Va vol 41 no 2 mar apr 2013 by EAA Vintage Aircraft Association

MARCH/APRIL 2013

S i l ve r Ag e Champion

Fleet VintageMar2013.indd 1

•Cub to Oshkosh •Sentimental Journey •The Cosmic Wind Story

2/12/13 9:44 AM

2014 Mustang

The Brood in a Mood

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to the engine compartment. With the 2014 Mustang lineup, cool features are as abundant as horsepower. It starts with the available Pony projection lamp. When the unlock button is activated, each side view mirror casts an image of the famous Mustang Pony on the ground. Other standard features include HID headlamps that help you see what’s destined for your LED taillamps. With so many possibilities, the thrills just keep coming! 1

EPA-estimated 19 city/31 hwy/23 combined mpg, coupe automatic.

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Straight & Level GEOFF ROBISON

Vintage Airplane STAFF

VAA PRESIDENT, EAA 268346, VAA 12606 EAA Publisher . . . . . . . . .Jack J. Pelton, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Chairman of the Board

2013: A year of enhanced membership beneﬁts

Vice Pres., EAA Publications J. Mac McClellan Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Busha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jbusha@eaa.org

VAA Executive Administrator Theresa Books 920-426-6110 . . . . . . . . . tbooks@eaa.org

Advertising Executive . . . . Jonathan Berger 920-426-6886 . . . . . . . . jberger@eaa.org

Advertising Director . . . . . Katrina Bradshaw

Oh, how I long for some warm mild breezes blowing through the hangar door. It has been a wild and wooly winter here in the Midwest. Lots of moisture and an abundance of icy conditions have been going on around here for many weeks. It’s not something I would label as brutal, but I am here to tell you that I am looking for some much milder weather here in Indiana, and starting tomorrow would be very nice. I hope you all have had the chance by now to take a good look at the January/February issue of Vintage Airplane magazine. I am quite happy to report to the membership that the reaction from our members to date has been remarkably positive and very complimentary. Our editor, Jim Busha, as well as his “team” from the VAA and the EAA publications department deserve a huge pat on the back for all of their efforts in transforming this magazine into a product that is easily 10 times the quality we have experienced in the past. Jim tells me that the majority of the magic used to make this publication what you see today is being performed by Livy Trabbold of the EAA publications department. Although Livy has been assisting us with our magazine for several years now, between her and Jim’s efforts these two have had a dramatic impact on the product you see in your mailbox today. So, many thanks Livy, and be assured that your efforts are greatly appreciated! This is certainly not intended to be an indictment of anyone previously responsible for this magazine, but it is all about a new way of thinking about how we can improve on the product. What we really have here now is a product that has been reinvested in. It’s actually an attempt to raise the bar in the arena of content, presentation, and quality. The team, as reinforced by the opinions of dozens of our members, has literally hit a grand slam home run for the product owner/member. My hat is off to Jim Busha and everyone on the team. A job well done by all individuals involved. Of course, this is not to imply that all of our members are happy about these changes, especially the move to publish the magazine on a bimonthly basis. As is normally the case, a small number of our members seemingly don’t care much at all for any change. To these valued members I would reply stick with us, and continue to measure the benefits of this reinvestment I referred to earlier. In just a short period of time I believe you will come to realize the benefits of remaining a member. continued on page 56

202-577-9292 . . . . . . . . . kbradshaw@eaa.org

Advertising Manager . . . . Sue Anderson 920-426-6127 . . . . . . . . . sanderson@eaa.org

Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . Livy Trabbold VAA, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903 Website: www.vintageaircraft.org Email: Vintageaircraft@eaa.org

VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION Current EAA members may join the Vintage Aircraft Association and receive VINTAGE AIRPLANE magazine for an additional $42 per year. EAA Membership, VINTAGE AIRPLANE magazine and one year membership in the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association is available for $52 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included). (Add $7 for International Postage.)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars. Add required Foreign Postage amount for each membership. Membership Service PO Box 3086 Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086 Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM—6:00 PM CST Join/Renew 800-564-6322 membership@eaa.org EAA AirVenture Oshkosh www.airventure.org 888-322-4636

www.vintageaircraft.org

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Vol. 41, No. 2

2013

CONTENTS

No One Ever Met a Stranger at the Red Barn Charles W. Harris

MARCH/APRIL 24

Fleet Fun Stan Sweikar’s storied silver age champion—Take Two Sparky Barnes Sargent

You’re Going to Do What Where? Earning my Ford Tri-Motor rating Donis B. Hamilton

182 Survivor . . . As if it came out of Tut’s tomb Budd Davisson

COLUMNS 1

Straight and Level 2013: A year of enhanced membership benefits Geoff Robison

News

Air Mail

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How to? Construct a wing rib fixture Robert G. Lock The Vintage Instructor Stall/spin and $%**%%$ Steve Krog, CFI Ask the AME Third-class medical exemption John Patterson, M.D.

Good Old Days

Type Club Corner Peregrinations of a J-3 Cub Harry Ballance

Celestial Breeze The Cosmic Wind story Don Berliner

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MARCH/APRIL 2013

Sentimental Journey 2012 Cub homecoming Roger Thiel

S i l ve r Ag e Champion

Fleet

Đ&XEV WR 2VKNRVK Đ6HQWLPHQWDO -RXUQH\ Đ7KH &RVPLF :LQG 6WRU\

COVERS FRONT COVER: Chris Miller captures Stan Sweikars Fleet over some green Wisconsin farm ﬁelds.

BACK COVER: Radial Engine Cubs? Look for a feature article in an upcoming issue to learn more about them. Photo by Phil High.

ANY COMMENTS? Send your thoughts to the Vintage Editor at: jbusha@eaa.org 51

The Vintage Mechanic Approaching a restoration project, Part 2 Robert G. Lock

Vintage Trader

For missing or replacement magazines, or any other membership related questions, please call EAA Member Services at 800-JOIN-EAA (564-6322).

KOEPNICKPHOTOGRAPH.COM

www.vintageaircraft.org

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No One Ever Met a Stranger at the Red Barn! Friends of the Red Barn Charles W. Harris

Dir ecto r Emer itus, VAA

For one entire grand and glorious week in the late summer of each year, the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association’s Red Barn is the epicenter, the heart, and soul of the whole wide world of vintage airplanes. It is the place to be to be a part of and enjoy the finest historic airplanes from our long ago past, which not only have brought us to where we are today but also have constantly inspired us to raise our interest and participation in the vintage airplane movement even higher. One only has to step across the road from the Red Barn and stroll, endlessly enjoying the view of scores of previous Oshkosh Vintage Grand Champions. Travel only a few more steps toward the south and be spellbound by the rows of rare Wacos, Spartans, Ryans, Howards, Staggerwings, and countless others from prior aviation eras—each finer than its next door neighbor! How can this all be possible, you ask? It’s all because of the generous support from Vintage members like you. When one immerses oneself with other vintage airplane enthusiasts, one comes to grasp the emotional import that there is simply no other place in the entire universe that any of us would rather be during the last week in July than the Red Barn area of Wittman Field—during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh! It is an overwhelming human experience when one meets scores and scores of new friends at the Red Barn, and not a single soul is a stranger; every last person is smiling, happy, and thrilled to be a part of something so thoroughly enjoyable that the weight of the outside world is forever removed for the entire week—it simply becomes the best place in the world! 4

This is “A Place Called Oshkosh”! Nothing is ever planned or rehearsed; it is simply what happens at the Red Barn. It is the mystical Camelot for old airplanes. It is also the place to be during AirVenture. Experience it for yourself; pull up a chair and sit in the shade of the Red Barn, grab a bag of popcorn, close your eyes, and transport yourself back to the golden age of flight. This is everyday normal Red Barn activities during Oshkosh! It’s a place where history comes alive! The invaluable Friends of the Red Barn fund, with contributions each year by fellow Vintage members, makes all of this supremely enjoyable experience possible. Without the generous contributions provided by these Vintage members annually, very little of what we experience and enjoy would be possible. Please join us as a contributing member of the Friends of the Red Barn as we provide the most ideal and perfect setting possible for vintage airplane owners, pilots, historians, and dedicated vintage airplane buffs. Consider it a calling…as many of us do! And please remember, no one ever met a stranger at the Red Barn!

MARCH / APRIL 2013

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CONTRIBUTION LEVELS ↓ DIAMOND PLUS $1,500 & higher DIAMOND $1,000 - $1,499 PLATINUM $750 - $999 GOLD $500 - $749 SILVER $250 - $499 BRONZE PLUS $150 - $249 BRONZE $100 - $149 LOYAL SUPPORTER $99 and under

Special Access to Donor A “6-pack” Appreciation FORB Air-Conditioned of Cold Certiﬁcate Badge Volunteer Bottled Center Water!

Two Passes to VAA Volunteer Party

10 Minute Breakfast at Chair Back Tall Pines Massage at Café AV2013 2 people, X full week 2 people, X full week 2 people, X full week 1 person, X full week

Tri-Motor OR Two Tickets Close Helicopter to VAA Picnic Auto Ride Parking Certiﬁcate 2 tickets Full week X 2 tickets

1 ticket

Special EAA PHP Air Show Center Seating Access

2 people, 2 people, full week full week Full week 2 people, 1 day 2 days

1 ticket

All donors at all levels will have their name listed in Vintage Airplane magazine, on VintageAircraft.org, and at the VAA Red Barn during AirVenture. Special for 2013, all donors for Gold Level and above will be entered into a random drawing for a limited edition, 21”w x 18”h, signed, numbered print by Randall Mytar shown at right.

✃

VAA Friends of the Red Barn

Name________________________________________________ ____________ EAA #___________ VAA #___________ Address____________________________________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip_______________________________________________________________________________________ Phone___________________________________________________E-Mail_____________________________________ Please choose your level of participation: ____ Diamond Plus $1,500.00 or above ____ Diamond Level Gift - $1,000.00 - $1,499.00 ____ Platinum Level Gift - $750.00 - $999.00 ____ Gold Level Gift - $500.00 - $749.00

____ Silver Level Gift - $250.00 - $499.00 ____ Bronze Plus Gift - $150.00 - $249.00 ____ Bronze Level Gift - $100.00 - $149.00 ____ Loyal Supporter Gift - ($99.00 and under)

■ Payment Enclosed (Make checks payable to Vintage Aircraft Assoc.) ■ Please charge my credit card for the amount of: ____________ Credit Card Number _____________________________ Expiration Date _________ Signature_________________________________________ Badges for Bronze Level and Above:

■ Yes, prepare a name badge to read:

Mail your contribution to:

VAA FORB PO Box 3086 OSHKOSH, WI 54903-3086 or contribute online at

www.vintageaircraft.org/programs/redbarn.html

■ No badge wanted for this year.

_________________________________________________________________ (Please print just as you wish your badge to read.) First Last Certiﬁcates:

■ Yes, I want a Certiﬁcate

■ No, I do not want a Certiﬁcate for this year.

The Vintage Aircraft Association is a non-profit educational organization under IRS 501c3 rules. Under Federal Law, the deduction from Federal Income tax for charitable contributions is limited to the amount by which any money (and the value of any property other than money) contributed exceeds the value of the goods or services provided in exchange for the contribution. An appropriate receipt acknowledging your gift will be sent to you for IRS gift reporting reasons.

www.vintageaircraft.org

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Round Engine

Rodeo

VAA Invites All Round Engine Aircraft to EAA AirVenture ’13

TThe he Vintage Vintage AAircraft ircraft AAssociation ssociation iiss rolling rolling out out the the red red carpet carpet for for aall ll round engine round engine aircraft aircraft owners owners at at AAirVenture irVenture ’13. ’13. IIff you you own own a rround ound eengine ngine aaircraft, ircraft, please please join join us us in in the the VAA VAA area area at at AirVenture ’’13 AirVenture 13 aand nd sshare hare your your bbeautiful eautiful airplane airplane with with thousands thousands w who ho would aappreciate ppreciate sseeing eeing aand nd llearning earning m ore aabout bout iit. t. would more

MARCH / APRIL 2013

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Vintage News

The “Good ol‘ Days” are back STEVE KROG What Is It? Welcome! The “Good ol’ Days” are returning, at least for a week! That’s right. For one full week from July 29 through August 4, 2013, the U.S. skies will be filled with the beautiful rumble of round-engineequipped airplanes en route to Oshkosh. The Vintage Aircraft Association (VAA), serving as the official host for this historic event, is inviting the round-engine universe to attend and participate in EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2013. All owners, pilots, and enthusiasts of roundengine aircraft are formally invited to fly their beautiful airships to Oshkosh and participate in this event, a weeklong gathering to get together with others who share the passion for these fantastic old airplanes and engines. • Special handling and parking will be provided to all who fly their round-engine aircraft to Oshkosh. • The VAA is working on an attractive package of incentives provided to all who fly these beautiful round-engine aircraft to Oshkosh. Watch for further details. • One full day of AirVenture will be dedicated exclusively to the recognition and display of these airplanes in the Vintage area. Period costumes worn by the pilots/owners are suggested and welcome. • Each day of AirVenture a different roundengine make-and-model aircraft will be featured at VAA In Review (in front of the VAA Red Barn and Vintage Hangar). • Interviewer extraordinaire Ray Johnson will conduct a live interview with the featured aircraft owner/pilot.

• Guided tours through the round-engine parking area will be conducted by knowledgeable VAA volunteers. • A proposed turf runway for arrival is being developed for those that might want or need to use it. Rest Stop The weekend prior to the opening of AirVenture—July 26-28, the Hartford airport (HXF) will serve as a gathering point and rest stop for all. • HXF features two turf runways as well as one hard surface runway. • HXF is located approximately 45 miles due south of OSH. • Fuel, both 100LL and 92 octane auto, will be readily available at a very competitive price. • Food, refreshments, camping, motels, transportation, and entertainment will be available to all. Last year 154 aircraft and more than 300 people gathered at HXF to partake in the pre-convention weekend activities—a great relaxing time enjoyed by everyone!

What’s Next Start making plans for attending EAA AirVenture 2013 and playing an active part in all the activities in the Vintage area. More information including a website and phone numbers will be available within the next few weeks. In the meantime, if you have questions about AirVenture, call Theresa at 920-426-6110. Questions about Hartford? Call Dana Osmanski at 262-966-7627. www.vintageaircraft.org

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Air Mail New format feed-back Dear Vintage Airplane, This is my favorite magazine to get. I always look forward to it. It seems Geoff is cutting back on the number of issues per year that will be sent out. That’s too bad, but if it has to be, we can live with it. I really like the articles by Robert Lock. Is it possible to get these to save on a disc? Maybe the compilation of these on a disc could be a profit center and be sold. The International Stinson Club has done this, and it is very useful. Steve Krog’s articles are excellent, too. His piece “Wind: When is it too much?” makes a good point about practicing in conditions that improve one’s abilities. Another article could focus on techniques. I am of the mind that crosswind landings are best done three-point rather than wheelies no matter how hard the wind is blowing, especially the transition from two-point to tail down. Do we slam the tail down? If we baby it down, we ground loop. I would like to see two articles: an update of the Fairchild 45 situation, and a story on the Antonov AN-2 of which 18,000 were made. Get Budd Davisson to write about the AN-2. I’m sure he can finagle a ride in one. Mark Davis A Stinson 108 restorer and pilot

Jim, Just received my January/February issue of Vintage Airplane, and I want to thank everyone up there for a job well done on the new mag. Contents right on, layout easy to read, lots of interesting how-to, and the magazine is eye-catching and pretty. Give everyone a pat on the back! Wendell L. “Doc” Roy, EAA 17804/VAA 19307 Fort Collins, Colorado

Hi Jim: You wanted feedback on the new Vintage magazine format. One word: great! Keep it up. See you at AirVenture 2013. Tony Wright Sr. 8

To Mike Leone/Budd Davisson — “Bonanza in a Barn,” December 2012, Vintage Airplane I thoroughly enjoyed your article in Vintage Airplane magazine, December 2012. It brought back many pleasant memories of flying with my father in his Bonanza N8508A when I was 16 years old. You will note that his aircraft was probably on the Beechcraft assembly line three aircrafts before yours. The mechanical similarities are still very clear in my mind. Dad bought Beechcraft Bonanza A-35 N8508A new from the factory with a Continental E-135. Eventually he had it upgraded to 205 hp, and he installed his third engine in it before he traded it in on a J-35 fuel-injected Bonanza. He had done a lot of flying with that Bonanza. I still remember when he first owned the Bonanza; each takeoff was a unique experience with the electric prop. As the plane accelerated on takeoff he had to “toggle” the electric prop switch to keep the rpm within limits and not over speed. He soon converted to the electric pitch—change control which made life much easier as well as safer. He also found the need to install a 10-gallon auxiliary fuel tank behind the rear seat.

MARCH / APRIL 2013

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JANUA RY/

FEBRUARY

2013

Hi Jim, Just a short note on Vintage, and it appears that some of my friends are more upset about that small mistake on the cover than I am? They said they have sent letters to the editor stating their opinion. Just want to reinforce that I never had any concerns or disappointments Chuck Do yle J about it. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a small mistake, and S T E A R M Ar.Nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s I enjoy being able to blame all the bad Ä?Around the Ä?Full circle BuPylons things on my evil twin brother â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jim.â&#x20AC;? Ä?1927 Dole Air hl Derby LOL. I hope to make it to OSH this year but will have to see if I can get the Chuck we are all sorry for the mix up! If you like you can time off of work as always. refer to me as your â&#x20AC;&#x153;evil twin!â&#x20AC;? We all hope you can Best, bring your Stearman to the Round Engine Rodeo-Jim Chuck Doyle Jr. A few special order items were installed also. Parachute seat backs on the two front seats and a â&#x20AC;&#x153;quick-releaseâ&#x20AC;? door hinge assembly were special factory installations. His three parachute flares were also installed. A â&#x20AC;&#x153;water evaporativeâ&#x20AC;? air cooling (not conditioning) helped cool off hot summer days as long the ambient humidity was low. I note your rear modern air-scoop which is a good improvement. Dad traded up to a J-35. I had a total of about 200 hours between the A-35 and the J-35. In 1972, my wife, Ellie, and I bought a 1967 V-35 which we flew for 40 years. We just sold it on December 5, 2012, and we were on our third engine. Our flying life has been very fortunate. Many enjoyable family trips, many with our two sons, across the United States, Central America, and Alaska will long be remembered in N798RD.

Thank you for the memories! My dad taught me a lot about good flying and also to love Bonanzas. Merry Christmas and many happy landings. James D. Sheen Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

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How to? ROBERT G. LOCK

Construct a wing rib ﬁxture To construct a wing rib, a holding fixture must be made. It is common to use a flat board, such as a piece of good pine board that may measure 1”x12”x72”. If no good flat pine wood can be found, then consider using some 3/4” plywood of the same dimensions. Hopefully an example of an original wing rib is nearby, however in some cases where there are no ribs available it will be necessary to loft a full size drawing of the rib outline. Coordinates for lofting a rib can be found in airfoil data books or from old NACA data. We won’t go into how to loft a wing rib at this time. First, trace the outline of the rib and all its diagonal and vertical members. Then, cut out blanks to

represent the spar dimensions. The spar blanks will be placed at the appropriate location in the wing rib. (Figure 1 and Figure2.) The small wood blocks should be drilled in advance of gluing and nailing to the base wood to prevent splitting. The blocks will guide cap strips and truss members in their proper location. Left in photo 1, this photo scanned from the ANC-19 book shows the Boeing factory worker nailing up a model PT-13/PT-17 wing rib. The plywood gussets are precut and are in bins at the top of the table. This speeds up fabrication time. I usually cut all the gussets and place them in small cardboard boxes numbered as to their location. The spar blanks are precisely located and glued to the

FIGURE 1

PHOTO 1 FIGURE 2 10

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base and they will accurately locate the vertical members on each side of the spar. (Photo 1.) If I anticipate difficulty sliding the spars through their respective openings, I will leave the vertical member on the rear side of the front spar and the front side of the rear spar out of the rib, slide the ribs on, then insert the two vertical members and glue in place. This makes for a good accurate fit. In photo 2, a close up of my Command-Aire rib fixture made from aluminum instead of wood. I once had plans to construct five airplanes, but struggled to build just one. The wing rib shown is an original factory part. The lower photo is a close up of the forward section of the rib showing front spar opening and the method (Photo 2) used to make gussets. Rather than use triangular or square plywood gussets, the factory chose to use long plywood gussets that bridged from one vertical upright to the next, also reinforcing the cap strips. It took a lot of mahogany plywood to make these and there was much waste, which in today’s market is costly. I remember the first sheet of 1/16” x 4’ x8’ aircraft grade mahogany plywood cost me $20.00, but that was back in 1959. Finally, back in the old days, my father, Leonard (Photo 3) who built most of the wing ribs are assembling the right lower wing on the CommandAire. The wing was assembled and then attached to the fuselage to assure proper fit. Photo 3 shows the right lower wing bolted to the fuselage.

PHOTO 2

PHOTO 3

www.vintageaircraft.org

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The Vintage Instructor STEVE KROG, VAA DIRECTOR AND CFI

Stall/spin and $%**%%$ “An eyewitness saw the accident airplane flying towards the airport from the southwest. The airplane appeared to be in a steep descent with a slight left turn. A few moments later, the witness saw the airplane in a tight right turn that developed into a spin. The airplane rapidly descended towards the terrain.” The above statement appeared in a recent preliminary NTSB accident report. Unfortunately, the outcome was fatal for both the pilot and passenger. Could it have been avoided? Most definitely! Every student, young or old, receives stall training provided he or she has worked with a good, thorough flight instructor and designated examiner. However, the only requirement for spin recognition and recovery is verbal discussion between student and instructor; then between the student and examiner. Actual spin training was dropped from the FAA Practical Test Standards decades ago. So, how does one know what to do or how one will react when experiencing an actual stall/spin entry? More on that in a future article. Is there any wonder how something like a stall/ spin accident continues to occur with regularity? According to the most recently published incident/accident statistics, landing accidents including the stall/ spin are responsible for a significant percentage of all general aviation accidents. My experience in flying with students, as well as certificated pilots, during flight reviews provides me with a two-part answer: lack of proficiency and lack of situational awareness. Even though we supposedly spend a great deal of time practicing all types of stalls, including recognition and proper recovery, 12

many pilots and most new students are still quite apprehensive when asked to demonstrate a stall. “On January 2, 2013, an airplane was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain. The commercial pilot was fatally injured. “Witnesses reported that the airplane was circling and maneuvering at a low altitude around the beach area when they observed it ascend abruptly. Approximately 150-200 feet above the ground, the airplane appeared to stop, make a sharp turn, and descend at an approximately 55-degree angle. The airplane appeared to start to level off when it impacted the top of a sand dune.” This is but one more example of a fatal stall/ spin accident that can be attributed to situational awareness. Lack of Proﬁciency More often than not, when conducting a flight review and I ask the pilot to demonstrate a poweroff stall with either a shallow bank left or right, the pilot will first glance at me and then tense up. Beads of perspiration begin forming at the temples, and the legs begin to tremble on the rudder pedals. After a reminder to make a clearing turn, the pilot will slowly reduce power and begin applying light back pressure. If flying an aircraft equipped with either a stall warning horn or light, the pilot will usually initiate some manner of recovery as soon as either the horn sounds or light appears. The recovery looks like a hard negative g push-over preceding an outside loop followed by smashing the throttle to full power. Once under control in a level flight attitude, the pilot will finally take a breath, hoping that I don’t ask

MARCH / APRIL 2013

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BONNIE BARTEL

for a second stall. That was not a stall but rather an imminent stall. When asked if he or she ever practices stalls, a sheepish look is followed by a comment stating that the last time he or she had done a stall was two years ago during the last flight review. It’s hard to maintain proficiency and safe flying practices if one only does one or two stalls every two years! If I encounter this situation, I like to climb to a safe practice altitude and proceed to do several more stalls, first demonstrating how stalls are required to be done if the pilot were taking an FAA checkride in this day and age. The procedure is quite different than the way many of us were taught decades ago. Together we then try a few more with me verbalizing each step and the pilot executing the stall and stall recovery. This will usually increase the pilot’s level of comfort and confidence. Another maneuver I like to do for confidence building and proficiency is a version of the “falling leaf.” To perform this, we’ll first climb to a safe altitude. At that point the pilot is given full control of the rudder only, while I have control of the ailerons, elevator, and power. I will set up and establish a power-off stall, then hold the aircraft in this configuration while the pilot has the responsibility for keeping the airplane level (wheels down and wings up). Once he gets the hang of it, I’ll challenge him to “walk” the airplane down for 1,000 feet, at which time he takes

over the controls, recovers from the stall, and returns the aircraft to straight and level flight. One or two tries at the “falling leaf” and the pilot usually regains the confidence and proficiency to perform stalls when flying solo. This maneuver also proves to the inexperienced pilot that though in a stall, the rudder control remains effective while proving that the aircraft will not fall out of the sky as is so often depicted in movies involving airplanes! One word of caution: Not all of the airplanes we fly are created equal regarding stall and handling characteristics. Make sure you know and understand your aircraft before trying the “falling leaf” maneuver. Some are much more positively stable than others. KNOW YOUR AIRPLANE, and if uncertain, seek the direction of experienced pilots flying that make and model of aircraft. Lack of Situational Awareness In the simplest of definitions, situational awareness is knowing what is going on around you, whether in flight or taxiing to the runway. This includes activities both in and outside the cockpit. Approximately 80 percent of the stall/spin accidents started from an altitude of less than 1,000 feet AGL, the usual traffic pattern altitude. Low-level maneuvers such as “buzzing,” low passes, and pull-ups account for more than 40 percent of the fatal stall/spin accidents. www.vintageaircraft.org

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With a little practice you’ll find that you have regained a good feel for rapid, coordinated— and safe—turns. KOEPNICKPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Typical general aviation (GA) aircraft estimate average altitude loss during stalls, assuming proper recovery technique, at between 100 and 350 feet. A NASA study done in the late 1970s proved that the average altitude loss in spins was about 1,200 feet. Given these average GA figures, neither of the pilots in the two NTSB reports stated earlier in this article ever had a chance. Both entered into the classic stall/spin situation at low altitudes, the first at approximate pattern altitude, while the second was much lower performing steep turns. The pilot in the first example had flown less than 10 hours in the previous two years—lack of proficiency is a near certainty. The second pilot flew more regularly but became fixated with a point of interest on the ground below. As the turns became tighter, the stall speed increased and control inputs questionable, resulting in a low-level stall/spin—lack of situational awareness. Once the pilot recognized the stall, correct inputs appear to have been made based on eye witness reports. However, he ran out of altitude before the full recovery could be made! As a flight instructor trying to teach safe coordinated flying techniques, I frequently rely on two maneuvers. The first is the Dutch roll. It is simple in concept but more difficult to perform until it has been practiced. At a safe altitude, point the nose of the aircraft at a prominent landmark. Then roll the airplane left and right along the longitudinal axis using aileron and rudder while keeping the nose pointed at the landmark. Begin by using 10-20 de14

grees of bank. Aileron and rudder together will turn the airplane yet keep the nose straight for a second or two. Then apply opposite aileron and rudder until you’ve reached a 20-degree bank in the opposite direction. This maneuver really helps develop proper aileron and rudder inputs, whether doing the Dutch roll or performing a turn to a different heading. The first time or two you try this, you’ll find the nose moving 30-40 degrees left and right of the point on the horizon, but keep practicing. You’ll soon be able to keep the nose directly on the landmark while rolling the airplane left and right. The other maneuver I’ve found to be very helpful is performing medium-bank (30-degree) turns left and right for 90 degrees. As you reach the 90-degree point in heading change, roll into a medium-bank turn in the opposite direction for 90 degrees. Do this for a series of a half-dozen turns in each direction while always keeping the ball in the center on the turn coordinator. When you can do this in a comfortable and coordinated manner without gaining or losing altitude, then increase the bank angle to a steep turn (45 degrees) and try it again. With a little practice you’ll find that you have regained a good feel for rapid, coordinated—and safe—turns. It is the responsibility for all of us to fly safely. Proficiency, coordination, situational awareness, and safe flight practices can and will prevent accidents such as those described in this article. The next time you decide to fly, give the Dutch rolls and 90-degree turns a try. They will make you a better pilot.

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Ask the AME JOHN PATTERSON, M.D., AME

Third-class medical exemption I was asked to write an article for the Vintage Aircraft Association from a medical perspective, but I did not want to regurgitate all the rules and regulations that we all are afraid will ground us at our next medical. Rather I wanted to write an article that involves a topic I am passionate about. That is why I support the EAA and AOPA initiative to exempt airmen from the third-class medical and instead use a state-issued driver’s license. First, a little of my own background. I am a urologist, a physician dealing primarily with the surgical diseases of the kidney, prostate, and reproductive system. I have a passion for aviation, especially antique/vintage aircraft. My father and I have built or rebuilt several airplanes starting with a 1931 Waco ASO Straightwing in the 1970s when I was in high school. I finally was able to bring it to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh for the first time in its history last year. I am also an aviation medical examiner (AME), primarily to assist pilots in our area of Frankfort, Kentucky. When I arrived, the family doctor and nonpilot that served as an AME had retired, and there was no one within 30 miles to do flight physicals. I applied and was granted authorization after initial training. Now, the third-class medical is required for all private pilots who do not “fly for hire” either passengers or freight. Substituting the driver’s license for the thirdclass medical sounds radical to the lay public because it falsely believes that the medical ensures that the pilot can fly the airplane when in fact it is the FAA-issued pilot certificate that does that. Doing away with the thirdclass medical for all intended purposes will end the majority of my flight physicals. Most AMEs perform these physicals as a labor of love for aviation and to provide a needed service. Those who have a high volume of airmen and perform these physicals for a living do so primarily on airline and commercial pilots. They will continue to be held to a “higher standard.” The riding public pays for that expectation, not so with the private pilot. Why should it happen? There is now plenty of data

showing that self-certification and the use of the driver’s license have worked for sport pilot certification and with no increase in accident or fatality rate. Already the FAA absolves itself of pilot responsibility by stating that each time we fly we are “self-certifying.” That is, we are safe and competent medically to fly that day. This does not change with the use of the driver’s license. Realistically, if the airman is fit to get in a car and drive to the office, he should be medically fit to fly his own airplane. To say otherwise is not to trust our own ability to self-certify. Most of the current medically grounding conditions are going to limit our ability to drive a car as well. Heart disease (coronary artery disease, angina, myocardial infarction, heart replacement, valve replacement, and pacemaker), diabetes, psychosis, bipolar disorder, personality disorder, substance abuse, epilepsy, disturbance of consciousness, and loss of nervous system function are all currently disqualifying conditions. Most can now be approved through special issuance. The medical and FAA concern is the “sudden incapacitation” that can occur with these conditions. Interestingly, there were no sport pilot accidents attributable to “sudden incapacitation.” Currently the proposal for exemption of the thirdclass physical applies to aircraft, nonretractable, less or equal to 180 hp, daylight hours only, and carrying only one passenger. Other more broad-reaching requests have already been turned down by the FAA. This is a compromise step with the hopes that once data is obtained, similar to the experience with the sport pilot initiative, it can then be expanded further. We need to do everything we can to promote and encourage general aviation and open it up to a new generation of aviators. Our current environment with barbed wire around all our airports and daily TFRs does nothing but discourage aviation. This initiative is definitely something that our organization and EAA should be doing and is doing to promote aviation, and we should all get behind it. www.vintageaircraft.org

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Good Old Days From the pages of the past . . .

The Cleveland plane makes port. Ford all-metal monoplanes have totaled more than a million miles of safe, swift ďŹ&#x201A;ying. The public is beginning to ďŹ&#x201A;y in preference to other means of transportation.

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Take a quick look through history by enjoying images pulled from past publications.

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s d A d e ďŹ i s las

What would you have found . . .

Aero Digest, June 1938

Aero Digest, June 1938 18

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Aero Digest, June 1938 AeroDigest, October 1931

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Type Club Corner Harry Ballance

Peregrinations of a J-3 Cub

Helping to paint the ﬁeld yellow, Ballance stands next to the cub he ﬂew to EAA AirVenture 2012.

As the song goes, “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.” However, it’s an even longer way from bucolic Central Georgia to Oshkosh in a J-3 Cub. The entire adventure began scarcely a year ago when I heard Rod Hightower, president of the EAA, allow that the year 2012 was the 75th anniversary of the introduction of the J-3 Cub. He stated that he aspired to assemble as many Cubs as possible at AirVenture and, in his words, paint the field 20

yellow with Cubs. It sounded like a grand idea, but Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was a long way from Williamson, Georgia, in a J-3, traveling at an indicated airspeed of 67 mph. To be sure, it would probably be the largest assemblage of Cubs, before or after. I lukewarmly weighed the pros and cons of such an adventure, and the wild and reckless side of me finally won out. Maybe I felt as though I owed it to the Cub.

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Harry Ballance and two interior shots of Judy.

One should not attribute life to an inanimate object, such as a machine or airplane. However, when one has owned an airplane as long as I have owned this Cub, it does take on the role of another family member. This, as are all of them, is a unique airplane that I have owned since 1967, and it is simply not the same as another J-3. We have been through a lot of stuff together; some of it bad, most of it good. She has suffered a lot of indignities and unmeaning abuse, such as in the course of teaching people to fly or tailwheel checkouts. She has never complained or let me down. My wife even named her Judy after the line from a Cary Grant movie, Judy, Judy, Judy. At the end of the day, after having flown many different types of airplanes in my lifetime, if someone said that I could only fly one airplane, it would be my J-3 Cub. There is just something intangible about the Cub experience that makes it stand tall over all other airplanes. They are difficult to enter and exit, they have poor visibility on the ground, they are uncomfortable after a flight of any duration, and they are slower than almost anything in the sky. However, there is nothing that feels quite as nice as rolling one on in the grass after a wellexecuted power-off approach. Having said all of that, I felt as though Judy deserved to take a little bit of a trip. Ever since I flew her to Atlanta from Dallas, Texas, when I got her, the longest trip she has ever made has been to Lakeland for the Sun ’n Fun Fly-In. Somehow I sensed that she wanted to fly north, to cross new states, to see the Ohio and Wabash Rivers, to fly along the shore of Lake Michigan looking up at the skyscrapers of Chicago, and finally to participate in a “mass arrival” of Cubs to Oshkosh where she would be among perhaps 150 of her kind. My planning for the trip was rather minimal. I knew that I would be camping, due to the exorbitant

prices of hotel rooms in the Oshkosh area. Of course, the EAA does not exactly give one good value for their camping fees, either. If one likes to use portable toilets and small showers with minimal hooks and little hot water, I guess the experience was bearable. However, with the amount of money one saves over even a cheesy hotel room, one could buy something really nice for one’s wife or airplane. One just has to suck it up with the lack of amenities. I had planned my trip using AirNav.com, which, to me, is a good flight planning and airport information tool. I used 80 nm legs, simply because I did not want to feel uncomfortable about fuel on any of the legs, and we had just de-rated my Continental A-65 from an A-75. Accordingly, I had not taken the airplane on any crosscountry flights sufficiently long to get a good read on the fuel consumption. I did take the trouble to purchase new sectional charts, as well as go by the local AAA office and get state automotive maps for my route of flight. Not that I fly “nap of the earth” missions all of the time, but sometimes these automobile maps are just plain helpful. My contention is that current sectionals simply do not show adequate detail to make pilotage particularly easy, and the road maps fill in the gaps, so to speak. On the Thursday before the big mass arrival to Oshkosh on Sunday, I flew from Peach State to my first stop, Paulding County Airport. I was greeted by a very nice young man there who acted as an allpurpose employee, from airport manager to lineman to hospitality chairman. He was also a pilot, looking for a flying break. We exchanged pleasantries, and one of his questions was how long had I owned the Cub. I suspect that he probably expected a reply along the lines of three or four years, but when I replied 45 years, his countenance changed www.vintageaircraft.org

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Flying Judy in present day and in 1967 (below).

measurably. My take was that he simply did not believe anybody could be alive—and still flying—who had owned an airplane that long. Continuing northward, I crossed the mountains west of Chattanooga and made a refueling stop at Jasper, Tennessee. This is a nice little airport, but it is rather unique, in that one has to climb in circles to obtain sufficient altitude to clear the mountains that surround it. My third, and last, stop for the day was at Falls Creek Airport in Lebanon, Tennessee, where I visited my friends Steve and Brenda Sachs, and Judy got to spend the night in their hangar with Steve’s Stearman and OX-5-powered Waco 10. During the night some fierce storms swept the area, and Judy and I were both happy that she was in a secure hangar. I was off early the next morning to Bowling Green, followed by Hancock/Lewisport, Kentucky. Shortly after takeoff from Hancock/Lewisport we crossed the Ohio River. There is, to me, when flying this type of airplane, a feeling of something positive about crossing the Ohio River. Either going to my destination or returning home, it seems as though I 22

have made significant progress on my trip. We continued along to Sullivan, Indiana, crossed the Wabash River, and then flew on to Danville, Illinois. At Danville I encountered two more Cubs, one a Legend and the other a beautifully restored J-3 that had just landed. They had come from Fort Payne, Alabama. We met a man from the local EAA chapter, Bill Wicker, who arranged for all three Cubs to be hangared that night. The guys from Alabama were better prepared for roughing it, in that they had a “chase vehicle” in the form of a high-end motor home that drove along the way with them. I spent the night in a local Marriott.

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Saturday morning I was off to Kankakee, Illinois, then Campbell Airport just north of Chicago. After a relatively quick turn at both places, I made my way to Hartford, Wisconsin, the intended gathering place for the Cub mass arrival the next morning. The gathering of Cubs at Hartford was most impressive. I saw one with a three-cylinder Lenape “Papoose” engine. Later, at Oshkosh, it was on display with yet another one. I was told that there were only five of them made, and it was interesting to see two of them represented here. The Cub Club did a nice job of organizing the assemblage. They also held a nice supper and presentation afterward. The Cub that had flown the greatest distance was from Oregon, the oldest pilot was 87, and he had also owned the airplane since 1945. It is kind of hard to compete with those numbers. I retired early, in that the flying to Oshkosh was supposed to begin at 6:00 the next morning. I sure did not want to oversleep and miss the big event. Fat chance of that. At shortly before 5:00 there were a few Gators that roared around the camping area and effectively awakened most people. The lack of time to do what had to be done before I left Hartford was somewhat daunting. I had to strike my tent, pack my stuff, load it all in Judy, and be ready to leave at 6:00. Somehow, I managed, as did nearly everyone else there. We were assigned a number, mine being 72, and we took off in that sequence; one airplane being cleared for takeoff as soon as the one preceding

it was established in its climb. The object was to keep the airplane in front of you in sight, which, since we were all J-3s, was doable. I just followed the airplane in front of me, through the dreaded Fisk Arrival, et al. Since I was just following someone, and I did not have to worry about somebody flying a Cherokee blindly overtaking me, the arrival was pretty simple. We landed to the north, with a 7-knot crosswind right out of the west. While this is okay for a Cub, 90 degrees at 7 knots is pretty limiting for other more skittish taildraggers. I suppose that ATC just did not understand this, as there was an east/west runway available. The parking was well-organized, and when I parked in my row, I was amazed at how many yellow Cubs had come to Oshkosh. I was later told that some 150, perhaps more, had been counted. One of the most impressive things I have ever seen in my life was the row upon row of mostly yellow Cubs. Words simply cannot do the sight justice. The entire trip took me four easy days, with groundspeeds being as low as 48 mph to a high of 65 mph. It was 11 legs and 14.6 hours. Returning to Peach State, I managed to do it in seven legs and 11.6 hours. Bear in mind that it is not the destination but the journey. Was the trip fun? A resounding YES. Am I glad I did it? Again, a resounding YES. Would I fly Judy to Oshkosh again next year? I will probably opt to ride in Ron’s DC-3. www.vintageaircraft.org

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Fleet Fun

CHRIS MILLER

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Stan Sweikar’s Storied Silver Age Champion—

Take Two!

Sparky Barnes Sargent

This 1929 Fleet Model 2 is an irresistibly attractive little biplane—eye candy, if you will. Its radiance arises from deep within its lustrous fabric skin, and this Kinner-powered beauty playfully exudes a friendly spirit of “Fly me, I’m fun!” The more you really study its features, the more you’ll understand that the Fleet’s natural aura of simplicity belies the ver y thoughtful and methodical component designs that comprise its strong aerobatic structure. In fact, it’s amazing how far ahead of its time it was—and it had numerous patents to prove it. All those qualities have beguiled numerous pilots into caring for the little biplane for decades. In this case, Stan Sweikar of Wingfield Farm in Dameron, Maryland, has lavished NC431K (s/n 154) with singular loving devotion. www.vintageaircraft.org

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Results of the crash in 1987. PHOTOS COURTESY STAN SWEIKAR

Far left: The remains of the lower wing panels after the crash.

Stan Sweikar working on the wing fabric.

Johnny Cook applies the 24-karat gold leaf lettering.

look at other Fleets, you’ll see that most of them have been modified with a larger vertical stabilizer.” In 1958, John Richardson of Illinois became caretaker of the Fleet until 1972. “His wife, Joan, won a women’s aerobatic championship in this plane,” recalled Sweikar. “Then Buck Hilbert, past president of the E AA Antique/Classic Division, bought it. He had it recovered with Razorback fiberglass in June 1973. It looked pretty nice in its Tennessee red with beige wings, but it was heavy. Then author and pilot Richard Bach bought it in April 1975; he put the yellow on it. This Fleet is the one that was featured in his book Illusions. In February 1981, Bach sold it to Bert Mahon at Justin Time Airport in Texas. That airport closed, and the airplane was sold to Newhouse Flying Service in Illinois in 1984. It still had Bach’s logo, ‘Great American Flying Circus,’ on it.” The Fleet entered Sweikar’s care in October 1986, when he bought

it from Newhouse. “The metalwork was kind of ragged,” said Sweikar, an A&P, “so I went ahead and redid that and brought it to Oshkosh in 1987, and we won Silver Age. I was coming back to Oshkosh in 1988 and had an eng ine failure near Fredericksburg, Virginia. I had to put it in a tree line on the edge of a swamp—the wings got wiped out, but I was fine and so were the fuselage, prop, and tail group.” Sweikar and his friends dismantled the biplane and hauled it home, where it evolved into a 24-year restoration project. (About midway through the restoration, Sweikar’s project was featured in the August 1998 issue of Sport Aviation.) During all those years, he diverted much of his attention to running his own Chesapeake Seaplanes operation and restoring his Cessna 195 during the nonflying seasons.

The new stringers are installed.

A Storied History

NC431K was manufactur ed in August 1929 by Consolidated Aircraft Corporation of Buffalo, Ne w Yo r k , fo r F l e e t A i rc ra f t Incorporated under Approved Type Certificate 131. Eighty-four years later, it’s one of only 31 Model 2 Fleets listed on the FAA Registry, an airworthy survivor of slightly more than the 200 that were manufactured. Sweikar’s Fleet was first purchased by the Cleveland Institute of Aviation. It used it as a training aircraft and owned it until 1934, when it began flying from one owner to another, primarily in the Midwest. “Then in 1948,” recounted Sweikar, “Henry Lillybeck, whom I met at Brodhead years ago, bought it. He towed it from Chicago to Denver, on its gear, behind his car. He rebuilt the airplane and got involved in a flat spin with it. NC431K has the original configuration of the small tail, and these airplanes are known to go into flat spins. If you 26

Wings

One of the most intensive and

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PHOTOS ANDY ZABACK

The neatly ﬁnished cockpit.

CHRIS MILLER

ANDY ZABACK

Gold leaf design ﬁnished.

tedious aspects of the Fleet’s rebir th was the ex tensive wing reconstruction. Sweikar made phenolic guides per the airfoil section drawings, and then went to a local shop that had a pr ess brake and pressed the rib caps out. “We annealed the 2024 T-3 metal first and then formed the ribs,” elaborated Sweikar. “After making the rib caps, I had to assemble the upper and lower caps into completed ribs. But think about it—back in Unique Hinge Pin! “A s i n g l e l o n g h i n g e p i n i s provided for each aileron and is inserted through a hole in the wing end bow, engaging all hinges when they are in alignment. The end of the pin is bent, ﬂattened, and fastened to the tip bow by two screws.”—Excerpted from Aviation, May 18, 1929.

the 1920s, most people just used Duralumin for fairings, not structural applications—so the Fleet design was ahead of its time.” Sweikar then acid etched, alodined, and epoxy primed all the ribs. Rightfully proud of his attention to even the smallest details, he invited the author to look inside the wings. “The interior is as good as the exterior,” said Sweikar. “If you come over here, you can see the fittings for the wing strut,” he proclaimed, popping an inspection plate off the lower side of the lower wing, which

also revealed a beautiful spar that was simply gleaming from three coats of epoxy varnish. All the wing fittings were glass-bead blasted and cadmium plated and then painted with silver polyurethane. Those new spars came fr om Wicks Aircraft, and with a chuckle, Sweikar said, “The upper one is 28 inches long, and it’s one piece, laminated. They said they used up every clamp in the surrounding counties just for clamping pressure.” The wings also have new leading edges. “They are rolled 2024

Did You Know? “The loop joint of the landing gear is so designed that there is no sudden change in section, eliminating the possibility of fatigue failure.” “The engine mount, having a patented three-point support for the mounting ring, is designed to eliminate all internal stress due to welding shrinkage.” —Excerpted from Aviation, May 18, 1929. www.vintageaircraft.org

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SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

Sandy and Stan Sweikar are happy to be ďŹ&#x201A;ying in their Fleet again.

CHRIS MILLER

www.vintageaircraft.org

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“I look around, and I’m older, but the airplane is younger!”

—Stan Sweikar, owner, pilot, and restorer

aluminum leading edges, which are challenging to make,” he said. “Gar Williams, a master restorer in the Midwest, suggested that I go to Wag-Aero because they have an 8-inch roll. So I contacted Wag-Aero and gave them a ‘go-no-go’ gauge, and they rolled the leading edges for me. The 8-inch sections were then flush riveted together, so you can’t see where the joints are.” When it eventually came time to install the wings, there were plenty of folks lending a helping hand, including Mike Roe, Mike Myers, John Eney, Ed Stewart, and Ken Reed.

Fuselage

Sweikar also enlisted Mike Roe’s sheet metal expertise on the lower cowling, the center section’s trailing edge, and the wing tip bows. “Mike’s a really neat guy,” shared Sweikar, “and he’s just fabulous with metalwork.” A new fuel tank was built during an earlier phase of the project, and Sweikar himself made a new firewall, the firewall fuselage coaming, and a new headrest fairing. The rest of the sheet metal is original 30

to the airplane, including the cockpit coaming and nosebowl, which have the airplane’s serial number stamped on them. While sandblasting the fuselage, Sweikar said he gave a heavy sigh when he discovered some internal corrosion in the tubing: “In fact, it started blasting right through the lower longerons, so I wound up replacing a large portion of them, as well as the tail post.” He followed those repairs with epoxy zinc chromate primer on the fuselage and tail group and then painted them with black polyurethane. A nice touch inside the cockpits was the addition of half a dozen triangular wood panels, installed to guard against knees and elbows inadvertently poking the fabric. Other tasks included varnishing the new fuselage stringers, replacing the fore and aft cockpit floorboards, and installing new hardware and stainless-steel rudder cables. The new strap-style brass hinges for the rudder and elevator were patterned after the originals, and Sweikar learned how to complete a five-tuck Navy splice for at-

CHRIS MILLER

taching the new cables on the cast aluminum rudder horn. “It wasn’t too hard to learn, but then I’m also a yachtsman, and basically wire cables are the same as marine line,” he said. “The cable strands are needle sharp, so you have to be very careful and even use sewing thimbles to protect your fingertips. Once you know how to go about it, it doesn’t take that long. It’s just a little timeconsuming putting the serving— the cotton wrapping—on, and then varnishing the serving.”

Landing Gear

Sweikar’s Fleet originally had a tail skid and balloon tires, but it has been updated due to a dearth of replacement parts and his desire to be able to fly the airplane from paved or grass fields. So NC431K has been outfitted with PT-19 wheels and standard tubes, and Hayes hydraulic brakes with Scott master cylinders. According to Sweikar, those parts “are still available new-oldstock WWII surplus, and they work out really well. The Fleet also has spring-oil shock absorbers, which

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was pretty new back in the 1920s. You land on oil and taxi on springs, and it’s a good system.”

Engine and Prop

The Fleet was originally powered by a 100-hp Kinner K-5, but it was converted to a 125-hp B-54 in 1953. “The B-54 is really the optimum engine for the airplane,” shared Sweikar, “and I used copper tubing for the fuel lines, with brass fittings—that’s how it was originally. The engine was overhauled by Brad Ball in California and is running beautifully. The stacks are nice and clean, and it’s not consuming any oil, which is a real tribute to Brad. This engine has not burned a quart of oil in 74 hours and has not leaked whatsoever—it’s almost eerie, because it’s like what Bach wrote about in his book Illusions.” To enhance safety and ease of operation, Sweikar installed a Bendix Eclipse Y-150 electric starter for the Kinner, along with an Odyssey battery. He also installed a Fahlin propeller (98-inch diameter, 51inch pitch), but while flying it to Oshkosh, discovered that it wasn’t “the optimum prop for this airplane. I talked to Sensenich, and the optimum prop is 90-inch diameter and 67-inch pitch. So I’m not really cruising that fast in the Fleet right now, only about 75 mph. It should be cruising around 85 to 90 mph with no problem, so I’ll be changing the propeller soon. I’ve ordered a new Sensenich 90-inchdiameter, 67-inch-pitch propeller.”

Fabric Covering

Sweikar’s experience re-covering his 1946 Taylorcraft BCS12D-4-85 floatplane came in handy while working on the Fleet . And he added a personal touch just before beginning the covering process; he and his wife and daughter

1929 Fleet Model 2 Manufacturer’s Speciﬁcations Length

20 feet 9 inches

Height

7 feet 10 inches

Wingspan

28 feet

Chord

3 feet 9 inches

Airfoil

Clark Y expanded to 15 percent

Gap (at C.S.)

54 inches

Stagger

23 inches

Angle of incidence

0 degrees

Dihedral upper

0 degrees

Dihedral lower

4 degrees

Landing gear tread

64 inches

Weight empty

1,022 pounds

Disposable load

560 pounds

Gross weight

1,582 pounds

High speed

113.5 mph

Cruise

90 mph

Minimum speed

40 mph

Climb at sea level

930 fpm

Ceiling

16,000 feet

Gas capacity

24 gallons

Price

$5,500

(Derived from Aviation, May 18, 1929, and Aircraft Records.)

signed the main spar of the upper wing with the latitude and longitude of Wingfield Airstrip—just to provide the next restorer with a bit of history. Then he used the blanket method to cover the Fleet’s 28-foot top wing, commencing the process by rolling a 72-inch-wide bolt of Ceconite 101 down the entire length of the wing. (Yes, it took quite a bit of shop space.) Back in 1929, the fabric was attached to the ribs by using a type of sheet metal screw, but Sweikar used wide-head fabric rivets instead. “They have a lower profile than the screws, which have a tendency to loosen up with time,” he explained. “And I then used dollar pat ches over the rivets, just like they did

back in 1929; they didn’t run finishing tapes completely across the ribs back then.” He did have to extend his paint booth in order to accommodate painting the 28-foot upper wing. “I used a regular old high-pressure Binks spray gun and probably wasted a lot of paint ,” he said, shrugging, “but I’m not in the business of restoring airplanes! That Binks equipment really works nice. I sprayed 14 cross coats—and a cross coat is actually two coats— so that’s 28 coats. After about the fourth cross coat, I be gan wet sanding the Randolph butyrate dope with 400 grit paper, and sanding required approximately seven hours per side on the upper wing alone. It’s just a labor of love; it’s a hobby with me.”

Fine Finishing Details

Sweikar’s wife, Sandy, a talented seamstress and pilot, created some rather complex leather covers to protect the fuselage fabric from rudder cable wear and also for strategic locations atop the horizontal stabilizer. Contact cement enabled the leather covers to bond easily to the fabric surface. She also used her commercial-grade sewing machine and invoked her ingenuity and experiences sewing marine canvas in order to professionally fashion all of the interior leather work, as well as the all- weather cockpit, engine, and prop covers. O ptional windscreens were originally available for the cockpits, and Sweikar opted to retain the ones that came with the airplane when he boug ht it. Each windscreen was originally comprised of three flat panels; today a wraparound piece of Plexiglas is installed instead. Dzus fasteners facilitate easy removal in case he wants to use a sheet metal cover www.vintageaircraft.org

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for the front cockpit. When Bach owned the biplane in the 1970s, “he put the ‘Great American Flying Circus’ logo on it,” said Sweikar. “He also used that on the Travel Air biplanes in the movie Nothing by Chance, where they barnstormed the Midwest. So I decided to put that logo back on the Fleet, with gold leaf. Johnny Cook, a local artist, did the work; he put a stencil on the finished fabric and then applied something like varnish over that. When it got tacky, he laid on the 24-karat gold leaf with a fine, fluffy brush, and he did a great job. There’s no protective coating on top of that, and it will not tarnish.”

The instrument panels and instruments, while not original, are more or less period, according to Sweikar, with the exception of the radio and ignition switch for the electric starter. The modern enhancements do make a difference in empty weight; this Fleet was nearly 170 pounds lighter when it came out of the factory in 1929 than it is today. “It did gain some weight,” shared Sweikar, “but it does have a different engine, hydraulic brakes, a Scott tail wheel, a starter, a battery, and lots of dope. So it all adds up, but it doesn’t really hinder the overall performance.”

speed indicator while making his three-point landings, but he said the Fleet is supposed to stall around 40 mph, so he keeps his approach speed around 60 mph. “ The airspeed bleeds off pretty fast, just like all biplanes,” said Sweikar. “So I use power-off approaches, and it handles just fine. My first f light after this restoration was July 1, 2012.”

Take Two!

The Fleet has sing le landing wires and dual f lying wires, which Sweikar replaced with new MacWhyte wires, including the terminal end fork fittings, clevis pins, and bolts. For those who might be unfamiliar with the difference between landing and flying wires, Sweikar offered a simple explanation: “On landing, the wings want to droop—so the landing wires help support the wings, and the flying wires keep the wings from folding up in flight.” The ailerons (lower wing only) are constructed of wood with aluminum leading edges. The articulating pushpull control system for the ailerons is just one of the Fleet’s patented components. “It was very advanced for the time, with no protrusions from the wing, and it’s really a smooth operating system,” said Sweikar. “The dual throttle control also has a push-pull rod system, which is routed through both cockpits. The trim system is comprised of a jackscrew, which elevates or lowers the cambered horizontal stabilizer and is activated by manually pulling a cable back and forth in the cockpit.”

ANDY ZABACK

Flight Controls and Flying

Outside Loops! The Fleet easily acquired a re p u t a t i o n fo r i t s s t r o n g c o n s t r u c ti o n a n d a e ro ba ti c capabilities. In July 1930, stunt pilot Paul Mantz climbed in his Fleet Model 2 in San Mateo, California, and proceeded to set a record of 46 consecutive outside loops. His record stood for nearly half a century. —Juptner’s U.S. Civil Aircraft, Volume 2 and other aviation resources

Describing the Fleet’s range, Sweikar smiled and proffered this: “Well, in two hours you want to get out of the airplane! The Kinner burns around 9 gph, so it does have a good two hours, plus reserve. It flies like a Cub with two wings. It’ll fly hands off, but it’s neutrally stable—it doesn’t have positive stability for pitch or roll. When you pitch down, it’ll just keep going, so you have to be on top of it.” Sweikar hardly looks at the air-

Sweikar, smiling and reflecting about his long-awaited milestone of having the Fleet back at Oshkosh, thoughtfully remarked, “It’s like a reunion in a way. It’s almost like a flashback of 1987, but 25 years have lapsed since then. I look around, and I’m older, but the airplane is younger! Hopefully it’ll be a family keeper for a while.” More than three decades ago, Richard Bach wrote the following in his book Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, which featured NC431K: “You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it tr ue. You may have to work for it, however.” That concept became a timeless message that tumbled and swirled through the prop wash of time until gently falling into Sweikar’s hands and taking form in his workshop. For you see, that’s just what happened: Sweikar was given a wish after his 1987 crash, and he worked diligently until he fulfilled the wish to have his award-winning Fleet airborne again. And his lengthy restoration efforts were also rewarded, in part, by once again receiving the Silver Age (1928 to 1936) Champion – Bronze Lindy during E AA AirVenture Oshkosh. To date, the “ Great American Flying Circus” Fleet has logged close to 2,000 hours aloft— and will likely log thousands more in the coming years.

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Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re Going to Do What Where?

Earning my Ford Tri-Motor rating Donis B. Hamilton EAA Lifetime#234279 Vint age Lifetime # 19053

I was headed to Valle Airport, Arizona, in the remote desert north of Flagstaff in late February 2012 to fly a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor. About halfway to the Grand Canyon, truly in the middle of nowhere, there is a highway intersection with three motels, one gas station, and an airport. At the airport one building is the Ar izona branch of the Planes of Fame Air Museum, and the other is where I 34

was supposed to meet Bryan Godlove, chief pilot, designated examiner, and guts of an operation called FordTypeRatings.com. It was late when I got to Valle. I was met by three friendly, smiling folks: Larry, the mechanic, Bryan Godlove, and Thad Kelly (soon to be my instructor). We set up shop in the conference room of the terminal building and got the preliminaries, paperwork, and introductions out of the way. I was dog-tired and they took mercy on me, suggesting we begin training first thing the next morning. Early the next day, I learned that this is a big plane. All elevator and rudder controls are mounted external to the fuselage by huge arms and cables big as hangmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ropes. Big but fairly simple, the

walk around the air airplane plane is straightforward. But everything is located way up in the air. The plane had suffered left wingtip damage, the repair of which squared off the wingtip. A for m of r udimentar y tail wheel steering is provided by two huge bungee cords attached to the rudder. Otherwise, directional control on the ground is differential braking and engine thrust. Three Pratt & Whitney R-985 450-hp radial engines power the Tri-Motor. There are 355 gallons of fuel onboard in three tanks located between the front and rear wing spars near the center of the aircraft, all of which drain into a common fuel manifold. One note of caution: Avoid significant nosedown attitudes below 90 gallons

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of fuel, or you will un-port the fuel lines and starve the engines. After a quick lunch, Thad and I crawled into the cockpit. Starting the engines warm is easy; starting cold is another matter. The drill is to start the front engine first (only one with an alternator). After six seconds of prime, engage the starter for six blades. Switch the magnetos on and keep priming for three-second bursts every four or five blades. Cold usually results in belches and backfires, so a fireguard is required. Taxiing the Tri-Motor is not difficult, but the sheer size and inertia of the airplane make for some awkward moments. Use all three throttles to get the plane r olling, then retard the two outboard throttles leaving the center engine to pull you along, more or less in a straight line. Turning requires

the addition of power on the outboard engine and a jab or two at the inboard brake. Once turning, you use power on the inside engine and perhaps a stab of the outside brake to stop. Lots of inertia and weight—plan ahead. The controls on this airplane are large and require a long travel. The elevator, for example, is a full arm’s length in throw: nose down to nose up. The rudders move about 24 inches. The ailerons—oh boy, the ailerons—take one-and-a-half turns on the wheel each direction. That’s a lot of movement; gentleness or subtlety really don’t work well. During run-up the movement of the prop hub is clearly visible and seems to take a long time, especially if cold. There is no feather. Line up more or less on the centerline. Hold the brakes with the elevator full aft. Run the engines

up to 18 inches and check the engine instruments located on the engine pylons outside of the fuselage. Full power and the control wheel pushed all the way forward gets the tail up in the air quickly. The wing blanks the tail when on the ground. Lightly loaded, the Tri-Motor accelerated rapidly and sailed right up to rotation at 80 mph. It seemed to require an awful lot of rudder travel to keep the airplane tracking straight. With liftoff at 80 mph, we continued to 90 mph for the climb. Air work consisted of 90-, 180-, and 360-degree turns with 30 degrees of bank in both directions. Turns are done with rudder first, sometimes lots of r udder, followed by the ailerons. Left turns require a pretty healthy back pressure almost immediately. Remember the squared-off left wingtip? www.vintageaircraft.org

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Turns to the right donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t require back pressure until about 30 or 40 degrees into the turn. Now, folks, when you roll that old heifer into a 60-degree banked turn it requires lots of rudder and one heck of a pull. The plane is not mean; it is just big and the controls are unboosted. So raw muscle is required. After steep turns, we jumped right into the stall series. Stalls in this airplane are really very gentle and straightforward with no tendency to drop a wing or have a sharp break. Approach s t a l l s a re p e r fo r m e d by easing the power off and holding altitude by

Hamilton with Thad Kelly.

Cover for a promotional Ford Tri-motor brochure.

the addition of elevator until the wheel is completely in y our chest. At the stall the air plane simply develops a higher rate of sink and the nose mushes down, nodding over every once in a while. Relaxation of back pressure and adding power started the plane flying immediately. Departure stalls are done with slight banked turns and 15 inches of power. Same feel. It is a really docile stalling airplane. Following stalls, we did engine-out procedures. This is where the men are separated from the boys. The airplane demonstrated no mean tendencies, but oh lord,

With Brian Godlove.

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it took one hell of a push on the rudder. According to the operations manual, it is approved procedure for the pilot to use both feet on the rudder, and I would have used both except that I couldn’t get my long le gs and big f eet around the control pedestal. If the strength goes, there are only two options: Get the first officer’s feet on the rudder or pull the power on the good outboard engine. The loss of an engine drill is the “2/5/2 Procedure.” The first two is to advance all controls to METO power, and obtain directional control with approximately 5 degrees bank into the good engine and the ball not more than one-half out of the cage. Next comes the five. After identifying the bad engine, you secure the engine: power off, props to full course pitch, mixture to idle cutoff, mags off, fuel off. Remember the propeller doesn’t feather. The final two steps are to declare an emergency and immediately turn to the nearest airport or suitable landing area. This drill is performed each time that an engine loss is experienced or suspected. After engine-out procedures in the air, we headed toward Williams, Arizona, where we did our pattern work. With all engines running, the approach, at 90 mph indicated, is standard and unremarkable. The only thing the stu-

dent needs to remember is that this is a big airplane; the f lare and touchdown are started much higher than one would normally expect. The old bird was gentle to land, and as soon as the main wheels touched, forward elevator was applied to keep the tail up. When the first officer calls out “50” (mph indicated), a positive pull back on the wheel brings the tail down for the remainder of the rollout. After a couple of takeoffs and landings, Thad started failing engines on departure. After a few one-engine-out approaches, Thad began failing the remaining outboard leaving only the center engine. With the center engine, the Tri-Motor is like a big Piper Cub— a really big underpowered Cub. As soon as I lost the second engine, I declared, “We are committed.” There is no doubt about continuing any distance with only a single engine in the Ford Tri-Motor. The best rate of climb is 250 feet per minute down. By the time we finished seven takeoffs and landings at Williams, it was getting late and time to return back to Valle. I was completely physically and mentally exhausted. T h e n e x t m o r n i n g d aw n e d beautiful, bright and clear, and very cold. Thad and I a greed to meet early for a “warm-up” flight prior to the checkride. After pre-

flight and 30 minutes of grinding on those poor starters, we finally got all three engines running. Thad reviewed some of the things I needed to improve on and issues he thought might come up during the checkride. After the air work, we did patterns including balked landings and takeoffs. After the third landing, we taxied in, and T had announced he was ready to sign me off for the checkride. The oral was actually easy; virtually everything had been discussed in the course of the preceding day and a half, and I had been provided with a list of likely questions with my orientation packet. Bryan and I soon got in the plane and t ook off for the air work. I thought everything went very well except two slipups. On the steep turns, I did the first one to the left. I ballooned about 100 feet high and had to work it back down to altitude. The second goof came in the pattern when Bryan called for an abort on takeoff—I was concentrating so hard that I misinterpreted his signals and was a little slow pulling off the throttles. I may not deserve a Tri-Motor type rating, but I have it and I’m not giving it back. Do you really need a reason to get a type rating in the Ford Tri-Motor? Naw—I love old airplanes, and the romance of the early airliners draws me. www.vintageaircraft.org

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182

PHIL HIGH

. . . As if it came out of Tut’s tomb

KOEPNICKPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

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Bernie Lewis has been as much a curator as pilot with his “survivor” C-182.

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Survivor Budd Davisson “For sale: 1957 C-182, 2,625 hours TTAF, 1,230 SMOH engine. Original paint, interior and panel, only minor avionics upgrades. $XX,XXX.” et’s say you were looking for an airplane and you saw the ad above. What would you think? First, you’d look at the engine time and say, “I don’t know. It’s getting up there.” Then you’d see that everything else on the airplane—the paint, upholstery, and panel—is the same as it had been when it came out of the factory 56 years ago, and nothing has been changed since. Fifty-six years measured in airplane time is a very long time. And 2,600 hours tells you the airplane hasn’t been a hangar queen; a lot of rear ends have scooted across the seats while climbing in. There have been a couple dozen generations of avionics developed since the airplane’s birth, and you know that, regardless of what the ad says about an original panel, it’s going to be a patchwork of

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PHIL HIGH PHOTOS

The tailcone and left elevator skin were replaced with original parts from the factory in the early ’80s.

The way they looked back in the day.

Look, Mom! No cracks!

punched and patched holes from an endless parade of avionics. You also know for a fact that Cessna’s famous plastic instrument panel cover and window moldings

always become as brittle as a piece of last summer’s taffy. For those reasons, you know the interior will be a mosaic of cracked and broken plastic and moldy-smelling upholstery

with spurts of foam where stuffing is slowly making its way to freedom. And “original paint”? Whoa! You picture your neighbor’s ’57 Chevy pickup that has been a back yard lawn ornament for the last decade or so. Like the Chevy, you know the signature ’50s Cessna stripes will be oxidized to the point that they are semitransparent panels of colored dust against aluminum that has the sheen of a Teflon flying pan. Also, without even examining the airplane, you know that some of the past occupants included field mice, spiders, and whatever that magic critter is that eats upholstery piping. It may be original, but it’s going to be grim. Assuming the airplane has no serious corrosion, the hangar rash isn’t too bad, and the owner is willing to dicker on the pr ice, what you actually have here is a decent project-airplane. It’s a good starting point to build a square-tail 182 the way you want it, because according to the ad, everything about it is going to need rebuilding. Then comes Oshkosh (or AirVenture, if you will) 2012, and along with the rest of us, you saw what could have been this very airplane parked on the line with the

KOEPNICKPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

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PHIL HIGH PHOTOS

Bernie had the engine overhauled shortly after he bought N4015U in 1986.

“For Sale” sign in the window. To a man, we all did a double take: Can this possibly be an untouched 1957 airplane that fits the above advertising description? Unbelievably, the answer is yes. Bernie Lewis from Erie, Colorado, brought in what has to be the most original ’57 C-182 in existence. In fact, this should be the reference airplane for anyone restoring a similar 182 because, if it’s on Bernie’s airplane, that’s the way it’s supposed be done; Bernie hasn’t changed anything in the 26 years that he’s owned it. “I’ve owned a bunch of Cessnas, and when I ran across this one in 1986,” he says, “I had to have it. It was 30 years old but didn’t look close to that. So, naturally, I bought it. At the time, it had 1,213 hours on it and still had the factory plastic cover on the back seat!” Bernie’s flying started when he was in the Navy and stationed at Rota, Spain, in 1966. He says, “Our flying club had Champs they rented at $4/hour, and the CFI was another $5. So, I flew quite a bit. I also flew their T-34.” In college, Bernie studied aerospace science, but when he graduated, he launched into aviation like a man with a mission.

1957 brochure, Flight with a New Flair.

Air speed correction chart.

“I went right into the CFI thing at the beginning, then quickly slid into the corporate/airline flying. I’ve logged a little over 21,000 hours, which includes 12,000 hours in King Airs. However, I always had a little airplane of my own. In fact, my first

was a Luscombe 8E I bought when I was a sophomore in college. It cost $2,100, and I flew its wings off. “I worked my way up the Cessna chain, 120, 170, 180, restoring or rehabbing them as I went. The 170, for instance, got repainted in the factory

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PHIL HIGH PHOTOS

Yes, it’s all original.

Cessna 182’s serial number plaque.

the original owner had shortened the bottom stripe and painted the name of his business on it. So, if you look really closely, you can see where the bottom stripe has a section that is the same color but was repainted. “Also, if someone is really sharp and has seen a lot of older, original 182s, they’ll notice that the throttle knob appears more or less normal size, which isn’t the case with the original knobs. The originals are huge! Really big! Mine was in the way; so I replaced it with a smaller one but kept the original so it can be switched back. “At one point, early in my owner-

ship, the airplane was wind damaged while I was on a tr ip. The elevators and part of the vertical fin had to be reskinned. “At the time, original parts were still available from Cessna, so at least I can say that everything is factory original.” According to 1957 factory brochures Bernie got with the air plane, buyers of Cessna’s new hot rod had a limited number of options when it came to exterior and interior color schemes. “My airplane utilizes ‘Cascade Green’ on the upholst er y and paint,” he says.

KOEPNICKPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

scheme and color, and I totally restored the 180. I even bought a ’56 172 for my wife to fly. I’ve always had a soft spot for square tails.” He had a K model Bonanza and a Comanche prior to running across the 182. He says, “The ’57 was the last year of the 182. The next year they called them Skylanes, which causes no end of confusion when people see this airplane because it’s not a Skylane. “I’ve gone out of my way to avoid doing anything to the airplane that would detract from its originality, but some things just had to be done. Just behind the doors, for instance, 42

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PHIL HIGH

The illusive Cessna decal.

“The original owner was careful when he updated radios and avionics and didn’t modify the panel in any way. The only changes I’ve made were newer radios and a GPS, and they were picked because they fit the original panel cutouts. The entire instrument panel is just the way it came out of the factory.” A small item on the fusela ge, which is seldom, if ever, seen, is the decal that is situated midway between the doors and the tail. Bernie says, “All 182s had that decal, but most have faded to nothing or became so worn that they were removed or painted over. It’s close to a miracle that mine has survived, but from the day I purchased the airplane that decal loomed large as one of the items I was going to go out of my way to protect. To my knowledge no one has made them available, but I’d think there would be a ready market for them.” An editorial comment about that decal: To those seeking custommade decals and stickers, the radiocontrolled model airplane community has them made with regularity. If you can generate a computer file of what you want, or have a high-quality image of it, you’re good to go. Here’s a place to start: www. Callie-Graphics.com. Bernie’s airplane sported the “For Sale” sign at Oshkosh for only a couple of days before Bob Hewlett from

Cumming, Georgia, saw it. Bob says, “I went to Oshkosh with a friend with absolutely no intention of buying an airplane. We were going down the flightline and came upon a group of people gathered around an absolutely beautiful 182. My friend had owned one, and he started talking about what a quality airplane it was. Then we heard the owner, who is quite a guy—A&P, CFI, professional pilot and kept it in perfect condition—say that Bob Hoover had stopped by to look it over and marveled at its originality. I was tempted and my friend said the price was right. “We sat around that night at our trailer talking about the airplane. My friend and others kept saying I should buy it. I had just sold my business and retired, so my wife and I were planning on doing some traveling. This airplane would certainly fill the bill, so the next day I went back

and gave Bernie a check.” It took a little while for the airplane to make it down to Bob’s place, but when it arrived, Bob wasted no time getting current again. “Bernie brought the air plane down,” he says, “and gave me a BFR, and the airplane was everything I hoped it would be. At least it was until I took my wife for her first ride. Or tried to. She has a really bad back, and we found that she couldn’t make the transition from the step to the seat no matter how hard she tried. She felt bad. And it broke my heart. But we had to look elsewhere.” So, keep your eyes open for another C-182 ad. It will read approximately as follows: “For sale: 1957 C-182, 2,650 hours TTAF, 1,250 SMOH engine. Original paint, interior and panel, only minor avionics upgrades. $XX,XXX.” This time, take it seriously.

www.vintageaircraft.org

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Around the Pylons

Celestial

Breeze The Cosmic Wind story Don Berliner

EAA 5654, Past Presid ent , So ciet y of Air Racing Historians

The Cosmic Wind Story The tale of the Cosmic W ind Goodyear midget racers stretches from Southern California to the south of France and back again. From an original three of a planned “production run” of five airplanes, it has grown to six that have been raced, two of which are under restoration, and an eig hth that is being built from scratch as a reproduction of one of the originals. The durability of the line results, to a great extent, from their very 44

sturdy all-metal construction and a widespread reputation for superior flying qualities, thanks to a large team that included veteran race pilots and some of the country’s top aero engineers. The unusually roomy cockpit has appealed to potential buyers and pilots of varying shapes. When the official National Aeronautic Association specifications for the 190 Cubic Inch Class were announced in December of 1946, experienced designers, builders,

and pilots, along with many others who had far less impressive resumes, jumped at the opportunity to get into pylon racing without going into hock. In fact, the only way to legally fly a homebuilt in the United States in those days was to build a midget racer. Four-cylinder, 85-hp C-85 engines were made available through Professional Race Pilots Association (PRPA) President Art Chester for as little as $500 new by Continental Motors, and the race was on to get

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Little Toni

to Cleveland in just a few months for what was then the ultimate in sporting aviation. Some of the 13 midget racers that showed up on the west side of Cleveland in late August 1947 for the first of three annual Goodyear Trophy Races looked like they had been assembled under considerable time pressure. Others looked much more professional, and none more so than the twin all-metal Cosmic Winds owned and f lown by top Lockheed test pilots Tony LeVier (#3 Little Toni, NX-67888) and Herman “Fish” Salmon (#10 Cosmic Wind, NX-67889). As was later revealed when two of the racers became the passion of British restorers, they were far more complex than what became the norm for typical homebuilts. As would be expected from a team of Lockheed designers who volunteered their time, and laid-off production workers who were paid 50 cents an hour, LeVier & Asso-

Little Toni

Cosmic Wind

ciates’ airplanes displayed a part number stenciled on ever y one of many hundreds of large and small metal pieces. Anyone who has seen a Cassutt r acer being built from simple plans and basic workshop tools can be excused for expressing amazement. Also in a manner familiar to industry people, the major components were built in separated locations, with a single location for final assembly, in this case LeVier’s garage in the Los Angeles suburb of La Canada. It was later discovered that the origins of the sophisticated design actually dated back to World War II. One blueprint examined by this writer showed the fuel tank installation. All the relevant stations of the fuselage were clearly marked, strongly suggesting that much of the design work had been completed. The blueprint, drawn by one Mr. Bojens (later identified by LeVier as Lockheed’s “top draftsman”), was dated 1944, at

least two years before the class was created. It is tempting to assume that the Cosmic Wind might have been under consideration by Lockheed as a high-performance sports plane that would appeal to returning fighter pilots. In the 1947 initial Goodyear Trophy Race, the two Cosmic Winds were outrun by racers designed and built by prewar National Air Races winners Steve Wittman and Art Chester. One of the reasons was the failure of an otherwise excellent team of engineers to calculate correctly the center of gravity. Both Winds were so tail heavy that a reported 75 pounds of dead weight had to be wrapped around the engine mounts to make them flyable. By the next year, the mounts had been extended 12 inches, and the original canopy, which had been faired into a high turtledeck, had been replaced by a low-drag bubble, which paid off in a victory by Salmon in what had become his #4 Minnow.

Little Toni www.vintageaircraft.org

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Little Toni

For 1948, LeVier’s aluminum and red #3 had been repainted red with white trim and renumbered N20C; Salmon’s had changed from the yellow and black #10 to the metallic bronze with cream trim #4 Minnow N21C; while the newest one—Glen Fulkeron’s #5 Ballerina, N22C—was dark green with cream or very light green trim and flown by future great Bob Downey. The trio of Cosmic Winds were raced in all three 1949 California regional races and then the third and final Goodyear. The #4 Minnow, after its 1948 victory, had become the test bed for a planned second generation of Cosmic Winds. It had a new, slimmer fuselage and smaller tail, while its original low wing had lost its dihedral as it became a mid- wing. The hoped-for major jump in speed failed to materialize, and the airplane was returned to its 1948 con-

Mrs. Robinson 46

figuration, while the new fuselage and tail then went into storage. The period of maximum American activity for the trio of racers ended in the early 1950s when they became part of the stable of J.E. Smith’s Pacific Air Races Inc. They soon embarked on separate travels, which took them to some surprising locales.

#3 Little Toni It sat idle for more than a decade until the star t of the Reno era. In 1965 it reappeared as Rick Townsend’s blue and whit e #7 French Quarter Special and was then sold to veteran racer Roy Berry who began a program to return it to its original name, number, and colors. Roy raced it into 1970, then sold it to Ian McCowen, who took it home to England and re-registered it G-AYRJ. In 1971 McCowen won at North

Weald, Shobdon, and Halfpenny Green, while Neil Williams won with it at Biggin Hill, its top speed being 202 mph. In 1972 McCowen dominated the class, winning four of the six British races at Nottingham, Goodwood, Halfpenny Green, and Tees-side and equaling its best speed. The 1973 season saw wins in only one of five races but enough second places to qualify as runnerup for the championship, as McCowen shared the piloting duties with Brian Smith. In 1974 the new and somewhat improved Ballerina Mk.II took over the Cosmic Wind leadership of Little Toni with four wins by Bill Walker, as Little Toni could do no better than a third place. 1975 wasn’t much better, and it was returned to the United States, ending up in the hands of Seattle airline pilot Jim Fernandez, who has promised to complete the restoration to original as soon as he finishes several higher-priority projects.

#4 Minnow After some racing in the early 1950s by Bob Downey and Eddy Custer, it was sold to the mysterious Milton Blair, who dismantled it and used parts in the construction of a prototype counter-insurgency airplane for a U.S. Air Force competition. It failed to win a contract and sat around in pieces until being sold to English amateur builder

Filly

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Ballerina

(and King’s Cup Handicap Race winner) Paul Bannister. In 1993 the components were transferred, along with a supply of parts, raw materials, and construction drawings to a group comprised of John Tempest, Rob Millinship, and Trevor Sanderson, which has plans to restore the two Cosmic Winds and race them for nostalgia, among other reasons.

#5 Ballerina After its days of racing in the United States ended, it became part of Pacific Air Races Inc. and was then sold to Milton Blair. In 1961 he took it to England on a permit that limited him to flying it in several air shows prior to taking it home. Blair promptly sold it to the Tiger Club, which added it (as G-ARUL) to its fascinating collection of sporting airplanes. Blair’s violation of the law came to the attention of officials of Her Majesty’s Customs office, which couldn’t find Blair to present him with a bill for £6,000 import duty. They eventually contacted the writer, who began a search for Blair. A call to Californian Al Trefethan, who usually kne w who was doing what, elicited a laugh. “Do they want him, too? The last I heard of Blair, he was up in the mountains, hiding from the FBI!” Wisely, the British government officials billed the unhappy Tiger

Ballerina

Club for what was then well more than $10,000. Not long afterward, Blair borrowed an American-built Midget Mustang from B annister and promptly wrote off both it and himself. The accident investigators determined that while Blair had logged a couple of thousand hours, he apparently had never quite gotten around to obtaining any sort of pilot license. A pilot ’s repor t on the air plane (tiny by contemporary British standards) was written for an English magazine by famed Welsh test/aerobatic/racing pilot Neil Williams, who compared its flying characteristics to nothing less than a clipped-wing Spitfire. A higher compliment is hard to imagine. In one of the true highlights of the Cosmic Wind saga, Williams flew it in the 1964 World Aerobatic Championships in Bilbao, Spain, finishing ahead of more than a few specialized aerobatic airplanes, despite the racer’s lack of inverted fuel and oil systems. Its end came on August 29, 1966, when William Innes took off in heavy rain to start the appropriately named Goodyear Air Challenge Trophy Race at Halfpenny Green. He crashed, wrecking the airplane, but surviving his injuries. Pieces of the wreckage were acquired in 1970 by Paul Bannister, who devoted much of the nex t three years to using them as pat-

terns for re-creating the airplane as Ballerina Mk.II.

#5 Ballerina Mk.II Once the second Ballerina rolled out of Bannister’s well-equipped workshop, it was entered in Formula One competition, starting in September 1973 at Tees-side where Bill Walker won at 202.7 mph. He started out 1974 by crossing the finish line in first place at a British record 221.15 mph but was then penalized for a pylon cut. Walker then reeled off four straight wins to take the national title. The airplane didn’t race in 1975 but returned in 1976, leading off with a second place behind American Bill Sullivan (#51 Cassutt racer, 111 meters) at Le Castellet, France. This was the first American-style international pylon race to involve competitors from as many as three countries. With Fred Marsh as pilot, Ballerina Mk.II proceeded to win the other British races that year, as well as the first such race ever held in Denmark. In 1976 it was a clean sweep for Marsh and Ballerina Mk.II, winning at Woodford, Halfpenny Green, and Coventry, England, and at St. Valery, France. 1978 saw two firsts and a second by new pilot John Mirley, who broke the British Formula One record at Thruxton when clocked at 225.6 mph. Of four races in 1979, Mirley raced in www.vintageaircraft.org

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Stead, Marion Baker, Nick Jones, and the Berrys—father Roy and son Damon. It was retired after the 1972 season to the Planes of Fame Air Museum. According to Tony Ambrose, a font of reliable information on such matters, Charlie Hillard told him the fuselage of Miss Cosmic Wind was used as the basis for the Spinks Acromaster, which Hillard flew successfully in aerobatic contests for many years. Ballerina

three and won two. T he last full season f or #5 was 1981, when Graham Horder raced it to a fifth place at Biggin Hill because of a pylon cut , and then second at both Saintes and St. Valer y, France. It was then boug ht by Peter Kynsey, who raced it sparingly: sixth at Biggin Hill in 1985, fifth there in 1986, and sixth in 1987 at Compiègne, France. That was the final race for Ballerina Mk.II and for any of the Cosmic Winds in Europe or anywhere else. Since 1987, Kynsey has flown the racer in air shows from its base at Duxford.

#6 Filly Bowing in during 1973 was a completely new British Cosmic Wind, the dark blue G-BAER, built by Robin Voice using many American-made parts, some of which appear to have been flown in an earlier Cosmic Wind, though the identity of the specific airplane has not been pinned down. It was first raced at Tollerton by Voice in 1973, with a best finish of f ourth at Cranfield. It was raced three times in 1974, four times in 1975, and twice in 1977. Voice raced it three times in 1978, three times in 1979, once in France in 1980, and six times in 48

1981. Its final year was 1982, when it was flown three more times by Voice, finishing its career with a sixth place at Pau-Uzein, France, at 199.5 mph. Its most recent owner was Alexander Truman.

#4 Mrs. Robinson The last Cosmic W ind to f ly was N89CW, built by Bill Warwick from a project started by a retired airline pilot and almost c ompleted by Goodyear racer Billie Robinson. It was then acquired by one-time Formula One racer Joan Alford Noar, who finally donated it to the EAA AirVenture Museum. It will probably never be flown, let alone raced.

#6 Miss Cosmic Wind Sometime before May of 1957, the fuselage and tail that were tried experimentally on #4 Minnow in 1948 were combined with a low-aspect ratio wing into Miss Cosmic Wind, N36C. The writer photographed the dark blue and white racer through the dirty window of a locked, cluttered hangar in Southern California. It was raced as Ole Tiger by Bob Downey, as Little Miss Reno by Bob Porter, and as Smirnoff. Other race pilots include John Paul Jones, R e n o A i r R a c e s fo u n d e r B i l l

#3 Little Toni Mk.II The project dates back to at least 1993 and is being worked on with the two restoration projects in England. There are currently just two Cosmic Winds in flying condition, both in England. The two under restoration are far from flying status, while the one in the EAA museum will probably never fly again. The reproduction of #3 Little Toni by Trevor Sanderson, the third member of the English “Cosmic Wind Team,” is a long-term project. With no active Cosmic Winds living in North America, the future of the series will depend, to a great extent, on the ability of the British Formula Air Racing Association (FARA) and its French counterpart, Association des Pilotes d’Avions Formula (APAF), to rebuild European For mula One air racing. In the past few years, the typical summer ’s racing schedule has been limited to a couple of training/practice/racing sessions at the small, friendly St. Flour-Coltines Airport, near St. Flour in central France. The recent influx of pilots from England, Spain, and Austria at Reno gives hope for the future. If you have comments, suggestions, even corrections, you can contact Don at rofuf@konsulting.com.

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Sentimental Journey 2012 Cub homecoming Ro ger Thiel Ro ger Peperell pho

hree levels of deep yellow fill the eye: the color of the J-3 Cub flying formation with you, the interior features of the J-3 in which you’re riding—and the warm yellow bath of the late afternoon sun. The traffic pattern at Sentimental Journey, over L ock Haven, Pennsylvania, becomes a stunning “mixing bowl” between two close mountain ridges, which shine with bright green sides, as more tiny traces of yellow—the Cubs—fly a classic racetrack course as if over a painted landscape. It is gorgeous by anyone’s standards, and to Piper Cub fans: iconic, opulent. A fourth level of deep y ellow sprawls on the ground: rows and rows of Cubs, parked alongside the runway, pointing the way to the factory buildings where they were created, starting in 1937. Below, the Susquehanna River winds through the city/t own, which takes on an even further emblematic image, as if the illustration from the opening page of countless American adventure books (especially from classic youth fiction) or other publications depicting a pastoral town. The winding river, the bridge, the church tower, the main street: it’s all here. And isn’t that classic image usually drawn as if seen from an aerial view? And on a bright pretty day in early summer? It’s an image to be enjoyed from above—and with all of this, it’s no wonder that many

t os

pilots fly their Cubs around the dazzling vistas again and again. On the ground, the annual June antique aircraft fly-in called “the feel good event of the east” is tak-

ing place. Everything is competent, charming, understated, authentic—and just a bit raw. The meeting/socializing place is a huge covered pavilion of picnic tables,

Hinamen Acres

Lamar Farm Strip www.vintageaircraft.org

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Lock Haven’s main street charm.

This is almost certainly the “antiquer” event with the most aircraft sharing a similar color scheme . . . highly functional but rough-cut. The fly-in registration, camping, forums, etc. are efficient, yet not overly promoted. In short, the flyin itself is like a J-3 Cub! Overhead, “yet another” J-3 Cub flies by, but here, it is always a fresh sight. Attendees tend to raise their heads up to the sound of a Continental engine every time. The roar of an occasional large antique is appreciated, but here it does not dominate the scene; the Cubs are the stars. This is almost certainly the “antiquer” event with the most aircraft sharing a similar color scheme, and a long-experienced operator of a temporary tower is alert to prevent confusion, and for NORDO traffic (which is legal). On the ground, a huge set of many - yeared traditions takes place: food on the field by civic groups, a network of transportation to motels, a people-mover pulled by a restored vintage tractor driven by a long-term volunteer, 50

and dozens more. Much individual initiative includes a poker run organized by some raffish campers, and on most afternoons, a long line forms for a corn boil (yellow corn, that is). For all of this, the picnic table pavilion is central, the site for reunions worth, well, waiting a year for. About 10 years ago, Sentimental Journey built a modern building for vendors, and the Piper Aviation Museum (formerly the plant’s administration building) is open for tours. A spot landing contest is featured one afternoon, and for this year’s bomb-drop competition, the winner actually put a flour bag into the four-foot-wide target! A first-time highlight this year was a daily air show featuring Greg Koontz and The Alabama Boys—including a comedy, stolen J-3 (what else?), and a truck-top landing. A Saturday evening banquet is the crescendo of the event, but after all of this, anything would be an anticlimax. For most attendees, the visit will include a trip into town. Lock Haven’s main street exudes classic, small town charm, with an undercurrent of ruddy competence and bedrock authenticity—again, like a J-3 Cub! At the town’s parking meters, you touch a button upon arrival, and are given 15 free minutes! This is mind-boggling to visiting East Coasters. Lately, hotel and motel rooms have been scarce; gas drilling in the mountains has the area undergoing a long-awaited bit

of economic good news. At the airport, a portion of the former show aircraft parking area has been taken over to store industrial drilling implements. This year’s highlight was to commemorate the 75th anniversar y of Piper’s move to Lock Haven and of the J-3 Cub. Other vintage Piper models are featured, yearto-year, on a rotating basis. The fly-in was also highlighted by gorgeous weather, strong attendance by planes and people, and strong vendor sales. Sentimental Journey itself sold many special commemorative items: T-shirts, hats, and other specialties, producing a very welcome bottom line. Fly-in directors reported aircraft registrations from other countries, including Canada and Germany, and visitors from as far away as Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Approximate numbers were 300 airplanes, including 80 J-3 Cubs, and several thousand attendees. The trip to “Cub Haven” means a visit to the mountains, unusual for most attendees, and the slopes shine with the fresh, bright, green, waxy image of early summer. The fly-in’s schedule usually includes June 21, the day of longest light. Late afternoon/early evening flybys take on a postcard, picturebook quality. The attendees who say “Don’t change a thing” tend to be the jaded residents from cities, especially on the East Coast. Sentimental Journey starts by being a fly-in destination, then becomes a convention/party, and ends up being a state of mind. You tear yourself from the spectacular, if “slow-lane” flying and return home, albeit at modest cruising speed. Fly -in director Kim Garlick watches them depart with regret, saying, “I feel it’s the greatest thing on earth.”

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The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK

Approaching a restoration project, Part 2 Previously we looked at the approach to an aircraft restoration, not looking at the overall scope of the project but rather breaking down the tasks into more manageable objectives, such as: 1. Restoration of wood components such as wings, center section, controls, empennage 2. Restoration of fuselage structure such as tubular, aluminum monocoque or semimonocoque, or wood 3. Restoration of landing gear including main and tail wheel installations 4. Restoration of firewall-forward including engine, propeller, accessories, and intake and exhaust systems 5. Final assembly and riggingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;preparation for test flight. The overall goal is to produce a beautifully restored aircraft that is safe and fun to fly. This goal is immense when viewed from the beginning. But smaller goals can be achieved and progress measured when the restoration project is broken into structural groups. One hint I can pass on is to always plan ahead, particularly when assembling structure. When restoring the Command-Aire I faced this all the time. Not having any drawings for the ship required that I rely on past experience to successfully complete the project. Not to mention that it took me 11 years because of family commitments, the job, and of course, the money. With me, weight and balance is a huge issue that will ultimately lead to the best flying ship I can build. There was no factory weight and balance data available for the airplane; designer Albert Vollmecke

remembered that the center of gravity was around 27 to 33 percent of mean aerodynamic chord (MAC), so I worked diligently to achieve that goal. Illustration 1 shows the aircraft on scales and leveled prior to covering the fuselage. This was done because a heavy 12-volt battery had to be mounted somewhere in the

ILLUSTRATION 1 fuselage structure. (There was actually no place to mount the battery in front or rear cockpits.) The ship turned out to be slightly nose heavy (which is better than being tail heavy), so I elected to mount the battery and associated relays in the aft fuselage. The battery box can be seen in the lower longerons of the aft fuselage. At this point the tail wheel weighing point scale read 88 pounds (less tare). The problem here is any controls or structure that must be routed aft, that is, rudder cables, elevator pushpull tube, stabilizer trim push-pull tube, etc. So it was necessary to be sure the rudder cables were attached www.vintageaircraft.org

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and rigged prior to locating the battery box. Then electrical cables had to run forward through conduit, which had to be routed below the floorboards. All this took much forward looking and planning. Weight and balance readings were taken with the airplane weighed at this time, even though the fuselage was not covered. Engine weight calculations and engine mount arm were also determined and figures recorded for future reference. Since the fuselage is not covered, it is very easy to measure the arms of various components in the fuselage, such as front and rear seats, instrument panel, battery box, baggage compartment, main and tail wheel centerlines, datum line, and firewall. Knowing how far the firewall is located forward of the datum line makes measuring arms in the future very easy, particularly engine accessories, oil tank, fuel tank, etc. Illustration 2 shows the second trial assembly of the ship, which included rigging. Since no rigging data was available anywhere, I had to write my own rigging manual, which was no big deal but was very handy for future use.

back up a little and speak a little more to fuselage restoration. Illustration 3 shows the fuselage in October 1982, four years after I started the project. The wings had been finished and work was slowly progressing on the fuselage. Keep in mind that the project was started in 1978 and finished in 1989. I did all the work myself including engine overhaul. I had some help from George Boys in Tracey, California, who was very familiar with the Wright R-760 and R-975 engines and was a huge help. Thank you, George.

ILLUSTRATION 3

ILLUSTRATION 2 One very interesting thing I did just after this picture was taken was to remove the engine and all accessories firewall-forward and put the ship back on scales and level. (The tail was mighty heavy!) I recall the center of gravity turned out to be about 34 inches aft of the datum (the lower wing leading edge). Why would I do this? I had planned to build another couple airplanes and install a Lycoming R-680 225-hp engine in one ship. All I would have to do was to find the center of weight mass for the Lycoming engine (complete with all accessories, propeller, oil tank, etc.), then calculate how far forward this weight mass had to be placed to bring the center of gravity back to where I wanted it. Once all this preliminary stuff was done I could concentrate on covering the fuselage. But I should 52

Several details can be gleaned from this photograph. The newly fabricated engine mount ring is welded in place. (The entire engine mount is welded to the frame.) Forward fuselage supports a cardboard fuel tank. The airplane sits on an entirely new landing gearâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that took about 140 hours to make! It was difficult because toe-in and camber cannot be adjusted once the components are welded. There were a few welded repairs made to the fuselage structure. Most were inner sleeve type because the completed repair looks better; however, a few outer sleeve repairs were made under the floorboards. The important thing here is to continue to add parts, making sketches and measurements so if welding was required it could be completed before final epoxy finish was applied. The inside of the lower longerons was coated with linseed oil for corrosion protection; however, the fuselage tubing was original and in very good condition. Fuselage alignment was checked and rechecked by running a string through the fuselage center and measuring left and right to the stations (clusters); and by leveling the forward upper longeron cross tube, then checking the level of upper longerons at horizontal stabilizer mount point. This proved that the fuselage was not twisted in any way.

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In September 1982 a very special person came visiting my small shop in Reedley. He was designer Albert Vollmecke, seen here in Illustration 4 inspecting his fuselage. I am a firm believer in shoulder harness installations and put one in the rear cockpit. A locking handle can be seen on the left side of the rear seat, and the inertia reel was installed on a welded mount above the baggage compartment and directly behind my shoulders. It works perfectly. There is no shoulder harness in the front cockpit because there was no place to mount it.

ILLUSTRATION 5 ILLUSTRATION 4 At one point the engine had to be bolted to its mount so throttle, mixture control, and carburetor heat controls could be installed and rigged. Again there were no drawings or data showing how the controls were initially installed. This part of the restoration is critical because these controls have to work correctly all the time. At this time the electrical system can be wired, as it is imperative that the ship have a starting system in today’s world. With the engine in place, engine instrumentation can be installed, including tachometer, oil pressure, and temperature gauges. The landing gear was a major task, and I spent many hours to get alignment as good as possible using wood fixtures and the fuselage itself to weld components together. There were a couple old gear parts, so step one was to see if the best one fit on the fuselage frame (Illustration 5). The best gear patterns were assembled to the frame, keeping in mind that landing gears on the Model 5 were slightly different than those used on the Model 3. Next, in Illustration 6 a damaged Vee strut was cut open to expose just how the factory constructed the part. A holding fixture was constructed to place the Vee strut and hold it while being welded together the front

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ILLUSTRATION 6

ILLUSTRATION 7

ILLUSTRATION 8

and aft streamline chromoly tubes and the fillet. Illustration 7 shows the fixture. Illustration 8 shows the almost completed lower end of the Vee strut. The end result after about 40 hours of cutting, fitting, and welding was a completed landing gear Vee strut assembly as shown in Illustration 9. The upper attach fittings were carefully aligned with fuselage attach fittings, and then a second part was constructed and aligned with the opposite attach fittings. The lower attachment points would fasten to the axle on the shock strut, so alignment was especially critical. Constant attention had to be paid to correct alignment because this would determine how well the ship handled on the ground, particularly on a hard surface. When fabricating steel components, my mind always wanders back to those factory craftsmen who initially welded these components. Their weld beads were absolutely perfect in every way, so I say to myself, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Self, if they could do it, so can you.â&#x20AC;? All structural welding was oxygen/acetylene using a Victor Model 100 or an Airco gas torch. All welding on the ship was done using a gas torch, but I must admit the aluminum fuel and oil tanks were TIG welded as there was a substantial amount of labor involved in fabricating these components. Fabrication of fuel and oil tanks presents a unique problem in that cardboard patterns have to be generated

full size in order to eventually cut from 3003 or 5052 aluminum (that is weldable). In the following illustrations, one can see the process of taping together a cardboard fuel tank to fit properly in the space provided in forward fuselage. It should be stressed here that necessary baffles be installed to strengthen the tank and keep fuel from sloshing around. The first tank had a center baffle only, and after a couple years of service it began to leak around the rivets holding the baffle in place. A new tank was fabricated and additional baffling added for more support. Illustration 10 shows the method of making a fuel tank pattern. Use of masking and duct tape to hold pieces together is evident in this photograph. There must be an airspace clearance between fuel tank and firewall of 1/2inch minimum, and the tank must be adequately supported so it cannot move in flight. If not, it would result in the breakage of a rigid fuel line and a catastrophic fuel system failure. This material I present to give restorers some clue to my thought process and hints on bringing back to life an old airplane.

ILLUSTRATION 9

ILLUSTRATION 10

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VAA