VA-Vol-4-No-7-July-1976

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..THE RESTORER'S CORNER Beginning with this issue your officers and directors are asking for your help in inaugurating a Division membership drive. You probably have already noticed the new member applications in the envelope with your magazine. Please give them to your friends, acquaintences, and EAA chapter members who are interested in antique and classic air­ craft. We all know aviation enthusiasts who are interested in a par­ ticular organization and who even borrow a copy of its publication to read whenever they can, but just do not join because no one puts a membership application in their hands. Here is your opportunity to con­ vert these individuals from bystander status to active status.

From now through December each of your envelopes containing The Vintage Airplane will also contain several new member application blanks. This means that each of you will receive a total of 18 or more new member applications. Your officers and directors ask you to help them do a little missionary work and distribute these applications to those whom you know to be interested in vintage aircraft. Tell them what you think of the Division and the magazine, and point out to them the benefits of membership. If each member will only get three of these applications into the hands of sincere enthusiasts who will join the Division, we shall have the largest organization dedicated to the preservation of antique and classic aircraft in the world, and the loudest voice in Washington to help preserve our form of flying. We do not mean to imply that we only want you to use three of these new member applications. On the con­ trary, we would like to see each of you get all of them into the hands of sincere enthusiasts.

The benefits of increasing our membership by eighteen or more times its present size would be unbelievable. For instance, we could more than double the size of this magazine each month, and we could have many more color photos in it. We could increase the scope of our activities at the Oshkosh Convention. We could possibly sponsor annual regional conventions for those who could not get to Oshkosh. The horizon is almost limitless if we have enough members to help and enough money with which to work. So you can see that with each of you receiving eirhteen or more applications over the next six months and using them where they will do the most good, your Division membership potential is almost unlimited.

by J. R. NIELANDER, JR.

This is the last issue of The Vintage Airplane before Oshkosh '76.

We would like to again take this opportunity to invite each of you to attend "the world's greatest aviation event", and, while you are there, to visit with us at the Antique/Classic Division Headquarters Barn which is located about one quarter mile south of the Oshkosh airport control tower. We would very much enjoy meeting each of you personally.

As we mentioned a couple of months ago in this column, your Divi­ sion committees all need help during the convention. Please stop by the Division Headquarters Barn and volunteer your services for a couple of three hour shifts on one of the committees . Your help is sorely needed and will be very much appreciated by your officers, chairman and fellow members.

While on the subject of Oshkosh, we would like to clarify the remarks in the "Hot Line from Headquarters" column in the May issue of SPORT AVIATION and Tom Poberezny's " Whistling in the Rigging" column in the May issue of this magazine concerning antique and classic display aircraft registration and the awarding of trophies. The EAA Board of Direc­ tors has found it necessary to limit display aircraft registration and eligibility for championship awards and trophies to those homebuilt air­ craft which are owned by EAA members. Your Antique/Classic Division Board of Directors, facing the same problems, are in complete agreement with this policy. Due to the definite limitation of space in the Antique/ Classic Display Aircraft Parking Area, they have determined that only those antique and classic aircraft owned by Antique/Classic Division mem­ bers and/or EAA members shall be eligible to register as display aircraft and thus be eligible to be awarded championships and trophies.

This does not mean that we do not want the non-member to attend and to bring his show-quality antique or classic aircraft. Quite the con­ trary, we cordially invite the non-member to come to Oshkosh, to join the Antique/Classic Division and/or the EAA on his arrival, to register his aircraft for judging, to display his show-quality antique or classic in the Antique/Classic Display Aircraft Parking Area, and so hopefully take home one of our coveted prizes .

SEE YOU AT OSHKOSH!

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE

EDITORIAL STAFF

ANTIQUE / CLASSIC DIVISION of THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

JULY 1976

Publisher Paul H. Poberezny

Editor AI Kelch

ANTIQUE AND CLASSIC DIVISION OFFICERS PRESIDENT J. R. NIELANDER, JR .

P. O. BOX 2464 FT. LAUDERDALE , FL 33303

VICE-PRESIDENT MORTON LESTER P. O. BOX 3747 MARTINSVILLE, VA 24112

SECRETARY RICHARD WAGNER P. O. BOX 181 LYONS, WI 53148

TREASURER E. E. " BUCK " HILBERT 8102 LEECH RD. UNION, IL 60180

Directors Term expires August '77

Term expires August ' 76

Claude L. Gray, Jr.

9635 Sylvia Avenue

Northridge , California 91324

AI Kelch

7018 W . Bonniwell Road

Mequon , Wisconsin 53092

James B. Horne

3840 Coronation Road

Eagan , Minnesota 55122

Evander M . Britt

Box 1525

Lumberton , North Carolina 28358

George E. Stubbs

Box 113

Brownsburg , Indiana 46112

M . C. " Kelly " Viets RR 1. Box 151 Stilwell . KS 66085

William J. Ehlen

Route 8, Box 506

Tampa, Florida 33618

Jack C. Winthrop 3536 Whitehall Drive Dal13s, Texas 75229

Assistant Editor

Lois Kelch

Centributing Editors

H. N. " Dusty" Rhodes

Evander Britt

Jim Barton

Claude Gray

Ed Escallon

Rod Spanier

Dale Gustafson

Henry Wheeler

Morton Lester

Kelly Viets

Bob Elliot

Jack Lanning

Bill Thumma

Glenn Buffington

ADVISORS

VOLUME 4

The Restorer's Corner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

The Flight Of The "Lone Eagle" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

Open, NASM .. ........ .. ... . . .. . ... . .... ...... . .... .... . .. . ..

Vintage Album . ....... . . . ....... .. ...........................

A Silver Eagle .... . . . . ... . . ... ............. .. ... .. . . .. . .......

AntiquelCiassic Activities Schedule, Oshkosh '76 . . .. .. .. .. ... ....

Calendar Of Events .................................... . .. . ....

Whistling In The Rigging ... . . .. .... . . .... .. ... .. . .... ... ......

The U.s. Mail ........... ....... ..................... .. ... . " ..

THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE is owned exclusively by Antique Classic Aircraft, In c. and is published monthly at Hales Corners, Wisconsin 53130. Second class Postage paid at Hales Corners Post Office , Hales Cor足 ners , Wisconsin 53130 and Random Lake Posf Office, Random Lake , Wisconsin 53075. Membership rates for Antique Classic aircraft, Inc. at $10.00 per 12 month period of which $7.00 is for the publication to THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE. Membership is open to all who are interested in aviation,

Postmaster: Send Form 3579 to Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc., Box 229,

Hales Corners, Wisconsin 53130

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EDITOR ' S NOTE:

W. Brade Thomas , Jr.

30t Dodson Mill Road

Pilot Mountain . North CArolina 27041

Robert A . White

1207 Falcon Drive

Qrlando , Florida 32803

NUMBER 7

S.o.S. Send Old Stories

LET'S ALL LEND A HAND TO DIG OUT HISTORY THAT WILL OTHERWISE BE LOST IN TIME

ON THE COVER

The Spirit of St. Louis " The Spirit of Flight" painted by Ralph Steele.

PICTURE BOX (Back Cover)

Matty Laird "s Bone Shaker see The Silver Ealge page 15.

Copyright " 1976 Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc. All Right s Reserved.

2

The Flight Of The

"Lone Eagle"

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Between May 20 and June 29, 1927, three small planes flew the Atlantic nonstop from New York to the European continent. No solo flight had ever done that before. The first of them, and the only one with just one human aboard, was the "Spirit of St. Louis" a single/engined Ryan monoplane flown by Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. His flight electrified the world, created an enormously favorable climate for the primitive science of aviation, and gave humanity a genuine hero. Lindbergh's attempt to avoid the status of hero only added to the worship that was heaped upon h'1m.

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Charles Lindbergh, "Slim" to his friends, "Lucky Lindy" to the press, and finally "the Lone Eagl e" to the world, set out to make the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris. Aside from the financial help of a few friends, he had only himself to rely on .

It was one thing to get the idea that he could fly froni New York to Paris and quite another for Lindbergh to do it.

First, he had to raise the necessary money. He wasn't rich, he wasn't famous and he didn't have wealthy friends.

Second, he had to find a plane that could stay in the air long enough to make the flight. That wasn't a simple matter of contact­ ing an airplane manufacturer and offering to buy his longest range plane. There were no stock model planes with such a range.

Third, he had to get the money and the plane and take-off before anyone else . Several other pilots with qualifications better than Lindbergh's (at least on paper) were already raising funds and having planes built for them.

Raising the money - $10,000 was Lindbergh's first estimate - turned out to be the easiest of the three tasks. Lindbergh himself had saved $2,000. He went to Major Lambert, who ran Lambert Field in St. Louis, and got a quick promise of another $1,000. Then, after being turned down by the St. Louis Dispatch, Lindbergh went to Harry Knight, president of the St. Louis fly­ ing club. Knight eventually introduced him to Harold Bixby, of the State National Bank. Bixby listened to Lindbergh, considered the publicity value of th e flight to the city of St. Louis and to avia­ tion, and weighed the $25,000 in prize money that a successful flight would bring . After a few days, he told Lindbergh he'd guar­ antee the rest of the money.

On Feb. 23, Lindbergh arrived by train in San Diego to see B. F. Mahoney, president of the Ryan Company. Here he found a friendly atmosphere. Together with Donald Hall, the firm's chief engineer, Lindbergh figllred out how to modify an existing Ryan design to meet his needs - larger gas tanks, bigger wings, a set back cabin, etc. They agreed on a total price of $10,000 .

Meanwhile, his competitiors were gaining on him Rodman Wanamaker announced he would finance a New York-Paris trip by Lt . Commander Richard E. Byrd, to the tune of $100,000. Igor Sikor­ sky was building another plane for the Frenchman, Rene Fonck .

The American Legion made it known it would spend $100,000 to sponsor Commander Noel Davis, who would fly a Keystone Pathfinder biplane dubbed th e" America n Legion".

There was competition on the other side of the Atlantic, too. On March 26, Capt. Charles Nungesser, one of France's top aces in WWI, announced he would pilot the French "White Bird" across the Atlantic, aided by Lt. Francois Coli.

But bad luck struck his competitors, one by one .

On April 16, Byrd 's plane crashed, injuring three out of the four crew members. On April 24, the Bellanca had a minor crackup. Two da ys later, the " American Legion" crashed on take-off, killing Commander Davis and his copilot.

On April 28, just two months after construction had begun, the "Spirit of St. Louis" was finished.

On May 8, the newspapers were filled with reports about Nungesser and Coli . On their second take-off attempt, they lofted their 450 hp single-engined plane into the air near Paris and headed for the United States. But nothing was ever heard from them again.

On May 10, Lindbergh flew the "Spirit of St. Louis" from San Diego to Lambert Field in St. Louis. Over the Rockies the engine began to sputter. He dropped down low, looking for an emergency field. But the engine smoo thed out and made it to St. Louis, while Lindbergh vowed to add a carburetor air heater when he got to New York.

On May 12, Lindbergh and his plane left Lambert Field, after he'd picked up his pilots license (a new formality) and refueled. Seven hours later, he was over New York City.

Lindbergh flew over Long Island inspecting the three airports there - Mitchell Field, the army air­ port; Curtiss's landing strip, and Roosevelt Field. He landed at the Curtiss strip near Mineola , a short dis­ tance from Roosevelt Field.

The night of the 19th, Dick Blythe, a Wright publicity man, arranged for Lindbergh to go into the city and see the hit musical comedy Rio Rita. The young aviator never made it to the theater . While driving down 42nd St., he decided to give Doc Kimball a call. The weather over the Atlantic was suddenly clearing, and he resolved to fly out at dawn.

The party turned around and headed back toward Long Island. They ate in a small restaurant at Queens­ boro Plaza. At a nearby drugstore, they bought five sandwiches to go to Paris two ham, two roast beef, one hard-boiled egg.

Lindbergh returned to the Garden City Hotel where he was staying and tried to get some sleep.

He was awakened once by a noisy newsmen's poker

game, and again by the guard he'd posted to keep anyone from awakering him. "Slim," the guard had said, "what am I going to do when you're gone?"

Lindbergh managed to answer politely, but that ended his sleep for the night.

In the morning, Lindbergh climbed into the " Spirit of St. Louis" and revved up the engines. Just before he started his run down Roosevelt Field, Byrd came over to wish him farewell. Byrd's plane still wasn't ready, though by July he and Chamberlin both had made the crossing neither flight solo.

The tall (6'3") young Lindbergh buckled his safety belt, pulled his goggles over his eyes, turned to the men at the wheel chocks and nodded .

"I brace myself against the left side of the cock­ pit, sight along the edge of the runway and ease the throttle wide open . .. The plane creeps heavily for­ ward. Several men are pushing on wing struts to help it start, pushing so hard I'm afraid the struts will buckle ."

The plane moved ponderously down the sod. Just past the halfway mark, the wheels left the ground for a moment. The next time the wheels left the ground with a thousand feet of runway left Lindbergh kept them up. The "Spirit of St. Louis" cleared the tangle of telephone wires at the end of the runway by 20 feet.

Officially, the plane took-off at 7:52 on a Friday morning, May 20th. Almost exactly 33 hours and 30 minutes later, the young American landed his plane at Le Bourget airport in Paris, at 10:22 p.m., local time.

Lindbergh himself has twice told the story of that flight, first in "We," written in the months that followed his triumphant return to the United States, then, in more detail, in "The Spirit of St. Louis," published in 1955.

The flight began uneventfully, with Lindbergh losing the last of the newspaper photo planes some­ 4

where over eastern Long Island. He was almost a tourist, admiring the "great landscaped estates of Long Island," marvelling at "how these northeastern states are crowded together."

As the third hour of flight began, the coastline of the United States faded out of sight. An hour later, he was feeling drowsy. At noon of the first day, 400 miles from New York and averaging 102 mph, Lindbergh sighted Nova Scotia . If fog had covered the coast, he'd planned to turn back. But there was no fog. He weathered a brief Nova Scotia thunderstorm with relative ease - all the while nervously scanning the ground below for a good landing spot. This was a habit of all the early fliers.

As the eighth hour began, Lindbergh hit a thin strip of fog hovering above the shore of Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland. Now the drowsiness was really beginning to get him. " .. . This is only afternoon, yet I'm experiencing symptoms I've never known in the past until dawn was closer than midnight. If sleep weighs so heavily on me now, how can I get through the night, to say nothing of the dawn and another day, it's night, and possibly even the dawn after?"

He decided to alter his course a bit to pass over St. John's, Newfoundland, so that people would know he'd come that far.

About 6:30 he came on it, " .. . after skimming over the top of a creviced granite summit - flat-roofed houses and stores, nestled at the edge of a deep har­ bor ... There's no time to circle, no fuel to waste. It takes only a moment, stick forward, engine throttled, to dive down over the waves (men stop their after­ supper chores to look upward) over the ships in the harbor (a rowboat's oars lose their rhythm as I pass) and out through the gap, that doorway to the Atlantic . . . North America and its islands are behind. Ireland is 2,000 miles ahead ."

In Yankee Stadium that night, two heavyweights, Jim Maloney and Jack Sharkey, were set to fight. A crowd of 40,000 filled the stadium . John Lardner, the sportswriter, described the scene.

"Joe Humphreys, a little announcer with a bow tie and a voice of brass, arose in the pool of light in the cente r of the darkness and called for silence and prayer. He said that Lindbergh was now 300 miles at sea, past Newfoundland. The entire place went silent and everybody stood with bared heads."

At sea, Lindbergh was headed for trouble. He was moving into a gathering haze, with thick, heavy clouds ahead. He climbed to get over them.

The fourtee nth hour found him not yet halfway to Paris, with clouds within a few hundred fe e t of his 5

wheels. "There's no doubt now that a storm area lies ahead . I keep climbing, slowly, higher and higher ... " It wasn't soon enough. Soon, Lindbergh was among the clouds. In moments, he found himself fight­ ing not only his own almost overwhelming desire to sleep, but also ice on the wings .

Fortunately, he soon located enough clear air to stop the icing. What he couldn't find was an antidote to his sleepiness. More and more, he was flying in a sort of daze.

"Am I alive, or am I really dead, a spirit in a spirit world? Am I actually in a plane boring through the air, over the Atlantic, toward Paris, or have I crashed on some worldly mountain and is this the afterlife?"

"I cup my hands into the slipstream, diverting a strong current of air against my face . . . I let my eyelids fall shut for five seconds, then raise them against tons of weight. Protesting, they won't open wide until I force them with my thumb."

For hours, Lindbergh went on like this. By sheer force of will, he strove to stay awake. The clouds and fog vanished and reappeared, as did his conscious­ ness.

Time and again, the "Spirit of St. Louis" drifted off course. But the plane - flying at between 90 and 100 mph - was running smoothly, presenting no mechanical difficulties whatever.

Lindbergh noted the moment when he'd been aloft exactly 24 hours.

He discovered a small St. Christopher medal in his pocket, put there by someone unknown.

He was almost fooled by a low patch of fog into believing that he'd reached land - far off course.

Nearly 27 hours after he took-off, "it catches my eye, that black speck on the water two or three miles southeast. A boat! A small boat! Several small boats . . . I couldn't be wider awake or more keenly aware if the engine had stopped."

At the beginning of the 28th hour of his flight, Lindbergh spotted Ireland . "I can hardly believe it's true. I'm almost exactly on my route, closer than I had hoped to come in my wildest dreams .. . " Now, the young aviator was only 600 miles from Paris, no more than a round trip on his mail route . The rest of the trip was downhill. Lindbergh was fully awake now, convinced that every major obstacle was behind him.

The "Spirit of St. Louis" flew over Ireland, over England, across the English Channel, over Normandy, toward Paris.

"Judging from my nose tank, I have enough fuel to reach Rome . How surprised people back home would be if I ca ble them from Rome instead of Paris."

Throughout the flight, he was convinced that he'd have to notify his friends of his ultimate landing!

As the 32nd hour began, Lindbergh hit the coast of France, Cape de la Hague. He reached Cherbourg as the sun set, exultantly aware that he'd made the first nonstop airplane flight between the continents of America and Europe.

For a time his attention turned to what lay ahead of him in Paris. He planned first to cable news of his success to the United States, to make arrangements for his plane, meet with the press, buy a new suit and a toothbrush, then tour the city.

He flew over Deauville. "People come running out as I skim low over their houses - blue-jeaned peasants, white-aproned wives, children scrambling between them." He ate the first of his drugstore sandwiches, part of another. He never touched the last three, for suddenly he spotted what must be Paris on the hori­ zon . "Gradually, avenues, parks and buildings take outline form; and there, far below, a little offset from the center, is a column of lights, pointing upward, changing angles as I fly - the Eiffel Tower. I circle once above it and turn northeastward toward Le Bourget."

For a few moments, Lindbergh wasn't sure he'd found the airport. There were no great beacon lights (few airports had them in that day), but there were many smaller lights bunched up around what ap­ peared to be runways. He decided it must be Le Bourget (while telling himself any Parisian airport would be fine).

He dropped down for a landing on the small corner of the field that was lighted.

Carefully, Lindbergh touched down in the lighted area. He swung the plane around and started to taxi back toward the floodlights and hangars. "But the entire field ahead is covered with running figures ."

"I had barely cut the engine switch when the first people reached my cockpit. Within seconds my open windows were blocked with faces. My name was called out over and over again . . . I opened the door and started to put my foot down onto the ground, but dozens of hands took hold of me - my legs, my arms, my body."

"After the lapse of minutes whose number I can­ not judge, I felt my helmet jerked from my head.

Firmer hands gripped my body. I heard my name more clearly spoken . And suddenly, I was standing on my feet, on European ground at last."

Despite the publicity he'd had in New York, Lind­ bergh hardly thought of himself as famous . Even in those final minutes of his flight, as he'd circled over the Eiffel Tower, he was, in his own, mind at least,

a tourist - a n d one witho u t a visa, at that. He had letters of introduction with him, and a bank check for $500 to cover his expenses. He was tota lly unaware that the eyes of the w h ole world were riveted on him.

His notion that he needed in troduc­ tions or that he must wire news of arrival was wholly superfluous. He was spotted, as he had hoped, over St. John's.

He was almost immediately identified when he hit the coast of Ireland. Once again, as he passed over England, he was recognized from the ground. He was seen as he flew over Deauville and Cherbourg. And, on each occasion, newspapers the world over reported his progress in bigger and blacker headlines, while radio announcers cried the word in countless languages to a tuned-in earth .

A lot happened to Lindbergh after tha t fa mous flight. He met his future wife An ne Morrow, daughter of Dwight Morrow, U.S . Ambassador to Mexico, when Lindbergh visited Mexico, with the "Spirit of St. Louis" . They lost a son in the most famous kidnapping of all time. As a result, kidnapping was made a federal offense in the "Lind­ bergh Law". He got involved in isola­ tion politics as WWII approached, just as his father had during anoth er war.

Yet he also served in th e Pacific during the war, flying combat missions in P-38 fighters with the 475th Fighter Group, in New Guinea and elsewhere.

In the Pacific th eater he proved that it was possible to greatly reduce a plane's fuel consumption by throttling back at altitude, increasing manifold pressure and propeller bi te. These techniques allowed the P-38's to fly cover for bombing missions hundreds of miles farther than th e Japa n ese ex­ pected.

Lindbergh 's flig h t stirred the world more than Colu mb u s' voyage had s tirred it in 1492. A lone man, guid ed almost entirely by faith in himself and h is ship, had opened up o ne of the last fro n tiers on earth - th e air frontier.

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There have been greater ach ievements since Lindbergh 's flight, but his may have been the last great solo adventure of mankind. The moon-landing astronauts, for al/ their skill and courage, were mainly daring passengers on missions backed by thousands of experts and the resources of the world's richest nation. When one says " the Lone Eagle," anyone who was alive in 1927 knows that there was only one - Charles A. Lindbergh.

6

When one thinks of the new National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., the picture that comes to mind is one of a large collection of space vehicles, rockets, jets, modern commercial jets and warbirds, helicopters, balloons and airships, but that is not the full story. General aviation also is well represented, and antique and classical aircraft are anything but forgotten.

The new three-block-long museum of the Smith­ sonian Institution on the Mall opened to the public July 1, and the collection of aviation and space exhibits is almost breathtaking. Former astronaut Michael Collins, who rode to the moon on Apollo 11 and who now is NASM director, estimates that 50,000 people a day will visit the museum and, he said, they won't be able to see it all in just one day.

Members of the Experimental Aircraft Association can take pride in the fact that the EAA and a number of its members had a direct part in some of the exhibits of 65 historic aircraft. Remember the beautifully re­ stored Al Williams' "Gulfhawk II" that was one exhibit at the EAA's Air Education Museum at Frank­ lin, Wisconsin? Well, it's hanging now in a prominent place in the new NASM. The Grumman G-22 "Gulf­ hawk II" had been on temporary loan to EAA while the $40 million NASM was being built.

And the next time you visit the Air Education Museum, take special notice of the Bell P-39Q still there. That plane is on loan from the Smithsonian and someday in the future will take its place with other aircraft in the NASM .

Collins said that the 6S aircraft in the NASM do not constitute the entire national collection by any means. Two hundred more, like the P-39Q, are either on temporary exhibit in other museums in the country or are in storage at the NASM's facility at Silver Hill, Maryland . Also at the EAA museum, for example, are NASM's Helio HeJioplane No . 1, Laird Super Solution, Nakajima " Oscar", North American XP-51 prototype, Phalz D. XII, Stits SA-2, and S.E. SA. Collins said that all aircraft, except those "firsts" in the main Milestones of Flight Gallery, will be rotated anywhere from six months to a year or every four or five years because the NASM has so many more aircraft deserving of public view.

The untouchables in the main gallery range from space vehicles to antiques and include the Apollo 11 command module which brought man to the moon, John Glenn's Friendship 7 in which he became the first American to orbit the earth, the Bell X-I, first aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound, and the North American X-IS, first aircraft to fly at four, five and six times the speed of sound.

Tail of inverted Spad VII in view above Fokker.

Antiques and Classics are well represented.

But if the old planes are what give your spine a chill, along with those sophisticated space and super­ sonic vehicles are Samuel P. Langley's Model 5, his 1896 pilotless aircraft, the Wright Brothers 1903 Kitty Hawk Flyer and Charles A. Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis" .

Orville and Wilbur Wright and the Flyer started it all at Kill Devil Hill in North Carolina on Dec. 17, 1903, and Lindbergh gave aviation a tremendous boost when he flew the "Spirit" from New York to

Paris on May 20, 1927, to become the first man to fly solo, nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. Antique airplane buffs can be proud of that fact that Collins said that the small Ryan NYP easily will be the most popular aircraft in the museum.

In the Gallery of Air Transportation, devoted to airline development, the old planes again get the stop­ light, and in two of them the EAA figured prominently.

The hall contains a 1927 Pitcairn Mailwing PA-S from Eastern Air Lines, a 1929 Fairchild FC-2 from Panagra, 8

Above left: Lindbergh's Ryan NYP proudly hangs in its New Home. One of the most historic planes in any museum .

Left: Backer Jungmeister , " Bevo " Howard's familiar plane. Many of us have fond memories of the old pro and his mount. Bevo favored this plane to his last ride.

a 1937 Douglas DC-3 from Eastern ,Air足 lines, a 1929 Ford 5-AT-B Trimotor from American Airlines, a 1930 Northrop Alpha from TWA and a 1934 Boeing 247D from United Airlines.

The EAA participated in the eventual exhibition of the Northrop Alpha in the NASM. Records show that the Northrop, NCll Y, the third Alpha built, was first delivered to National Air Transport, a predecessor company of United Air足 lines, in late 1930 as an Alpha 2. United on Nov. 30, 1931, sold it to TWA in Kansas City and TWA in 1932 converted it to an Alpha 4-A, cargo only version.

It was sold by TWA in 1935. Alpha ','

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Above : Army Air Service nonstop coast to coast is still faintly visable on the side. Note the three unusual windows.

(Fokker T-2 to the right and Curtiss R3C-2 racer on floats in background.)

NCll Y operated on the East Coast for a while and then was returned to Kan足 sas City, Kansas. Then it vanished.

Foster Hannaford, Jr. of Winnetka, Illinois, acquired NCll Y and another Alpha in the late '40s or early '50s with the intention of restoring them and stored them on his farm. He died in 1971, and his will stipulated that they go to EAA. The two planes, in poor condition, were stored at the EAA's Burlington, Wisconsin, facility.

When the Smithsonian in 1973 learned of the existence of the Alphas, it asked the EAA if it could restore one for the NASM. But, since it didn ' t have the facilities for the job, it was turned over

Above: Turner RT-14 Racer. Turner 's trade mark the lion was forever with him . One of his racers had a painting of the lion on the wheel pants.

Above right : Lindberghs ' Lockheed Sirius. The plane the Lindberghs flew to the Orient. He pioneered the air route now used.

Right: Grumman G-22 " Gulfhawk /I".

This was on loan to the EAA during construction of NASM.

to TWA fo r a volunteer re stora ti o n pro je ct a t TW A's Techni cal S e rvices C e nt e r a t Ka n sas City Int e rn a ti o n a l Airport.

The Unite d 247D is in th e NAS M be­ cau se o f th e p e r s ua s ive qualiti es of E. E. "B u ck" Hilbert, form e r preside nt of th e Antique and Classic Divi sio n of EAA . Hilb e rt, of Union, Illin o is, a Unite d Airlin es DC-8 captain, h ea d ed a committee of a ntique exp e rt s, in­ cludin g Micha el X. Drabik of Chicago, which insp ected the re mains of the 247D a t Silv e r Hill a yea r and a h a lf ago.

Based o n a s trong recommenda tio n by Hilbe rt , Unite d officia ls mad e a g ra nt of $27, 000 fo r th e old plane's resto ratio n .

The Smithsonian ha d wa nted it for th e NA SM b eca u se th e 247 was th e wo rld 's fir s t m o d e rn a irlin e r, but the S mithsonian did not have the fund s for its res to rati o n. (See The Vintage Air­ plane, April , 1975.)

One would exp ect the NAS M's w a r­ bird s - Curti ss P-40 E, S up e rm a rin e Spitfire, North Am e rica n P-51D, Mes­ se rs chmitt Bf. 109, Mits ubi s hi A5M-6 Z e ro , Dougla s SBD , G rumman FM-1 Wildcat, and Macchi C. 202 Folgore ­ to dra w con s id e ra ble inte res t, but the ve ry old warbirds a re th e re, too. In a World War I diora ma ca n be seen Billy Mitchell 's Spad XVI as w ell as a Spad

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Above left: Douglas World Cruiser "Chicago". Flying under the colors of Air Service USA made the first world flight.

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Above: Ford 5-AT-B Trimotor (Ameri足 can), Douglas DC-3 (Eastern), Boeing

2470 (United), Northrop Alpha 4-A

(TWA).

Left: Cessna 180, Schweizer J-22, Beechcraft Bonanza, Fulton Airphi足 bian (car section only).

VII and a Fokker 0- VII, and there also are a 1933 Boeing P-26, a 1932 Boeing F4B-4, and a very, very old "warbird", the 1909 Wright Military Flyer.

In the gallery devoted to air traffic control is Amelia Earhart's 1932 Lock足 heed 5B Vega in which she became the first woman to make a nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, and, in the flight testing gallery is Wiley Post's Lockheed 5C Vega "Winnie Mae," which completed two around-the-world record flights.

But not all the "name" airplanes are in exotic galleries. The "little guy" in aviation will get particular pleasure out of the general aviation gallery, which features a Beechcraft Bonanza, a Piper PA-12, a Cessna 180 and a Schweizer

2-22 with names of their> own.

The Model 35 Bonanza, "Waikiki Beach", was piloted by Bill Odom on two record-breaking flights, including the 1949 Honolulu to Teterboro, New Jersey, flight in 36 hours and one minute. The PA-12 "City of Washington" was flown around the world in four months in 1947 by two Air Force reserve officers, Major Clifford V. Evans and Major George Truman. And the Cessna 180, "Spirit of Columbus", was the plane flown by Mrs. Geradine "Jerry" Mock when she became the first woman to pilot an aircraft around the world in 1964.

And there are other names familiar to general aviation enthusiasts. The Schweizer 2-22 was made famous by

Above : Douglas DC-3, Fairchild FC-2 (partly hidden), Boeing 2470, Northrop Alpha 4-A.

Above right: Pitts Special. As an ex足 ample of the wide spread of coverage.

This is some kind of first and an honor to sport flyers al/.

Right: Schweizer 2-22. The old familiar Schweizer Tanor looks like it is moving.

Note the realistic pilot. A Bonanza is rehearsing a near miss.

the late Scotty McCray, who flew it in aerobatic demonstrations . The NASM's Bucker 133 Jungmeister was willed to the Smithsonian by the late Bevo Ho足 ward, and J. Dawson Ransome do足 nated his Pitts Special to the museum .

Igor Bensen presented his Gyro-copter to the Smithsonian in 1969.

Racers are well represented, the most beautiful being Howard Hughes' 1935 H-1 , and the most unusual is Jimmy Doolittle's 1925 Curtiss R3C-2 on floats. But there, in the exhibition flight gallery, is Steve Wittman's "Chief Oshkosh"/Buster! Wittman's plane had the longest and most successful career in air racing history from 1931 until its retirement in 1964. It was also flown by Bill Brennand and Bob Porter.

Other historical antiques worth

viewing are the 1931 Lockheed Sinus "Tingmissartoq" flown by Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the 1924 Douglas World Crui s er " Chicago" which flew around the world, the 1924 Army Fokker T-2 which flew the first nonstop transcontinental flight in the U .S. and the 1911 Wright EX "Vin Fiz" which was the first airplane to go coast-to-coast between Sept. 17, to Dec. 10, 1911.

And there are still the jets, rockets, space vehicles and other modern hard足 ware to be seen in the National Air and Space Museum, but if it weren' t for the early aviation development exemplified by the antiques, there would have been no jets or space vehicles in the first place.

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When the last flight is over

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the happy landing past crack-up's come at last nd I'll give my crate the gun m for the airport on the sun will smile at me sort of slow r on the field where flyers go almighty flying boss ky from orion to the cross IELD 1918 History

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,I LVER

E "Bgle A BIOGRAPHY OF E. M. 'MATTY' LAIRD

By Robert G. Elliott Ed Escal/on 1227 Oakwood Ave. & 335 Milford Dr. Daytona Beach, FL 32014 Merritt Island, FL 32952

In September of 1910, a fourteen year old lad of Scottish desent stood with a crowd of other curious spectators overlooking the Grant Park area of Chicago.

Soon, Walter Brookins, an early Wright Brothers足 trained civilian pilot took to the air in a Wright Flyer giving the 'Windy City' its very first aeroplane de足 monstration. Intently watching the flight, Emil Mat足 thew 'Matty' Laird tried to take in every motion and sensation of the biplane as it roared slowly across the city's skyline.

The flight ended, but its impact would profoundly affect Chicago. From the early pioneering develop足 ments of its local citizens through both historic air

Above: Matty Laird sat for Robert Elliott in his home at Boca Raton, Florida on March 20, 1976. He had been sorting through files making a selection of his photographs to be used in the illustration of this article. Behind, on a mobile stand, is his old engine from the Baby Biplane. Left: Young Matty Laird's mind was forming the shape of things to come while watching a Wright Flyer Model B give Chicago its first look at man in the air.

15

meets and aircraft that were buit there, Chicago be­ came a hub for the growing airline industry of this nation.

Among those who would bring lasting contribu­ tions to the aviation industry was young Matty Laird, .. . who decided on that September day to follow in the footsteps of the Wright Brothers and Mr. Brookins .

For someone of his age, background and resources, it wasn't an easy path to follow . Matty's father had passed away in 1909, and to support his mother, two younger brothers and a sister, Matty had gone to work in the First National Bank of Chicago as an office boy.

Consequently his formal education had terminated with the eighth grade. .

Based on a few pictures available and his vivid memory of that flight he had witnessed, he made a model of Brookins Wright Flyer. Through a slow series of methodical progressions, he was able to achieve a stable flight from a hand launch with a smooth glide to a landing.

Fortunately for aspiring enthusiasts, Chicago soon blossomed with aviation activity. Businessmen such as Charles Dickinson of Dickinson Seed Company and Harold McCormick of farm implement fame, backed the formation of the Aero Club of Illinois.

The Aero Club served to concentrate interest and efforts in developing flying machines . Octave Chanute became its first President. The enthusiastic Secre­ tary, Harold Robbins, secured the services of Bill Stout (later of Ford Tri-Motor fame), to father the Illinois Model Aero Club. Here, young people like Matty were encouraged to learn and compete in aero­ nautical endeavors.

One of the Aero Club activities was sponsorship of the Great Chicago Air Meet of 1911. Aviators were attracted from throughout the United States and Europe to compete for over one hundred thousand dollars in prizes. The Meet was a great success, with several world's records established and well over two hundred hours of total air time logged.

The Meet also served to highlight the successes that early pilots were having with their aeroplanes .

Young Matty was among those viewers of this activity during every moment possible, trying to learn every­ thing he could from the participating aviators and their aeroplanes.

Chicago' s first airport, Cicero Field, was also spon­ sored by the Aero Club. Cicero included a core of people who would later become leaders in the industry, including: Lincoln Beachey, Glenn Martin, Max Lillie, DeUoyd Thompson, Katherine Stinson (the first of the Stinson family to learn to fly), Chance Vought,

(Photo Courtesy E. M. ' Matty' Laird)

A mockup of his first monoplane was assembled in the street in front of Matty's home with the help of friends. Matty's sister made the photo with her last exposure of film.

Ole Flottrop (the propeller manufacturer), Charles Day, Matty Laird and his model Aero Club friends Buck Weaver, Charles Arens and later arrivals Otto Timm and Eddie Stinson, as well as many others.

Consequently, with activity everywhere on the field, as well as competitive events such as the Air Meet of 1911, a challenging environment developed, which proved to be most perfect for the course Matty had chosen to follow.

Not all the creations coming out of Cicero were successful. Some were monstrosities, . . . like the

Umbrella Plane, which hopped about like a kangaroo, attempting to become airborne. Then too; there was Pop Keller's Multiplane, nicknamed "The Golden Stairs to Heaven", which structurally collapsed early in its attempted take-off run, leaving venetian blind­ like sections strewn about. In this early stage of avia­ tion development however, credit is due all who stuck with it. Their efforts enriched the base from which successful ideas could be drawn .

Through model work and knowledge gained from his contemporaries, Matty's aeronautical knowledge 16

(Photo Courtesy E. M. 'Matty' Laird)

Matty Laird on the left prepares to launch a rubber­ band powered model airplane while his friend looks on.

progressed rapidly . In short order his efforts began to show real promise, as he began to win the model competitions. Even in the Bank, his designs didn't go unnoticed . An embarrassing incident of a rise-off-the­ ground model airplane launched in the lobby, landed upstairs near one of the Corporate Officers. This model flight netted him cash orders for twenty more, to be used as Christmas presents, rather than dis­ ciplinary action.

When Matty felt he'd gathered sufficient knowledge from his models to know what was involved in manned flight, he set about building a glider to be mounted about his bicycle. Using a ramp for the launch, it wasn't long before he was making brief flights down the Chicago streets . .. much to the distress of the nearby school principal . . . who couldn't get his students back into class following these demonstrations.

17

By late 1912, Matty had begun construction of a powered monoplane . He located a 12 hp Franklin automobile engine which had been converted for aircraft service by Al Hofer. (AI later became one of Chance Vought's expert assistants.) With very little to offer AI, except the promise of an aspiring young man, Matty negotiated the purchase of the engine, without the assistance previously offered by Charles Dickinson.

The cost of a flying lesson was out of the question, so Matty set out to teach himself to fly in the diminu­ tive monoplane. His first lessons involved the use of the rudder control. Previous experience in bobsledding had taught him reverse reactions to what was required in a normally rigged flying machine . After a series of ground runs, Matty finally decided that the time had come for a flight. He released the blip switch on the engine and the small craft accelerated smartly. When things began to feel right, Matty, having little idea of the sensitivity required ... hauled back on the wheel abruptly and was surprised when the little mono­ plane leaped into the air. With the end of the field, and power lines coming up fast, he wisely avoided attempting a turn, but his subsequent overcontrol on touchdown ended the flight somewhat uncere­ moniously as the flying machine went over on its back.

In later flights Matty taught himself the basics of controlling the aircraft by its attitude and the use­ duration of the engine blip switch.

Towards the end of the season Matty lent the monoplane to a friend, who made the same mistake with the rudder control as Matty had initially. Sub­ stantial damage was caused by the ground loop which ended this last flight, and the winter months follow­ ing found Matty and his friends rebuilding the salvaged parts into a new aeroplane called the 'Baby Biplane', a slab sided simple looking craft, whose lines belied its excellent efficiency.

Those more experienced fliers who had been very doubtful as to the 12 hp monoplanes' ability to fly, were quite surprised when the performance of the 'Baby Biplane' exceeded many of their own aero­ planes with three times the power. As a mark ex­ cellence even by today's standards, this craft's weight, when empty, was only 375 pounds. Its outstanding performance was a foreteller of things to come with the later Laird 'Baby Biplanes' .. . named 'Solution and Super Solution'!

Matty flew the Baby Biplane in Chicago Meets, and his aeronautical capabilities attracted enough acclaim to draw him into the field of exhibition fly­ ing. Lincoln Beachey's booking agent set him up for his first engagement at Sebring, Ohio on September 6,

1915. This exhibition was to pay him more than he would make in the First National Bank by working several months, so he took a leave to make the flying date.

Matty has been on that leave of absence until this very day.

Flying engagements soon took Matty and his friend-mechanic Buck Weaver all over the Central and Rocky Mountain states. Aerial photography, night flying with flares on the aeroplane, loop-the-Ioops ... all soon became a standard part of his repertoire.

The Baby Biplane was modified three times in successive years, with small improvements added to the wing design and engine's systems. Interestingly, this ship was built to be dissassembled into sections which could be packed into shipping crates for rail­ road shipment between exhibition sites. This design was among the first to be offered in plans for home­ builders through Popular Mechanics Magazine and others . . . making Matty one of the very early people to pick up the EAA theme. Basic information packages, followed by more detailed plans were sold . . . just as many of today's designs are marketed.

In 1916, the Baby Biplane was succeeded by a larger two-place biplane design called the 'Bone­ shaker', intended primarily for exhibition acrobatics.

A noteable feature was the automatic massage that occupants received from the Anzani radial engine.

Performance was outstanding however, and it was in this craft that Matty instructed the first loop-the-Ioop in the United States.

Matty loaned the 'Boneshaker' to Katherine Stin­ son for the first tour of an aeroplane in Japan and China, and his creation became an International Thriller overnight.

Success followed young Mr. Laird from one engage­

ot

(Photo Courtesy E. M. 'Matty' Laird)

The Baby Biplane lifts off the ground with Matty at the controls. This was his first version of this Baby Bi­ plane, with the squared off wing tips.

Above : Matty seated proudly in the cockpit of his Baby Biplane. Note the oil tank he mounted directly above the engine, allowing controlled amounts of oil to be fed into the engine, thus helping to prevent exces­ sive oil from flooding the upper cylinder areas and fouling the spark plugs.

ment to another, as his fame as a youthful aviator was broadcast by the newspapers of the day . Head­ lines featured him as "The Fearless Scotch Aviator" .

Tragedy struck in San Antonio, Texas during March of 1917. Matty was test flying a tractor biplane Walter Brock had designed for Katherine Stinson . The aircraft went into a spin that became flat. Spin re­ covery techniques were just being developed at the time, and flat spins are not within the normal con­ trollability of aircraft. Matty was unable to regain control and the plane spun down to a crash, seriously injuring him .

Upon his release from the hospital at San Antonio some months later, Matty filled a few exhibition dates with the 'Boneshaker' which had just returned from the Orient following Katherine Stinson's tour. Soon after these flights the government placed a ban on all civilian flying due to the United State's involvement in World War I. Matty returned then, to Chicago, to enter St. Luke's Hospital for further corrective sur­ gery to correct deficiencies resulting from the San Antonio crash.

Below: The third version of the Baby Biplane. Outer wing tips and stabilizer surfaces were now curved. In addition, near where his hand is resting was the bolt­ ed coupling which allowed the fuselage to be divided for shipment in crates to various exhibition sites.

Interior of early construction area showing Matty's shipping crates for the Baby Bi­ plane stacked in the right corner.

After this release from this second hospitalization, Matty concentrated his efforts to build the Model "S" Sport Plane he had designed in 1916 after the close of his exhibition tour. He sold several of them, including one to Bill Burke, a Buick-Franklin dealer from Okla­ homa . Bill was so pleased with the aeroplane that he talked his friend Jake Mollendick, an oil man from Wichita, Kansas, into offering a financial arrange­ ment in order to establish manufacturing facilities in Wichita.

The offer was attractive to Matty, so he packed up and moved, bringing h~ Y0l!nger brother Charley and

Matty flies his 'Boneshaker' at- the Cham­ paign, Illinois meet in 1916.

18

1·I ,

Above: Walter Beech photographed in a relaxed mo­ ment beside a Laird Swallow.

Left: The famous Anzani-powered 'Boneshaker' . This early exhibition plane proved most successful and permitted Matty to build a respected name for himself through his exhibition flights.

Below: The Laird Swallow which was flown by Shorty Schroeder on a nation-wide tour for the Underwriters Laboratories in 1921 to promote the registration of aircraft. This Laird was the first registered aircraft in the U.S.A.

Walter Weber with him. Both Charley and Walter were employed in production of the Model "S".

At Wichita, Matty set up the first aircraft manu­ facturing concern in the United States devoted solely to non-military production. He began fabrication of the first three-place design introduced in this country . . . the Laird Swallow. The E. M. Laird Company's efforts literally opened the door for the huge aircraft manufacturing complex that later developed at Wich­ ita. lt is difficult to place in proper perspective the obstacles encountered in the Swallow's production.

Specialized aircraft material was not available in that locality and aircraft building talents were hardly com­ monplace among the local citizens.

Matty's new factory was described as being the largest west of Buffalo, New York. His initial facility consisted of space obtained within both a grain grader and a wheat show building. To highlight the new com­ pany, a Model'S' was placed on display in the Forum Municipal Building during the annual Wheat Show.

During this initial growth period there were several personnel transitions . Bill Burke returned to Oklahoma to take charge of his automobile agency. Buck Weaver was hired as a demonstration pilot. Then, during the 19

A Laird Model'S' was displayed in the lobby of the wheat forum in Chicago, to call attention to the aircraft manufacturing activity of the Laird Company.

summer of 1921 when Matty and Buck had taken a couple of Swallows out to the West Coast on a pro­ motional tour, Walter Beech was engaged as a demon­ stration pilot. Additionally, Lloyd and Waverly Stear­ man became employed in the Swallow production.

Business had become a little slow in 1921 due to the post-war recession, but the E. M. Laird Company continued to keep their fine product in front of the public. This was accomplished with the help of the enthusiastic and cooperative newspapers in that region, and such projects as the nation-wide tour Shorty Schroeder completed for the Underwriters Laboratories, flying a Laird Swallow. This particular ship had been marked with the registration letters N-ABCB, to promote the idea of registering aircraft.

Thus the Laird Swallow became the first registered airplane in the country.

Many interesting historical developments occurred during the production of the 43 Swallows built. The Company trademark was a diamond with L-A-I-R-D across the upper edge and P-L-A-N-E-S acro~s the bottom, while the city of manufacture, in this case, Wichita ... appeared in a band dividing the diamond horizontally. The spacing of the 'L' and the 'D' in LAIRD was pretty wide-set at first, causing people to read the insignia as L. D. AIRPLANES. While this was undesirable as a trademark, it may well have been the beginning of the word AIRPLANES, because prior to that era (and still so in England), flying machines were referred to as AEROPLANES. Among the many people to leave a lasting contri­ bution to aviation history while with Mr. Laird was Clyde Cessna. Clyde had done some very early pio­ neering work in the 1910 era, but had concentrated

most of his subsequent efforts on his farm in Rego, Kansas.

His interest in aviation was re-awakened by the purchase of a Laird Swallow in the fall of 1923. He later combined efforts with Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman in the Travel Air Company.

Very central to the development of the aviation business growing up at Wichita was Matty's partner, Jake Mollendick. Jake was nuts about flying and thoroughly sold on it. He was willing to put his money into fostering it also, but unfortunately, Jake' s busi­ ness methods reflected his background as a well digger. He just wasn't happy unless he was hammering away at something in the airplane business, and un­ happily he didn't always know how to go about it.

One by one, through those early days in Wichita, the aviation greats left Laird. Matty's problems began during the period when he was in California on the tour. Jake had hired a group of not very experienced pilots and within a short time, these individuals washed out a number of airplanes.

Sales were somewhat depressed at the time, and for Matty's portion of the partnership, these accidents were very costly. For Mr. Mollendick, these accidents didn't represent quite the hardship, as he had other sources of income.

Mr. Laird sold his interest in the Company in 1923, taking with him two Laird Swallows, as part pay­ ment for his business interest. Leaving Wichita , he flew them down to St. Louis for the National Air Races. Entering several events, he then carried pas­ sengers at the conclusion of the Meet.

He sold the Hispano Suiza powered Laird , and flew the OX powered airplane back to Chicago. There, he operated it commercially, carrying passengers and flying photographers to special events. Through

(Photo by Robert G. Elliott)

The well known Laird Trademark.

20

it had come at a bad time ... just when business was really in the growing stages. It did nothing for the manufacturers, other than providing them with orders for a couple of aircraft. To comply with these regula­ tions cost the industry many thousands and thou­ sands of dollars. Particularly exasperating for all the factories was the requirement to submit a stress anal­ ysis on airframes, as there were only few persons out­ side the Bureau, or within the military manufacturing complexes, capable of performing the analytical work involved .

Matty had long been a believer of testing sub­ assemblies of his aircraft with various loading tests.

He had personally flown each ship upon completion, taking it up and wringing it out in his excellent acro­ batic style, a portion of its acceptance test. Now, how­ ever, finding someone in the Chicago area to per­ form the stress analysis work was difficult . Two engi­ neers, Messers. Green and Heinrich were engaged on the stress analysis work until Mr. Green left to work at Ford's plant. Raoul Hoffman, an early aero engineer had previously been brought in to assist, but had left when there were some objections to his calculation Above: Laird-Whirlwind, 3 Place, open cockpit. Wright Whirlwind J5 220 hp engine.

these efforts he was able to capitalize a new manu­ facturing plant in Chicago . Here, he produced a new line of commercial planes, starting with OX-S power plants and progressing through the larger Wright and Pratt & Whitney radials, synonymous with Laird Air­ planes in succeeding years.

After Matty left Wichita , Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman remained with Jake Mollendick to bring out the single bay Swallow. They continued on this pro­ ject for about a year and then left to join Clyde Cessna in forming the Travel Air Company.

Matty"s younger brother, Charles, later headed up Jake's Company with not altogether satisfying results in bringing out the 'Super Swallow'. Poor Jake went through a long series of partners before finally becoming insolvent. He passed away some years later in a sanitarium. A sad end for a man who had been such a key in the early formation of the aircraft manufacturing and air travel industry.

The late twenties brought many changes to the aviation business. Among them, and most significant, was the Air Commerce Act of 1926, requiring certi­ fication of pilots, aircraft and manufacturers. Reflect­ ing the thoughts of most in the industry, Matty felt 21

Below: Aerial view of two Lairds. On the left is a Laird Speedwing, LC-R-200, at right, slightly behind a Laird Whirlwind, LCB-200.

by the Department of Commerce's Engineering De­ partment. Finally, Heinrich was able to learn enough from the others to complete the job and satisfy ATC requirements for the LCB's, LC-R and other special models.

The late twenties brought racing and record setting activities into prominence as thEa barnstormers strove for new sources of income and notoriety. Matty's airplanes, including the Junior Speedwings, Speed­ wings, Solution and Super Solution, were consistently among the fastest airplanes of the day. Excellent pilots who flew them . were such personalities as E. E. Bal­ lough, Speed Holman, Bill Brock, Jimmy Doolittle, Red Jackson and Matty himself.

Characteristically, Laird planes were known for their ruggedness, light weight, high speeds and out­ standing finishes. Consequently, they were widely copied in the industry. Many of the people who later started their own manufacturing concerns found their (Photo Courtesy of Clem Whittenbeck)

Clem Whitten beck standing beside his restored Laird Junior Speedwing NX10537 at Tampa, Fla ., in 1947. His Laird was just one registration number less than the Laird Solution . Matty flew the original version of this plane during the National Air Races of 1930 in Chicago at Curtiss-Reynolds Air­ port.

Above : Laird-Speedwing (STD), 3 Place open cockpit, powered by Wright Whirl­ wind 330 hp engine.

interest stimulated ... one of whom was Major Alex­ ander de Seversky.

Matty's company capitalization did not permit be­ coming involved in quantity production. His airplanes were largely custom built to order, with an arrange­ ment that provided him a partial payment for the air­ craft through several stages of completion . His cus­ tomers were largely oil men, publishers, and indus­ trialists who were interested in owning "The Thorough­ bred of The Airways". When Charles Dickinson se­ cured the contract for the Chicago to Minneapolis mail, he placed an order for Lairds . Billy Brock, Speed Holman, and E. E. Ballough flew this route initially, an activity which led to the formation of Northwest Airlines.

Unfortunately, due to the economic depression of 1929, the bottom fell out of Matty's market. Many of his customers began to loose their interest in flying, being diverted by worries of tending their fading busi­ ness enterprises.

TO BE CONTINUED

IN AUGUST ISSUE

(Highlights of 1930)

22

<~~7~~~~~

,

ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION CONVENTION ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE FORUMS AND MEETINGS ANTIQUE/CLASSIC FORUMS TENT NO.3 SATURDAY, JULY 31, 1976

9:00 A.M.-10:15 A.M. 10:30 A.M.-ll:45 A.M. 12:00 Noon-12:45 P. M. 1:00 P . M.- 2:15 P.M. 2:30 P.'v1 .- 3:45 P. M. 4:00 P.M.- 5:15 P.M.

Meyers OTW ... . .......................................... . ......... .. ................. Richard K. Martin, Meyers Restorer

Piper Cubs .. .. ................................ .. ... Clyde Smith, Sr., and Clyde Smith, Jr., Test Pilot, Piper Aircraft Company

Early Bellanca Ai rcraft . . .... ..... .... ... . ....... . .. .. ...... .. August T. Bellanca, President, Bellanca Aircraft Engineering, Inc.

Monocoupe .......... . ..... ... .. ............... ....... ... Harold C. Maloy, Federal Aviation Agency and Monocoupe Restorer

Fail Safe Flight Instrument Installations ....... ........ ........... ... .. . , J. R. Nielander, Jr., President, Antique/Classic Division

SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 1976

9:00 A.M.-10:15 A.'v1.

10:30 A.M.-ll :45 A.M .

12:00 Noon-12:45 P.M. 1:00 P.'v1.- 2:15 P.M. 2:30 P.M.- 3:45 P.M. 4:00 P.'v1.- 5:15 P.M.

Aeronca Chief ..................... . .. . ..... . ........... . ............................ George S. York, Classic Aircraft Judge

Stearman Aircraft ........................... . ............ ... ... .. Tho m.as E. Lowe, President, S tearma n Restorers Association

International Cessna One-Seventy Association Meeting ............................................ George M. Mock, President

Cur ti ss OX-5 Engines ................................... Leslie C. Miller, Developer of "Millerized" Conversion of Curtiss OX-5

Stinson Reliant and SM's ... . ................... . .................... George E. Stubb s, Past President, Natio nal Stinson Club

Sti nson 10, 105, 108 Series ......................................... . ... . .. .. .. . ... .. ..... Rowell S. Weilert, Stinson Res torer

MONDAY, AUGUST 2,1976

9:00 A.M.-10:15 A.M. 10:30 A. M.-ll:45 A.M. 1:00 P .M. - 2:15 P. M. 2:30 P.M.- 3:45 P.M. 4:00 P. M.- 5:15 P . M.

Aeronca K ...... .. ... . .. ... . ..... .... ... . ..... ...................... . ... ..... Edward H. Schubert, Chairman, Aeronca Club Mooney Mite ........ .. .... . . . ......... .. .. ..... .. ... . ... . . .. ........... . ......... . Lawrence P. Dale, Mooney Mite Res torer Travel Airs ........ . ............. ... .... ...... ... . . .... Nick Rezich, Air Show Performer, Announcer, and Travel Air Res torer Cessna 1201140 . .......... . ............ ......... .... . ............... .. . J. R. Nielander, Jr. , President, Antique/Classic Division Cessna 1201140 Type Club Organizational Meeting ............................... ... . .. . ... Tom Williams and Kennedy Dwight

TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1976

9:00 A.M.-10:45 A.M. 10:30 A.M.-ll:45 A.M. 1:00 P . M.- 2:15 P.M. 2:30 P. M.- 3:45 P.M .

4:00 P. 'v1.- 5:15 P.M .

23

Rearwin-Commonwealth Aircraft .............................. . . ..... .. . .... ... George T. Williams, Chairman, Rearwin Club

Howard DGA Aircraft ... . .............. . . ... . .................. .. ... . ... .. .. .. ..... . ... Richard K. Martin, Howard Res torer

World War I Aircraft ..... .. . .... .. . . .... . .......... .. ............... Charles Woerner, Builder of World War I Replica Aircraft

European Antique Aircraft ............... . ...... .. ... ..... . .. " Harold Bes t-Devereux, Director, European EAA Regional Office

Airframe a nd Engine Electroplating ................. . ......... . ....... . ....... .. William J. Ehlen, President, Electro-Lab., Inc.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 1976

9:00 A. M.-10:15 A. M. 10:30 A. M.-11:45 A. M. 1:00 P. M.- 2:15 P. M. 2:30 P . M.- 3:45 P. M. 4:00 P.M.- 5:15 P.M .

Aero nca 7 and 11 Series ... .. ....... .. ......... . . . . C. L. "Buzz" Wa gner, Developer of Aeronca Supplemental Type Certificates

Antique/Classic Division Annual Business Meeting Cessna 170 ....... . ............................. Gene L. Collins, Past President, International Cessna One-Seventy Association

Ercoupe .. .. .... . .. ........... ..... .. ...... Fred E. Weick, Ercoupe Designer, and M. C. "Kelly" Viets, President, Ercoupe Club

Bourke Engines . .......... . .. .. . ...... , .......... . , .... . ............ . . . . .. ,. John S. Hendricks, Bourke Engine Experimenter

THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 1976

9:00 A. M.-10:15 A. M. 10:30 A.M.-11:45 A.M. 1:00 P.M.- 2:15 P. M. 2:30 P. M.- 3:45 P. M. 4:00 P. M.- 5:15 P. \II.

Mooney Mite ................................................................. Dr. Earl G. Sanderson, Mooney Mite Restorer

Swift Aircraft ........... . . .. ..... ... ...... .... . .... ... . . Charles E. Nelson, President, The International Swift Association, Inc.

Cessna 195 . .............................. . ............... Daniel J. Kindel, III, M.D ., Clifford C. Crabs, Paul W. Terrell, M.D., President and Past Presidents of the Eastern Cessna 190/195 Association Beechcraft Staggerwing . . .................................................... James C. Gonna n, President, Staggerwing Club

Spartan Executive .................................................................... Dr. James Patterson, Spartan Restorer

FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 1976

9:00 A. M.-10:15 A.M. 10:30 A. M.-11:45 A. M. 1:00 P. M.- 2:15 P.M. 2:30 P. M.- 3:45 P . M. 4:00 P . M.- 5:15 P.M.

Waco Aircraft ..... . ... . ...... .. ... ..... . .... . .. ...... ... .. .. .. ..... ... .. ....... Ray Brandly, President, National Waco Club

Ryan Aircraft . .. . ....... ...... .. ... . .. .. . ... ....... .. .... ..... .... .. ...... . . Dorr B. Carpenter, Co-Author, Ryan Guidebook

Fairchild Aircraft ........................................................ Donald L. Coleman, M.D., Secretary, Fairchild Club

Taylorcraft . .... ................. . ... . . . . . .... . . ............... Dorothy Feris, Vice-President, Taylorcraft Aviation Corporation

Porterfields ................................................................. Charles E. Lebreckt, Chairman, Porterfield Club

SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 1976

9:00 A.M.-10:15 A.M. 10:30 A. N,-11:45 A. M. 1:00 P.M.- 2:15 P . M.

Piper Va ga bond ....... ...... . . ................. .... . .. . . .. ... ... ........ .... . ......... Cecil Ogles, Editor, Vagabond News

Early Beechcraft Bona nzas ................ . ................... . J. Norman Colvin, Retired Execu tive, Beech Aircraft Corporation

Laird Super Solution .............. . .. E. M. "MC!tfy" Laird, President, E. M. Laird Airplane Company, and Eduardo C. Escallon, President, FSAACA, and Chairman, Super Solution Restoration Project 2:30 P. M.- 3:45 P . M. Northrop Alpha Project ....... .. ..... ....... ........ . . . .. Daniel McGrogan, Director, TWA Northrop Alpha Restoration Project

4:00 P.M.- 5:15 P .M. Luscombe Aircraft . ........ .. .......... .. . .. ....... .. ................... . .. ..... ... Richard Lawrence, Luscombe Association

Calendar

of Events

July 3-4 - Gainesville, Georgia - 9th Annual Cracker Fly-In. Sponsored by North Georgia Chapter of AAA, Antiques, Classics, Homebuilts and Warbirds welcome.

Contact Bill Davis, 2202 WiUivee Place, Decatur, GA 30033.

July 10-11 - Annual EAA Chapter 62 Fly-In, Hollister, CA. Contact D. Borg, 6948 Burning Tree, San Jose, CA 95119.

July 10-11 - 17th Annual AAA Fly-In, DuPage County Airport, West Chicago, Illinois.

Phone 312-763-711~ luly 31 - August I - Oshkosh, Wisconsin 足 24th Annual EM International Fly-In Convention_ Star1 making your plans NOWI

August 29-September 6 - Blakesburg, Iowa 足 6th Annual Invitational AAA-APM Fly-In. August 30 - September 3 - Fond du Lac, Wisconsin -11th Annual EAAIIAC International Aerobatic Championships. Spon足 sored by International Aerobatic Club.

September 17-19 - Georgetown, South Carolina - Second Annual Spirit of '76 Fly-In at Georgetown County Airport, South Carolina.

Sponsored by Chapter 543 Antiquel Classics, Warbirds and Homebuilts. For infor足 mation contact Herb Bailey, P.O. Box 619, Georgetown, SC 29440. (803) 546-2525 days; (803) 546-3357 nights and weekends.

WANTED: Stinson Reliant SR 5 or SR (straight

wing). Will pay good money for a

rebuildable with all parts present. Tom Rench,

1601 Circlewood, Racine, WI.

24

OSHKOSH~

__

'76==~

EXPERI.....ENTAL AIRCRAF T A S SN.

WHISTLING IN THE RIGGING

By Tom Poberezny

At present, I am on my way to Tullahoma, Tennessee to attend the Annual Staggerwing Beech Convention. Travelling to Tullahoma got me to thinking about the hard work and preparation that I am sure went into this event, as well as the hundreds of other events that will be taking place throughout the United States this year.

Having been involved with the Annual EAA Convention as well as various other flying events, I can appreciate the amount of time and effort (as well as money) needed to make any fly-in or air show a success. If you are planning a future event, a few words of caution.

Number one . . . be sure that your sponsoring organization is incor­ porated. In today's society, talk of liability and lawsuits has become un­ fortunately commonplace . I can't stress enough the importance to you as an individual to be sure that the sponsoring organization for any aerial event is incorporated. If you haven't read the article of incorporation that appeared on page 32 of the May issue of SPORT AVIATION, please do so.

Also important is insurance. Be sure that you have proper coverage for your event. Your Headquarters staff has been accutely aware of the problems of insurance . . . proper coverage at a reasonable cost. After much investigation and review, EAA Headquarters has obtained a Master Policy that is available to EAA Chapters and Divisions. For more infor­ mation, contact Mr. Harry Hanisch, P . O. Box 2424, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901, 4141235-1980.

Unfortunately, the planning and labor that goes into any event falls on the shoulders of a relatively few people. If everybody pitches in, the job becomes a lot easier and much more enjoyable. If your chapter is sponsoring an event, be sure to give a helping hand.

The 1976 EAA Convention is fast approaching. One new innovation 25

is the establishment of a Flight Scheduling office . Headed by Verne Jobst, this committee will be working with representatives of all the divisions as well as various EAA'ers on the scheduling of flight activities for the Convention. This should allow us to schedule special events and flights in coordination with the daily fly-bys and air show.

Numerous other events will be featured at Oshkosh '16. The world famous Canadian Snowbirds will highlight the evening air show on July 31 and August 1 and 2. This nine-plane jet team is one of the finest in the world. You won't want to miss their performance.

Last year's Interview Circle was very well received. 1976 will see a much expanded program with many designers, EAA'ers, and well-known pilots and aviation personalities interviewed.

Many changes have been made at the Convention site itself. A new walk-in area has been developed which will accommodate foot traffic more readily. A new shopping mall and shower have been added to Camp Scholler as well as expanding the area for camping.

All in all, Oshkosh '76 will be the world's greatest aviation event. I hope you can plan to be there.

On Friday, June 18th, we had a number of top ranking FAA officials visit your Headquarters and EAA Air Museum facility. This was a very im­ portant meeting for it provided the opportunity for them to gain further insight into the activities of the Experimental Aircraft Association and its divisions. Lines of communication and understanding must be main­ tained between government and your organization. It is important that we continue to demonstrate our ability to self-police and use sound judg­ ment so that unnecessary and constraining regulations do not appear in the future.

Meetings such as this are just one aspect of what your dues provide for you and all aviation enthusiasts . We have received many fine comments on the quality and content of The Vintage Airplane. This publication pro­ vides the cohesiveness and means of communication that is so important to the success of the Antique/Classic Division .

But please don't look at your dues only as a subscription for The Vintage Airplane. This is but one benefit. Your dues support your organization so that it can help insure a healthy future for aviation . We want to be sure that the editor of The Vintage Airplane has something to write about 20 years from now!

May 30, 1976 Dear AI Kelch : " Some Canadian Scuttlebut". The first thing you will probably note is that I use classy paper for writing.

The next things you may wish to note: are I own (a) Piper J3 SI N 17579 C-FRDX built in 1947. It should be at Oshkosh '76­ military camouflage paint in markings of ITALIAN ARMY . (There will also be an Emeraude in Fascist wartime Italian desert camouflage and markings.) (b) Taylor J2 CUb. SI N 1531 1937 C-FRDS. It was at Oshkosh '72 with 65 hp Continental.

I purchased it shortly after Oshkosh.

It is presently stripped for restoration to 40 hp and is on display at Harbourfront in Toronto - a public participator deal which now salutes transportation . It is the only antique aircraft there. Vintage Airplane, SPORT AVIATION and AAA News are on display also . The J3 (above) will participate in a fly-by June 5th . (c) Taylor E2 Cub SIN 289 C-GCGE ex NC15399, built August 31 , 1935. The aircraft has not flown since 1939 or so . I purchased it in U.S. last year. Have copy of factory production notes and will restore it as it came from Taylor.

I have 10 Continental A-40 engines and intend to keep the E-2 J-2 going indefinitely.

In Canada we have 5 J-2 Cubs and 2 E-2s (Mine and one in the National Museum SIN 142 used to be in Wisconsin) .

I can think of about 6 Aeronca Ks (5 being restored) one on floats. I hear of a DC-3 going on floats sometime .

A Taylor-Young (early T-Craft) and a T-Craft Model A are being restored out west.

There are 3 Bellanca Airbus aircraft extant in Canada - one still in service. DH 80 Puss Moth of Father Mac Gillivray has just been placed in National Aeronautical Collection .

A Fleet 7 is newly restored here.

I know of a few projects underway - mostly in Ontario - Lancaster Bomber, DH Mosquito, several North American Yales (like fixed gear AT-6 about 450 hpj, several Tiger Moths, a few Gipsy Moths, Fleet 7, Alexander Eaglerock, Curtiss ­ Reid Rambler (pending) , Aeronca 50L and 50C, the Jackaroo, Fox Moth, lots of Cubs etc., 2 Barkley-Grows (look like Beech 18).

By the way, my J-2 and J-3 are registered as " ultra light " aircraft and as such are treated as homebuilts, even though they are factory built. The advantages of such a registration are remarkable . I have a little 01 ' project afoot - to get a new category of licensing for Antique Aircraft in order to place more of the maintenance, fabric work (but not major structural repair) in the hands of the owner who could himself sign the work out. In the event of repairs to the major structure , the work must I think be inspected. After all , if a man may build a high powered aerobatic aircraft (Pitts, etc.) and do aerobatics, then why must it be considered dangerous for an antiquer to do and sign out his own fabric work , etc. ???

Certainly it seems (to me at least) that such a licensing of the aircraft would be a boon to the antique movement.

I find it difficult to find an AME (US - A&P) who is caring enough to work on an antique. Most just don 't want to deal with antiques.

I would be most interested in response to this concept on the U.S. side. (Above refers to antiques up to say 3,500 pounds) .

Antiquing is expensive enough , I think.

I had promised Buck Hilbert an article on Cubs in Canada. However, the info I had sought was burned in a couple of fires - still trying though. I could write an article on ferrying a J-2 from Winnipeg to Toronto via the north shore of Lake Superior. Winds were as high as 60 mph and landings were made no brakes on pavement in 35-40 mph 90 0 cross­ winds way over gross (300 Ibs.) Maximum GIS was verified at 137.5 mph Bungees failed finally and fire trucks chased us alongside runways - being oblivious, we didn 't realize trucks saw us land with a wing tip in the grass ­ we thought that they were possibly sent out because a JET (I) was in trouble .

Perhaps an article could be written.

Oh yeah - all the maps blew out the open door - out over the boondocks . One tire went flat, the tail wheel bent (springs) the aircraft would only taxi in left hand circles .

Don 't get me wrong - I don 't ever expect to make such a flight again .

FLYING - THE BEST WAY TO GET HIGH Vintage Airplane has an article March 1976 concerning a Cub Fly-In at Burlington every

June, and the article states " Come Join

the Fun at Burlington ", but it isn 't listed

in Vintage Airplane or SPORT AVIATION .

Well?????

Copies of old ads and brochures would

help as " filler " in Vintage Airplane .

Aeronca even had a booklet on C-3 series .

Drawings for the Taylor E-2 Cub are now avail­ able from the FAA in Jamaica, New York. I wrote to them and they found they had drawings which could not be released as they were confidential to the application for the AIC. However, FAA responded to my request by contacting Piper who have now given permission to release the drawings to the public. I have a list of what appears to be about 126 micro­ filmed drawings.

C. Garth Elliot 2nd Line West Meadowvale, Ontario Canada LOJ 1KO P.S. Years ago EAA had " status " cards to

be completed by members - keep track

of projects, etc. It would cost a bit , but might

be an idea to enclose some in Vintage

Airplane every 3rd issue???

on a regular basis in order to create an

awareness of Australian Aviation History.

The first of the articles to follow

deal with Bert Hinkler and his aircraft ,

one of which appears on our badge.

Two are preserved in the Museum at Bris­

bane . I'm awaiting some photographs from

around the country to put the articles together.

I just received the parts for my

Auster J5R, and I am just starting the

fuselage weld repairs, so I should have

some progress soon with some photos .

Well, I had better sign off as I

have another newsletter to complete .

Regards,

P. J. Harrington

35 Leone St.

Lawnton - Brisbane

Queensland 4501

Australia

Editor's Note: We welcome this news and

will be glad to have stories from Australia! For

those of you who don't know they are

even in attendance at Oshkosh in numbers. 'S.

May 24,1976 Dear AI : Editor's Note: Always glad to hear

I received my May issue this morning from far away people - keep it up.

and could not have been more pleased . Frankly, Burlington had to be cancelled this year ­ I am truly impressed with each and sorry about that!

every issue. It is my every wish that all of our members realize that these issues are May 20,1976 collectors items and will treat them Dear J. R. : as such and cherish them as I do.

Sorry for the lack of communication , The enclosed is a 5 x 7 color picture but I have been trying to recruit of our Ryan SCW, which incidentally a substitute forum speaker to no avail. I couldn 't won the Grand Champion Award at the North organise any leave for Oshkosh , unfortunately.

Carolina, South Carolina , Virginia I'm off for a month in September, and Antique Airplane Foundation Fly-In (EAA am going to the Farnborough Air Show, UK. Chapter 395-2A) held at Burlington , North We might call through the USA on our Carolina the first weekend in May. return from the UK, but I can't promise any­ This is the ship that was covered in thing . Well , next year will be a good SPORT AVIATION several months effort as I already have leave approved for ago , and is the prototype SCW which we July/August , 1977, and I hope to bring brought out of Mexico about three years a couple of our Vintage Section people over ago , and was beautifully restored by Pete with me. We will begin to plan a series Covington. Incidentally, the print is of films and lectures prior to the yours to keep in the interest that you might end of this year so as to give you early notice have some use for them when convenient. of the presentation to be given at I believe that I had previously the convention . mentioned that Pete and I have two low-wing I've enclosed material relevant Aeroncas undergoing restoration, and to the formation of our Vintage Section I am currently doing a story for you on the of the Sport Aircraft Association of history of the Aeronca Low-wings. I have Australia. We would like to establish an Official collected a number of excellent pictures affiliation with the EAA Antique/Classic including early factory shots. Currently, Pete Division if at all possible. I'm the and I are recovering the Travel Air 6000.

Federal Chairman , as well as State Again, many thanks for the May issue , (Queensland), and State Technical Officer and I extend to you my warmest personal regards. for SAAA. Maybe you would like to Sincerely, Morton W. Lester publish an article from the enclosed material.

During the last few months I've been Editor's Note: I saw Morton at the organising about six articles for Tulahoma Fly-In this week and tagged THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE. It is the intention him for an article on the sew. Will save the of our group to try to submit articles picture to use then . Will be anxiously awaiting both stories.

26