VA-Vol-4-No-9-Sept-1976

~

~

..

'¥¥

THE RESTORER'S -CORNER Oshkosh '76 is now history, and for your Division it was the best con­ vention by far. Everything ran much more smoothly than it had run in pre­ vious years, and far fewer problems arose. We all owe a deep debt of grati­ tude to our very efficient and d edicated committee chairmen and co­ chairmen as well as to the greatest group of volunteer workers that any aviation group could ever hope to have on its team. They all did a superbly outstanding job. The chairmen and co-chairmen all had their committees well organized with most of their key volunteer workers lined up long in advance of the convention . In past years our Division volunteer workers have always been absolutely the greatest from the standpoint of quality, but this year they were also the great from the standpoint of quantity, too . For the first time your chairmen and co-chairmen had members and non-members alike volunteering in sufficient numbers to enable them to completely staff all of the necessary positions without having to skimp or double up. This fact alone made the chairman and co-chairman jobs much easier and greatly contributed to their improved efficiency. The thanks for this great volunteer effort goes solely to you, the members, for your wonderful help and cooperation in aiding your officers, directors, chairmen and co-chairmen in making Oshkosh '76 the great success that it was, so from all of us who planned to all of you who helped, "Thanks for a great job superbly done. " We also want to acknowledge the efforts of a few other groups whose help was most appreciated. EAA Chapter 37 of Miami, under the leader­ ship of President Paul Hopkins, constructed and painted twenty pairs of parking paddles which were used by your Division I:'arking Committee in directing and parking aircraft. These paddles are so well made and so w~ll finished that they would have certainly won an Oshkosh Craftsman­ ship Award if they had been structural parts on an aircraft. Their use, along with orange vests, made your Division parkers really stand out and thus made signaling aircraft much easier.

by J. R. NIELANDER, JR.

Our Florida chapter, the Florida Sport Aviation Antique & Classic Association, under the leadership of President Ed Escallon, turned out in force and made a big contribution to our manpower needs . Further­ more, when it appeared that we might have a security problem about two­ thirds of the way through the convention, it was the Florida chapter, under the direction of past Sun 'n Fun Chairman, Billy Henderson, acting in the capacity of Security Committee Chairman, that contributed much of the manpower necessary to organize our Division security force. This entire security effort was organized and put into operation in just under thirty minutes, a real tribute to the help, cooperation and know-how of a really wonderful group of fly-in professionals.

Our Houston, Texas chapter, under the guidance of President Doug Scott, was also well represented among the ranks of Division volunteers with Doug, himself, setting a fine example.

In recognition of the wonderful job done by all of the Division volunteer workers, your chairmen and co-chairmen initiated a new award which henceforth will be presented annually. On Saturday evening at the An­ tique/Classic Awards Program in the main pavilion a "Most Outstanding Volunteer" Award was presented to Dutch Brafford of Lima, Ohio. The recipient of this award was determined by the combined recommendations of all of the Division chairmen and co-chairmen, and certainly no one could be more deserving of it than Dutch, who has guided and parked airplanes all day every day of the convention for the past several years.

Again, to all of you who volunteered your services to the Division's convention effort, a great big "THANK YOU" from all of your officers, directors, chairmen, co-chairmen and fellow members. We hope that we shall be able to count on your help again next year at the EAA Silver Anni­ versary Fly-In Convention.

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE

EDITORIAL STAFF

ANTIQUE / CLASSIC DIVISION of THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

SEPTEMBER 1976

VOLUME 4

NUMBER 9

"I' '~\"I.•V-'

Publisher Paul H. Poberezny

Editor AI Kelch

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

VICE· PRESIDENT MORTON LESTER

P. O. BOX 2464

P O. BOX 37 47

FT . LAUDERDALE . FL 33303

SECRETARY RICHARD WAGNER

P. O. BOX 181 LYONS. WI 53148

MARTINSVILLE . VA 2411 2

TREASURER E. E. " BUCK HILBERT 8102 LEECH RD .

UNION . IL 60180

Directors Term expires Augu st ' 77

Term expires Au gust 76

Claude L . Gray . J r 9635 SylVia Avenue Northndge. California 91 324

Al Kelch 70 t8 W Bonruwe ll Road Mequon . Wi sconSin 5309 2

J ame s 8 . Horne 38 40 Coro nation Roa d Eagan . Minnesota 55t2 2

Evan cler M B ntt Box 1525 Lu mbe rt on. North Carolma 28358

George E Slub bs Box 11 3 Brownsburg . Indian a 4611 2

Me ' Kelly V,el s RR 1. Box 151 Slol we ll. KS 6608 5

W ill iam J Ehl en Roule 8. B ox 506 Tampa . Florida 336 18

J ack C Winthrop

3536 Wh,lehall Drove

Dallas . Texas 75 22 9

Assistant Editor Lois Kelch

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

Glenn H. Curtiss Museum .. ... ........ .. ....... . . .............

The Flight of The June Bug .. . .......... . ..... . ... . .. . .... . . .. .

The Man from Hammondsport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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

The Mail Stearman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

Those Tailspin Tommy Days . .......... ..... ..... . .. .. : .. . .. . ..

The U.S. Mail ..... . ... . .. . ............ .. .. .. ... .. . ... . . ..... .

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

Centributing Editors H. N. " Du sty " Rhodes Evander Britt Jim Barton Claude Gray Ed Escallon Rod Spanier Dale Gustafson Henry Wheeler Morton Lester Kelly Viets

Bo b Elliot

Jack Lanning

Bill Thumma

Glenn Buffington ADVISORS W Brad Thoma s . J r 30 1 Dodson Mill Road PdOI Mountain. North CArOli na 270 41

Robert A Wh ite 1207 Fa lcon Drive Orlando . Flon da 32803

THE V INTAGE AIRPLANE is owned exclusively by Antique ClaSSIC Aircraft . Inc. and IS published monthly at Hales Corners . Wis conSin 53130. Second class Pos tag e paid a t Hales Corners Post Office . Ha les Cor­ ners . Wi sconsin 53130 and Rand om Lake Pos t Off ice , Ran dom Lake . Wis consin 53075 Me mbershIp rates for Antique Class a ircra ft. In c . at $14 .00 per 12 month period of wh ich $10.00 IS for the pub lica t ion of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE . Membership IS o pen to all who are Interested In aviatIon .

Postmaster: Send Form 3579 to Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc ., Box 229, Hales Corners, Wisconsin 53130

2 3 5 11 13 15 19 25 26

EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION MEMBERSHIP o

NON· EAA MEMBER - $34.00. In clu des one year membership in .the EAA Antique/Classic Division . 12 monthly issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE ; one year membership in the Experimental Aircraft Associa · tion . 12 monthly issues of S PORT AVIATION and separate membership cards .

o

NON· EAA MEM!3ER - $20.00 . In c ludes one year membership in the EAA Antique/Classic Division. 12 monthly issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE; one year membership in the Experimental Aircraft Associa· tion and separate membership cards. SPORT AVIATION not included .

EAA MEMBER - $14 .00. Includes one year membership i n th e EAA Antique/Classic Divisi on. 12 monthly issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE and membership card. (Applicant must be current EAA member and must give EAA membership n umber.

o

PICTURE BOX (Back Cover) FRONT COVER

June Bug /I flies on Gossamer Wings .

1908-1976 Hammondsport, New York .

The fly ing boat landing at the Curtiss School, Keuka Lake , Hammondsport , N. Y. Raymond Morris ' new flying boat in the foreground . See article, Page 5.

Copynght ' 1976 Antique C laSSIC Aircra ft , 1nc. All Rlgh l s Rese rvej

2

GLENN H. CURTISS MUSEUM

The Glenn H. Curtiss Museum grew out of a com­ bination of factors. The idea that there should be a museum dedicated to Curtiss at Hammondsport was first suggested in a newspaper article in 1928. At that time the village celebrated the Twentieth Anniver­ sa ry of Curtiss' "June Bug" flight of July Fourth , 1908.

No concrete action, however, was taken for several yea,s.

Otto Kohl, the founder of the museum, started his career with The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company in 1914. He retired in 1958 from Mercury Aircraft, .Inc. with a lifelong interest in aviation. Mr. Kohl began to think seriously about the possibilities of a Curtiss Museum. In 1960 Carl Adams, Curtiss' step brother, asked Mr. Kohl to restore a Curtiss OX-5 aero engine and at this point the Curtiss Museum had its beginning. The Hammondsport High School do­ nated a 1912 Curtiss Motorcycle and the Museum be­ came the central focus of Otto's life.

During March of 1961 a group of concerned citizens met to organize the planned museum.

This period from 1961 through 1963 was one of great activity. In 1961 the Museum was host to the first pilgrimage of Early Birds and OX-5 Club of Ameri­ ca to Hammondsport in memory of th e 83rd birthday of Glenn Curtiss. Paul Garber of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithosonian Institute, presented a slide show of Curtiss' aviation accomplishments.

The Museum was formally dedicated on May 18th, 1963 with the assistance of many dignitaries and avia­ tion pioneers in attendance.

The old village school building, itself a relic of the past, was acquired and restoration begun with a dona­ tion of funds from Mr. Adams. The Hammondsport Rotary Club put on an old fashioned minstrel show and raised some $2,000 for the project. Mercury Air­ craft, Inc., provided manpower and material when n eeded.

The collection of aircraft and aviation memor­ abilia began to grow. In 1960 Mecury Aircraft, Inc. donated a 1929 "Chic." The Dan Hungerford collec­ tion of aircraft and engines was acquired in 1961.

Several aircraft engines from the Ben Franklin High School, Aircraft Shop Division, were donated through the Rochester Board of Education in 1962. Mr . Jack Harrington and Mr . Gerald Camp donated a Curtis " Robin" in 1963. The Hylan Flying Service of Rochester donated the Ohm Racer and many aviation related items.

Much of the Museum's collection of early aviation photographs was donated by Admiral J. Lansing Callen through the U.S. Navy. The Museum also acquired photographs and some equipment which had belonged to Harry Benner. Benner was the photo­ grapher for the Aerial Experiment Associa tion . The photographs comprise one of the Museum's most interesting collections since they trace the history of aviation at Hammondsport.

Many persons from all parts of the country have donated their treas ured mementoes of aviation's ea rly days. A great deal of local historical material from the Hammondsport area has also been donated .

The Curtiss Museum was granted its permanent charter by the New York State Education Department as a nonprofit educational institution in 1966.

The Curtiss Museum's present Board of Trustees include: Carl Kohl, President; Michael D. Linehan, Vice-President; Phoebe Natale, Secretary; Jack McBride, Treasurer; Arthur Niver; Robert H. Cole; Joseph Swart­ hout; Joseph Meade; Ray Tillman; Devello Frank; Tony Doherty and Merrill Stickler, Curator.

Although the Museum contains a blend of aviation history and the "Age of Homespun ," our aim is to give the public a better idea of the enormous contri­ butions to America aviation made by Curtiss. Glenn .Hammond Curtiss was truly one of the greatest of America's aviation pioneers.

EDITOR'S NOTE In early May, I heard from Dale Crites of a spec­ tacular Flying Event he was scheduled to partici­ pate in . At almost the same time , I received a News Release , which I published (See May 1976 issue VINTAGE AIRPLANE) of a week long Bicentennial Celebration at Hammondsport, New York, benefiting the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum , featuring only vin­ tage machines. Immediately I made plans to attend, going as part of Dale Crites' crew, and his Curtiss Pusher.

The following series of articles will better tell the story of the most memorable air event I have ever witnessed.

Scheduled for five days, beginning June 23rd, the event featured the reenactment of the flight of the June Bug, which first made history at Ham­ mondsport on July 4, 1908. The current June Bug is a labor of love, built by a dedicated group of people at Mercury Aircraft. The Project Director and bene­ factor extraordinare , is Joseph Meade, Jr., Presi­ dent of Mercury.

Participating in the week long affair were most of the airplanes and personnel of Cole Palen's Old Rhineback Airdrome. Also featured were Dale Crites and his Silver Streak Pusher. The show was a smash hit, and the only regret is that all of you could not have shared the thrill of it all.

With the help of many who contributed to this issue, we dedicate it to Mr. Meade, his many helpers, and to Mr. Merrill Stickler, the Glenn Curtiss Mu­ seum Curator, his helpers, and photographer Mike Mandiak, all of whom made this event most memor­ able.

(Photo by Mike Mandiak)

The " Silver Streak Aeroplane Boys" at Hammondsport . Left to right : Dale Crites, Bob Felsing, AI Kelch and Harry Peterson.

4

Flight of

JuneBug

By Merill Stickler

Curator of Curtiss Museum Hammondsport, NY 14840 All Photos by Mike Mandiak

June 23, 1976, the long awaited day of the bicen­ tennial celebration dawned with an overcast sky on the sleepy cross roads of Pleasant Valley nestled be­ tween green hills near Hammondsport, New York, the heart of the finger lake country. There was a spontane­ ous air of expectancy, however, because a collection of rather quaint and delicate flying machines , with their crews, had gathered on the little grass field along the Bath-Hammondsport Road. It was as though time had slipped back to the turn of the century when Dr. Alexander Graham Bell's "boys" of the Aerial Experiment Associa tion trundled their fragile "aero­ drome" from its tent to test the stillness of the morn­ ing's air. That quiet time, of little wind, just after dawn and just at dusk were the hours so much appreciated by those fledglings of the air.

Th is ' une 23rd , 1976 had special m ean ing, how­ ever, as the day would see the reenactment of America's first official public flight of one kilometer which had occurred 68 years earlier and only a few hundred feet from the spot where this gathering of early fly ­ ing machines now stood ready to reenact the scene.

The idea of attempting such a flight grew out of a suggestion by the Curator, at a director's meeting in 1974, that the Curtiss Museum build a reproduction of the June Bug, to commemorate Glenn H . Curtiss' 100th birthday in 1978. A feasibility committee was appointed, consisting of Joseph Meade Jr. , Carl Kohl and Ray Tillman, all of Mercury Aircraft, Inc. Within a week these gentlemen had started construction of a mock-up and June Bug II was under way. Our pro­ ject was soon part of the local Bicentennial Committee plans and the reenactment of Glenn Curtiss' historic 5

FLIGHT OF THE JUNE BUG /I

1908 - 1976

Hammondsport, NY

flight to win the Scientific American Trophy was set for June 23, 1976. (See May issue Vintage Airplane , page 15).

In 1907 the Scientific American Magaine , in an effort to spur American aviation experimenters into making a public flight of one kilometer under official conditions, had offered a fine silver trophy for that feat. The Jamestown Exposition was deSignated for the trials . Unfortunately, there were only one or two entries, none of which materialized. At that point, the Scientific American offered the trophy for flights at any time when suitable arrangements could be made between aviator and Aero Club official s . The Aerial Experiment Association requested , and was granted, a trial at Hammondsport, New York, on July 4, 1908.

The job of building June Bug II and reenacting the original trial was an enormous undertaking. There were no plans of the machine or drawings for the fittings. The Journals of the A. E.A. were searched for information concerning the June Bug. A photo of a layout drawing was found at the Curtis s Mus eum in the Carl Adams collection, which served as a ba sis for

the work. Unfortunately, it did no t show the June Bug as she was on July 4th , since modifications were so numerous. The patent papers provided some excellent schematic drawings. The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian furnished drawings made for a model in their collection and photographs of the June Bug. The Museum of Science and Tech­ nology at Ottawa furnished information on the ori­ ginal and flying reproduction of the Silver Dart which was the A.E.A. machine built immediately after the June Bug experiment. The photos were the most valu­ able contributions from the museums. Enlargements yielded much information on construction detail.

Construction started on th e chassis using a Curtiss motorcycle from the Curtiss Museum collection as a model for the steerable front wheel just as the A.E.A . had done. Some chang es in material and method s were made in the interest of safety but the machine's structure is basically like that of the original June Bug. Among the aeroplanes gathered at Hammondsport were Cole Palen's beautiful and original type XI Bieriot, a replica of San tos-Dumont's 1910 Demoiselle, a 1910 Hanriot replica with the original control syst e m , a

-I

Steve Wittman and Dave Fox Intrepid pilot of the June Bug popular subjects for photographers during Saturday's show.

June 26, 1976.

Demoiselle powered by 65 hp Continental, better known as " The Infuriated Grass足 hopper." Cole Palen in the hopper.

100% Original American Aeroplane Supply House manu足 factured Bleriot XI powered by 50 hp Gnome engine .

1911 Curtiss Model D Pusher replica with head plane, a replica 1913 Deperdusin Racer with 165 horse足 power Gnome rotary and a Curtiss JN4-H. In addition to these machines, we were fortunate enough to have Dale Crites with his Curtiss Model D "Silver Streak". With Dale, Dave Fox and Cole Palen, we had gathered at Hammondsport three of the best Curtiss "shoulder yoke" pilots in the world, with four Curtiss aeroplanes.

The day was spent making last minute adjustments and the hills echoed to the bark of testing engines.

About six o'clock, the wind began to calm and the spectators began to ga ther along the fences at the edge of the strip.

The Curtiss JN4-H was fired up with Cole Palen in

the office. The crowd hushed, listening to the " Hisso" as it lifted the 60 year old "Jenny" into the air where her ancestors had flown. Cole made several fly bys, a ribbon pickup and a demonstration of ribbon cutting.

The 1913 Deperdussin was next rolled out on the field where the Gnome exhibited its reluctance to run .

After some priming, she caught, coughed, backfired and decided to burn . A rather exciting few minutes followed while the crew used the extinguishers. On one occasion, the Hammondsport Fire Company was called to assist.

Several attempts were mad e to fly Cole Palen's new Curtiss Model D Pusher, but engine trouble and th e wrong prop conspired to keep her grounded.

6

1911 Curtiss Model D with 1911 Hall-Scott 80 hp engine with head plane.

Built by Cole Palen .

Since no one had yet flown the machine, several "grass cutting" runs were made and on occasion, one or two of the wheels were off. One minor accident occurred when the axle broke , wiping out the right rear wheel. Repairs were soon made, however, but the reluctant Cur足 tiss D remained unflown at the end of the festivities.

Perhaps the most intrepid of our "Bird Men" was Dale Crites of Waukesha, Wis .

Dale's exhibition flying with his Curtiss Model D "Silver Streak" was nothing short of spectacular. On one trip past the reviewing stand his hands were held high and the crowd went wild. One ()f the innovations worked out by the pilots was a sort of Steeple Chase using two ribbons stretched across the field quite close together. The object was to take 7

off, fly over the first ribbon , land and hop over the next. Cole flying the Bleriot and Dale his Pusher gave the crowd a beautiful show of piloting skill and an unbelievable demonstration of the fly足 ing abilities of these two ancient ma足 chines of the aeronautical world.

Palen's Bleriot Type XI was built by the American Aeroplane Supply House of Hempstead, L.I. , N.Y . in 1911 and is remarkable in that it is all original except for the fabric. He made a circuit of the field covering a distance of about 10 miles at some 300 feet of altitude. We consider it a record for the machine and Cole, since the Bleriot had not made a circuit of any field since 1912 and it was the longest Bleriot flight in the career of the pilot.

Dale Crites waves at the crowd as he passes over in Silver Streak. A similiar pass with both hands held high was a crowd pleaser.

· 1910 Hanriot powered by 1939 Franklin 50 hp flown by Dave Fox .

T h e spec ta tors were d e li g hte d by th e re pli ca of Sa ntos -Dum o nt' s tin y Demoiselle w ith its cruciform tail. The " Infuria ted G rass h opp er" lived up to its na me.

One of th e mos t bea utifu l mac hines d em onstrated was the 1910 Hanriot with its mag n ifica nt mahogan y " hull " fuse­ lage. The ship incorporates the original control system with the only concession to its r ece nt co n s tru cti o n be in g th e 1939 Fra nklin e ngin e which powers it.

H er white wings were spectacular aga inst the green hills of Hammonds port.

June Bug II was rolled to the front of th e Judges stand wh e re a short chris­ tening cerem o ny complete w ith lovely ladies in gowns and a ba nd, was held u sing a bottle of Taylo r's Bicentennial vintage champag ne. The bo ttle carried seria l number 1908. It sh ould be sa id that the bottle was not bro ken and has

now been pl aced in the Cu rtiss Museum as a sou venier of th e d ay.

Replacing th e chri ste ning cere m o ny during the remaining days o f the meet was a Iig hter- th a n- a ir d e m on s tra ti o n consisting of three hot ai r balloons. The pilots, Dave Steven in " Atlantis Seeker", Ein ar Wh ee l in "S unbird " a nd Dave Ma rtindale in " Merri wea ther II " were able to make one fli ght on the 25th . These colorful examples of man's ea rlies t mod e of flight were plag ued by th e wind, as we ll a s " h e lp ful " re m a rk s fro m th e " h eav i e r~ than-air" boys.

Dave Fox, ha ving d one m os t o f th e test flights in June Bug II a t Dansville Airport, was chose n to make the o pen­ ing flig ht. The original June Bu g, it is interesting to no te, mad e some 54 flights, the first being mad e o n June 21 , 1908, with Curtiss as pilo t. She fl ew 456 feet

Above : With much excitement Cole Palen bails out when the 1913 Deper­ dussin catches fire during the engine run up. Cole may be seen at the extreme right. Man with fire extinguisher under right wing unknown.

Below: Ground handlers race to assist Dave Fox after a fine exhibition flight on Sunday, June 27, 1976.

Above: A very authentic, in every detail 1913 Deperdussin Racer with 160 hp Gnome engine. Re­ searched and built by Cole Palen.

Below: Silver Streak and crew: Dale Crites, Harry Peterson (left) and Bob Felsing (right).

in 11 seconds at 28.1 miles per hour. The flight was terminated by Curtiss, it was his second in a heavier than air machine.

The July 4th, 1908 flights are the best remembered of those made by June Bug. There were two that day; the 14th flight covered a distance of 2,700 feet at a speed of 32 miles per hour and was terminated to make an adjustment to the tail. The 15th flight covered 5,090 feet at 34 miles per hour thus fulfilling the conditions for winning the Scientific American Trophy. The longest flight was made on August 29, 1908 by Jack McCurdy cover­ ing a figure eight course over a distance of 10,560 feet in 180 seconds. These last few flights , starting with the 47th on August 27th thru the 54th on September 9th, 1908, were made with the "Bug" modified to the Silver Dart configuration,

with the exception of the engine place­ ment.

The spectators gathered at Hammond­ sport on June 23rd were to see the most spectacular flight made by June Bug II. She taxied to the end of the strip and turned without help because of her steerable nose wheel. The crowd grew silent as the old engine picked up revs and June Bug II rose gracefully from the grass strip. It was a magic moment for those involved with the project. She flew steadily gaining altitude and passed the Judges stand just over tree top height.

The flight covered a circuit of about 10 miles with an altitude of about 300 feet.

On her return, Aviator Fox put her down with a feather light touch and the crowd streamed thru the fences to surround the machine and congratulate her pilot.

June Bug II's flights for the rest of the week were perhaps less spectacular but more in keeping with her historical counterpart. Thursday proved to be a dark and rainy day and only the Jenny and Demoiselle were able to fly. The remainder of the week, however, was ' bright and beautiful but rather windy for such fragile flying machines . Only the "Jenny" and Demoiselle made flights outside the limits of the field. June Bug II made flights each day, buzzing lazily the length of the field more in keeping with 1908 than most spectators were aware. In all, the "Flight of June Bug Week" ended with a good record - no aeroplanes damaged and no injuries to pilots, ground crew or visitors.

I think one of the local reporters caught the mood of all when he wrote " June Bug II Flies on Gossamer Wings" .

She did that, with her nearly trans­ parent fabric back lighted - every rib, strut and wire were outlined in the sky.

All hearts were beating faster and every­ one was looking up. She passed over the smaIl cemetery close to the end of the strip at Pleasant ValIey where Glenn Curtiss rests . There too rests Otto Kohl, founder of the Curtiss Museum in whose behalf these flights were made.

I have the feeling that they were with us.

June Bug /I with her builders. Seated in cockpit is Joseph Meade Jr., President of Mercury Airport, Inc .

Back row : Joseph Baroody, Harry Saltsman , Lynford Hunt , Ray Tillman member of Glen H. Curtiss Museum Board, Carl Kohl, President of Glenn H. Curtiss Museum Board.

Front row: L. " Bud" Keeler, Gordon Gray, Fordyce Slater, Jim Francis.

Through their dedicated efforts, a slice of living history has thrilled thousands .

(Photo Credit The Smithsonian Institution)

Glenn H. Curtiss, Hammondsport, 1908

Dave Fox, Hammondsport, 1976 ~足

~

'-............

The Man from

Hammondsport

Excerpts from

" To Join With The Eagles" Doubleday & Company, Inc.

Garden City, New York

In 1907, during the period when the Wright brothers were inactive in aviation, the noted inventor, Dr .

Alexander Graham Bell, formed the Aerial Experiment Association in order to further the study of winged flight. One of the major stumbling blocks to s uccess­ ful flight was the dearth of reliable engines. In order to insure success in this venture, Dr. Bell turned to a young, successful builder of motor bikes named Glenn Hammond Curtiss.

Curtiss was born in Hammondsport, N ew York, on May 21, 1878. While s till in his teens, he entered the bicycle business. By 1905, th e bicycles of this mechanical genius were famou s throughout the United States. Before long , he began to make engines for motor bikes and, on one of these th e first V8 air cooled aero engine produced by Curtiss, established a world land speed record of 136.3 mph .

In 1904, th e balloonist, Captain Thomas Scott Baldwin, ordered a Curtiss engine for the dirigible California Arrow. The installation proved to be an outstanding success and soon further orders for en­ gines were placed with th e Curtiss Manufacturing Company. In 1907, always rea dy to accept new chal­ lenges, Curtiss joined the Aerial Experiment Associa­ tion as director of experiments.

Each member d esigned and flew his own design.

Each was powered by a Curtiss engine. The first d esign,

by Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge, was known as Red Wing . It first flew in March 1908. Without lateral controls, Red Wing was capable of nothing more than short hops. After two sh ort flights, it crash-landed.

The second machine, attributed to th e Canadian , Frederick W.Baldwin, was th e White Wing . This air­ craft was n otable in that it marked the first use of ailerons on a New World aircraft; the d evice had, until then, been used excl usively on Europea n machines.

Like Red Wing , White Wing crashed shor tl y after tests h ad begun.

11

The third machine was Glenn Curtiss's June Bug, which first flew on July 4, 1908, powered by a Curtiss Vee engine. The fourth machine, the Silver Dart, was a refined version of June Bug. On June 21, 1908, Curtiss's Ju n e B ug won the coveted Sci entific American Trophy for the first of­ ficially recorded flight of over one kilometer. Although earlier Wright flights had far outdistanced the flight of the June Bug, the flights had been ca rried out in obscurity at the Huffman Plain .

Toward the end of 1908, Curtiss fitted the June Bug with pontoons , renamed it th e Loon and attempted the first takeoff from water. His attempts at this time failed when the Loon was unable to rise from the water.

At about this time, Curtiss left the A.E.A. and, with Augustus M. Herring, formed an airplane and engine company. Prior to his association with Curtiss, Herring had, in the 1890s, helped Chanute during the latter's gliding experiments.

In the spring of 1909, the company rolled out the successor to th e June Bug. Built for the Aeronautic Society of New York, the little machine was powered by a 30 hp Curtiss engine. Its fabric was yellow bal­ loon silk and th e machine was named , appropriately enough, the Gold Bug. The Aeronautic Society of New York, somewhat miffed at Curtiss having named their aircraft, elected to call the little craft the Golden Flyer. Although Golden Flyer was its official name, Curtiss and others at " the works" in Hammondsport still referred to th e little machine as the Gold Bug. Ha­ bits of any nature are hard to brea k.

After th e June Bug had fl own successfully, Curtiss h ad been sued by th e Wright brothers, who charged infringem ent of their patents regarding wing warping for lateral control of aircraft. The court sce nes were ugly and the Wright brothers had won.

To sid estep any further legal entanglements, Cur­ tiss devised, for th e Gold Bug, ailerons which were rigged between th e wings. Early trial s proved most favorable. As a result, Curtiss immediately began a larger, more powerful version, powered by a 50 hp engin e and known as th e Golden Flyer. In August 1909, Curtiss had his revenge when , with the Golden Flyer later called the " Rheims Flyer", he defeated the Wright en tries a t Rheims in the Go rdon Bennett trop hy race .

Cur ti ss blazed around the 20-kilometer course at an average speed of 47.09 mph. To prove that it was n o fluke, he won th e Prix de la Vitesse the following day a t an average of 52.63 mph. The Gordon Bennett trophy had been won in August of 1909 . The follow­ ing month found Curti ss in Italy, where h e won th e speed prize a t Brescia. It wasn't long before the Cur-

tiss-Herring partnership dissolved over a dispute re­ garding race winnings and Herring failed to keep his promis e to turn over to the Company his patents which he claimed were prior to the Wrights. The di­ rectors of the company felt his failure in the patent matters to be a breech of their partnership in ' the face of the Wright lawsuit.

During this period, Curtiss continued to desi g n his own engines although, in fact, they were actually b eing built by the Kirkham brothers of Bath , New York. As time went on, Curtiss's own contribution to the design of the Curtiss powerplants decreased .

Much of the work on the Model OX-5 engine was done

by Charles Kirkham.

It was Charles Kirkham who, in 1916, designed a 400 hp V-12 liquid-cooled engine known as the K-12.

This engine, after refinements by F. R. Porter, the Chief Motor Engineer for Curtiss, became the famed D-12 powerplant used by the Curtiss racing machines and by many of the Hawk fighters. Scaled up by Arthur Nutt, th e D-12 became the 600 hp Conqueror. This briefly, was the evolution cycle of the Curtiss Motor Division.

In the summer of 1910, Curtiss attempted to per­ suade the Army and the Navy that the airplane could be a useful weapon. But the Army still was skeptical and in the Navy, th e battleship was supreme. N ever­ theless, there were a few among the less senior officers who were openminded, and it was among these that Curtiss sought converts.

In June 1910, Glenn Curtiss staged a mock bomb­ ing attack against a dummy warship. The d emons tra­ tion made little impression on the military mind . Not until the Japa n ese attack on the Naval base at Pearl Harbor , thirty years later , were Navy top ech elon officers willing to concede that capital warships were vulnerable to air attack. In all fairness to these planners, th e slow, clattering biplanes, w hich were capable of carrying only the sma ll es t of bombs, could n o t be compared to later, deadlier aircraft. The potential of th e airplane was rea lly what Curtiss d e m onstra ted that summer in 1910. What was needed among th e observers was foresight, but that commodity was sadly lacking.

In A ugust 1910 a Curtiss machine establi s h ed a hi s tori ca l " first" when, piloted by th e first air-to­ ground wireless message was sent. This accomplish­ ment, alth ough impressive, was si mpl y the beginning of an unmatched se ri es of firsts by Curtiss aircraft that was to revolutionize aviation .

On January 18, 1911, the Curtiss Model D Pusher, piloted by Eugene Ely, took off from a wooden deck

mounted on the USS Birmingham in Hampton Roads, Virginia. This marked the first time that an aircraft had ever flown from a ship. The cycle was completed when Ely landed the Model D Pusher on a platform mounted on the afterdeck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco harbor. The airplane was brought to a halt by the use of hooks mounted on the aircraft, which engaged wires stretched across the platform on the Pennsylvania. The arresting wires were kept on the deck with sandbags. The seeds for modern carrier aviation were sown with these pioneering flights.

While the Wright brothers, after they had received widespread recognition and acclaim, had been con­ tent to refine their early flying machines, Curtiss continued to break new ground. Although he had been frustrated in his earlier attempt to take an airplane off from the water, he once again mounted a drive to attain this goal. This time his efforts were crowned with success.

On January 26, 1911, Model D Pusher rose from the waters in San Diego Bay. It sported a central float and a float under the front wheel. The developed version carried a main float with wing floats .

By the end of February, a Curtiss amphibian had taken off from the water with a passenger on board, had landed along side the Pennsylvania and was hoisted aboard, then had been lowered over the side of the battleship, had taken off from water, and flew back to land.

The practical demonstrations to the Navy could not be overlooked. Curtiss was awarded an order for an amphibious seaplane, eventually designated the A.l (U.S. Navy airplane No.1). While the Army's first airplane had been the Wright Military Flyer Type A, the second ship ordered for the Signal Corps was a development of the Curtiss Golden Flyer, known as the Curtiss Type D. In 1911, Curtiss delivered to the Army three Type E biplanes, which were fitted with Curtiss 60 hp el'lgines in place of the earlier 50 hp powerplants.

If 1911 was a year of accomplishment for Curtiss, it was also a year of recognition . On June 8, 1911, in recognition of his achievements and his co-operative­ ness in the furtherance of public knowledge about aviation, the Aero Club of America awarded Glenn Curtiss Aviator License No. l.

While the first flights from water had been made with a modified Golden Flyer, Curtiss was far from happy with the result. The fragile-looking pusher bi­ plane could hardly have been considered a practical aircraft for water-based operations. So, while a lesser genius would have been moderately content with the results and might have sought to refine the concept,

Glenn Curtiss made a radical departure which led him to produce the first flying boat.

Curtiss widened the single center float used on the first seaplane, added canvas sides and a decking over the cockpit area. The enclosed hull was thus born. Tip floats were retained for stability. Eventually the hull was further refined through the use of wood throughout the hull. This construction was carried back through the aft fuselage and supported the tail sur­ faces.

The Curtiss flying boat made its first flight in Jan­ uary 1912. Although the first aircraft retained the front elevator, it was eliminated in the developed versions. The early versions of what eventually came to be known as the Curtiss F Boat (a contraction of Flying Boat) had flat bottoms and great difficulty was often experienced in breaking the grip of the water suction on the large flat expanse. After considerable thought, Curtiss introduced the stepped Vee hull to break the adhesion of the water. This device has remained in use to the present.

By 1913, the F Boats were well developed . Although they were never really standardized (slight modifica­ tions existed from airplane to airplane) they had reached an advanced state of development. For his work with ­ and the development of - the flying boat, Curtiss was often referred to as " Pioneer of Naval Aviation" .

Because of his successful development of the flying boat, Curtiss was awarded the Langley Medal in 1913 by the Smithsonian Institution.

The F Boat achieved new levels of workmanship for aircraft. The streamlined hull was constructed of highly polished mahogany veneer strips over wooden longerons and bulkheads . Brass screws were used throughout, on the finely finished aircraft . A wide variety of wing configurations were used . Although most were biplanes, a few triplanes were built. Some of the biplanes had equal span wings , others had over­ hanging upper wings . The machines with overhang­ ing wings had, as a rule, integral ailerons, while those with equal span wings usually had an interplane aileron suspended between upper and lower wings. The Vee hull design deflected water spray away from the occupants , who sat on thickly cushioned seats. . Curtiss advertisements proclaimed the F Boat as a machine capable of flying at 60 mph and taxiing at 50 mph . Early machines used a 50 hp engine. Later, this was increased to 75 hp. When the 90 hp Curtiss OX-5 engine later became available , it was fitted to the F Boat.

It was the F Boat, which shared production facilities with the other Curtiss aircraft, that became the first truly mass-produced airplane.

The F Boat was accepted by the Navy and even the Army bought three aircraft. Although private indi­ viduals accounted for several more purchases, it was foreign governments that gave the fledgling company its first boost in the form of large orders. War clouds were fast gathering in Europe and this was reflected in the size of orders received from England, Germany, France, Russia, Japan, and Italy.

The first five Navy F Boats, each slightly different, were designated Navy Models C-l through C-5 . In March 1914, because of changes in Navy designation policy, they were renumbered AB-l through AB-5.

The first letter , "A", identified Curtiss as the first manufacturer of aircraft for the Navy, while the second letter was indicative of aircraft type, "B" standing for flying boat . In December 1912 one of the F Boats, numbered C-l, became the first aircraft to be catapulted from a ship's "deck", the deck actually being a dock at the Washington Navy Yard. On November 5, 1915, Lieutenant Commander H. C. Mustin, with F Boat No. AB-2, was catapulted from the deck of the battleship, USS North Carolina, to mark the first actual catapult of an aircraft from the deck of a ship.

Because of the volume of orders received by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, Inc., the Hammondsport facility was insufficient. A second Cur­ tiss factory was built at Buffalo, New York . By the mid­ dle of the second decade of the twentieth century, the Curtiss company, in sheer size alone , dominated American aviation, a position it was not to relinquish for three decades.

By contrast, the Wright brothers, who had domi­ nated American - and world - aviation from the outset , clung stubbornly to their original concepts and were soon outstripped by the more advanced ideas of their competitors . After Wilbur' s death , Orville Wright was able, in 1912, to sell three airplanes to the Navy. They differed little from the earlier Model B, mounting the same combination of two pusher pro­ pellers with chain drive. Power was supplied by a single 60 hp Curtiss engine. At best, performance was mar­ ginal. The Navy tested a .W right Model G in 1914, but rejected it on the basis of its inferior performance.

The last Wright ship purchased from the original Company controlled by Orville was the AH-23 (Wright Model K) which retained the obsolete chain drive and wing-warping mechaism. Exit Wright!

A larger, refined version of the Curtiss F Boat, known as the MF (Military Flying) Boat came out in 1916 . Although larger, multi-engined flying boats largely overshadowed the little single- engine aircraft, the type remained in prodw;:tion through 1918. With (Continued In VINTAGE ALBUM)

12

-:3f

~~ .,..

,.....~ _...-. .

'

-

,

\:.,....... ~ ,'~

.....,

(Credit G. H. Curtiss Museum)

..;

Vintage -.-.

,.... . , ". ~~-..., .......-_/

Men and Their V ~~,..

~~

,~

(Credit G. H. Curtiss Museum)

Upper left: The " Gold Bug" or " Golden Flyer" at Ham足 mondsport. Note the attachment point of ailerons.

-

:

~-

-...~

.-...:':~'::

/ :~~f..: " :.:"'- ~~j-.~'~~'~~',.:, -:i:

",~

.." -'....

Red Wing, the first of the AE.A. J Lake, March 12, 1908, in prepare

(Credit G. H. Curtiss Museum) (Credit G. H. Curtiss Museum)

Glenn H. Curtiss seated in cockpit of June Bug, left to right J. A D. McCurdy, Charles Bedwin, Clarence Love.

Above: Twin engined Flying Boat America was ahead of its time. G. H. Curtiss on the left.

(Credit G. H. Curtiss Museum)

Below : An early flying boat being readied for flight at Hammondsport, 1912.

The Hills of Hammondsport echoed tho could well have lingered from an earlie the grave of Curtiss scarcely 100 yards Heering , F. W. " Casey" Baldwin , Glenr J. A D. McCurdy, Allan Hawley and bet

-

-:.:,.. ~ :...--~~-:

".

足

a true enclosed fuselage, the original F craft than to the early open flivvers that ~ developments would continue throughol than most, signaled the end of the earlil th e end of th e period when the public, u of the man. Instead "Curtiss" wo uld mar

Ibum

-...

It.!¢ .~ , . ~

~

~

.......~~

(Credit G. H. Curtiss Museum)

)dromes, on the ice of Keuka 7S for the first flight.

(Credit G.- H. Curtiss Museum) Glenn H. Curtiss and Henry Ford with the " Old Red Boat" at Hammondsport.

1908 (Credit G, H. Curtiss Museum) 'Jnds of clattering engines in 1976 that ht in 1908. Much unchanged except for , the site. Above, left to right: Augustus 'Jurtiss , Charles Manley, Tom Selfridge, he elevating plane Dr. Albert Zahm .

was more closely related to refined air­ 'ed gingerly through the skies. Althoug h , his tory of aviatio n , this airplane, more o n eering era . Too, this airplane marked tearing the name "Curtiss", would think company.

(Credit G. H. Curtiss Museum)

(Credit G, H. Curtiss Museum)

Glenn H. Curtiss at Rheims , France , where he won the Gordon Bennett Trophy in 1909. This was the world's first air race.

Both Pictures Above: Aviators 2 favo­ rite pastimes , " Fly awhile, Tinker awhile ". This early flying boat, the first really successful one, is shown flying over Lake Keuka, 1912.

Ed "Skeeter" Carlson of Spokane, Wash., went through a lot of trouble to convert an antique Stearman C-30 into a Stearman C-3B, but to him it was his way of stepping right into history.

This is the year that a number of airlines are cele足 brating their 50th anniversaries, and some of them, such as United Airlines, used Stearmans in their early years.

Carlson's love of aviation history led him 20 years ago to completely restore a Hispano-Suiza powered C-30 he had gotten in 1950. He put it into Varney Air Lines markings, but Varney, a predecessor company of United Airlines , never flew the Hisso C-30 , so Carlson's Stearman was not in an authentic livery .

Although the B models (some of them C-2Bs modified to C-3B standards), flown by Varney and other airlines were popular planes, only two of the 0 models were built. They differed from the Bs in their engines; the C-3B was powered by the 200 horsepower Wright Whirlwind J-4 engine or 220 horsepower J-5.

When the front cockpit was covered with a hatch for the carrying of mail, the C-2B and the C-3B were also known as the C-2MB and C-3MB, respectively.

Among the early airlines which modified Stearman C-2B (C-2MB) aircraft into C-3B (C-3MB) aircraft were Varney, Western Air Express, National Air Transport, Texas Air Transport, Interstate Air Lines, National Parks Airways and Continental Air Lines.

Carlson, who is well known in antique airplane circles, got his 1927 Hisso-powered C-30 in 1950 but didn't complete it until 1957. "The first time I saw it it was a shambles," Carlson said. "I had gone over to , the Couer d' Alene Junior College to bid on a surplus Link trainer, and I saw the skeleton against a building.

They apparently were going to dispose of it but had just neglected to throw it away."

"When I spotted the plane, I was told it would be junked, so I was able to acquire it right then ," Carlson added. , He said that the plane was the typical "basket case".

It was almost unrecognizable as an airplane, with some tubing off the fuselage and all the instruments gone .

Luckily, most of the rest of the plane, in loose pieces, was still in a shed . The 1918 war surplus, 180 horse足 power Hisso model "E" engine was sitting on the shed's dirt floor.

(United Airlines Phok;l)

Former Senator William E. Borah of Idaho depositing letter in slot of Stearman C-3B as Pilot Lionel Kay watches.

Beca use this was be fore Carlson a nd his wife, Doris, h as gotten their O X Meadows farm - with an airs trip a nd p le nty of roo m - Ca rl so n preva iled u p o n hi s fa ther-in-law to s tore the airplane bon es tem poraril y in h is h ay bar n . It was three yea rs before Carlson was able to star t wo rk on the Stearman 's remains .

Gra du ally h e loca ted a uthe ntic in s trume nts a nd completed a mo nu mental res tora tion job in 1957.

Altho u g h the original p ai nt sch eme of th e C-3D was yellow, Carlson d ecided to put his in the livery of Varney Airlines because of nos talgic m emories as a boy w h en Varn ey Stearma ns flew between Pasco and Sp oka n e. " I ch ecked w ith Peter M. Bowers of Boeing (wh ich h ad boug ht out Stearman) and got the original Va rney color sch eme," Carlson said . "The top of th e upper wi n g was ora n ge the cowlin gs we re blu e a nd th e insign ia was red , wh ite and blue . Th e rest of the p lane was silve r."

H is nostalgic urge got an incentive w h en h e learned th at the fi rst Stearman flow n by Varney Airlin es was a J-4 powered C-2B la ter upgra d ed to a C-3B, w ith

(Ph oto by Ed Williams)

Ed " Skeeter" Carlson and his wife, Doris, show panel of fabric with Varney Air Lines held over new markings of National Parks Airways, Inc.

(Photo by Ed Willia ms)

Ed " Skeeter" Carlson and his Stearman C-38 , after conversion from C-3D.

(Photo by Ed Williams)

Carlson 's C-3D before coversion to C-38, with antique mail truck also owned by Carlson , Hisso engine N6433.

Stearman C-3B (C-3MB) with Wright J-4 engine, serial no. 103, modified from C-2B (C-2MB).

Former Varney Airlines plane lost in crash in 1937.

factory serial number No. 103 and registration num­ ber NC1598 . Carlson's C-3D had serial number No . 104.

"With the serial number of my plane just one behind the original Varney Stearman, it gave me somewhat of a connection to the first Varney Stearman," he added.

After Carlson finished the restoration, he flew the C-3D for 200 hours with the Hisso engine, with its big, nine-foot prop . It cruised at 100, climbed at 1,000 feet per minute, stalled at 50 miles an hour and was an all-around good airplane. Carlson was even able to win trophies with it as best antique at several local fly-ins.

Carlson's Hisso-powered C-3D had registration num­ ber N6433 during that period.

Two considerations entered into Carlson's deci­ sion a bit later to convert the plane . "First, it was dif­ ficult to keep the D flying because the Hisso engine is r~re , and you can't find parts for it anywhere," Carl­ son explained. "Secondly, the B fits in with airmail history."

In 1927, when Carlson's Stearman was built, it was a different matter about the engines. "A t that time there were lots of surplus His sos, but the J-4 was much more expensive," he said.

17

Carlson said he had the conversion project in the back of his mind six years ago when he was fortunate to get a J-4 engine that powered one of the original Varney Stearmans. The engine had been in the Spo­ kane area for a long time and was known to have powered an Alexander Eaglerock for a while after be­ ing taken off a Varney plane.

"When I got it, the J-4 was in terrible shape," Carl­ son said. " I worked all winter restoring it. " Carlson said that because the J-4 engines often were interchanged on various Varney aircraft, it was not known which specific Stearman it powered. But the engine serial number 6771 checked out to Varney, and it is known to be authentic. But not so for the C-3D in Varney markings, and some thing had to be done about that!

The idea to convert really took hold for good a year and a half ago when Carlson was able to get registra­ tion number NC1598, the original number for C-3B serial number 103 - the first Stearman flown by Var­ ney, with Varney tail number 8. Tail numbers one through six were on Varney's original Swallows, and tail number 7 was on a Breese Monoplane which was

tested but never operated by Varney .

The registration number was available because the original NC1598 had been lost in a crash in woods in th e Spokane area in 1937. It was the third airplane built by the Stearman Aircraft Co. of Wichita , Kansas, and in 1927, Varney had six Swallows and one Stear­ man (NC1598) . Varney later changed over to an all­ Stearman fleet, taking the J-4 engines off the Swal­ lows and installing them on the Stearmans that re­ placed them.

"Roy Shreck of Spokane got NC1598 from Varney in 1929 and flew it on operations for the Glacier Na­ tional Park Forestry," Carlson said . "In 1937, the plane, now with a J-5 engine, crashed on a weather flight, and it was completely demolished." Carlson added that there was nothing left of Stearman NC1598 except small pieces and the engine, which was recovered from the crash scene.

An important circumstance that gave great impetus to Carlson's conversion project was the fact that a close friend, Dick McWhorter, of Prosser, Wash., had restored an authentic 1928 Stearman C-3B. And for­ tunately for Carlson, McWhorter had copies of most of th e original C-3B drawings.

"The conversion was really very simple because th e Hisso had detachable mounts, and there was no pro­ blem in substituting the J-4," he said. "All I did was a little weight and balance work - mostly from Dick McWhorter's B model specs - and put on a different oil tank and engine cowling."

"The entire project took five months, at 18 hours a day, with help from several local enthusiasts," Carl­ son said. The airframes of the C-3D and the C-3B were identical, which left no work to be done in that area except recovering . Carlson took off the fabric with the Varney markings and recovered the plane again, but this time he decided against Varney markings. United Airlines was in the process of planning its 50th anni­ versary around the restoration of a Swallow owned

by E. E. " Buck" Hilbert and that plane was being put in Varney markings. Carlson, looking for a different historical angle, decided to paint his in the colors and markings of National Parks Airways, Inc., also a pioneer operator of the C-3B. National Parks Airways flew two Stearman C-3Bs between Salt Lake City and Great Falls, Mont., on Contract Air Mail route 26. Carlson researched those planes and then put his C-3B in National Parks Air­ ways' green and orange. McWhorter, meanwhile, had

(United Airlines Photo)

NC159B, tail No . B Stearman as a C-28 before upgrading to a C-38 by Varney Airlines. J-4 en­ gine .

..

painted his in the red and silver colors and markings of Western Air Express.

Side by side, Carlson's and McWhorter's Stearmans look almost identical. " The only variance in our birds is that Dick's ele­ vators are elliptical and mine are rectangular," Carlson said. "Other than that there is no physical difference."

McWhorter's Stea rman was used first on Contract Air Mail route 12 between Cheyenne and Pueblo, starting on May 31, 1926. The service was inaugura ted

by Colorado Airways, which lost its mail contract in 1927.

McWhorter flew his Stearman on the same route last Memorial Day on the 50th anniversary of CAM 12, and Carlson's flew along as a chase plane.

There is a possibility that the two aircraft's roles may be reversed later this month. National Parks Air­ ways started CAM 26 in August, 1928. Although this is not CAM 26's 50th anniversary, arrangemen ts might be made for Carlson in Augus t to retrace the Salt Lake City-Great Falls route. If so, McWhorter's Stearman probably will be his chase plane.

Carlson finished the C-38 on March 21 in time to bring it to Pasco to watch the reenactment by "Buck" Hilbert in his Swallow (See THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE, June, 1976) . McWhorter brought his C-3B there, too, and both Stearmans drew considerable public interest while they were on display .

Because Carlson can interchange the restored J-4 engine with a Continental 220 on his Stearman, he has elected to use the J-4 as a spare and has relied entirely on the dependable Continental to power the Stearman.

Carlson has restored many antique and at present has four other flying aircraft - a 1930 Student Prince, Stinson L-5, d e Havilland Puss Moth and S4C Thomas Morse Scout, in addition to the Stearman.

These aircraft, and a variety of other parts and en­ gines, fill up almost all the space in his two hangars and workshop on OX Meadows. The farm , since it has its own airstrip, is a popular place for visitors, who seem to drop in - or fly in - any time of the day or night in order to talk to the Carlsons abou t antique planes.

~

'~

~

~ . ~IIW.

U:S.A.IR MA.IL

varn~.

~

(Photo by Ed Willia ms)

(Photo C. T. Wrightson)

C-38 owned by Dick McWhorter of Prosser,. Wash ., in Western Air Ex­ press colors.

An early photograph of Stearman C-38 (C-3M8) showing both (N)C159B registration number and No. B. The pilot is Joe Taft, one of four original Varney Airlin ,:;, pilots.

18

ROBERT McDANIELS 9S 237 Aero Drive Aero Estates, Naperville , Illinois 60540

A Taped Interview

By Jim Barton

262 Cayuga Ave.

Elmhurst, Illinois 60126

I'm Bob McDaniels and I'm from Naperville, Illi足 nois. I retired two years ago by the forced retirement age of 60, having completed 34 wonderful years with American. Captain Jim Barton, a very good friend of mine asked me to record some events that happened many years ago when I was running th e airport at Richmond, Indiana where I established with two other fellows, 3 World Records .

I'll begin by saying that I learned to fly in Muncie, Indiana with Al Heath, my partner, and incidentally, you'll hear me mention Al Heath and Russ Morris.

All three of us became airline pilots, and are now out of the airline flying business.

Al and I started in Muncie , Indiana and Russ came in a wee bit later - Al and I bought our first airplane, a Waco 10 from Homer Stocker at South Bend, Indiana in the winter of 1932-33. We paid $275.00 for our first airplane. Neither one of us could fly - we hired Bob Bolyard to teach us . He started us flying, but didn' t solo us. Clyde Shockley who was the air足 port operator at Muncie, Indiana finished the job teaching both of us to fly in that same old Waco 10.

I remember the NC number of the Waco - NC941H and it was painted green and silver. That airplane was broken up by a pilot who was flying it while I was riding in the front seat.

Then we bought another Waco 10 from Clyde Shockley, this time NC7893, and used it for awhile.

We rented it out and it was also broken up by a pilot named Howard McCullum. Then we bought a little two place open cockpit Rearwin Junior from Everett Cox from Winchester. Our Rearwin Junior was Model 3000 with a 45 hp Szekely engine. We paid $350.00 for it and flew that quite a bit. The ailerons were warped so badly they hit the wing, so we had to re足 build it and recover it.

In the meantime we went to Richmond, Indiana about 40 miles south of Muncie and talked to a fellow named John Nixon , who owned the old airport, and conned him into leasing the airport. Of course we lied a little bit about our experience. We went down 19

<7kue

T . TOtItnUf

there with the Rearwin, and Al Heath had purchased a model BK Bird 972V - I remember it was a big blue fuselage with cream wings and a 100 hp Kinner.

Russ Morris joined us and we called ourselves "The Delaware Fliers" because we were from Delaware County, and we swiped the Indiana Head of the LaFayette Escadrille and painted that on the side of our airplanes.

At Richmond we decided that we would really go into student instruction. We really didn't have too much to offer - two used beat up old airplanes, a lot of ambition and a lot of ideas. We got hold of a fellow

~tUf4

named Mac Jollaf, who was a young reporter for the Richmond Newspaper. Mac showed an interest in flying 'and we said "Mac it wouldn't cost you a penny to learn to fly" and he was of course interested. We said we'd like for him to run a column in the paper for us each week, and to do this we'll have an air足 plane at your disposal at all times . He took us up on it.

We now had the "Plane Talk" column, written exclusively about our activities. The depression was just ending, and we had very little money. Our rates were something like $5.00 an hour. If a student came

out and bought 15 minutes of flying time, he got his name in the paper. Everyone who came out, no matter what they did, got their name in "Plane Talk" . We were doing mOJ;"e student instruction than the big Muncie Airport north of us, who had everything brand new and modern. We had 10 students to 'their one . All three of us would spend the whole week­ end sitting in airplanes, and hamburger and cokes was the menu .

We built up quite a bit of time doing that and then we heard that Bill Moffet had a Travel Air for sale and we bought it - a Hisso Type 3000, 3 place biplane.

Most anybody had heard of a 2000 or 4000 Travel Air, but very few have heard of a 3000. That was a beau­ tiful airplane, NC6037. I had to borrow money on the Rearwin to make the down payment on it - that was to be Russ' airplane - then we had 3 airplanes. We then traded the BK Bird in on a CK Bird . The CK had 125 hp - imagine all that horsepower, and it hauled 3 up front , plus the pilot - that was NC919V. All three planes were used for barnstorming and instruc­ tion.

T-Crafts and Cubs are just coming into popularity, and I bought a T Craft, 19054.

About that time, I read in the paper where a fellow had done 52 tailspins - well there were a couple of biplanes that were pretty good spinners, so I would climb until I was freezing to death and spin them down. They just weren't getting the revolutions per 1000 ft. that I needed. We had this brand new T Craft we had just bought, and [ got it up one day to around 7000' , and pulled it over into a spin, it was amazing the number of turns I got out of it. I spoke to AI about it and said if I can get it high enough I could set a new spin record, so we fooled around with it and all of us spun it.

One Saturday I took it up and got to around 12,000 ft. with a tank of gas, kicked it over and got 60 turns.

That, of course, was much better than the 52 that was the world record . We contacted newspapers and decided that we'd go for some publicity and try to break the World's Tailspin Record. We set the date for Sunday, October 19th. John Lontz, Dave Porter­ field and Art Quigley were to count the turns .

We had arranged a bag of flour so it would leave a trail for them to see. We had quite a crowd there. I could only get up to 11,600' that day, and finally I released the flour, pulled it over into a spin. I remember every once in while it would try to flatten out on me, but I kept it turning and turning . I just made sure I didn't look out and get dizzy . I'd watch the altimeter and every once in awhile I'd clean out the engine.

T-Craft 19054 that was used for the 55 turn spin record.

When I got to around 2000 or 3000 feet, I began to pay a little attention to it. I had no idea how many turns I had done - not looking out there was no way to count them. [ recovered at about 400 to 600' . I had pre-arranged with the guy on the PA sys tem that I'd put on a good show as if the airplane were out of control. I went around slipping the airplane with one wing low, and landed on one wheel and pur­ posely bounced and then cut the switch so no one would hit the prop. A lot of people came crowding out. He really built it up on the public address sys­ tem - he was a phony as I was, he knew there wasn't anything wrong, but he sure had the crowd standing on their tiptoes. I had gone 55 turns, and broke the World's Spin Record. Perhaps you ' re wondering why we did that. Well, I got my name in the paper nationally, and that brought out lots more students, and that $5 .00 per hour was buying us hamburgers.

After the spin record we heard about these fellows in Syracuse, New York, who had gone 4 days in a Cub, and established a light plane record. Right away I began to get ideas about that. We took the same T Craft and took out the baggage compartment, put down a piece of 1/4 " plywood in the back on the floor, and then cut the top of the fuselage fabric out and make a triangular opening in the fuselage so you could actually stand up through the opening which was ap­ proximately 30 x 30 diagonal opening. We were going to try some aerial refueling.

We took some 5 gallon cans of water up in the Bird, someone in the back cockpit let it down on a rope, and we flew underneath them in the T Craft and tried

The " Delaware Flyers " 1934.

,

"Our Second Bird" NC919V, C-K Model - B-5 Kinner.

to stand up in the opening to take it aboard. We got the two airplanes in position - we were right under­ neath them, and when I stood up to grab that can, of course I blanketed out the air from the complete tail surfaces and that damn T Craft went everywhere but up , and Russ was yelling, and I almost fell over­ board. I didn't have a safety strap on . We got back on the ground and talked it over. By the way, they had to let go of the can - it was too heavy to pull up, and it dropped right in the middle of Highway 40 ­ if we'd hit a car, I wouldn't be here today, I'd still be in jail.

We tried to figure out how to use a hose like the big boys do. We sawall the pictures of the Hunter brothers, 20

Keys brothers etc . Just then we read in the paper that some boys down south had been refueling with a hose and it hit the propeller and sprayed fuel all over them, and they caught on fire, so we gave up that idea . Then we got another idea - why don't we try pulling the fuel up? We had a beat up old Ford around the airport. We'd fly over the Ford phaeton lower a hook and try to pick up a 5 gallon pail of water. It didn't work - the little hook on the rope would hang straight back, the rope was too light. Then we tried putting a weight on the hook. We bought a plain old window sash weight and attached that on the end of the rope . To the bottom side of that we tied a big old harness hook, and believe it or not, this was really the answer - it would hang almost straight down and we could fly over and snag that can of water but found out it was too heavy. We then bought some used two gallon oil cans, cleaned them out and soldered a wire handle onto them, and it worked perfectly - that was the answer.

Then we had to practice. In a complete run across the airport, sometimes we didn't even make a con­ tact. We had to slow the airplane down and the car had to speed up to syncronize their speed. At first it was difficult, but we became good at it and actually could make two contacts in one run. The fellow driving the car knew exactly when to accelerate and we knew where to put the hook. The fellows in the car got so good at it that the minute we got over the airport they were there, we could snag the can, pull it up, drop the hook and get another one, and they'd come to a screeching stop at the other end of the' airport.

Finally we had the refueling down good, and started publicizing that we were going to go after this four day endurance record. They didn't have lights at Richmond, Indiana, so we went over to Van Dalia and made a deal that we could come over there for our night refueling . We didn't want to try to get through the night without fueling. On our endur­ ance flight, we would meet our crew about midnight - they would be waiting for us and would refuel us .

We took off at midnight one night for our first try. We were up 12-14 hours when we became extremely ill, due to fumes. Of course after we got feeling better, we talked to some of olir friends and they said there was a way to ventilate that cockpit. There was an automo­ tive ventilator that we attached on top of the cowling.

We put this ventilator on it and went up and found that it brought plenty of fresh air in the cockpit. So we announced our second take-off. Russ Morris and I were doing the flying.

21

Al Heath is a quiet, unassuming, wonderful per­ son - the best friend I ever had on this earth. He always stayed in the background while Russ and I loved the publicity. Al was running the business end of it. On the second attempt we were up 24-30 hours and I was flying the airplane, when all of a sudden the airplane just felt terrible - it was loose, not uncontrollable, but sloppy. We got looking around and saw that we didn't have one brace wire on the tail holding it. What had happened - they had sent some food in a brown paper bag, and I had thrown it over­ board, and it hung up on one of the hard brace wires on the tail group of the T Craft and it had bro­ ken one of the wires which released them all, so the tail was just free wheeling . We made a very very cautious approach and landed. Here we were again - down without a record. But we weren't discouraged, we knew we had it made, and got some new wires for it, and took off again, and this time we stayed up. We used to take our food up in open five gallon containers. They would send food and newspapers, and letters of encouragement up, and we used to sit up there and read all the wonderful things they were writing about us. We were a bit conceited, and enjoyed it - I have to admit that.

I remember one thing about endurance flying ­ your hands always smelled like gasoline and oil at all times. Your mouth tasted terrible - we'd brush our teeth twenty times a day and couldn't get the taste from our mouth or the smell from our hands, and it was annoying.

On the 6th day we figured out we had added 24 hours or so to the old record, and at a predetermined time we landed - we had a record, and we were re­ ceived royally in the city of Richmond. We had several banquets, and were paraded downtown with the air­ plane on a truck, and for a couple of young punks, we were sure riding high.

One thing I would like to mention here, while we were up on this 130 hour endurance flight, a fel­ low from Springfield, Illinois, named Hunter Moody, got the idea that this endurance flying was alright, because he barnstormed our field with a Trimotor, and made a lot of money. He went back to Spring­ field and with his young brother Humphrey went up and shot at our 6 day record the following spring of 1939. They pushed the record up to 14 days and of course we're up there in Richmond reading all about their having broken our record. In the mean­ time, Russ Morris left Richmond and had gone to

First record endurance flight. An enthusiastic crowd greets the flyers on completion of 535:41 hours aloft.

Sandusky, Ohio and was flying over the lake for a fellow named Milton Herschberg in the Fords and Standards, and just Al and I were left running the airport.

Al had bought a Keystone Patrician Trimotor that Spring. We didn't make any money off of it because it had skinny wheels and would sink down in the soft ground. Al was beginning to get itchy to get on an airline, and along about the mid-summer of 1939, we got together and decided to sell the Trimotor.

Al got an offer from TWA and went to work as co-pilot.

That left me alone at the Richmond airport.

SECOND RECORD

I taught a young man by the name of Kelvin Baxter to fly, and he was a natural. I got to talking to him and said "do you realize this fellow Hunter Moody has just broken Russ Morris and my endurance record, staying up 14 days." "Why don't you buy a Cub, and we'll fix it all up (mind you I'm doing a little pro­ moting here - YOU buy a Cub) and we'll take a shot at that record." He liked the idea, and .went to Muncie Aviation and bought a brand new Franklin 50 Cub, 22801. It had wheel pants, red leather upholstery, which he immediately ripped all apart, we put tanks in it and started practicing refueling.

The airplane was christened "Miss Singer Sun­ tan". Mr. Singer was the owner of a chain of bakeries in Indiana , and he sponsored all kinds of sporting events - boat racing, auto racing etc., and he so graciously agreed to pick up all our bills. We didn't know where to stage this endurance record. We went

NC22801 , Kay Baxter bought it new for the sale purpose of the endurance flight. For the Cub fans note the markings, split 3 pc . windshield, strut cuffs, wheel pants, factory standard.

over to Springfield, Ohio and tried to work ou t a deal there . Finally, Clyde Shoekley suggested we bring the flight to Muncie for our attempt, so we moved every­ thing there, which had a lighted field , and was a modern airport. I enjoyed being invited to my home town, because I was always sort of the guy from the wrong side of the tracks , a nd now I was with the elite so to speak.

We picked our refueling crew, Red Luker, the three Baker brothers , D ea n , Charlie and Gerald, and Dick Seb ree, all of whom I had taught to fly.

We had a brand new half-ton pickup Chevrolet all lettered up with "Endurance Flight" on it. We prac­ ticed a lot and were finally ready to take a shot at this 14 day record. We took off in mid-September and were up 8 days. Some time during the 8 days, Kay and I got in some sor t of disagreement. I was flying the re­ fueling contact. The refueling car couldn't get moving fast enough because of the morning dew on the grass.

I would overfly the refueling car and miss the con­ tact. Kay would always say "you passed him up like a pay car passes a tramp." After about three of those remarks, I said " the next time you say that, I'm going to knock your brains ou t". Sure enough the next time T overflew the refueling car, he made that remark. I came arou nd with a swing at him, and he beat the devil out of me - we kicked out a window in the airplane.

We made an agreement to discontinue the fight, but when we were on the ground , we'd settle this once and for all.

On the night of the 8th day, we stuck an intake valve, a nd it backfired and ac ted up . We drug th e airp lane on another 10 mil es so uth and landed a t

an emergency field. We scra mbled out and lay on the groun d under th e wing - I remember we could smell the clover and grass. We both went to sleep under th e wing . When we awoke with daylight, we had about ten thousand mosquito bites all over us an d we had forgotten completely what we had been arguing about. We called Muncie and they picked us up in a car.

Franklin Motors sen t u s a new engin e, a nd in­ stalled it. We decided to d o some more work on the plane. McKinley Leapley, a good friend of mine and a fine mechanic, took two J4 Cub tanks and mounted them underneath in tandem, hooked them together

and streamlined them with fabric, and they were so much lighter than the original tanks.

On October 1, 1939 we were ready to go again.

Now mind yo u we already had 8 days in, starting over, going after the 14 day record. I remember that on the 3rd day in every endurance attempt I had been in, I'd get violently ill. You are tired, and the noise and smell get you down. But anyway, we kept on grinding .

Ball State College, which is now Ball State Univer­ sity, was having a homecoming football game. They sent us a football up in the 5 gallon can, and we were suppose to fly over the homecoming game on Satur­ day afternoon, and drop the ball to start the game.

There were high trees all around, and we missed the whole damn field.

Then another guy got an idea for us to fly as the pace car for the beginning of a dirt track race. I don' t remember if the racers got ahead of us or not. We couldn't have been doing more than 50 mph. Those were some of the things the publicity people set up for u s.

I might add that between the 8 day failure, and the time we took off on the record breaking endurance flight, someone contacted a fellow named Darwyn Andrews . He was a theatrical publicity man . Darwyn wanted to take care of all the publicity for 20% of the gross fee. I was against it, but Luker and Bax­ ter both thought it was good, so I gave in and we hired him for 20% of the gross. This was the smartest thing that we ever did. Darwyn went around to all of the m erchants and said "folks, the record these boys McDaniels on left, .Kay Baxter right.

22

GER 's

\

. d ,

.

',I

~_ " _~._. ..-' . • ~ ~_ .... .

- '- - = - - - - -

-_ ......._ ' .--....-.

-

-

_ __

.

.

-. ~ -"r--. .... ,,,,_~,~

~.

Come on fellows let's get that can hooked. Now pull it up!

Bob McDaniels and Kay Baxter ready for the signal to start the endurance flight.

The private bedroom shared by the flyers for 14 days and nights.

are trying to break is 14 days, and I want you to make pledges for every 24 hour period beyond the existing record. You will pledge so many dollars," and he would feel out the merchants on how much it was worth. For example, Muncie Aviation Corp. was throwing in $300.00 a day, as were several other places in town. We would make a tremendous amount of money per day, if we passed the 14 day record.

We used to pull our food up in 5 gallon pails. I remember McKinley Leapley's wife lived on a farm, and she sent us a whole container of wonderful home cooked fried chicken_ We sent down a note and told her how delicious it was, they read this on the radio. By now we were getting regular coverage on national hook-up over WLW from Cincinnati.

The minute that all the ladies listening in heard this name on National radio, they all wanted to get in the act. Every night we'd get 4 or 5 buckets of chicken

by Mrs. So and So, and we were supposed to brag about it. Some of it wasn't quite as good as others.

We got so spoiled , that we would take a piece of chicken and bite off the real brown crusty part, and throw the rest of it overboard, and then write them a note and tell them how good it was.

Of course, the question everyone asks is "What do you do with human waste?" - well, there's an answer to that. The Sealrite Corp. makes ice cream containers in all sizes - some half gallons are round, some square - we took the round half gallon ones.

Once they were used we'd fly down a furrow and catch a farmer on a tractor. In spite of our 30' alti­ tude and our 50 mph speed, we never got a farmer, but we came close.

They also used to send us custard in little paste board cups, we'd fly down and pick out a car and try to hit him on the hood with a custard cup. Little things like that kept the time going. Baxter was one of the coolest characters I've ever met in my life. One night we got in a line of bad thunderstorms, and all we could do was fly up and down Highway 28, (neither of us could even spell instrument flying). I'm talking about 100', because that's the only way we could keep contact. Through it all, Kay was asleep in the back.

We had these little ventilators - one of them hap­ pened to be turned forward so it was scooping water in, and right when I didn't know if I was going to crack it up and get hurt, Kay raised up and said "turn that damn ventilator around - I'm getting wet."

We droned on through the rain, then came another bomb. The sun was coming up, but now we had solid ground fog. I mean it's solid. There was no way to

tell where we were except one thing - the beacon at the Muncie airport was sticking out on top. We couldn't see the ground, but from the beacon and the sun, it was very simple to figure out where the northeast corner of the field was, and that's where our refueling truck would be. (You all know what a Cub gas gauge looks like - it's a wire, and when it gets down to 1/4" you know you're getting close.)

I throttled back and yelled "I'll try northeast and southwest" , and finally went back over the beacon and got the airplane all slowed up. Kay dropped the hook and nothing happened. He thought it hit the ground, and we tried it again. Kay dropped the hook again, and all of a sudden he let out a yell, and pulled up two gallons of gasoline on the hook. Later when we talked to the ground crew, they said they could see us, the silhouette of the airplane, but we couldn't see them at all. We came very near ending it right then for lack of fuel.

Speaking of sleeping - how did we sleep? Well, we had a piece of 1/4" plywood and it covered the top of the fuselage back from the baggage compartment about 4 ft. into the tail and we had another piece of plywood that telescoped on top that we could pull forward. There was a cross member attached to the front seat. By sliding back in there and sliding the second piece forward , you could attach it and you had room to stretch out. The plane still had a turn and one-half of stabilizer left for hands-off flight.

We found out that two hours was the best sleeping period.

Another question that's often asked is how did we change seats? It's simple - one fellow stood out on the strut and the other climbed over the seat. As I look out at that strut when I fly a Cub now and think about the times when the strut was wet, and it was night, it scares the hell out of me - I don't know how we ever did it, but we did.

Airplanes would come along side of us and we' d get our pictures taken and we did all kinds of phony things to attract a crowd. We'd get 10% of every­ thing on the ground - if any airplane hauled passen­ gers, we'd get 10%. We had a J5 Standard that hauled 3600 passengers at $2.00 a piece and we got 10% of that. The main thing we wanted to do wa s hold people at the airport. As time hung heavy on us, we found out that one mag was just a little bit weak so we'd switch over to that mag and pull the carburetor heat on, and fly around over the crowd with it burp­ ing. The newspaper would come out and say "En­ durance flight appears near end - engine is missing" etc. As, soon as they got out of work, the crowd would

stream out to the airport. 'We wanted their money as well as their cheering.

We became irritable and argued a lot. Kay used to order tenderloin sandwiches for breakfas t, and that used to irritate the hell out of me. It wasn't any of my business what he had for breakfast, but we'd argue about it. When one of us would go to the bath足 room, the other one would get mad because it took so long. We were constantly arguing with one another.

This went on until someone told us that by this time tomorrow we'd pass the 14 day record. At that cer足 tain time they shot off a bomb down on the ground and we had broken the record! What record had we broken? We had broken the light Plane Endurance Record of 14 days, which had been established early that Spring by Hunter Moody and hi s brother at Springfield. Of course we were elated that we had

done it . We were both miserable, and we decided we' d just play it from day to day and see how we felt about continuing.

One night while we were cruising around, we saw a burning farm and we watched for a few minutes.

The next day we got a no te saying tha t the farmer said we had thrown some of our cigarettes overboard setting his barn on fire and that he was going to sue us . Neither Kay or I smoked at the time. Not only that, but we were saturated in gasoline and some thing we didn't want was a cigarette or a match. Evidently they convinced him, because he dropped his threat.

Speaking of gasoline, we had several ways of getting it forward to the engine. After we made the pickup we would hold the can between our legs.

There was a flexible hose from the fuel manifold attached to the back side of the front seat. He'd drop this hose down into the can . A wind driven generator that ran an electric fuel pump would transfer it to the belly tank or the front tank. You were constantly in fumes of gasoline. You got so you hated the thought of gasoline.

So how did we get oil into the engine? We had a float device that I rigged up on the front of the engine so we could tell how much oil we had in it. We also had an oil line that came back from it into an auto足 motive oil filter right up on the top overhead in the cockpit. After we'd been up a week or so, we got to discussing the fact that we couldn't tell whether the oil was clean . We got the idea why not install a drain to change oil. We sent down to get refrigeration tools and installed a drain valve on the down stream side of the filter. Now we could change our oil in flight .

It was very successful. We were putting in 6 or 8 quarts of fresh oil every day. To add oil we had an OX 5 oil pump and brazed a little crank on it, then ran the

Bob McDan iels being interviewed by Jim Fidler from National Radio Hookup.

Left to right: Red Luker, Jim Fidler, Lee Eikenberry, Kay Baxter, Mrs . Roosevelt, Bob McDan iels and R. Fowler after a luncheon to honor the flyers.

line from the forward side of it into the crankcase.

We would take a can and punch a hole in it, take a mouth full of oil, force the oil from our mouth through the hose into the pump and turn the crank until you feel it prime, then shove the hose down into the can of oil, and pump a quart of oil in . This lu­ bricated the engine and kept you regular. I've nothing against Kendal, but I haven't drank any Kendal since!

At 31/2 gallons of gas an hour, we weren't making to many refueling contacts, but we realized that to make money, we had to have a crowd, and refueling attracted them. So we decided we'd just refuel with empty cans . The cans were all getting dented from the return trip to earth. Someone suggested "how about putting parachutes on them? " We agreed , and from then on we started taking our cans aboard with little parachutes. As soon as the truck would pull out from under us, we'd throw out the empty can with the chute on it. They really appreciated that on the ground. I would say that the last 10 days we were up , 80% of the cans we took on board were empty.

One time I was doing that which most every per­ son in the world does about 8:00 A.M. , and the door was open since it was a warm day . I saw Kay look to the left and smile. I wondered what he was grinning about, because we didn't have much to grin about, all of a sudden there was Clyde Havens flying the J5 Standard so close, we were almost interlocking. In the plane were my wife, Bernice Baker and Lee Cham­ ness, and they were howling with laughter - they had caught me at a most inopportune time . They went on down and landed, and were on national broadcasting. We had this little receiver and we ' d turn it on every broadcast and listen to it. The inter­ viewer asked " what were those boys doing today when you came along side?" Everybody giggled so loud that he immediately changed the subject. .

Now that we had the record broken and 'e very day was getting more miserable , we discussed and argued when we should end this thing . Finally we sent a note down and told them exactly when we were going to land . We did this for a reason. We wanted to be damn sure we didn't have any picture takers miss our pictures - w e wanted eve ryb ody to be there with a ba nd wh en we la nd ed. We flipped a coin to see who would land the airplane. I won and landed about 40' too high , and it sure tested the shock parts on that Cub . We taxied up and there was a mob of people waiting for us. To show what little old country boys we were, we didn't know that if we had go ne another 24 hou rs, we would have

25

broken the heavy plane endu rance record . We could have stayed up another month I think - there wasn' t anything wrong with the airplane. It was dark when we taxied up , and they whisked us into Roberts Hotel, which was THE hotel in Muncie, and we were on the radio, and enjoyed every minute of it , I might add that before we landed , another en­ durance flight took off on floats on the west coast Wes Carrol and Clyde Slipper. They took off in a sea plane, we didn't know how long they would be in the air, so we decided to cover ourselves in case they went longer. We said.we had the " l and Plane" record.

They went 30 days and broke our record, so our split second decision was a good one. I understand that now it's up to 3 month s in a 172 - that's hard to be­ lieve.

We got on the ground , and the next day our publicity man had Mrs. Roosevelt greet us, and we had a luncheon with her. She was a very wonderful lady, I enjoyed every moment that I talked to her.

Being retired now, I live on a private airstrip and fly little clunkers around, and every once in awhile I'm flying some under-powered shaky little airplane , I look up and see that beautiful smooth contrail up there 39,000' above me .

In closing I would like to say this - I have no arguments with life - I've been the luckiest guy that ever lived. Can you imagine a Hoosier country boy having all this fun setting records, then .topping it off with a wonderful job flying for American Air­ lines! Best of all is being in command of a 27 million dollar 747, and having all those wonderful friends.

Dear AI Kelch & Staff: I like the new format and contents of the VINTAGE AIRPLANE. Beautiful covers - worth framing .

The new layout, binding on the short edge, reminds me of my high school days. I was Editor'in-Chief for our high school year­ book in my senior year. That was in 1943.

We used this format for our book that year and it won the all American Award for high schools. This was the first time in the history of the Anderson Senior High School (Indiana), The school has only won this coveted award twice since that time.

So with all prejudice - I can say I believe the new VINTAGE AIRPLANE is a winner, Keep up the good work.

Sincerely yours , Hugh P. Horrison II 10125 N. Park Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46280 EAA 76504. AlC 677 Dear AI : I want to apologize for not having answered your letters of Feb. 20, 1976 and May 25, 1976, Have been too busy working on the replica of the first Waco Biplane Model 4 that I have neglected a lot of my letter writing .

Just got back from Oshkosh, which I enjoyed very much , in­ quired about you there but unable to locate you .

Have completed making all the wing ribs, nose ribs and all four ailerons except for trailing edge. Now working on center section , then will start on tail surface. Have no plans other than some pic­ tures and what I can recall after 54 years .

Before I start on the wing I will have to figure out what type of fittings I will use.

I have an engine (OX-5) that I purchased from Jim Ash in Wis­ consin last February. I am in need of some parts to complete it namely the following , both long intake pipes, water pump , tach cover and a few other smaller parts.

Have tried to locate some other pictures of the Waco but have had no success at this time, talked with Clayt Bruhner and he was not able to help me very much.

I will try to get some pictures of my project and send them to you , Sincerely, Ray B. Vaughan P.O. Box 617 Walbridge, OR 43465 P.S, Will be 73 on the 30th of this month, have target date for com­ pletion on my 75th birthday.

R.B.V.

Dear AI: Just a short note to thank you, Lois and all the others who helped us for that frustrating week to get one flight. My problem was that once I'd gotten off , I didn't want to stop - but I'd promised the tower people.

The June Bug and crew got home fine . The movies came out pretty good. The slides haven't yet returned from Kodak.

This was my first EAA meet, but I hope it's not my last. I really enjoyed it.

Thanks again and keep them flying Dave Fox

WHISTLING IN THE RIGGING

By Tom Poberezny Dear Sir: In regard to "Breath of Life" in February 1976 issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE. Mr. Richard Con no ley of Richfield, Connecticut kept NC 11 Y at Danbury, Connecticut during 1940, 1941. He flew it regularly on business. Its big fuel tanks were a ready source from which to "borrow " gas when the Cub trainers went dry and Texaco was late with deliveries.

We washed her down with "gunk" til the aluminum glistened and nursed sore muscles from pushing in and out of the hangar.

For details write Cliff Sadler, Manager, Danbury Airport, Danbury, Connecticut 06810.

Have photo taken at Danbury , if you want.

Charles Steffens, Jr.

37 Coleman Road

Glastonbury, CT 06033

Having been back from Oshkosh for three weeks now, I have had a chance to receive comments on this years event and also further reflect back under less hectic conditions. No matter which way you look at it, we all had a successful Convention.

In order to improve your Convention in 1977, I need your help. Most of the correspondence received regarding the Convention has been of a general na­ ture indicating that the Convention was a success and was truly enjoyed. Some letters have offered ex­ cellent suggestions for improvements. Those letters with a legitimate complaint were investigated and answered quickly . It's interesting to note that of the few complaint letters received , most are from non­ Dear Sir: EAA'ers.

Enclosed fine my renewal in the Antique Division . I am also look­ Here is where I need your help. I have just read an ing for some information. A friend of mine and me have just acquired article in an aviation newspaper on the Convention the fuselage and tail surfaces to an open cockpit hi-wing Parasol that indicated . .. "there were more than a few reports aircraft. It still has the original fabric on the tail. It says "Huntington Chum " on the fin with the number X7411 on the rudder (the X has been of aircraft damage by unthinking spectators, a thing painted over) . It has a mount for a radial engine, probably a Szekely. unheard of in the past." The article also stated that It presently has an A-40 Continental bolted right on the firewall, be­ there were reports of avionics theft and outright vandal­ cause it was used as an ice boat back in 1942, and stored since. ism . If these real problems did exist to the extent re­ We changed the oil and flUShed the carbo and a couple of flips and the old Continental was running perfectly after 35 years. We would ported, please let me know. Throughout the Conven­ like to restore it, but need any information anybody can give us. tion I received various reports (mostly second hand) Yours truly , of people leaning on aircraft, etc. but nothing of a D. Robert DePrath

major nature as indicated. If w e have a problem here, 627 E. River St.

Orange, MA 01364

I want to know about it. I will be asking each Conven­ tion Chairman, officer and director to brief me on any ':::':::::':':':':':':" "':"::;:::':':;:::'::'::::':':"'""}:,:""""""",:,}"""",:,:"},::;:;:::,:,:,,,},,,",:::::)",:,:"""""",:;::::"""":",,,,:,,:,:,:,:;:;,""":":,::::(""",,,,,:::::/,::::,:;:;::::,:( reports that they have received .

I would like to clarify one other point. This same article indicated that "in years past only members of WANTED: J-4E Coupe parts, Hummer starter, D75-9 Continen­ EAA, pilots and aircraft owners could get in. This tal , landing gear parts, wing drag wires. Need information as to duplicate to same as factory. James Kjeldgaard, 1331 West year the general public was permitted and it brought 11th, Fremont, Nebraska 68025, 4021727-4665. problems and gripes from the 1260 homebuilders who had their aircraft on the display lines."

FOR SALE: The Rearwin " C1oudster" prototype - a museum The admittance rules for the 1976 Convention , as quality airplane. George Williams, 115 Pauquette St. , Portage, WI 53901. printed on pages 45-48 of the January issue of SPORT

aviation are the same as those used in past years, There have not been any changes or liberalizing of these rules. If unauthorized individuals made their way onto the flight line, it is only because they have found a way "to beat the system" and get past the hard working volunteers at registration and the gates, Note this article also stated that "Still the event is the best self-policed and behaved undertaking in the world." Enough said.

We continue to receive a great deal of correspon­ dence on the CUBy Auto Fuel Experiment. As of this writing, the CUBy (powered by a 90 hp Continental) has flown 62 hours using Shell no-lead regular auto­ mobile gas. The CUBy was flown to an altitude of 20,000 feet during the 1976 EAA Convention. To date, we have found no ill-effects due to the automotive fuel.

Please note ... this is a test only. EAA is not advo­ cating the use of automobile fuel. What EAA is doing is facing up to the fact that people are using automo­ tive fuel in aircraft. Hopefully our work will encourage those organizations with the authority and funds to follow through on this project to the extent needed .

On Friday, July 27, we were pleased to have Mrs. Nydia Meyers, wife of the late Allen H. Meyers, come from Tecumseh, Michigan, to visit your EAA Head­ quarters facility and Air Museum. As you all know, Allen Meyers was the designer and builder of the Meyers OTW, Meyers 145 and Meyers 200. Mrs. Meyers enjoyed her visit and was quite impressed with the work that is being done by the EAA Air Museum Foundation, Speaking of visits, if you have not already done so, be sure to visit the new National Air and Space Mu­ seum (NASM) in Washington, D.C. Among the fea­ tured exhibits, of course, is the Northrup Alpha, which was immaculately restored under the direction of EAA member Dan McGrogan .

EAA and the EAA Air Museum Foundation have an excellent working relationship with the National Air and Space Museum and its fine staff. A number of NASM aircraft have been on display in the EAA Air Museum, with the current group headed by a Japanese Oscar and the prototype Helio Courier.

Staffs of both organizations have worked together on many mutual problems and projects. I am sure this fine working relationship will continue to improve in the fu ture.

In closing, I would like to mention that the EAA Division Executive Secretary is Mrs . Bonnie Soucy .

Correspondence regarding inquiries or problems should be directed to her at EAA Headquarters, P.O. Box 229, Hales Corners, WI 53130.

26

,

II

"

~

f I

/1

I

" ,

/'(

I

.j

路I

J

. ,

f J

I

I '

,

I

'

I' ,,'I II/ . II

f f

I

I

..

II

II

I

, { 1

'/

1I

J