10 minute read
Gone West
Sam Thompson
Sam Thompson, retired previous owner of Tulsa Aircraft Engines in Tulsa, Oklahoma, passed away unexpectedly November 14, 2012. He was 70 years old, born November 12, 1942, in Tulsa. As recent as Saturday night, November 10, he celebrated his 70th birthday and retirement from Tulsa Aircraft Engines.
Sam was well-known throughout the ag-aviation industry for his calm and quiet demeanor. He received both his private and commercial pilot certifi cates in the same year he graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology in 1965. He also attended Northeastern State College, Tulsa University, and Tulane University earning a master’s degree in the arts. He started working at Tulsa Aircraft Engines in 1974 and served as vice president, shop supervisor, and eventually owner after his father, Henry Th ompson. Previously, Sam was an assistant professor of art at Farmington State College and teacher of art at Tulsa public schools.
Sam is survived by his wife, Vanessa Thompson, mother Lois Johnson, daughter Julie Spencer, and fi ve grandchildren Ella, Kate, Zoie, Lucy, and Cotton.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to the Philbrook Museum of Art or the MD Anderson Cancer Center (713-792-3450).
What Our Members What Our Members Are Restoring
Are you nearing completion of a restoration? Or is it done and you’re busy flying and showing it off? If so, we’d like to hear from you. Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source or a 4-by-6-inch, 300-dpi digital photo. A JPG from your 2.5-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine. You can burn photos to a CD, or if you’re on a high-speed Internet connection, you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane. (If your e-mail program asks if you’d like to make the photos smaller, say no.)
For more information, you can also e-mail jbusha@eaa.org.
Around Around the Pylons
Air racing revolution A l
Don Berliner
Society of Air Racing Historians
The event that changed air racing more than any other in its 100-year history was World War II. Prior to those terrible few years, air racing was dominated by custom-built airplanes created by individuals or small groups motivated by love of the sport and the need to make money during the Great Depression. Art Chester, Keith Rider, Steve Wittman, Benny Howard, Clayton Folkerts, and their peers poured their creativity into minimal airplanes having maximum engines. Close competition was the inevitable result, which the huge crowds loved and we continue to glorify.
Immediately after the war, the hangars and ramps at Cleveland were filled with surplus military airplanes that were easily recognized despite their limited modifi cations and quickly applied colorful paint trim. Once the 1946 National Air Races crowd got over its brief infatuation with the wonderful speed and noise of the ex-fi ghters, their lack of individuality produced a surprising level of boredom.
The solution to the problem involved the cooperation of the Professional Race Pilots Association, which dusted off an old idea, brought it up to date, and with the priceless support of the Aviation Division of Goodyear Tire & Rubber, launched the 190 Cubic Inch Class. A horde of would-be amateur builders (the fl ying of nonracing homebuilts was illegal back then) learned of the new idea, and in a hundred or more basement and garage workshops, they set to work to create an entirely new class of racing airplanes. While some had experience rebuilding older airplanes, few had built original airplanes, let alone designed them, so most of them started from scratch on the unfamiliar road to developing and proving airplanes in time for the fi rst Goodyear Trophy Race, less than nine months away.
The dozen airplanes that qualifi ed around the 2-mile rectangular pylon course comprised the vanguard of a new era in air racing, one that would spread around the United States and then to Europe, remaining little changed for more than 60 years. Th e regulations for the class were unlike anything previously seen, in their extensive specifications controlling matters that had long been left up to the imagination and nerve of the individual. Henceforth, their airplanes would have to meet standards for minimum wing area, minimum empty weight, minimum pilot visibility, and maximum piston displacement. Retractable landing gears, variable-pitch propellers, and racing fuels were banned. Th ere would also be fl ight tests to ensure that each new racer would not be a danger to the others.
The long list of dos and don’ts must have been a shock to the veterans of prewar racing. Failure of the Midget Class was predicted by more than one pilot who had somehow survived racing an airplane that had been rushed to completion at Cleveland a few minutes before it was scheduled to start time trials. The new rules would make this a thing of the past.
What the new class would definitely not do was break all ties with the past. Of the 12 airplanes that qualifi ed at Cleveland in 1947, 11 had direct connections with 1930s racing. Th ey will be listed in the order they fi nished the Finals and the Consolation Races. #20 Wittman Buster NX14855. It first appeared in 1931 as the American Cirrus–powered Chief Oshkosh in which Steve scored his fi rst of many wins and then tested his spring-leaf landing gear strut that then was used on Tailwinds and 100,000 Cessnas. Th e plane got a four-cylinder Menasco and was raced until the limited-displacement classes were canceled. Th e Chief was modified into a sport plane, and when the Goodyear series was an-
AARON KING
Bill Brennand in front of Buster.
Buster
AARON KING
nounced, it received a new wing, engine, and cowl. In 1947, Bill Brennand won the fi rst of his many major trophies. In 1954 it was flown to Washington and handed over to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, where it has been on display for more than 55 years. #5 Chester Swee’ Pea N8400H. Art Chester gained a national reputation with the success of his prewar Jeep and Goon. When the Goodyear series came along, he went a new direction, equipping his fi rst as well as two successive midgets with a V-tail, and its cooling air inlet in the spinner. Paul Penrose placed second that fi rst year, despite the inability of the tail to control direction at low speed; future Chester midgets would have added ventral surface area to limit this. A trial use of a conventional tail didn’t work, so he went back to the Vee. As the Sky Baby, it was briefl y raced by Chester crew chief Lynn Kauff old. Until a few years ago it was in storage, then donated to Planes of Fame, which has plans for its restoration. #10 Cosmic Wind NX-67889. The plane was one of two of an eventual five, all-metal midgets from LeVier & Associates. Raced by Herman “Fish” Salmon in what was then named Minnow #4 and N21C for 1948, it got a longer engine mount and bubble canopy during that time. Salmon won the 1948 Goodyear, then saw a new mid-wing and tail for 1949 which failed to live up to expectations as a second-generation Cosmic Wind. It was raced occasionally, then sold to Pacifi c Air Races and later dismantled for used parts in an unsuccessful military prototype. Parts were eventually acquired by an English group which is gradually restoring it to its 1948 confi guration. #3 Cosmic Wind Little Toni NX-67888. It was first raced by Lockheed chief test pilot Tony LeVier until pressured to retire from racing. In 1948 it became N21C and was raced on and off through the 1960s, briefly as #7 French Quarter Special before Roy Berry began its restoration. The plane was sold to Ian McCowen and registered G-AYRJ in England. It was returned to the United States and is owned by Jim Fernandez in Seattle who intends to restore it. #44 Loose Special NX-64573. It was built from the late prewar Loose Special NR-13686 by Chester Loose and Warren Siem. The plane was raced in 1947 by Siem and then by prewar great Early Ortman. Long retired, its whereabouts are unknown. #19 Brown Suzie Jayne NX83Y. Built in the 1930s as the Brown B-1, it’s a smaller version of the Brown B-2 Miss Los Angeles. Raced through 1949 by Billie Robinson, the plane has been restored by EAA and is in the Sun ’n Fun Museum, Lakeland, Florida. #89 Falck Jeep N12930. Built by Art Chester in the early 1930s and raced until the late 1930s, it was then sold to Bill Falck so the
LEO KOHN
Cosmic Wind Little Toni
PAUL PENROSE
BROWN B-1
Bill Falck’s Jeep.
Fliteways Special.
PAUL PENROSE
Allenbaugh Californian.
Francis-Angell Whistler.
PAUL SCHNOEING
PFTTT.
engine, prop, and cowl would be used in a 375 Ci. Class racer. Before he could finish it, the class was canceled. When the Goodyear Trophy Race was announced, Falck used parts (mainly tail feathers) in a midget in which he won the 1947 Consolation Race. Retired after the 1948 Goodyear, it sat around until EAA picked it up, completely restored it to its 1930s Jeep configuration, and placed it on display in EAA Headquarters in Oshkosh.
#70 Fliteways Special NX18219. Built from the 1937 WhiteKremsreiter Special by Fliteways Inc., and raced by Charley Bing, it was destroyed in a crash during 1948 Goodyear qualifying tests, with Bob Huggins parachuting to safety. #95 Allenbaugh Californian NX-67893. The plane was designed by prewar designer Eddie Allenbaugh and built with a fuselage of molded plywood. After the 1947 Goodyear, the wings were used on Allenbaugh’s #66 Grey Ghost, a prone-piloted pusher that crashed on its fi rst test fl ight, killing Mike Argander. #81 Francis & Angell Whistler NX-84Y. Built from the prewar Hansen Special, which was a modifi ed Heath, it was raced in the 1947 Goodyear by William Taylor, retired in 1948, and is now on public display in Lansing, Michigan. #39 Nimmo PFTTTT NX67894. The plane was designed and built by Rodney Nimmo, who had been involved in at least one prewar racer. Raced in the 1947 Goodyear by Mike Argander and then broken up for parts to be used in the construction of #39 Deerfl y, it was also called the Mike Argander Special. #85 Hurlburt Hurricane N1223. It was built for Marge Hurlburt, who was killed in an air show crash while raising money for the project. She would not have been allowed to fly it in the men-only Goodyear. It was raced by Eugene Smith but failed to start in the Consolation Race. Parts have been long rumored to be in California. #91 Falcon Racers Special N1223M. A 13th racer in Cleveland in 1947, it lost a wing during qualifying tests, with pilot Claude Smith jumping safely.
Your comments and suggestions are welcomed by the author at rofuf@konsulting.com.
