriters Laboratories (UL). Reprinted in 1995, it goes into great detail as to the history of UL. I found it very interesting. The second book, published on the 100th anniversary of Underwrit ers Laboratories in 1994, amplifies a bit of the material that was pub-

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This airworthiness certificate was issued by an Underwriters Labora tories inspector, Maj. J. W. Jones, who deemed the Loening Air Yacht of Vincent Astor to be in airworthy condi tion. It is restricted to dayligbt flying "and over water only." Here's a photo of its sister ship, from the 1922 Air craft Yearbook. VINTAGE AIRPLANE

The book goes into

great detail

as to physical

standards for

airmen. There were

Loening monoplane "Flying Yacht," 100 h.p. Liberty engine, which made a world record for aHitude, with three passengers and pilot, 19,500 feet.

lished in the 1923 book. Its entire theme is "Making the World Safe for Technology." What a revelation, both regarding the organization 's history in general and its involve足 ment in aviation. The real beginnings were at the 1893 World's Fair at the Great White City in Chicago. The Electricity Building had frequent visits by the fire brigade in response to the new al足 ternating current electricity displays catching fire and causing problems. It was then that William Henry Merrill began his testing lab, which proved

electricity could be a servant rather than a master. "Our only function is to serve, not to profit. We are doing some足 thing for manufacturers, buyers, and property owners everywhere. We are doing things for humanity," was a direct quote from Merrill. This was the beginning of the lab. The lab was funded by corporations that wanted their products tested, as well as by the insurance underwriters themselves. From 1893 through 1905, the bud足 get expanded from a mere $3,000 to more than $300,000. During that

all sorts of tests

for altitude tolerance,

fatigue, and eyesight,

and their standards

specify annual physicals.

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srl'INSON 1..5 .JOCI'I~Y! 34

JUNE 2007

~ Call to order your copies today! time, more than 7,500 reports were published, the lab moved to larger quarters, it was chartered in Illinois, and the landmark inspection and label service was established. Within two years, UL inspectors were at work in 67 cit ies. UL got into everything: electrical, fire prevention, fire extinguishers, automobiles, oil and gasses, and transporta tion as well. That's where we come in, airplanes. When the first commercial airplane takes off here in the USA in the '20s, UL registers airplanes, certifies pilots, and issues the now rather quaint-sounding "Rules of the Air." I'm getting ahead of the full story, but in a nutshell, the National Aircraft Underwriters Association proposed and requested UL become the custodian of the official register of all aircraft pilots (other than government pilots) and take full charge of all details connected therewith. UL undertook this branch of the work on July I, 1921. The book goes into great detail as to physical stan dards for airmen. There were all sorts of tests for altitude tolerance, fatigue, and eyesight, and their standards specify annual physicals. No wonder the early birds were considered supermen! The next step was to create a register of commercial and private aircraft. On May I, 1922, UL began a nationwide inspection service in order to make it possible to issue cer tificates of airworthiness for individual aircraft. The details of the inspections and the people employed to conduct them is an early "Who's Who" in aviation. The inspections were very stringent and as demanding for the aircraft as they were for the pilots. And that, dear friends, is the story of the first airwor thiness certificates. They were all issued long before the Department of Commerce became involved, and of course long before the creation of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Federal Aviation Administration. Little by little the freedoms of flight have been whittled down and the myriad of Federal Aviation Regulations we live with came about, but here, fellow pilots and aircraft owners, was the very beginning, and it was the insurance I( people who started it all! Over to you, (( ~(,(~

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE

BY H.G . FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTH'S MYSTERY PLANE PHOTO IS A BIT OF A " MULLIGAN" FOR THOSE OF YOU

WHO HAVE ENJOYED L1GHTPLANES FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. STILL, NOT MUCH IS

PUBLISHED ABOUT THIS RATHER ATTRACTIVE AMPHIBIAN .

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

You can also send your response via e-mail. Send your answer to mysteryplane@eaa.org. Be sure to include your name, city, and state in the body of your note, and put I/(Month) Mystery Plane" in the subject line.

MARCH ' S MYSTERY ANSWER

36 J UN E 2007

nology...

olph Dope

Here's a little about the March Mystery Plane: The subject Mystery Plane ap pears to be the Longren NL-13 sin 2, X12538, built in 1932 by Albin K. Longren (1882-1950) in Kansas City, Missouri. Longren had been a design consultant for Butler Manu facturing Co. during the certifica tion of the Butler Blackhawk and built the NL-13 in the Butler facility with help from Butler employees. Butler had ceased production by that time in the depths of the Great Depression. The NL-13 had an all metal airframe except for wooden 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - wing spars and the fabric wing cov ering. The engine was a 120-hp Mar tin 333 inv e rted inline with four cylinders. The X12538 was the only NL-13 built and was not successful in reaching production, although it was an ea rly example of formed alu minum aircraft structures. My information comes from Aero files.com and from Chuck (Charles E.) Lebrecht's fine article entitled, A.K.

Longren - Pioneer Airman of the West, published in American Aviation Histori cal Society Journal , Vol.26, No.4, Win ter 1981 , pp.258-270. Lebrecht's article gives a great vjew of Longren's career as an aircraft designer and manufacturer. Jack Erickson State Coll ege, Pennsylvania Other correct answers were re ceived from WaIt House, Wich ita, Kansas; George Otto Snook, Monroe, Michigan; John Miller, Wamego, Kansas; Cam Bla ze r, Leawood, Kansas. An extensive ar ticl e on th e airplane and A.K. Lon gren, written by Wesley Smith, is also includ ed in this issue of Vin

tage Airplane.

.......

eners and bulkheads, the NL-13 fuselage had a safety factor able to absorb 16.83g ahead of the center of gravity (CG) and 11g aft of the CG. This made the fuselage of the NL-13 considerably stronger than that of the Stearman YBT-3, Boeing P-26A, Co n solidated P-30, and Boeing P-12B, with which it was compared, the YBT-3 having a maximum g-Ioading potential of 109 both fore and aft of the CG. While the re port recommended the possible adoption of Longren's construction techniques, or ders for the NL-13 were not forthcoming, and no further examples were built. With the demise of Butler, Longren went to work for himself, using a por tion of the former Butler factory at the Kansas City Municipal Airport. In 1933-34, Longren did the initial metal work on the Luscombe Phantom and developed metal-working techniques with his partner, Ivan Driggs. Plans for opening another aircraft factory were put on hold when Cess n a reopened their Wichita, Kansas facility in 1934 for production of the Cessna C-34. Cessna hired Longren as vjce-president, a posi

tion that he held until 1939 when he moved to Torrance, California to open the Longren Aircraft Company. While Longren built no further air craft, he became a successful subcon tractor of prefabricated components for other aircraft manufacturers. After the end of World War II, Longren sold his company and retired to a 3,OOO-acre ranch at Adin, Ca lifornia, where he passed away due to a heart condition on Nov. 19, 1950, at age 68. The defini tive Longren article was written by Mr. Charles E. Lebrecht and was published in the Winter 1981 edi tion of the American Aviation Historical Society Journal (Volume 26, Number 4, pages 258-270) . I a m indebted to Mr. Lebrecht's excellent research for the in formation in this piece. Further informa tion on A.K. Longren can be found in the pages of Aviation Quarterly (Mace, Ken neth D., Pioneer Airmen of Kansas. Vol ume 5, Number 2. Second Quarter, 1979, pages 152-163). Mr. Mace's article is also quite well-written and contains sever al beautiful photos of Longren's aircraft, as well as the 1908 Call Mayfly. ....... VINTAGE A I RPLANE

The fo llowing list ofcoming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not consti tute approval, sponsorship, involvement, control, or direction ofany event (fly-in, seminars, fly market, etc.) listed. To submit an event, send the information via mail to: Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903 3086. Or e-mail the information to: vintageaircraft@eaa.org. Informa tion should be received four months prior to the event date. JUNE S-IO-Union . IL-Poplar Grove Airport Army Wings and Wheels. Info Vintage Wings & Wheels Museum 815-547·3115 Tom Murray hiwheel@sbcglobal.net JUNE 14-17-St. Louis, MO-Dauster Flying Field Creve Coeur Airport (lHO). American Waco Club Fly·ln. Info: Phil Coulson 269 624-6490 or rcoulson516@cs .com www. americanwacoclub.com JUNE 20-2l--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. 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 JUNE 22-24-Gardner, KA-Gardner Municipal Airport, (K34) Greater KC VAA Chapter 16 Fly-in Contact Kevin Pratt 816-985-3248 JUNE 23-Zanesville, OH-Riverside Airport (OH36) EM Chapter 425 Pancake Breakfast 8:00 AM till 2:00 PM All you can eat pancakes, sausage and drink $5.00 for adu lts $2.50 for children under six. Lunch items served after 11:00PM Contact: Chuck Bruckelmeyer (740) 454-7487 JUNE 30-Chetek. WI-The Chetek WI (Y23) 9AM car show. craft fair and show. a professional horse pull and a water ski show. Plenty of food and drink available throughout the day. For more info contact Chuck Harrison 715-456-8415 fixdent@ chibardun.net or Tim Knutson 715-237 2477 n3nknut@citizens-tel.net JUNE 31-Russellville , KY- Russellville-Logan County Airport (4M7) 9th Annual All You Can Eat BarBQ Lunch 11:00am - 2:00pm Rain Date July 5th Aircraft displays, skydiving, door prizes Everyone welcome For more information: eaal165@yahoo. com, www.angelfire.com/ ky3/ eaal165. Joe Lawrence 270-726-1558 JULY 4-Mt. Morris, IL-Ogle County Airport (C55) EM Chapter 682 Fly-In Breakfast 7am-llam For information call Dr. Glen Orr 815-735-7268 JULY 6-8--All iance, Oh (2Dl)-Taylorcraft and Ohio Aeronca Aviator's Fly-In. See the airplanes built in Alliance, OH & Middletown ,

JU N E 2007

OH and the people that built them. Camping, motels. food all day. fbarber@alliancelink.com 330823-1168 bwmatzllac@yahoo.com 216 337-5643 http://www.oaaf/y-in.com. see www.barberaircraft.com for airport diagrams. Breakfast served Sat & Sun 7AM to 11AM by EM Chapter # 82 JULY 14-Zanesville, OH-Parr Airport (OH36) EM Chapter 425 Pancake Breakfast 8:00 AM till 2:00 PM All you can eat pancakes, sausage and drink $5.00 for adults $2.50 for children under six. Lunch items served after 11:00PM Contact: Chuck Bruckelmeyer (740) 454-7487 AUGUST 5-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 18--Forest Lake, MN-(25D)-Airport Fly-in and Open House lOam - 4pm. 24 hour gas and 24-hour grass : 3000-foot 31/ 13. Forest Lake Lions serve brats , corn-<>n-the-cob and ice cream. 100LL is available John Schmidt EM 250021 St. Paul . Minnesota 651 776 1717 AUGUST IS-I9-Long Island , NY- Bayport (23N) Annual Antique Aeroplane Fly-In Old time movies. popcorn , pig roast, flour bomb drop and spot landing contest with the days ending in the in famous" Sheep Shagger Baa For more info www.AACGNY. org or email Stuart Bain at Sbain@ emediaofny. com AUGUST 19-Brookfield, WI-Capitol Airport (02C). Ice Cream Social and vintage Aircraft Display, VAA Chapter 11. Dean London . 262-442-4622 AUGUST 2S-Niles MI-Jerry Tyler Memorial. Airport (3TR) VAA Chapter 35 Annual Corn & Sausage Roast Lunch served 11:00am

to 3:00 pm. Rain date on Sunday, August. 26th Donations of $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children under 12 Contact Len Jansen tripacerlen@yahoo.com 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 I -Zanesville, OH-Riverside Airport (OH36) EM Chapter 425 Pancake Breakfast 8:00 AM till 2:00 PM All you can eat pancakes, sausage and drink $5.00 for adults $2 .50 for children under six. Lunch items served after 11:00PM Contact: Chuck Bruckelmeyer Phone: (740) 454-7487 SEPTEMBER 2-Mondovi, WI-21st Annual Log Cabin Airport Fly-In. Doug Ward , Owner/ Operator. 715-287-4205. Lunch @ noon. SEPTEMBER 8-Newark, Ohio-Newark Heath Airport (VTA) Annual Fly-In/ Drive In Breakfast " Pancakes and More, " Young Eagles Flights, Vintage Airplanes , Classic Cars, Tom McFadden 740-587 2312; email : EAA402@adelphia.net SEPTEMBER 9-Mt. Morris, IL-Ogle County Airport (C55) EM Chapter 682 Fly-In Breakfast 7am-12pm For information call Dr. Glen Orr 815-735-7268 SEPTEMBER 21-22- Bartlesville , OK-Frank Phillips Field (BVO). 51st Annual Tulsa Regional Fl y-In . Antiques , Classics . Light Sport, Warbirds , Forum , Type Clubs. Info : Charlie Harris 918-622 8400 www.tulsaf/yin.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 OCTOBER 5-7-St. Louis, MO-Creve Coeur Airport (lHO) The Monocoupe Club Fly-In & Reunion www.monocoupe.com OCTOBER IO-I4-Tuliahoma . TN-" Beech Birthday Party 2007 " Staggerwing. Twin Beech 18, Bonanza, Baron . Beech owners& enthusiasts. Info 931 455-1974

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FLy-INS For details on EM Chapter fly·ins and other local avi· ation events, visit www.eaa.orgjevents Golden West EAA Regional Ay-In Yuba County Airport (MYV), Marysville, CA June 29·July 1, 2007 www.Go/denWestRy/n.org Rocky Mountain EAA Regional Ay.Jn Front Range Airport (FTG), Watkins, CO June 23-24, 2007 wwwRMRR.org Arlington EAA Ay-In Arlington Municipal Airport (AWO), Arlington, WA July 11-15, 2007 www.NWEAA.org EAA AlrVenture Oshkosh Wittman Regional Airport (OSH), Oshkosh, WI July 23-29, 2007 www.AirVenture.org EAA Mld-Eastem Regional Ay-In Mansfield Lahm Airport, Mansfield, OH August 25-26, 2007 http://MERR. info Virginia Regional EAA Ay-In Dinwiddie County Airport (PTB), Petersburg, VA October 6-7 , 2007 www.VAEAA.org EAA Southeast Regional Ay-In Middleton Field Airport (GZH), Evergreen, AL October 12-14, 2007 www.SERR.org Copperstate Regional EAA Ay.Jn Casa Grande (Arizona) Municipal Airport (CGZ) October 25-28, 2007 www.copperstate.org

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Classified Word Ads: $5.50 per 10 words , 180 words maximum , with boldface lead-in on first line. Classified Display Ads: One column wide (2.167 inches) by 1 , 2, or 3 inches high at $20 per inch. Black and white only, and no frequency discounts. Advertising Closing Dates: 10th of second month prior to desired issue date (i.e., January 10 is the closing date for the March issue). VAA reserves the right to reject any advertising in conflict with its policies. Rates cover one insertion per issue. Classified ads are not accepted via phone. Payment must accompany order. Word ads may be sent via fax (920-426-4828) or e-mail (c/assads@eaa.org) using credit card payment (all cards accepted). Include name on card, complete address , type of card, card number, and expiration date. Make checks payable to EAA . Address advertising correspondence to EAA Publications Classified Ad Manager, P.O. Box 3086 , Oshkosh , WI 54903-3086.

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

Vice· President

Geoff Robison 152 1 E. MacG regor Dr. New H ave n, IN 46774 260·493·4724 cllie{702S@aol.com

George Daubner

Secretary Steve Nesse

2448 Lough Lane Hartford, WI 53027 262·673·5885

vaa{1yboy@msll.com

Treasurer Ch arles W. Harris

2009 Highland Ave. Albert Lea, M 56007 507·373· 1674

stnes@deskmedia.com

72 15 East 46th Sl.

Tulsa , OK 74 147

9 18·622·8400

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DIRECTORS Jeann ie Hill

Steve Bender 85 Brush Hill Road Sherborn, MA 01770 508·653·7557 sst 10@com cas t .llet

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375 Ki lldeer Ct

Lincoln , CA 95648

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alltiqller@illrmch.com

John Berendt 7645 Echo Point Rd. Ca nnon Fa ll s, M N 55009 507· 263·24 14 mjb(cIJld@rcOflll(xt.collJ

Dave Clark

635 Vestal Lane

Plainfi eld, IN 46168

3 17·839·4500

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815·943·7205

dillghacMvwc.l1t't Espie "Butch" Joyce 704 N. Regional Rd . Greensboro, NC 27409 336·668·3650 willdsock@aol.com

St eve Keog

1002 Heather Ln.

Hartfo rd, WI 53027 262·966· 7627 sskroS@(loi.com

Robert D. "Bob" Lumley 1265 South 124th Sl. Brookfield, WI 53005 262·782·2633 illmper@ext'cpc.com

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Gene Morris 5936 Steve Court

Northborough , MA 0 I 532 508·393·4775 copeiomll @;ullO.COlll

Roa n oke, TX 76262 8 17·49 1·9 1 IO gene,norris@Clwrter.l1et

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Dean Richardson

284 15 Springbrook Dr. Lawton , M I 49065 269·624·6490

1429 Kings Lynn Rd Stoughto n, W I 53589 608·877·8485 dar@apri/aire.colf1

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Dal e A. G ustafson 7724 Shady Hills Dr. Indianapoli s, IN 46278 3 17·293·4430 daie{aye@msll.com

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Ge ne Chase

E.E. " Buck" Hilbert

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