Va vol 45 no 5 jsep oct 2017

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

Stinsons • Cubs • Stearmans • Luscombes

Vintage Airplane STAFF

Thank You for Another Amazing Year!

EAA Publisher/Chairman of the Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jack J. Pelton

Message From the President

SUSAN DUSENBURY VAA PRESIDENT

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Busha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jbusha@eaa.org VAA Executive Administrator. . Hannah Hupfer 920-426-6110. . . . . . . . . . . hhupfer@eaa.org Art Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . Olivia Phillip Trabbold ADVERTISING: Vice President of Business Development Dave Chaimson. . . . . . . . . . dchaimson@eaa.org

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017 — Thanks for the memories!

2017 was another remarkable year at EAA AirVenture. The great partnership between Ford and EAA provided many benefits to AirVenture attendees and future aviators.

We were proud to support 2017 AirVenture with many exciting experiences: • A crowd-pleasing opening-night concert performance by the award-winning band, Barenaked Ladies • Blockbuster films including Sully, Hidden Figures, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and more at the nightly Fly-In Theater; with famed presenters such as Jeff Skiles and John Knoll discussing the films • Donating the one-of-a-kind Ford F-22 Raptor F-150, which raised $300,000 for EAA’s youth education programs, including the Young Eagles

• Celebrating 40 consecutive years of Truck Sales Leadership with the F-Series lineup • Showcasing product innovation, the power of choice offered across Ford vehicles and state-ofthe-art technology at the Ford Hangar • Offering an additional $750 member incentive toward the purchase or lease of a new Ford or Lincoln vehicle through January 2, 2018

The Privilege of Partnership EAA members are eligible for special pricing on Ford Motor Company vehicles through Ford’s Partner Recognition Program. To learn more about this exclusive opportunity for EAA members to save on a new Ford or Lincoln vehicle, please visit www.eaa.org/ford.

• Delivering family-friendly experiences, offering fun and engaging activities for everyone

Thank you for joining us at AirVenture 2017. We hope you enjoyed the experience. Only in Oshkosh!

Advertising Manager Sue Anderson. . . . . . . . . . . sanderson@eaa.org

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017 is now the stuff of memories. And what great memories they are! The weather was almost perfect. I say almost because of a few rain showers during the week. I call those our dust removal and air freshener system. It works every time! Anyway, Wisconsin greeted us with those incredible crystal clear blue skies with light to moderate winds. More than 590,000 aviation enthusiasts of all levels and from all over the world made the annual sabbatical to the greatest air show on earth.

I am very pleased at the progression of improvements to our Vintage village and flightline. After an extensive structural and cosmetic redo, our flagship building, the Red Barn, proved to be a big hit with our visitors. The new extension on the northwest corner of the building turned out to be a very popular destination point. On Monday, we had a ribboncutting ceremony where we named the new patio (located on the west side of the porch) after the Stadtmueller family, who originally owned the Red Barn as well as the farm where the Red Barn is now located. The Stadtmueller family now lives on a farm adjacent to the EAA grounds.

We were honored to have eight members of the family representing three generations at the ribbon-cutting. They were as excited as we were. I have to say that the Red Barn mini museum is a work in progress.

The restoration was completed a mere six days before the convention, causing some really pressing times for our very capable volunteers to get things in order for opening day. You can expect more sophisticated displays in 2018. Nice as it is, the Red Barn is a work in progress.

We also made some other changes in 2017. We expanded our forum hours in the Vintage Hangar, and your officers and directors hosted a Vintage town hall meeting. For 2018, we are planning to expand that with coffee and doughnuts on Monday morning — sort of a meet-andgreet gathering. I would like to hear what you members are thinking about this fine organization.

Very obvious this year was our new and much larger bleachers that turned out to be very popular not only during our daily Vintage Interview Circle but also during the air shows, particularly the night air

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

VISIT www.vintageaircraft.org for the latest in information and news and for the electronic newsletter:

Vintage AirMail

VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION Current EAA members may join the Vintage Aircraft Association and receive VINTAGE AIRPLANE magazine for an additional $45/year.

EAA Membership, VINTAGE AIRPLANE magazine and one-year membership in the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association are available for $55 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.eaa.org/airventure 888-322-4636

continued on page 5

www.vintageaircraft.org

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Vol. 45, No. 5

CONTENTS

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

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AirVenture 2017 Vintage Awards

Worth All The Effort

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EAA Chapter 211 hatches an Eaglet

by Budd Davisson

The Stearmans

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A son reminisces about his father’s legacy

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

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Cruisin’ Into the Future

Piper J-5 Cub Cruiser N38130

by Budd Davisson

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Preiser’s Penchant for Perfection Twin Stinson sister ships

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

Simplified Flying

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COLUMNS 1

Message From the President Thanks for the memories Susan Dusenbury

8 How to?

Prepare a surface for fabric covering Robert G. Lock 10 Good Old Days 59 The Vintage Mechanic Teaching a nation how to fly, Part 5 Robert G. Lock 63 VAA New Members 64 Vintage Trader

COVERS

FRONT COVER: A cascade of fireworks explode over the Vintage area at EAA Airventure 2017. Photo by Connor Madison.

BACK COVER: Photo by Tyson Rininger

The Luscumbe T8F Observer

by Moose Peterson

ANY COMMENTS? MOOSE PETERSON

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Send your thoughts to the Vintage Editor at: jbusha@ eaa.org

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

www.vintageaircraft.org

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Nominat ions

C A L L F OR V I N TA G E A I R C R A F T A S S O C I AT ION

Nominate your favorite vintage aviator for the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame. A great honor could be bestowed upon that man or woman working next to you on your airplane, sitting next to you in the chapter meeting, or walking next to you at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Think about the people in your circle of aviation friends: the mechanic, historian, photographer, or pilot who has shared innumerable tips with you and with many others. They could be the next VAA Hall of Fame inductee — but only if they are nominated.

The person you nominate can be a citizen of any country and may be living or deceased; his or her involvement in vintage aviation must have occurred between 1950 and

the present day. His or her contribution can be in the areas of flying, design, mechanical or aerodynamic developments, administration, writing, some other vital and relevant field, or any combination of fields that support aviation. The person you nominate must be or have been a member of the Vintage Aircraft Association or the Antique/Classic Division of EAA, and preference is given to those whose actions have contributed to the VAA in some way, perhaps as a volunteer, a restorer who shares his expertise with others, a writer, a photographer, or a pilot sharing stories, preserving aviation history, and encouraging new pilots and enthusiasts.

To nominate someone is easy. It just takes a little time and a little reminiscing on your part.

• Think of a person; think of his or her contributions to vintage aviation.

• Write those contributions in the various categories of the nomination form.

• Write a simple letter highlighting these attributes and contributions. Make copies of newspaper or magazine articles that may substantiate your view.

• If at all possible, have another individual (or more) complete a form or write a letter about this person, confirming why the person is a good candidate for induction.

We would like to take this opportunity to mention that if you have nominated someone for the VAA Hall of Fame, nominations for the honor are kept on file for three years, after which the nomination must be resubmitted.

Mail nominating materials to: VAA Hall of Fame, c/o Charles W. Harris, Transportation Leasing Corp.

PO Box 470350

Tulsa, OK 74147 E-mail: cwh@hvsu.com Remember, your “contemporary” may be a candidate; nominate someone today!

Find the nomination form at www.VintageAircraft.org, or call the VAA office for a copy (920-426-6110), or on your own sheet of paper, simply include the following information: • Date submitted.

• Name of person nominated.

• Address and phone number of nominee.

• E-mail address of nominee.

• Date of birth of nominee. If deceased, date of death.

• Name and relationship of nominee’s closest living relative.

• Address and phone of nominee’s closest living relative.

• VAA and EAA number, if known. (Nominee must have been or is a VAA member.)

• Time span (dates) of the nominee’s contributions to vintage aviation.

(Must be between 1950 to present day.)

• Area(s) of contributions to aviation.

• Describe the event(s) or nature of activities the nominee has undertaken in aviation to be worthy of induction into the VAA Hall of Fame.

• Describe achievements the nominee has made in other related fields in aviation.

• Has the nominee already been honored for his or her involvement in aviation and/or the contribution you are stating in this petition? If yes, please explain the nature of the honor and/or award the nominee has received.

• Any additional supporting information.

• Submitter’s address and phone number, plus e-mail address.

• Include any supporting material with your petition.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

TM

Friends of the

RED BARN

The VAA Red Barn is the centerpiece, the central gathering place for virtually all Vintage members during EAA Oshkosh each year. The Red Barn is where we meet our friends, get our questions answered, sit on the front porch to rest a bit, drink lemonade, and thoroughly enjoy our aviation friends and the spectacular events of the day. But the Red Barn as we know it today did not just happen. In 2000-2001, Vintage found itself attempting to provide a proper, acceptable facility to meet, greet, and accommodate its members.

We created the Friends of the Red Barn program in 2001. We kicked off our first campaign in early 2002. Our goal was to interest a small number of dedicated Vintage members to financially support the physical improvement of the Red Barn and, far more important, upgrade and support it to the point where it became an inviting, pleasant place to meet, greet, relax, and simply enjoy the magic and magnificence that is Oshkosh each summer. The Friends of the Red Barn has become a wonderfully successful support program for Vintage members and guests during the convention. 2017 is its 16th year, and you will be amazed to know that the majority of the Barn’s loyal supporters have been a part of the group since the very first year.

Vintage is extremely proud of this dedicated group of members. Their names are listed annually at the Barn and in the pages of Vintage Airplane. These donors have made the Red Barn and its gracious hospitality what you enjoy today . . . and we are just beginning. When that day comes Friends of the Red Barn will be there to do our part.

We hope each Vintage member realizes what a treasure we have in our own facility to serve all of us each summer, and also know that it is member-created and member-maintained, principally through our Friends. Vintage is privileged to provide some very neat thank-yous when you become a Friend in return for your contribution. It is a winwin for all. Vintage is the very finest such organization in the world.

We attract visitors from all over the world to the Red Barn and our newly expanded Vintage airplane area each summer. We have grown from one lone, abandoned barn to an entire complex replicating a small country airport. With your help, every year we will provide more enhanced hospitality for all.

Please stand tall and join with us in Friends of the Red Barn; you will be forever proud and happy that you did.

Charlie Harris, Director Emeritus EAA Life Member 96978, VAA Life Member 2158

Message from the President continued from page 1

shows. We are already making plans for 2018 for improvements to our Interview Circle programs as well as some cosmetic improvements to the Bill and Myrt Rose Plaza. (Interview Circle is located in this plaza.)

The Vintage Bookstore was also a very popular destination and rightly so. If you have any interest in aviation history or maybe you are looking for something to read during the week, then the bookstore is the place for you. Personally, one of my interests lies in the history and development of aircraft engines. I hit a home run this year in the bookstore when I found three separate books: one on the R-2800, another on the R-4360, and the third one on Allied piston engines of World War II. These are very comprehensive books totaling more than 1,700 pages. I know what my winter reading will be! Anyway, this great bookstore/resource will be there for you in 2018 replete with many “new” old books.

And yes, let’s not forget the vintage airplanes. There were more than 1,100 of them, and they were absolutely spectacular. I always spend time on the flightline, where I marvel at the beauty of our vintage planes. Thanks to all who flew their vintage showplane to Oshkosh for all to see. We look forward to seeing you next year.

Honestly, I could go on and on about Oshkosh 2017. Let me just close by saying that all of our very talented and dedicated volunteers did a stupendous job at providing our members and guests with a magical week filled with friends (both new and old) and airplanes. The Vintage volunteers are the best, and the Vintage culture is the best. Remember, Vintage is the fun place to be! www.vintageaircraft.org

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AirVenture 2017 Vintage Awards Antiques Antique Continuously Maintained Aircraft 1930 Stearman Aircraft 4E N663K Ben Scott, Reno, NV World War II Military Trainer/Liaison Aircraft Runner-Up 1941 Boeing A75N1(PT17) N55569 Brad Mcginnis, Worthington, KY Transport Category Runner-Up 1940 Douglas DC-3 HBIRJ Yannick Bovier, Saviese, Switzerland Customized Aircraft Outstanding 1940 Piper J4A N28209 Timothy Shea, Pearland, TX

Antique Reserve Grand Champion 1941 Piper J3C-65 N37916 Rod Mckenzie, New Fairfield, CT Antique Grand Champion 1937 Stinson SR-9F N18445 Scott Woods, Tiburon, CA

Classic Outstanding Beech 1954 Beech B50 N633F Brad Gardner, Kansas City, MO Outstanding Bellanca 1950 Bellanca 14-19 CFEDW Doug Wilson, Delta, BC, Canada

Customized Aircraft Runner-Up 1941 Waco UPF-7 N32094 Frank Winkler, Dallas, TX

Outstanding Cessna 120/140 1947 Cessna 120 N120VW Sarah Dickerson, Kansas City, MO

Outstanding Silver Age Open Cockpit Biplane 1929 Stearman Aircraft C3-B N8811 Patrick Weeden, Oregon, WI

Outstanding Cessna 170 1951 Cessna 170A N1471D Mike Schwarzkopf, Saint Peters, MO

Bronze Age Outstanding Closed Cockpit Monoplane 1941 Taylorcraft BC12-65 N29654 Lowell Baker Effingham, IL

Outstanding Cessna 180 1954 Cessna 180 N3643C Scott Thompson, Stoutsville, OH

Bronze Age Runner-Up 1940 Piper J3C-65 N26868 Alvin Musser, Memphis, MO

Outstanding Cessna 190/195 1952 Cessna 190 CFISR Wayne Eggen, Langley, BC, Canada

Silver Age Runner-Up 1932 Fairchild 22 NC13166 John Thomason, Sonoma, CA World War II Military Trainer/Liaison Aircraft Champion 1941 Boeing A75N1 (PT17) N311HR Randy McCoy, Winnemucca, NV Transport Category Champion 1936 Douglas DC-3 N17334 Blake Butler, Shelbyville, TN Customized Aircraft Champion 1941 Waco UPF-7 N32083 Benjamin Redman, Faribault, MN Bronze Age (1937-1941) Champion 1941 Waco UPF-7 N32133 Jeffrey Gaulrapp, Coal Valley, IL Silver Age (1928-1936) Champion 1932 Waco UBF 2 NC2091K John Cournoyer, Maryland Hts, MO

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Outstanding Ercoupe 1946 Ercoupe 415-C N93949 Robert Porter, Batavia, IL Outstanding Luscombe 1946 Luscombe 8E N1201K James Spurgeon, Stillwater, OK Outstanding Piper J-3 1946 Piper Cub J3 NC92312 Bruce Bowen, Sturgis, SD Outstanding Piper Other 1949 Piper PA-11 N5084H Daren Hrabe, Tea, SD Outstanding Swift 1950 Temco GC-1B N814CC Scott Naumann, Arroyo Grande, CA Outstanding Taylorcraft 1948 Taylorcraft, BC12D-85 N5612M

Best Continuously Maintained 1954 Beech E35 N3214C Jeffrey Deaton, Morehead City, NC Preservation 1953 Piper PA-22-135 N1301C Vaughn Lovley, Prague, MN Custom Class A (0-85 hp) 1946 Aeronca 7AC N2688E George Spelman, Noblesville, IN Custom Class B (86-150 hp) 1948 Luscombe 8F N1866B Ronald Morrison, Geneva, IL Custom Class C (151-235 hp) 1947 Piper PA-12 N4433M Mary Build, Naples, ME Custom Class D (236-up hp) 1947 Ryan Navion N660NE William Guerrieri, Simpsonville, SC Best Customized Runner-Up 1954 Piper Pa-18-135 N807EJ James Miller, Genoa, OH Class I (0-85 hp) 1946 Aeronca 7AC N82940 Shane Vande Voort, Pella, IA Class II (86-150 hp) 1950 Cessna 140A N5360C Lorraine Morris, Poplar Grove, IL Class IV (236-up hp) 1951 Cessna 195 N195PK Phillip Pedron, Denton, TX

Contemporary Outstanding Beech Single Engine 1967 Beech A23A N6928Q Robert Prange, Ashburn, VA Outstanding Beech Multi-Engine 1957 Beech D-50 N261B Christopher White, Granville, OH Outstanding Cessna 170/172/175/177 1959 Cessna 175 N175XX Ryan Nelson, Hibbing, MN Outstanding Cessna 180/182/210 1958 Cessna 180B N5067E Rodd Rickenbach, Denver, CO Outstanding Champion 1969 Champion 7ECA N5170X Nancy Fitzpatrick, Fredericksburg, TX Outstanding Mooney 1964 Mooney M20C N7163U Daniel & Tori Patterson, Frankfort, KY Outstanding Piper PA-24 Comanche 1959 Piper PA-24-250 N5778P Hunter Neucere, Grapevine, TX Outstanding Piper PA-28 Cherokee 1964 Piper PA-28-160 N5770W Danny Gallo, Nashotah, WI Outstanding Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche 1967 Piper PA-30 N8368Y Kyle and Shevon Gee, New Waverly, TX Outstanding Limited Production 1963 M-4 N4706T Susan Maule, Media, PA Most Unique 1961 Helio H-295 N5383G Andrew Stolte, Spring Hill, FL

Champion Replica Classic 1951 Luscombe 10 NX34337 Bill Bradford, Independence, MO

Preservation Award 1970 Champion 7GCBC N9060L Paul Shank, Gaithersburg, MD

Champion Customized Classic Amphibian 1946 Grumman G-44A N86611 Steve Hamilton, Washoe Valley, NV

Class II Single Engine (161-230 hp) 1957 Cessna 182A N3982D Jeff Standford, Saint Marys, GA

Champion Customized Classic 1954 Cessna 170B N2771C Kyle Fosso, Aacortes, WA Reserve Grand Champion 1949 Piper PA-11 N5533H Donald Wade, Helena, AL Grand Champion 1946 Piper J3C-65 N88354 Daniel Uminski, Ryan Johnson & Cory Johnson, Middleton, WI

Class III Single Engine (231-up hp) 1964 Beech S35 N335JA Joseph Astrologo, Red Wing, MN Outstanding Customized 1957 Beech H35 N64JW Joseph Weaver, Flower Mound, TX Outstanding Multi Engine 1970 Beech A56TC N4620A David Glaser, Peyton, CO Reserve Grand Champion Customized 1960 Piper PA-24-250 N6455P Lee Hussey, Martinsville, VA

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Photo 3 is a Bucker Bü-133 Jungmeister wing I covered many years ago for John Hickman.

These wings were narrow chord, and the fabric could be blanketed in place and not require any ma­chine sewing.

How to?

ROBERT G. LOCK

Prepare a surface for fabric covering Photo 3

PREPARATION OF A STRUCTURE TO receive fabric covering requires some thought be given to sharp edges or overlaps that need to be covered with tape. And, depending on what type of fabric attachment is chosen, one may want to cover the leading edge metal with a poly­ester padding that will blend out surface irregularities such as skin overlaps.

I always cover any nail heads on the leading edge with a good grade tape — I particu­larly like to use “gaffer’s tape.” Gaffer’s tape has an adhesive that securely bonds it to an aluminum leading edge. Do that first before installing the polyester padding. Then in­spect the rest of the structure, checking if there are any sharp edges that could penetrate and damage the fabric. I always put tape over trailing edge rivets. See Photo 1.

Polyester padding may then be installed on the leading edge of the wing by bonding it along upper and lower edges of spars. Do not attempt to bond the entire leading edge as the padding needs to be soft and pliable. Photo 1, gaffer’s tape covers sheet metal attaching screws on a lead­ing edge, and a strip of polyester padding is ready to be 8

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

Photo 2

Champ wing chord is too wide to blanket cover the wing; therefore, three strips of fabric had to be sewn together so there was no need to glue fabric to the leading edge. Do not glue fabric to the padding; it won’t work.

Using this method of leading edge protec­tion will lead to a very smooth covering job where skin overlaps and nail or screw heads cannot be seen. Whenever possible I always use padding on the leading edges and a few other places on occasion.

The upper Bucker Jungmeister wing was covered with the Ceconite process back in 1970. This wing is all wood construction, and the leading edge and other areas are cov­ered with padding.

The fabric was installed around the leading edge and glued to the inside of the wing spar. A little preshrinking was done to tauten the leading edge and then it was coated with nitrate dope. Then the bottom of the fabric was bonded in place, wrapped all the way around the leading edge, and bonded to the area along the top of the spar.

What did the airplane look like when it was finished? Well, here it is in Photo 4.

Photo 1

bonded in place.

In photo 2, the padding is bonded in place using manufacturer’s approved adhesive. The

Photo 4 www.vintageaircraft.org

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Good Old Days From pages of what was . . .

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

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www.vintageaircraft.org

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EAA Chapter 211 hatches an Eaglet

by Budd Davisson Photos by Andrew Zaback

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WORTH ALL The EFFORT www.vintageaircraft.org

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AMERICAN EAGLE ter, it was really fun having the airplane at Oshkosh where the chapter members could share the fruits of their labor with other EAAers. They were proud and had a right to be.”

The airplane he was discussing was displayed on Interview Circle directly in front of the Vintage Aircraft Association’s well-known Red Barn headquarters during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. The Eaglet was a pioneer ultralight from the early 1930s, and nearly 100 were built. But today it is one of the lesser-known antiques. Certainly, there were more than the normal “What is it?” questions aimed at Gary and the chapter members.

The American Eagle Aircraft Corp. was founded by Edward E. Porterfield (yes, the same man who later founded Porterfield Aircraft Corp.) and began producing airplanes in 1925-1926. At the time, his airplanes, the Eagle series, were large, OX-5-powered, two - and three -place, open-cockpit biplanes. A successful venture from the beginning, the company, like all other aircraft companies at the time, was dealt a lingering deathblow by the stock market crash in 1929

After a number of failures, the CAA mandated that tie rods be installed to keep the cylinders in the general vicinity of the crankcase.

“Many EAA members would like to be building or restoring,” said Gary Van Farowe of Hudsonville, Michigan. “However, as interested as they are, many I talk to are concerned about the skills and the finances involved. I don’t like to hear members talk that way. I’ve had a really full life in aviation and see my involvement with EAA Chapter 211 in Grand Haven, Michigan, as my way of giving back by encouraging people to take the plunge.

The mechanism for that has been to mentor members while doing actual projects, which generally eliminates their concerns. When Chapter 211 first started, they repaired the wings of a Jodel and then covered a Luscombe’s wings. However, I came on board with the restoration of an American Eagle Eaglet. It was a great project and brought all of the skills involved in aircraft building and restoring into focus. Even bet14

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

Above: Is a Szekely a radial or a “triangular”?

Preflights are easy when all the important stuff is out in the open.

Right: Heat muffs for carburetor. www.vintageaircraft.org

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AMERICAN EAGLE

Spars were okay but Chapter 211 built over half of the ribs from scratch.

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and the ensuing Depression. Its primary survival strategy was to design and build the Eaglet in an effort at offering the shrinking aviation market a more affordable airplane.

Combined with the threecylinder, 45-hp Szekely engine, the Eaglet was exactly what they hoped it would be: a goodperforming airplane that barely sipped fuel. Unfortunately, too much of the company’s potential market was standing in soup kitchen lines, more worried about their next meal than reducing their cost per flight hour. Amazingly enough, when the American Eagle Aircraft Corp. (later known as Lincoln-Page) ceased operations in 1932, according to several sources, it had built and sold more than 700 airplanes, which at the time made it the third largest aircraft production company in the world. Today it is one of the least known, but enthusiasts or professionals such as Gary Van Farowe know it well. However, the big Eagles were Travel Air– sized projects; whereas, the Eaglet was a fraction of their size and ideal for amateur restoration.

That’s why when the Eaglet became available for restoration, he jumped on it. He saw it as the perfect chapter project.

When it comes to mentoring beginning antiquers and builders, Gary brings a lot to the table.

When he (a 21-year-old door gunner/mechanic) returned from Vietnam in 1970, he knew airplanes would be his life.

“I immediately enrolled in the Spartan School of Aeronautics A&P program,” he said. “I learned to fly while there and opened my

The cockpit redefines “basic” and demands lightweight pilot/passengers.

own shop in ’73, where I worked on vintage airplanes when I wasn’t working on Gulfstreams for a corporation. My heart has always been in vintage airplanes.

Even at that age. I’ve always liked old stuff of every kind. Cars, tractors, biplanes — I’ve always been into all of them.

“When I first opened, I was working with an old-timer, and most of our work was Aeronca and Cub types,” said Gary. “Those were airplanes the big shops didn’t want anything to do with,

so it became a niche for us. The old-timer mentored me for eight years until he retired, and I’ve continued to work on the same age of aircraft. Nothing later than ’46. Now I’ve retired from my day job and do this full time.

I’ve run a bunch of Wacos and classics through the shop. Basically, I’ll do anything having to do with fabric, wood, or welding, from patches to full restoration.

I also do a reasonable number of owner-assisted restorations.

“The Eaglet had been in storwww.vintageaircraft.org

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AMERICAN EAGLE age for a few years, and its cotton fabric was practically falling off.

It was thoroughly rotten, and the rest of the airplane wasn’t much better. The airplane needed a complete restoration. However, it was all there, and the chapter members were ready for it.”

One of the more unique historical aspects to this particular Eaglet is that it is registered as a 1935 airplane, but the company shut the doors in 1932. And the engine serial number doesn’t fit the verbiage in the type certificate that stipulates that “… no engine is to be built after 1932.” So, what’s the story?

Gary explained, “We think the airplane was assembled in 1935 from leftover parts and new engines that were for sale from the failed engine company. It was registered to the president of the company who had to give an affidavit to the CAA that the airplane was okay and should be licensed.”

When the chapter started work, Gary donated the use of his own shop, and chapter members set up a work schedule: every Thursday night, 6 to 9:30. He said the project wound up taking four years, and there were 27 members involved over the years. However, he said, “Five of the guys practically made a religion out of working on the airplane. I could count on seeing them every Thursday, no matter what. The financing came from the members, which was matched by the chapter, and

With no brakes, much of the Eaglet’s directional ground stability comes from the tailskid digging in.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

we received a $2,000 grant for the project.

“We had people from every walk of life. Airline pilots, school teachers, engineers, retired business owners. Every background you can imagine. Most had very little hands-on experience with aircraft, and I probably frustrated a few of them. From the beginning, I made sure we did everything to my standards, which, while I’m not a radical perfectionist, there is only one ‘right’ way to do things. And if something didn’t meet that standard, we did it over again. My attitude is that the inside of a restoration should look as good as the outside, and that’s what we strived for.”

While the fuselage wasn’t bad, Gary said they did have to do some repairs. When the pieces were ready to be welded, Gary’s son-in-law stepped in and did the actual welding (tungsten inert gas). He didn’t want anything but excellent welds, and an American Eaglet was no place for a beginner to practice. But everyone learned a lot from watching.

The landing gear was problematic because the V’s were made of streamlined tubing that were open ended rather than being welded closed. The net result was that they were badly rusted on the inside. One of the members was a machinist and made up the tubes that Gary welded together, including sealing both ends.

“With the landing gear finished,” Gary said, “we would have loved to have gone with the original 18-by-3 wheels and tires, which had no brakes and relied on a tail skid to keep it straight.

But we were running on limited funds. So, we came up with an adapter that let us use 8-by-4 Cub tires. Not very original looking, but the price was right!

“Eaglet wings are very light and fragile, as the entire airplane has to be to get good performance on 45 hp. Fortunately, the spars were fine, but over half of the ribs had to be replaced. And that meant, what with this being a very low-budget project, finding an inexpensive supply of aircraftquality spruce to rip into 1/4inch square strips to make new ribs. Here we lucked out because there was a company in Grand Rapids that had made gliders during World War II and still had

some spruce left. We borrowed a rib jig from Gene Morris, and everyone got to make a number of ribs from scratch. Gene was a lifesaver and helped us out with many, many things.”

The airplane apparently had been rebuilt sometime in the 1950s, so the sheet metal, what little there was of it, was in good shape. The same could not be said of the Szekely engine. Old engines, however, are one of Gary’s passions.

“The Szekely is not the bad engine the myths make it out to be,” he said. “However, if you don’t know its intricacies, it can be. It has to be continuously monitored and various things adjusted and

www.vintageaircraft.org

19

AMERICAN EAGLE

Top: Enjoying its moment of glory in Interview Circle at AV16.

Middle: The chapter’s budget required using Cub tires and wheels rather than the 18” original units.

Bottom: Tail tubing required straightening and some replacement.

20

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

babied. It also has at least one design flaw that leads to the tie rods going from cylinder to cylinder to prevent them from totally departing the airplane. The cylinder bases are square with bolts in each corner, and there’s a paper gasket between the flange and the case. So, if those bolts are overtightened, they pull the corners down and crack the flange around the base of the jug. This problem is made worse because the cylinders are cast iron, not steel, so they are brittle. Enough Zekepowered airplanes returned covered in oil, with a piston flopping out in the breeze, that the CAA mandated the safety strap.

“This engine didn’t have a lot of time on it, about 230 hours according to the logbooks, but past owners didn’t know how to take care of it. In fact, 75 percent of these engines have vise marks on them from backyard mechanics working on them. The master rod was a mess and ready to fail, and it took us a long time to find another. However, coming up with rings was no problem as a nice lady at Hastings came up with a direct substitute.”

One thing that can’t be known from old photos is the proper color to paint a given antique airplane.

With the Eaglet having been recovered and repainted so many times since 1935, the chances of discovering the original color of the Eaglet were slim. But Gary and Chapter 211 were lucky.

“We thought we were going to have a real problem in picking the final color,” Gary said. “However, we lucked out when we found some original overspray on the bottom of the seat pans and

back of the oil tank. It was an old color often referred to as ‘Early Travel Air Blue.’ Today it’s known as ‘True Blue.’

“We covered the airplane with Poly-Fiber and used their paint, too. A local Poly-Fiber distributor, Jim and Doni Miller, gave us a good discount, which we really appreciated because every penny counted.”

Getting an airplane finished and ready to display at Oshkosh often leads to lots of long nights and early mornings. In the case of the Chapter 211 Eaglet, they tried to get ahead of the game.

“We set a goal of having the airplane finished at least two weeks before leaving for AirVenture,” said Gary. “We first did that

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for AirVenture 2014, which obviously didn’t work. This time, however, we made it. A good measure of how active Chapter 211 is can be seen in the fact that of the 30 members, 20 were at Oshkosh and helping with the display of the Eaglet.

“I’d have to say that our goal of getting more people to actually do hands-on airplane work has succeeded. While doing the Eaglet, one of our guys bought a Champ and is learning to fly, and all of them developed skills they definitely didn’t have before. However, the real benefit of this kind of chapter project is that it develops friendships that will last a lifetime. That makes it worth all the effort.”

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21

The

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

NC3440, Larry Tobin’s 1927 Stearman C3-B, was built in 1927 by Stearman Aircraft of Venice, California, and may be similar to the Stearman that Bill remembers seeing as a child in Venice. (2008)

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

An example of an early Stearman: NC774H, a 1931 Stearman 4D. (SUN ’n Fun, 2005)

S t e a r m a n s

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

Dr. William Lloyd “Bill” Stearman.

(AirVenture, 2016)

A number of Stearman biplanes were featured at AirVenture 2016 to help commemorate Boeing’s centennial year, and none other than Lloyd Carlton Stearman’s own son, Dr. William Lloyd “Bill” Stearman, was in attendance. Bill greatly enjoyed the opportunity 22

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

to honor his renowned aviationpioneering father. A worldly and accomplished man in his own right, Bill penned a memoir about his journey through life, replete with hard-earned insights and perspectives, titled An American Adventure: From Early Aviation Through Three Wars to the White House. It was published in 2012 by the Naval Institute Press.

Born in 1922, Bill grew up surrounded by aviation. As a young man, he joined the Navy and experienced combat in the Pacific during World War II. His extensive résumé includes 28 years as a Foreign Service officer, a diplomat in Europe during the Cold War, and head of the North Vietnamese Affairs Division of the Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office

(stationed in Saigon). He also spent 17 years on the National Security Council at the White House and taught at Georgetown University for 16 years.

Paternal Ties to Aviation

Though many decades have rolled by, during which Bill lived and worked in a variety of countries and cultures, his paternal ties to the world of pilots and airplanes remain cherished and vivid. Spurred by a few questions, Bill swept back the curtains of time, elucidating his personal reflections and observations in an unabashed yet judicious manner.

“My father liked to be the head of the company, but he didn’t like to do all the things you have to do to be a good administrator,” says

A son reminisces about his father’s legacy

Bill. “He liked to have control.

When he and Walter Beech were working for Swallow, Jake Moellendick — who was a stodgy old character — opposed their suggestion to use steel tubing instead of wood for airframes. Moellendick thought spruce was good enough. So my father and Beech got disgusted, and they left. Then they were joined by Clyde Cessna and formed the Travel Air Co., and the Travel Air did pretty well.

And this is also typical: They had my father design the Travel Air, and then Beech, Cessna, and my father all went and worked on it with their own hands.

“They hired about three or four auto mechanics to help them, but they were out in their small plant, building the plane with their own

hands. Can you imagine that? And who was running the operation?

A 20-year-old secretary bookkeeper called Olive Ann Mellor.

This day and age, she’d be a senior executive vice president instead of a secretary bookkeeper!

“My mother said she had more brains than all the rest of them put together; my mother adored her. And Olive Ann would do all of the administrative work, and the men didn’t know what was going on. They were just focused on building this plane. Eventually they split up; Cessna went and made his own plane famous, and my father went off to California and founded Stearman Aircraft Co. Beech, who had married Olive Ann, stayed with Travel Air and then formed another com-

pany called Beech Aircraft Co. When Walter Beech was still alive, my mother said Olive Ann was really the brains behind that business — and then when Walter died, Olive Ann took over.”

Family Memories

Asked what his earliest aviation-related memory is, Bill shares, “My father first took me up when I was 22 months old in a Swallow, holding me in his lap and flying. I can remember when the first Stearman came out in Venice, California, in 1926. I was 4. My earliest memories are being around airplanes, and when I was 5, we moved back to Wichita.”

Bill recalls overhearing many aviation-related conversations at home, and shares this about his www.vintageaircraft.org

23

B.

A. A. Swallow ad – Aviation, 1926.

B. Stearman C2B ad, Aero Digest, C. April 1928.

C. Stearman ad, Aviation, March 9 1929.

D. Stearman Aircraft Company of working mothers. My mother Venice, CA ad - Aviation, 1926.

early family life: “My father was very modest — extremely modest to a fault, and soft-spoken. He was introspective, but he loved music. My grandfather and I and my mother were also very musical. My grandfather played the violin quite well and made violins as a hobby. My mother played the piano and taught me piano.

All mothers were ‘stay at home’ in my day; there were never any

used to say any woman who wanted to work outside the home must be out of her mind — because you lose your freedom!

“My parents had a good relationship; marriages were different in my day. I had a younger sister, Marilyn Ruth, and had a pretty happy childhood on the whole. My father talked with my mother about aviation things — about problems he was having and triumphs that he had. I

D. spent a good bit of time out at the airfields on weekends, watching planes fly. I used to go up with my father as a little kid, but he’d do acrobatics and scare the bejesus out of me! That may be one reason I never went in for flying!”

Perils and Joys of Flying

Overall, Bill acquired a favor-

able impression of flying, but he realized early on that it could be as perilous as it was joyous. “I enjoyed it to a point, but I saw a number of crashes,” recalls Bill.

“We had a lot more crashes in those days. I must have been 6 or 7 when I was at an airport and a suicidal pilot spun his plane into the ground about 100 yards from where I was. It was the first time I saw a dead person; his plane was scattered all over, and there was his body in the middle of it. So that made an impression, and I’ve seen planes that, when they crashed, they disintegrated. So I saw a lot, and that was enough. Early aviation was a problematical thing.”

On another occasion, Bill and his mother were seemingly the last to know about Lloyd not arriving at an airport as scheduled.

“I was about 6, and we went out and picked up the paper, and the headline was ‘Lloyd Stearman Lost in the Mountains.’ He had made a forced landing in the mountains in a storm, and I could never figure out why the press knew about it and we didn’t know about it — we had to find out about it in the newspapers.

He eventually made his way out; he was flying a Stearman. [In January 1928], my father went on a

rescue mission to find Fred Hoyt, who was delivering a Stearman and went down in Idaho. Hoyt had bailed out successfully in a snowstorm and walked within 50 yards of a house and didn’t see it.

Hoyt was a test pilot I liked very much. He flew some early Stearmans while making the movie Wings, which was about World War I flyers and was one of the last great silent films and the first Oscar winner. Hoyt froze to death, and that made an impression on me.”

Designing Airplanes

Despite those events, Bill was still interested in aviation. He recalls that the Model 4 mail plane was one of his father’s favorites, as was an airplane that never actually went into production. “We all loved the Coach [Stearman CAB-1, five-place Wright J-67], which had an enclosed cabin for the pilot and passengers,” Bill recalls. “It had windows all around — 360 degrees. I loved going up in that! We had excursions in that, and I loved that plane.

They only made one of them.

Why, I will never know. It was a great little plane and was fun to be in, because you could look out all the way around and see

what was going on. The Coach came out about 1929. My father was the first president at Lockheed Aircraft Corp. and designed the Lockheed Electra in our living room, so I saw the design develop. I watched him design this plane with just a slide rule and drawing board. The Lockheed Electra first flew in 1934 when I was 12 years old, and I flew in it. When we got airborne, I took the controls and flew it all around Los Angeles.

“I’d visit my father in his office and see him design things. He was a genius when it came to design. All the education he had was three semesters of architecture at Kansas State Agricultural College; he had no aerodynamics training.

He went to ground school in the Navy at the University of Washington and then came down to North Beach, California, and learned to fly in a seaplane [Curtiss N-9 flying boat]. But he never had any aerodynamics training; you’d think he would have to have had that. In fact, I’ve talked to professors of aerodynamics, and they said my father couldn’t possibly have designed the things he designed, because he didn’t have enough formal education and didn’t know enough math. It was

NC663K, Ben Scott’s 1930 Model 4E Speedmail Junior. The Model 4 was one of Lloyd Stearman’s favorites.

(2008)

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

NC979, a 1927 Swallow powered by a Curtiss OX-5, may be similar to the Swallow in which Bill Stearman had his first flight. (AirVenture, 2006) 24

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

An example of an early Stearman - NC488W, a 1931 Stearman 4CM-1.

(SUN ’n FUN, 2006) www.vintageaircraft.org

25

Homer Barnes, one of many who learned to fly in Stearman PT-17s during World War II. SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

A trio of Stearmans represents a facet of Stearman’s legacy. In the middle is N9039H, a customized 1941 Boeing B75N1. (SUN ’n FUN, 2005)

a good thing my father didn’t realize that. He went ahead and designed his masterpieces, and they were great airplanes!”

The Stearman-Hammond

When asked which airplane was his father’s favorite to fly, Bill pauses for a moment and replies, “That’s a good question. He liked so many of them, but he probably got the biggest kick out of flying the Stearman-Hammond, which was the safest airplane in aviation history. They produced 22 of them, but they were too expensive; they sold at $35,000 each.

That was big bucks in the 1930s.

I liked the plane, and I’m sure I regret now that I never flew it!

They did an experiment by getting an 11-year-old boy who had never been in a plane before, with a pilot sitting next to him, to fly it.

The little boy took it off, flew it all around Los Angeles, and landed — and the pilot never touched the controls. The only way you could crash it would be to fly it horizontally into something. It couldn’t

26

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

stall, and it had big dangling landing gear and drove like a car in the air [it had a control wheel and no rudder pedals]. It was extremely simple and extremely safe. One of the first unmanned aerial vehicles was a Stearman-Hammond flown by the Navy. There are so many planes, it’s hard to think of what really would be my father’s favorite. He didn’t do an awful lot of flying himself. He had test pilots who tested the planes, but he would go up once in a while.”

Esprit de Corps

Through the years, Bill developed the utmost respect for his father — not only because he was his son, but also because of his father’s interactions with his employees.

“They were very nonmaterialistic back then. Nobody would agree to join a trade union, and my father’s workers couldn’t have gotten a better deal anywhere. I mean, my father would pay them what they were worth, and they knew he could [personally] replace them at any job

they could do. He’d go out and replace any single worker and do the same thing the worker was doing. He built planes with his own hands. The workers really adored him, and they were privileged. He inspired a good esprit de corps, and I think that’s an important thing to bear in mind about him. He was just that way, and I’m sure the same thing was true when Stearman was bigger and more diversified.

“He was always good and considerate, and never in the least greedy about making money. He was disinterested — except he loved cars! He built a car from scratch when he was in high school. He liked good cars, and he always drove Packards. We ultimately built a pretty nice home in Wichita, and Stearman did extremely well. Another thing: My father’s the only person I know of who lost money in the stock market before it crashed! Of course, everybody suffered when it crashed in October of 1929. Anyway, I think that’s all worth men-

tioning. That gives you the inside situation to his character.”

Naturally, Bill became acquainted with some of the Stearman employees, and admired one man in particular. “I adored test pilot ‘Deed’ Levy. He was an incredibly handsome young man and a super pilot. I remember him as a dashing, interesting chap — he should have been a movie star. He later battled for my father’s recognition, and he got my father [posthumously] into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

‘Deed’ was extremely loyal to my father, because my father was loyal to him. My father was on a firstname basis with all the workers — and even when it was a pretty good-sized company, all his workers called him by his first name.”

Joining the Navy

Though Bill didn’t learn to fly while growing up under his father’s wing, his interest in becoming a pilot was heightened after the attack on Pearl Harbor. “I thought aviation was a fascinating profession, and I liked flying well enough that I had a great desire to fly. Right after Pearl Harbor, I went down to enlist in the Navy Air Corps as an aviation cadet. My father was a naval aviation cadet in World War I. He never got his wings because the war ended too soon. But I went down to enlist as an aviation cadet, and he was excited about that because everybody was flying Stearmans, and the Navy was going to make a big PR thing out of it.

Stearman Aircraft Company logo from 1931.

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27

COURTESY BEN SCOTT

NC663K was converted to a crop duster when owned by Mal Carberry in the 1940s. Lloyd Stearman bought and used surplus WWII Stearmans for crop dusting.

Ben Scott’s father, Keith, took delivery of NC663K on February 18, 1930, at Wichita.

modest and unassuming. The personnel office was told, ‘Oh, I know Stearman! Send him up!’ So they put him in very special design projects where he belonged.

Those 13 years were the happiest years of his life.”

Stearman’s Design Legacy

Ben Scott and NC663K in front of the Stearman Aircraft hangar in Wichita, 73 years after his father bought the airplane. Lloyd Stearman’s legacy lives on!

“I was determined I was going to learn to fly and be an ace or something like that. I was a great admirer of the aces of World War I. But I couldn’t pass the flight physical. I had clogged Eustachian tubes. The Navy surgeons tried their best to open them, but they just couldn’t do it, and we were devastated. So I joined the Navy V-12 program to become a deck officer. Several months after World War II, I became one of the youngest ship captains in the Navy.”

Return to Lockheed

After World War II, thousands of Stearman trainers were sold as surplus. Bill remembers that his father seized that opportu-

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

nity, buying a lot of Stearmans for cheap after the war.

“He had a crop-dusting business, and they were great crop dusters. But in 1955 he wasn’t too happy being in the crop-dusting business because he couldn’t design airplanes. So he went to Lockheed Aircraft Corp.’s personnel office and filled out the [employment application] with the answer to ‘former position at Lockheed’ as ‘president.’ The personnel people called the front office on the phone and said, ‘You’ve got a nut case down here!’ My father knew the vice president well, but he didn’t go up the chain of command to see him. That’s typical of my father; he was very

When the name “Stearman” is mentioned today, it’s very likely to conjure a mental image of World War II biplanes, known as Stearman PT-17 Kaydets. These Boeing Model 75 primary trainers (PT-17) were manufactured by the Stearman Division of the Boeing Aircraft Co. in Wichita. Various sources indicate that the prototype for the PT-17 was the Stearman Model 70, which in turn was based on Stearman’s early 1930s Model 6 Cloudboy. These vintage biplanes still bear the ubiquitous Stearman moniker.

“O bv i o u s l y, t h e St e a r m a n trainer, which trained almost all of our pilots in World War II, is how my father is most remembered,” says Bill. “There were several aspects of the space program that could be attributed to him as well. But I think the Stearman legacy — the fact that the plane is so popular and wellknown — is what he’s always go-

ing to be remembered by. Now as I say, probably his greatest achievement was that he, in effect, founded Lockheed Aircraft Corp., which created and built planes he designed. Lockheed Martin is now the world’s largest defense contractor. If you go in the headquarters, the first thing you’ll see is a photo of my father.”

Lloyd Carlton Stearman died on April 3, 1975, at the age of 76.

In his book, Bill quotes the New York Times obituary for his father: “[Lloyd Stearman] designed the swing wings for the F-111 fighterbomber and worked on vertical take-off and landing rockets to loft men into space … [and] re-entry vehicles built of columbium to withstand high friction temperatures. In designing spacecraft, he found himself working with problems he foresaw in 1930 ….”

A group of pilots bid this visionary aviation legend farewell by performing the quintessential memorial tribute to him. Bill poignantly recalls, “They had a church service for him, and a whole lot of Stearmans flew in formation overhead while it was going on. I heard them, and I ran out and looked up and saw them.”

Stearman’s legacy and the long-lived World War II- era Stearman biplanes continue to be celebrated at various fly-ins across the country. Notably, the National Stearman Fly-In, now in its 46th year, is held annually at the Galesburg Municipal Airport in Illinois. Bill traveled from Maryland to attend that annual gathering a few times.

“My father’s grandson, Pat Carr, was the only family member who took up flying. Pat’s mother

— my sister Marilyn — and her whole family would go to the Galesburg fly-in every September. They lived relatively nearby.”

Proudly describing his father, Bill says, “He’s obviously one of the aviation greats and probably the most versatile of all of the greats in aviation in that he had such a variety of planes he designed and built.

I mean, he spanned the whole gamut of aviation, from [learning to fly during] World War I to civilian aircraft, and in the end he was designing space re-entry vehicles.

I can’t think of anybody in the whole business that is as versatile as he was.”

For an in-depth article about Lloyd Stearman’s airplane designs, see “Lloyd Stearman — His airplanes and his legacy” by Philip Hand l e m a n , V i nt ag e A i r p l a n e , September 2011.

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29

Piper J-5 Cub Cruiser N38130

by Budd Davisson

Cruisin’

Into the Future KELSEY KAISER

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

You know those airplane-ina-barn stories we all love to tell? Well, this isn’t one of them.

In fact, the hero in this tale is a 1940 Piper J-5A, N38130, that was never abandoned on a back tie-down line and never lacked a home. It did, however, spend far more time in the hospital than most. Then, after being fully rehabilitated, it passed through

several foster homes before coming to roost at Brandon Nesmith’s flight school, Table Rock Aviation in Hickory, North Carolina, where it has a family connection that can’t be denied.

About the J-5 Breed

First, let’s do a little character study on the J-5, because although the type is a staple in

the Piper community (the longwing variety), you don’t have to get very far outside of the Piper city limits before it’s almost unknown. If you mention a Piper J-5 within earshot of the majority of general aviation folks, several are likely to correct you: “Don’t you mean J-3?”

Truth is, there’s good reason to be confused about the J-5’s www.vintageaircraft.org

31

KELSEY KAISER

Dubbing its new line “Cub Cruiser,” Piper widened the back seat to allow two passengers and moved the command pilot up front . . .

A C-85 with a stroker kit gives the airplane good performance.

The overhead mag switch.

The trim is as it is in most Piper products.

ERIN BRUEGGEN PHOTOS

lineage. It can be a little confusmarket to the family cross-couning. It could be argued that Piper try market with minimum deonly built one airplane, the J-3 (or velopment cost. However, those The tail is pure J-3. maybe the J-2), and until the comearly airplanes, like the J-5, were pany left rag-and-tube construcaimed at a cross-country market tion behind with the introduction of the Cherokee that was in no hurry to get from A to B. in 1960, every subsequent high-wing Piper was a Piper was aware that the narrow confines of the slight variation on a theme. They’d take J-3 wings, J-3 cockpit limited both the size and number of tail, and other existing components and build a passengers, so it introduced the J-4 Cub Coupe, seemingly unending series of modified fuselages which widened the fuselage enough to allow cozy for them. This let Piper expand from the trainer side-by-side seating. But its performance was still

The panel in Brandon’s airplane is totally stock.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

The wider fuselage greatly benefits the front seat pilot.

that of the J-3. The J-5 was Piper’s first serious move to attract families while, at the same time, recognizing aircraft needed a little more elbow room.

Dubbing its new line “Cub Cruiser,” Piper widened the back seat to allow two passengers and moved the command pilot up front, although the airplane could be flown solo from either seat.

However, the “two-passenger” back seat may be stretching the definition of “passenger,” because the seat is more like 1.7 people wide. And they’d better be good friends and willing to overlap shoulders. For smaller people, it’s fine; for normal or larger folks, not so much. What Piper did accomplish, however, is create a twoplace airplane with super-roomy seating environments in both front and back, or when solo provided plenty of room to stow lots of gear. Unfortunately, the J-5A didn’t have the power to match.

The J-5A had a tweaked A-65 Continental that turned out 75 hp. The J-5B had the ques-

tionable, geared Lycoming GO145-C2 that put out 75 hp; most modern pilots consider it to be an engine that gives boat anchors a bad name. Piper quickly realized it had an underpowered potential winner on its hands and put the new 100-hp Lycoming O-235 in the J-5C that also had a starter.

In addition, Piper got rid of the exposed-cylinder J-3 Cub type of nose and covered the engine in a full cowling and brought the bungee cords up inside of the fuselage. The combination of more power and much less drag (almost) made a 100-mph airplane out of it. Unfortunately, the war shut down J-5C production after only approximately 35 had been

ERIN BRUEGGEN PHOTOS

ERIN BRUEGGEN PHOTOS

Grass and a tailwheel: the way the gods wanted it.

built. Incidentally, the J-5As that were impressed into the Army were known as L-4Fs, the J-5Bs were L-4Gs, and the J-5C was produced for the Navy as HE-1/ AE. About 100 were built. Navy aircraft had lift-up rear fuselage

AIRCRAFT SPECIFICATIONS

Top speed Cruise speed Landing speed Takeoff roll Rate of climb, gross Range at 65 percent, estimated Empty weight Gross weight Useful load Fuel capacity Wingspan Wing area Length Engine Subject plane

95 mph 85 mph 40 mph 300-500 feet 350-450 fpm 425 miles 800 pounds 1,450 pounds 640 pounds 18 gallons without wing tanks 35 feet 6 inches 179 square feet 22 feet 6 inches A-75, 75 hp C-85 stroked, 97 hp www.vintageaircraft.org

35

To tell the recent story of this particular Piper J-5A, it’s necessary to skip back beyond Brandon Nesmith, the current owner, at least three previous owners to put it in context.

tops to allow loading litter cases.

After the war, Piper dropped the “J” designation, using PA (Piper Aircraft) instead, and with a much fancier interior and increased gross weight, the J-5C became the PA-12 Super Cruiser.

About 3,700 Super Cruisers and around 1,500 J-5 Cub Cruisers of all variants were built. All of the versions are now regularly seen sporting 150-hp Lycomings and fat tires in the north country, where their bigger-than-a-Cub interior makes them a favorite.

Reportedly there are approximately 470 J-5s of all types on the FAA Registry.

N38130: In the Beginning

To tell the recent story of this particular Piper J-5A, it’s necessary to skip back beyond Brandon Nesmith, the current owner,

at least three previous owners to put it in context. We’ll start the trail with Pete and Jeanne Reed of Wiersdale, Florida.

Pete said, “We’d owned the airplane close to 15 years, when in 1999 I was making a short-field landing and decided to show how short I could make it. I got a little too enthusiastic with the brakes, and the airplane went over on its back. The nose, tops of the wings, struts, and rudder suffered the most. However, by that time, the airplane needed re-covering anyway. So, we figured we’d restore it.”

In this case, “restore” meant taking the airplane completely back to its original factory condition. Actually, it went back to factory originality but greatly surpassed factory quality.

“We were aiming for complete originality,” Pete said. “We

The later J-5C not only enclosed the engine but went to the 100-hp O-235 Lycoming and brought the bungees up inside the fuselage.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

were very particular, so a lot of time was spent researching every detail. We got factory construction drawings from Clyde Smith, but still had to depend on factory photos for a lot of information. This was especially true for the interior and instrument panel. We even went so far as to locate a bubble-faced compass as it originally had. Info for things like the fabric baggage ‘bag’ behind the back seat came entirely out of photos.

“I located a set of original tires that had what amounted to a suction cup tread, and those got a lot of comments at fly-ins.

“We spent 13 years on the project, getting it into the air in 2009.

Then three years later we had an engine failure, and it wound up on its back again. This time it was a real mess. I looked at the dam-

ERIN BRUEGGEN

The J-5’s J-3 lineage is obvious.

ERIN BRUEGGEN

age and the time I had available and decided to sell it as is.”

Enter Ralph Young, Fayetteville, West Virginia

Ralph learned to fly in 1974 but didn’t get a tailwheel endorsement until 2010. He said, “Now all I fly is tailwheel aircraft. I have a ’41 J-3 and at one time had a ’48 rag-wing Cessna 170. But in West Virginia I like to fly out of a lot of short strips, and the J-5 looked as if it would let me carry more weight in and out of those runways. So, I bought Pete’s airplane with the goal of taking it back to the condition it was in before the accident. However, I want to make one thing absolutely clear: I did none of the work myself. I handed it off to Dan Ward at Ward Aero in Linnwood, North Carolina.

“Since the airplane had already been restored, what we were actually doing was repair work, not restoration. The spars were okay, but Dan had to replace a bunch of ribs, the leading edges, and other detail parts that were mostly cosmetic. The fuselage was more or less okay with good longerons, but we had to replace the left

main gear and the rudder. “ T h e c ow l i n g wa s t o t a l l y crushed, but we found a semifinished nose bowl, and Dan put a lot of time into finishing it and making it perfect.

“When we did the engine, we used Dan Sword’s STC to put an O-200 stroker crank in the C85, which supposedly puts out 97 hp. It performs really well with that engine.”

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ERIN BRUEGGEN

Heat from the single exhaust muff gives carb heat and a little cabin heat.

Ralph said he took the airplane to the Piper fly-in, Sentimental Journey, in Lock Haven, where he got a surprise. “The airplane won first place in its category, which is a testament to the work done by both Pete Reed and Dan Ward.”

On the side of the fuselage the verbiage “Civilian Pilot Training Program, Clarksdale School of Aeronautics, Fletcher Field, MISS” is Ralph’s way of commemorating his dad’s service as a B-26 pilot in World War II. “Dad got his initial training in CPT Cubs,” Ralph said.

“J-5s were also part of that program, so we adapted the markings of the Fletcher, Mississippi, CPT school. We teamed up with a friend in his Stearman, which bore the same markings, and became part of WWII re-enactment events.

“A few years ago it was obvious that I only needed one airplane, so I decided that the J-3 stayed but the J-5 had to go.”

Dave Hermann Brings It to AirVenture ’16

Dave is an inveterate airplane buyer. He averages changing airplanes at least once, sometimes twice, a year, and each is something

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unusual. From a Meyers OTW to more than half a dozen RVs of different types, he loves owning and flying a wide variety of airplanes.

He’s also the reason the airplane was noticed at AirVenture.

“I know J-3s well but knew little about J-5s, and they intrigued me. Plus, I’m a big guy and barely fit in the J-3s I’ve owned. The J-5 literally welcomes me in. Plus, I can fly it from either seat and be very comfortable. I was drawn to this J-5 because of the quality of the restoration and the fact that the engine had a stroker kit in it.

“This was an airplane I just flew. It needed nothing, and the only reason I sold it was because I was starting several new businesses. One of them is EngraveHub.com, where I do specialized laser engraving on advertising products, but also do one-off pieces for aircraft.”

N38130 Finds a Home and a Family

Brandon Nesmith said, “A J-5 had been on my bucket list for a long time because of two very specific reasons. First, I’m 6-foot3, 250 pounds, and lots of little taildraggers, like J-3s, just don’t fit. More important, a J-5 was

the first airplane my granddad owned, and he was a major influence in my life.

“After he got out of A&P school, he got a J-5. This was about 1972.

He flew it less than 100 hours when a windstorm completely destroyed it. He salvaged a few parts, including a complete door, which he still has.”

When Brandon saw that Dave was selling the airplane, he wasted no time getting in contact with him.

“I bought it sight unseen, although I did have a friend look at it. I knew the quality of Pete Reed’s work plus the airplane had all of the right goodies: a stroked C-85, dual wing tanks, so I could go places with it, sealed struts and big clevises, good radio and transponder, and a full electrical system. Better yet, the panel is almost totally original with the square inlay in the middle and original instruments. This was not only a first-class airplane but one I could comfortably fly from either seat with no problem.

“I knew I wouldn’t have to do any work on the airplane, but I’m going to do some anyway.

We’re restoring the door from my granddad’s J-5, and when finished it will go on N38130.

Granddad got me into avia tion when I was around 5 years old. He’d have me in the hangar while he was working on airplanes, and I thought things like uncovered wings that were hanging on the wall were artwork. I want to buy his J-5’s logbooks and registration along with what other parts he has laying around just to maintain the family connection. N38130 is more than just an airplane to me. It’s part of the family.”

It looks as if this J-5 has finally found a long-term home.

s ’ r e s Prei r o f t n a h c n Pe

n o R i t c e f r e P

Twin Stinson sister ships

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

ERIN BRUEGGEN

ichard Preiser is a man of his word. He said he would, and he did. Persistence — dogged persistence — had him flying to his finish line: Oshkosh 2016. And when his immaculate 1948 twin Stinson sister ships arrived at Wittman field, folks did a double take at the remarkable duo sitting side by side on the flightline.

When Richard bought NC6364M in 2007, it was the Oshkosh 2006 Classic Reserve Grand Champion. He received many accolades for the Stinson but never felt he could accept compliments for a restoration that he didn’t do.

He liked 64M so well that he became intrigued with the idea of having two identical Stinsons with consecutive serial numbers.

He did a little research to see if 65M or 63M existed and discovered that 63M had crashed in the 1970s, but 65M was in San Marcos, Texas. Therein lies the tale.

Richard’s personal restoration of NC6365M began when he and longtime friend/Stinson owner Kevin Proodian made the journey to Texas.

Recalling that trip, Kevin laughs and says, “Anybody who has enough money to buy a second airplane doesn’t buy the same kind of airplane — you buy something different! But no, he wants the next serial num-

ber of the same airplane. Secretly, I thought he was crazy, but I didn’t want to burst his bubble so I went along with it. Then I tried to talk him out of it when we went to Texas and saw the airplane. I told Richard the guy was asking way too much money for [a basket case]. Richard slept on it and asked me the next morning if he should get it. I said, ‘No!’ He said, ‘Well, I’m buying it.’ And that was it; he was determined.”

Richard and Kevin hauled the project to Florida in 2007, but the forlorn (and previously metalized) Stinson was missing so many parts that it was a challenge just to determine everything they’d need to make it complete. “I made a promise to my wife, Peggy, that I wouldn’t get started on it until I finished a couple of house projects, so it was 2008 before I started working on it part time,” says Richard.

Flying Station Wagon

NC6365M (serial No. 1084365) and NC6364M (serial No. 108-4364) were manufactured

by Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp. Stinson Division in Wayne, M i c h i g a n . D re s s e d i n St i n son Maroon with Diana Cream trim, each airplane has the original-type split windshield, paint scheme, and polished aluminum trim. The headliner is complete with original dome lights and elevator/rudder trim controls.

Mahogany veneer panels com-

plement the fabric and upholstery. Original details include cast aluminum fairings for the aileron hinges; inspection plates that have two fastener strips and four small, raised vents; and the low-frequency antenna for shortwave radio.

Flying Station Wagons were touted as “America’s most useful, most practical personal planes” and as being spin resistant with slots in the wing leading edges.

Slotted wing flaps enhance takeoff performance, and 1948 models have a slightly offset vertical stabilizer to counteract the torque of the 165-hp Franklin engine. The cantilever gear has oleo-spring shock absorbers.

Richard’s Stinsons have a few modifications, including Cleveland wheels and brakes, a Stinson 108 oil cooler kit, and a Whelen nav/strobe light system. Modern avionics are concealed behind the vintage panel façade, and circuit breakers are mounted on a small, hinged panel that can be folded out of sight.

Ever since he purchased NC6364M, Richard has been dedicated to keeping it in topnotch condition, and it was named 2008 Best Restored Classic and 2009 Outstanding Classic www.vintageaircraft.org

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General Specifications for Stinson 108-3 Flying Station Wagon

COURTESY RICHARD PREISER

NC6365M as it appeared when Richard first saw it in Texas, August 2007.

COURTESY RICHARD PREISER

Rich prepares to mount the 165-hp Franklin with his nephew, Gerard Preiser, who works for Boeing and is an A&P.

Aircraft at SUN ’n FUN. In fact, our story in the December 2009 issue about 64M (“One Outstanding Stinson Flying Station Wagon … Soon to be joined by its sister ship”) wrapped up with Richard’s progress on NC6365M: The instruments had been overhauled by Keystone, and Richard had completed the brakes and interior woodwork, and had started working on the wiring system and fuselage.

First Restoration

Back then, Richard thought he’d have 65M flying in three or four years. All told, it took nine

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years, during which he continued working full time at his printing business, Executive Label Inc. It was Richard’s first airplane restoration, so he had to conquer quite a learning curve. Having 64M in his hangar was the proverbial ace up his sleeve.

“I could walk right over there and look at how Pete Engelskirger restored 64M,” says Richard.

“When I bought 65M in Texas, it was just a fuselage, junk wings, and a handful of parts I don’t think I ever used. It’s not like I bought a plane, took it apart, cleaned it up, and put it back together. It was tough. I had two

wings that came with the deal and they were in bad shape, so I ended up buying a third Stinson from California, firewall back, because it had good wings. But when I got ready to do the wings, we found a dead rat in there that had peed on the spar, and the corrosion went right through the spar. So I had to rebuild one wing.”

Sheet metal was removed from the metalized fuselage, and the steel tubing was sandblasted.

Richard primed and painted the fuselage at home. Another phase of the project involved cleaning, repairing, and priming the wings.

Kevin showed Richard how to install Poly-Fiber fabric covering.

One conundrum was that Pete had used a pre-sewn envelope for 64M’s fuselage, and the new envelopes were made from a different-length fabric. Hence, the seams didn’t match the old envelopes, and the blanket covering method had to be used instead — so Richard added faux seams just to make it match 64M. Richard and Kevin were both involved in the painting process, using a high-volume, low-pressure paint gun. “Even though I made a paint booth in my hangar, it was really hard to paint the Aero-Thane finish coat because of dirt,” says Richard. “I was real picky on how I wanted the finish to look, and getting it to come out perfect was the hard part. I would literally have a tack cloth in my

hand, clean the part, paint it — and then dirt would show up in the finish. So I wet-sanded and repainted each part a couple times.”

Kevin, who was also Richard’s supervising A&P/IA, says, “Anybody who has never done an airplane restoration has no idea what goes into a restoration. Richard had restored a Corvette, and he’s really good with his hands; he’s very mechanically inclined. But as he worked on the Stinson, he really learned what a restoration requires.”

Throughout the project, Richard called Pete and asked him numerous questions regarding Pete’s restoration techniques for 64M. After understanding all that Pete had done, Richard says he told Pete, “I didn’t pay you enough for 64M! I owe you money.” And Pete would laugh and say, “Where is my check?”

Matchmaker

One of myriad challenges for Richard was corralling correct and acceptable parts to make 65M complete. “My whole thing was to match 64M; I wanted identical twins right down to the interior,” explains Richard, “so I paid the same man who did the interior on 64M — Paul Workman of Ohio — to come down to Florida and do the one for 65M. I had to match up all the cowling parts to find good ones that didn’t have dents.

The firewall had a lot of small dents and extra holes in it, so I had to have a 0.020 sheet of stainless steel custom made to fit over the original, to make it match 64M.”

Manufactured Under ATC 767 Wingspan 34 feet Length 25 feet, 2 inches Height 7 feet, 6 inches Tread 85 inches Empty weight 1,320 pounds Useful load 1,080 pounds Gross weight 2,400 pounds Engine 165-hp Franklin Fuel 50 gallons Oil 9 quarts Max cruising speed 126 mph Cruising speed 108 mph Never-exceed speed 158 mph Landing speed (with flaps) 55 mph Climb at sea level 580 fpm Service ceiling 14,000 feet Cruising range 540 miles Baggage capacity 100 pounds

Derived from various sources, including Juptner’s U.S. Civil Aircraft, Volume 8 and ATC 767.

Richard ended up buying a new nosebowl, strut and landinggear fairings, and all new hardware from Univair and Aircraft Spruce. “Matching up cowling and parts from other airplanes was a challenge. Some other parts came from Earl Allen out of California. He sells used Stinson parts, and I received the nickname from him as ‘Perfect Preiser’ because I would ask for only perfect pieces. I must have bought over 50 inspection plates just to find eight that matched!”

Richard’s determination to make the two Stinsons identical resulted in quite a bit of extra work — and expense — along the way. He couldn’t find a rudder in

good condition, so he had someone make a rudder from several old ones. “He did a beautiful job on the rudder,” says Richard, adding, “a lot of detail went into every little piece of the airplane, and of course I had to have two matching wooden Sensenich propellers. I was so picky on putting the headliner in, I had one custom made to match the other one.

It took me a week to put the windows in; I had a hard time with the rubber molding because I didn’t know the easy way of doing it with the right tools and soaping it. So I called an automotive window place and asked how they did it, and they lent me the tools for the job.” www.vintageaircraft.org

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65M’s engine room reveals attention to detail and a 165-hp Franklin engine.

Above, close-up view of the classy wheel pants.

Left, NC6365M’s rudder presented one of many restoration challenges.

Close-up view of the Hallicrafters radio.

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Interestingly, Richard wound up finding a Franklin engine for 65M through a rather unique connection. “Ray Lemmon of Pennsylvania has a blue Stinson, and after the Vintage Airplane article about 64M came out in 2009, Ray called me up and said, ‘Your Stinson is on the front cover, and mine is on the back cover!’ We became friends, and later on I bought the engine from him. My nephew Gerard Preiser, who works for Boeing and is an A&P, helped me put it on. I also bought an original Hallicrafters radio from Ray — what a find!”

Over the course of the nineyear restoration, Richard had helping hands from friends and family. “Whenever I needed information, John Baker from Hangar 9 Aeroworks in Virginia would give it to me,” shares Richard. “John’s a great guy, and I bought my rear interior wood panels from him, and then I did the rest of the woodwork. I also made the original-type antenna and used ceramic pieces that I found on eBay to attach the antenna to the wings and vertical stabilizer. Kevin made the antenna post for the top of the fuselage, because my original one cracked. It was kind of last minute — I got the new one and had to paint it on Wednesday before we left on Friday for Oshkosh.”

Interestingly, 65M’s outward appearance neatly conceals the fact that Richard was also looking into the future during the restoration. According to Richard, “65M is 2020 compliant with the avionics that are hidden under the seats and all the antennas inside the airplane.

My brother, Jerry Preiser, and I worked hard at keeping ev-

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT PHOTOS

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT PHOTOS

A Little Help From Friends and Family

Max baggage capacity is 100 pounds.

A metal trim strip protects the fabric at the cabin entry.

Close-up view of the elevator and rudder trim controls.

65M’s handsome vintage panel.

The cabin dome light and neatly installed headliner.

The Safe Flight Indicator (stall warning) on the panel.

Close-up view of the cast aluminum aileron hinge fairings.

The twin Stinson sister ships start their odyssey to Oshkosh.

COPYRIGHT ® JOHN P.HERNANDEZ, IBIS IMAGES, INC.

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SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

Preiser Perfection

Richard’s son, Brian Preiser, who is now a pilot for Delta, acquired his father’s love for aviation in his teens, when they built and flew radio-controlled model airplanes together. “I give a huge

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Roby Denman was navigator for the flight to Oshkosh, and Kevin Proodian flew NC6364M.

shout-out to my mom, who really helped out behind the scenes,” says Brian. “I didn’t realize how intensive this project would be.

It takes determination to keep working on it, and what I would call ‘Preiser perfection’ — which means not being satisfied with ‘okay or mediocre,’ and making sure you get what you want. I’m blessed to have that same trait; 65M looks beautiful, and I’m glad that it’s done so he can enjoy it now. Taking two planes like this cross-country was a big deal, and Mom and I were kind of nervous about that.”

As it turned out, the crosscountry really was a big deal.

Odyssey to OSH

Richard and Kevin taxied the twin Stinsons across Richard’s yard to the dew-laden grass strip at Antiquers Aerodrome on Friday, July 22, 2016 — destination, Oshkosh! “Liftoff was about 7:30 a.m. with both planes in the air,” Richard recalls. “Our navigator, Roby Denman, had planned three-hour legs, allowing for an hour-and-a-half fuel reserve if we needed it. Our first stop was in northern Florida at the Suwannee County Airport, and the next at Guntersville, Alabama. We arrived at Owensboro, Kentucky, at 6 p.m. Then bright and early the next morning we headed out to

the airplanes to get a good start to our final destination. We were hoping to reach Oshkosh nice and early. Unfortunately, that was not the case — 64M’s engine was running rough and backfiring. Kevin checked the mags, and they were good. Then he pulled the No. 1 cylinder cover off and noticed the intake valve was not working properly. The mechanic had a borescope, and we looked inside the cylinder. The valve seat had come out of the casting. Now what? By 1 o’clock we had the cylinder head off. But the only place we could get a spare Franklin cylinder was in my hangar in Florida.”

They borrowed the airport courtesy car and drove Kevin to Evansville to catch a 5 p.m.

Delta flight, with a layover in Atlanta and arrival around midnight at West Palm Beach. “Then he had to go pick up his tools at his house in Wellington, Florida,

Richard and Peggy Preiser with son Brian.

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

erything hidden so we wouldn’t take away from the original Stinson look.”

Richard, a 66-year-old Vietnam veteran and part of a devoted husband-wife “do-ityourself ” team, admits running out of steam during the project but adamantly declares, “Failure is not in my vocabulary! I’m not a quitter; if I hit a brick wall, I find a different way to approach it. I don’t give up. I thank my grandfather and my father, who were both machinists, for giving me the skills to do stuff. My friends tell me I can’t talk or spell, but I can build things. You need a lot of time and skills to restore an airplane, along with an A&P/IA who has the knowledge to inspect and sign off your work. If Kevin wasn’t around, I wouldn’t have done it. And Peggy was very supportive; she gave up a lot of weekends so I could keep working on ‘the girls’ in the hangar, as she calls them.”

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

Richard’s award-winning twin Stinsons, NC6364M and NC6365M, at show center, AirVenture 2016.

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and drive 35 miles to my house to get two spare cylinders, valves, and a piston. By 4:30 a.m., Kevin was back at West Palm Beach for his return flight to Evansville. By 11 a.m., we were ready to get the job done, and the three of us worked like a pit crew on a race car, installing the new ERIN BRUEGGEN cylinder. By 4:30 p.m., we were done and ready to fire it up. All was good with a quick oil change, a smooth-running engine, and we were up in the air at 6 p.m.”

The twin Stinsons flew two and a half hours to Lincoln, Illinois, where weather became a factor and prompted them to land and overnight for a much-needed rest. On Monday, they made it to Oshkosh — only to find that the vintage parking area was already full, with overflow parking all the way to the cornfields in the South 40. “On Tuesday, with the persistence of trying to move to the Vintage area, and the support of hardworking Oshkosh volunteers, we finally reached a perfect spot across from the Vintage Hangar,” says Richard, smiling.

“Wow, what a spot! Show center with the twins!”

Peggy’s Perspective

Peggy, a vivacious blonde, was delighted to meet up with her husband at AirVenture. When asked how it felt to see the Stinsons on the field, she replied, “With tears in my eyes, I am in awe. ‘The girls’ are right out there, and I’m thrilled for Richard! We are hardworking people, and aviation is a passion for him.

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When he bought 64M, I was so happy because it was something that was complete, and he could enjoy it and not have to build it.

When the twinkle came into his eye to take on this project, I did not fully understand the magnitude of the project. Clueless! He would take a break in the early years and participate in some life things going on, but as time went on there were many functions that we didn’t participate in, because I knew Richard was tired from working in the hangar.

“As for me, I didn’t want to work on the plane as much as he would have liked me to, but I’m very good at sweeping the hangar and mopping the floor! And I’m not bad at providing nourishment and keeping the family going. I didn’t realize the project would take us this far into our lives, and I was writing our lessons in life. For one, I know now that life is the most difficult teacher I’ll ever have. Hardships come in all sizes, and our friends, who have been incredibly helpful through this project, are our greatest treasures … and I love Richard, but now I also realize how much I cherish him.”

Richard wanted a presentation book about 65M, but he was running out of time and energy

as the deadline for Oshkosh drew near.

Peggy realized that it could only be done in time with the help of their nieces, CheraLee and MaCayla Preiser, who sprang into action to meet this last-minute request.

I n l e s s t h a n t wo weeks, the elaborate book was ready for Peggy’s finishing touches.

Double Rewards

Richard understands just how daunting a restoration can seem at the outset. “When people do a project, they tend to look at the whole project all at once,” he reflects, “but you have to look at it a wheelpant at a time. If you look at the big project, you’ll say to yourself, ‘What are you, nuts?’ So you just look at little projects one at a time, and just knock them out.”

Richard not only did it, he outdid himself. He met his ultimate goal of having the twin Stinson sister ships at Oshkosh 2016 — and far exceeded it. Smiling, he commented afterward, “Remember the article you did seven years ago, when I said I can’t take credit for 64M? Now, I can take credit for 65M. It’s hard to list the names of everybody that helped, but I would like to thank them all for making this dream come true.

All the people I met at the show were incredibly warm and helpful — what a trip! To come away with two outstanding awards, the Classic Preservation-Small Plaque for NC6364M and the Classic Grand Champion-Gold Lindy for NC6365M — priceless.”

Well said, Richard, and indubitably deserved.

SIMPLIFIED Flying The Luscombe T8F Observer

by Moose Peterson

Don Luscombe began his legacy in aviation in 1926 when he manufactured the first Monocoupe with Clayton Folkerts, a farm boy. Don wanted to go fast, but from the comfort of an enclosed cabin. In 1928 he wrote his first book, Simplified Flying, exemplifying his design philosophy, and by 1933 he was in Kansas City, Missouri, heading up the Luscombe Airplane Development Corp. Don left a legacy of light aircraft that are still flown by the hundreds today, revered by their owners for all the traits that were so important to Don in his day. Don was a dreamer, design genius, and master merchandiser, and the times didn’t support his concepts or passion.

In 1934 Don found a plane the public wanted and could afford in his Phantom. Its success carried the company for a while, but slow times came. The Luscombe Silvaire pioneered the use of metal monocoque construction for light, general aviation airplanes. While successful (and many still fly), its success bolstered the company for only a short period. In the years leading up to World War II, though, combining all of Luscombe’s successes into a single aircraft seemed to elude the company. In April of 1939, Don was ousted from the company that bore his name. Taking with him a new Model 8A, he left as the company, under Leopold Klotz, moved to Dallas, Texas.

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The Model 8A became known as the quintessential Luscombe.

With just 15 hp more than the 8, it sold incredibly well. All knew a war was coming, and plane manufacturers looked for government contracts. Luckily for Luscombe the aircraft was perfectly suited for the Civilian Pilot Training Program, and the Master 8D was born. That luck ran out when on December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked. By December 31, all civilian aircraft production was to cease. While

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Luscombe got contracts to produce tail surfaces for the F4F Wildcat, bomb bay doors for the TBF Avenger, ammunition feed chutes, carburetor intake assemblies, and other parts, it basically was out of the airplane business.

The Beginnings of the T8F

Almost as soon as the Allies landed on the beaches of Normandy, aircraft manufacturers started to plan for postwar sales. Luscombe was no different, wanting to update the Silvaire

General Characteristics Crew One Capacity One passenger Length 20 feet Wingspan 35 feet Height 6 feet, 3 inches Wing area 140 square feet Empty weight 870 pounds Gross weight 1,400 pounds Fuel capacity 25 U.S. gallons Powerplant One Continental C90 air-cooled flat four, 90 hp Propellers Two-bladed metal fixed-pitch, 5 feet, 11 inches in diameter Performance Maximum speed 128 mph Cruise speed 120 mph Stall speed 40 mph Range 500 miles Service ceiling 17,000 feet Rate of climb 900 feet per minute Model 8 line. Marketing suggested changing to Model 9, but that required recertification. By September 1945, Luscombe had completed its last WWII mili-

tary contract, winning the coveted Army-Navy E Award. With supplies of aluminum loosening up and wanting to continue to innovate, Luscombe took its

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stamped ribbed design further by going with an all-metal wing.

To expand the market it became apparent that the company also needed a four-place lightplane to stay competitive in the market.

Around the same time the Flying Farmer Association (FFA) released its specifications for the ideal farm/ranch aircraft. The FFA recommended rugged simplicity, off-airport operational characteristics, large cabin for multipurpose use, good cabin visibility, and low price. With Luscombe research showing 80 percent of all Luscombe sales in rural areas, it seemed the FFA was a market ripe for the company’s new four-place aircraft.

The new FFA aircraft would need to have a high wing so farmers and ranchers would have downward visibility on take54 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

off and landing on unimproved fields. The high wing had design benefits in flight stability and permitted a gravity fuel system by moving the fuselage fuel tank and placing it in the wing. The 165-hp engine was fitted with a common float-type carburetor to further enhance fuel system stability. And while flaps weren’t on the prototype, the final production model had flaps, mostly a glide-control device for shortfield operations. The large flaps that were added required the development of a simple, one-line hydraulic double-acting hand pump system. The flaps require about five strokes to extend fully and can operate from both pilots’ positions with a release valve operated by a trigger on the handle to raise the flaps.

The landing gear needed to

operate on rough fields. A fixed conventional-type landing gear was employed, but with a longer-than-usual length. While it made the passengers in the back seat a little uncomfortable with the angle of the aircraft before takeoff, this along with the 100-inch width virtually eliminated the possibility of ground looping. The cabin requirements were met by making the rear seat a hammock type, which could easily be removed to carry cargo.

And with 3,716 square inches of window area, the farmer/rancher had lots of visibility. The Silvaire Sedan/8E took to the sky for the first time November 1946.

The T8F Takes to the Sky

In the spring of 1947, the U.S. Air Force was in the market to purchase 400 off-the-shelf

lightplanes. They were needed for liaison flights for U.S. Army ground troops. The published bid proposal required an off-theshelf (made from an aircraft/ parts already in production) airplane with an 85-hp engine, a high wing, and tandem seating for two. It was stressed that the aircraft either be in current production or hold a current type certificate, which the Model 8E had. When the proposal was put before the Luscombe engineering department, they were confident it would be relatively easy to convert the Model 8E to a tandem configuration because the Model 8E otherwise fit the proposal perfectly. Merle Mueller was assigned as project engineer and for a short period the IIA engineering team was brought in, all to win the off-the-shelf bid.

With the proposal in mind a Model 8E was taken right from the production line. Making as few modifications as possible, the prototype XT-8E was created. Using 90 percent of the 8E’s parts, Luscombe produced three prototypes for the U.S. Army evaluations at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, shipping only one, NX2788K. The main changes be-

tween the Model 8E and the XT8E were the 85-hp Continental C85-12 engine, modified cabin with tandem seating, larger cabin windows, and bubble rear window. Luscombe went up against Aeronca and Taylorcraft with all three successfully completing the flight phase, but Aeronca won in large part because of an amazingly low price.

With the loss, the XT-8E was crated up and taken back to Dallas, and the Model T8E was further developed. Flight testing continued on the T8E to obtain CAA certification. The T8E became the T8F as certification went forward with a 90hp Continental C90-12F engine and square rudder replacing the round version. The T8F Observer was being marketed to the civilian market for surveillance as well as power and pipeline inspection. The other big change with the T8F was the Luscombe signature maroon trim being replaced with a new color for Luscombe, dark green (later returned to maroon).

Luscombe changed up its production line with the T8F. It was made in units of five, and by May 1948, 20 had left the factory. The

T8F Crop Master, a crop sprayer based on the Observer model, also had modest success for Luscombe.

The Crop Master had oversized tires and a spray unit (manufactured by Independent), which included two 30-gallon self-agitating chemical tanks inside the wings.

There were two wind-driven rotary spray dispensers just below the single-spar wing struts. The Luscombe factory kept making planes, but sales continued to dwindle with modifications and new models. In late 1949, Luscombe was sold to Temco Aircraft, which in 1950 created the T8F-L prototype in a failed attempt to win a U.S. Army competition, bringing the T8F to an end.

N478TF

Luscombe T8F No. 6691 was built in June 1949 with the original bill of sale calling it a T8F Sprayer. Serial No. 6691 is probably the last T8F to come off the Luscombe line before the company became Temco, and it was one of the last aircraft to be built

by Luscombe. In July 1949, 6691 was sold to its first owner, the Bellflower Airport in Bellflower, California, for $2,460. From there it was used as a Crop Master by various owners from Butte, Montana, and Saskatchewan, Canada, then back in the States in Texas and Arizona. Other than a couple of small access mods on the wing, 6691 is in large part as it came from the factory, never having any minor or major modifications or restoration. Today you can see it flying around Houston, Texas. Only 108 T8Fs were produced, and of those only a handful fly today.

Note: Thanks to T8F pilot Bernie Vasquez and photo platform pilot Kevin Crozier. www.vintageaircraft.org

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The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK

Teaching a Nation How to Fly The Lon Cooper story: Part 5 The number of cadets reporting for primary flight training increased rapidly at all locations once the United States entered World War II. At the Lodwick School of Aeronautics in Lakeland, Florida, additional instructors are in demand. It is hard to imagine in today’s world of tower communication how so many Stearman aircraft could operate from an essentially nontowered airport without serious mishaps. Lon recalled, “The control tower was the point of reference for all traffic at the main field. The tower was about 60 feet

high with a glass-enclosed room at the top and a small balcony one level below. The tower was manned by flight instructors on a rotating basis.

Paved runways were used for takeoffs and landings. A traffic tee was used to indicate the active runway with the long white section parallel to the selected runway. One of the two orange arms at the head of the tee was extended to indicate the direction of the traffic pattern. The other arm was folded parallel to the main white section. Cadets would set the tee as directed by the instructor on duty. A light gun, projecting a narrow beam of red or green light, was used to signal aircraft on the ground and in the air. A red light for ‘do not’ or a green light for ‘okay’ was used to control taxiing, takeoff, and landing.”

At left is a very interesting flow chart detailing flight-training programs and their length in weeks. We will focus on the first 10 weeks of training. Lon recalled, “Students were Army Air Corps cadets selected to be trained as combat pilots. Our class sizes varied from 50 at first to 300 during the peak of training. Five cadets were assigned to each instructor. Army primary was their first flight training, and Photo 1. Flowchart for WWII pilot training. for some, this proved to be their

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first flight. A minimum of eight hours was required before solo. Each cadet received dual and solo flight time totaling 60 hours. Cadets also received 50 to 60 hours of physical and military training, 85 to 140 hours of ground school, and five hours of simulated instrument flight in a Link trainer. The washout rate in primary flight school was 27 percent to 30 percent. Those cadets not completing pilot training were shifted to navigator, bombardier, or gunner schools.”

The Link trainer holds a significant place in aviation history. It was the first true flight simulator and provided safe training to hundreds of thousands of student pilots during the 1930s and ’40s.

In 1928, Edwin A. Link left his father’s organ building business to begin work on a “pilot trainer.” He designed the trainer using suction through fabric bellows to cause motion. Organ bellows and a motor provided the means for the trainer, mounted on a pedestal, to pitch, roll, dive, and climb as the student “flew” it. In 1931 he received a patent on his “pilot maker” training device. Most of his early sales of the invention went to amusement parks; however, with the advent of the Civilian Pilot Training Program and events leading to entry into WWII, Link began to sell to the government. The need for pilots with instrument training in WWII resulted in Link delivering 6,271 Link trainers to the Army and 1,045 to the Navy. Learning the art of instrument flying in the Link was very safe, and every cadet was able to walk away from a potential bad wreck.

The first meeting between instructor and cadets involved aircraft familiarization. Lon remembered, “The instructor’s first meeting with his five assigned cadets was used for familiarization with the aircraft’s controls, instruments, and procedures. Previous ground school had covered many things, but this was a ‘hands-on’ opportunity. Controls were examined, operated, and their functions explained.

Instruments were identified and minimum, normal, and maximum readings were explained. Ground procedures were outlined and demonstrated.”

Aircraft were scheduled and assigned by dispatchers; those at Lodwick were female, which should have made the cadets happy. Cadets were to check out an aircraft that was assigned by row and number painted on the side of the fuselage. After the flight was completed, the aircraft would be checked in with the dispatcher and the flight time noted. Instructors were assigned aircraft for dual instruction by the dispatcher.

Photo 2. WWII Link trainer, flying inside a building.

Photo 3. A Lodwick Stearman suffers a bad day at the office. (Lakeland Public Library)

Above, unfortunately Boeing-Stearman No. 20 did not make it back to the field in one piece. Accidents like this were common during flight training. In an accident like this one, the ship was disassembled and moved back to the main field where it was salvaged, and any undamaged parts were inventoried and kept for future use by the mechanics working at the facility. Note that this aircraft is finished in silver dope, but there is no insignia on the fuselage side.

A friend in California who worked at the VisaliaDinuba School of Aeronautics in the tool crib of the maintenance hangar once told me that there were Ryan PT-22 aluminum fuselage shells stacked like firewood in a storage area alongside the maintenance hangar. Once damaged, Ryan fuselages were not repairable because they were of monocoque design.

Regarding how flight instruction progressed, Lon recalled, “The cadets’ first flight was a tour of the training area to identify the boundaries and auxilwww.vintageaircraft.org

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58 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

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iary fields. For some cadets, it was their first flight in an airplane. Each cadet had the opportunity to handle the controls and fly the airplane. After the cadets had flown, the instructor would meet with them to review the flights and answer questions.”

Every primary flight school had boundaries around the main field in which all flights had to remain. Lon recalled, “Airspace was at a premium in Florida. There were two training fields south of us: Drane Field, an auxiliary field to MacDill Air Base in Tampa for B-17 and B-26 transition training, and Bartow Air Base for transition training in P-51 Mustang fighter pilots. Transit aircraft passing through our airspace was common. While practicing low work at 500 feet, I had P-51s fly under us on a low-altitude navigation training flight. An occasional P-51 would make a practice run on us, but alertness and a short turning radius allowed us to ‘shoot him down’ as he went by us. We respected our boundaries.”

Communications between instructor and student were crude, to say the least. They relied on hand signals and some voice communication using a Gosport system. The Gosport consisted of a flexible metal or plastic tube with a small funnel on the instructor’s end and a “Y” connected to the student’s helmet. An electrical amplifier was added later with a throat mic for the instructor and earphones for the cadet. However, if one has ever flown an open-cockpit Stearman, not much works well because of the noise level from the engine and outside wind. Lon recalled, “It was necessary to throttle back to communicate. The cadet could reply only with nods and hand signals. After 1,300 hours of flying in the Stearman, I wear two hearing aids today.” The Boeing-Stearman was fitted with a unique rearview mirror set into the bottom of the center section and focused on the student pilot in the rear seat. The instructor would look into the mirror, and he could see where the student was focused and the expression on his face (sometimes pure terror!). The mirror was a 6-inch-diameter, off-the-shelf 1930s truck mirror with an aluminum fairing on the front. By using the mirror, the instructor did not have to turn to see the student. It worked well and was an ingenious addition with very little weight penalty.

After the cadet’s first flight, regularly scheduled training flights began in earnest. Lon recalled, “The instructor occupied the front cockpit with the cadet in the rear cockpit. A flight plan was given before each dual or solo flight with a detailed

Photo 4. A Gosport speaking system from a Fairchild PT-19 parts manual.

description of the maneuvers to be demonstrated and/or practiced. As skills advanced, the cadet was given a sequence in which to perform his maneuvers. Cadets were graded on flight maneuver performance, flying habits, and attitude.”

For starting the Continental or Lycoming engine installed in the Boeing-Stearman trainer, a ground crew member would manually wind the inertia starter and engage. But perhaps Lon could best describe the starting procedure. He said, “PT-13s and PT-17s were equipped with an inertia starter with drive shaft on the left side of the engine cowling.

It was energized with a hand crank stored in the luggage compartment. The gear ratio was about 100-to-1 and required considerable effort to store enough energy in the small flywheel to crank the engine. Two cadets and/or line girls would wind it up. When sufficient speed was reached, the engine received two shots of fuel from the primer. The pilot called ‘clear’ as a warning, followed by ‘contact’ when the magneto switch was turned to both.

The starter was engaged by a tee handle next to the primer and starter crank shaft. The engine started and was allowed to idle to warm up. It was very unusual for the engine to fail to start.”

Although the engine could be started by hand propping, it was not done during primary training. Rather the “slingshot” method was used. This method required three line girls to perform. Lon

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After learning the basic stuff such as preflight inspection, cockpit checks, and how to start an aircraft, the cadet was taught to taxi the ship safely to the run-up area and complete magneto and carburetor heat checks in preparation for flight. recalled, “At the beginning of flights in the morning and at noon, several teams of three line girls each would start the planes using a ‘slingshot’ made with two bungee cords and a boot fitting the tip of the propeller. The first girl would prime the engine and place the boot over the propeller tip; the other girls would place their bungee cords, one on each side of the propeller, over the crankshaft. The bungee cords were then stretched about 20 feet, ‘clear’ and ‘contact’ called, the ignition switched to both magnetos. The prop was then tipped past top dead center, and the engine would turn over several times. Starting was nearly 100 percent. A ‘slingshot’ team would start a row of nine airplanes very quickly.”

After learning the basic stuff such as preflight inspection, cockpit checks, and how to start an aircraft, the cadet was taught to taxi the ship safely to the run-up area and complete magneto and carburetor heat checks in preparation for flight.

Then it was finally time for the first real lesson in the Stearman. Basic flight maneuvers were takeoff, traffic pattern, climbing turns, straight and level flight, gliding turns, clearing turns, and landings.

Then it was on to stalls with power on (recover above 2,000 feet AGL), stalls with power off (recover above 2,000 feet AGL), spins (begin above 3,500 feet solo, simulated forced landings — dual instruction only unless the real thing happened), low-altitude work at 500 feet AGL, S-turns (at 500 feet AGL), and eights on an intersection (at 500 feet AGL). These maneuvers were taught as basic flight requirements. Note that clearance turns were required, and Lon explained, “Clearance turns were two 90-degree turns at a 45-degree bank angle in opposite directions during which the area was scanned for other aircraft. Clearing turns were 60

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Photo 5. Lodwick Stearmans prepared for hurricane, October 1944. (E.F. Case via Jack Davis collection)

required before each maneuver above 1,000 feet.

Airspace was shared with 200 of our own planes plus other military aircraft often passing through our area.”

Solo came after 8 to 10 hours of dual instruction.

If the student didn’t solo at 10 hours, he was given a checkride and perhaps one or two hours’ dual if the instructors felt it would help. Otherwise the cadet was washed out. Once the basic flight maneuvers were mastered, it was on to advanced flight maneuvers consisting of the loop (recover above 3,000 feet AGL), snap roll (recover above 3,000 feet AGL), slow roll (recover above 3,000 feet AGL) and the Immelmann turn (recover above 3,000 feet AGL).

When a cadet met all the requirements of primary flight training, he was graduated and went on to basic training. Lon recalled the graduation ceremonies at Lodwick School of Aeronautics. “At the completion of each class, a graduation exercise was held for the cadets who survived training,” he said. “A flight demonstration usually followed.

There were flight demonstrations by military aircraft. Of particular note was the performance of a P-40 Warhawk flown by a former Flying Tiger pilot. After graduating from primary, the cadets then went to basic flying school, where they flew approximately 70 more hours in a 10-week period.

In basic, they flew larger, more powerful aircraft and were taught instrument flying and navigation.

From there, it was on to advanced flying school: single engine for fighter pilots and twin engine for bomber pilots. Upon successful completion of flight training and ground schools, each cadet received his wings and a commission in the AAC as a second lieutenant. Transition training taught the cadets to fly and fight in the aircraft to which they would be assigned.”

Photo 6. Lodwick cadets with Boeing-Stearman PT-17.

(Lakeland Public Library)

Weather in Florida can be unpredictable at times. But it is mostly good for flying, and that is why there were so many flight schools located in the state. There is one particular story that is worth retelling at this time. Many years ago, I belonged to the Stearman Restorers Association because of my association with Don Williams, the founder and first president. One of the old outfit newsletters had a cover photo of some military Stearman aircraft buried in the sand up to their axles with 2-by-4 planks of wood fastened to the wings along the front spars. When I met Lon Cooper, I showed him that picture, and much to my amazement, he said, “I was there,” when this happened. So here is Lon’s firsthand account. “On October 12, 1944, a hurricane formed in the western Caribbean, later to be known as the Sanibel Island Hurricane.” [In those days, hurricanes were not named as they are today.] “It developed rapidly into a Category 3 and headed northeast across Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico. Landfall was south of Sarasota on Sanibel Island on October 15.

As it continued northeast over land, some intensity was lost, although winds of 100 miles per hour were reported from Tampa to Orlando as it crossed the Florida peninsula.

“The path of the hurricane threatened Lakeland. The military commanding officer for our field was an Army major. He called an emergency pilots meeting on Monday evening, October 16, with plans to evacuate all aircraft. All flight directors and instructors plus selected cadets were briefed

on the flight plan to evacuate our planes to a safer location in Georgia. The next morning, we were on the flightline at daylight, Tuesday, October 17, ready to go. The sky was clear north of the field, but the leading edge of the storm was over our field. The major in command of our evacuation ordered us to ‘wait until it lifts’; he had not grown up in Florida with hurricanes as I had. Being only 22 years (they called me Junior), my suggestion that we take off at once and form our flights over Zephyrhills was rejected. Weather conditions deteriorated steadily, and the evacuation flight was canceled before noon. Preparations were made to try to secure the airplanes.”

In Photo 5, Boeing-Stearman PT-17 aircraft are prepared for the onslaught of a hurricane in Lakeland, Florida, in 1944. Lon continued his eyewitness story: “The flight instructors were dismissed, and we went home. Holes were dug into the sandy ground for the wheels, the wings and tail were tied down, and a 2-by-4 was placed on the lower wing to act as a spoiler when the high wind hit.

This must have been a very big operation as there were over 100 airplanes to secure in a short time.

Lowell Thomas, the nation’s popular newscaster

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Photo 7. Douglas P-70 flight demonstration, Lodwick School of Aeronautics, Lakeland, Florida. (Lakeland Public Library)

whose son was a cadet at Lodwick, reported on the national news. Thomas stated, ‘The wheels of the planes at Lodwick School of Aeronautics in Lakeland, Florida, are in foxholes, awaiting the approach of a destructive hurricane.’ When the storm arrived on Wednesday, October 18, with winds in excess of 100 mph, it blew away the anemometer at the U.S. weather station on our field. The rapid movement of the storm allowed repairs on our aircraft to begin the next day. Many control surfaces were damaged and rigging was checked on all planes. Our efficient mechanics and ground crew had enough planes checked to continue training flights by Saturday, October 23.”

Photo 6 shows a Lodwick flight instructor and his five cadets posing at an auxiliary field near Lakeland, Florida. After cadets soloed, the instructor would sit on the ground and rate the performance of each student as he practiced takeoffs and landings and air work. At the end of the day back at the main field, Form I was filled out for each student. Lon recalled, “Each aircraft contained an Army Form I data sheet. At the beginning of each flight, the cadet would enter the date, his name, instructor’s name (if dual), and departure time. At the conclusion of the flight, Form I was completed to show the number of landings, flight closing time, and notes to maintenance of any aircraft performance irregularities. It was then removed from the pad and turned in to the dispatcher.”

All the Boeing-Stearman aircraft that Lon flew at Lodwick School of Aeronautics were Continental 62

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

R-670 powered. However, near the end of the school’s operation, he remembered that the ships were replaced with Lycoming R-680–powered aircraft. He recalled that the engines ran smoother, but there was always oil leaking that covered the nose and windshields of the ships. The Continental engines simply did not sling as much oil during operation.

Whenever possible, Albert Lodwick organized an air show at class graduation. Lodwick knew many people in the aviation community, both civilian and military. Most shows were military in nature, being flight demonstrations of the latest combat aircraft. There were P-51 Mustangs, P-47 Thunderbolts, and some barnstorming re-enactments. Lon recalled, “The barnstormer re-enactment was produced by some of our instructors who had actually been barnstormers. The cadets enjoyed the thrilling maneuvers and stories by the ‘old-timers’ of wing walking, parachute jumpers, fake ‘hick farmer’ pilots that would break through guards to board an idling plane to fly a wild ride that would not be permitted today.”

Perhaps one of the most interesting aircraft to perform for the cadets was a Douglas P-70. Not much is written about that particular show, but research on that particular aircraft uncovered some very interesting information. First, the P-70 was a highly modified Douglas A-20 Havoc designed for night fighting and nicknamed the “Nighthawk.”

Photo 7 shows cadets on the tarmac of Lodwick School of Aeronautics watch as the Nighthawk makes a low pass over the field. The silver Lodwick Stearmans are parked in the background of this photograph.

In October 1940, the U.S. Army Air Corps felt a need for long-range fighters more than attack bombers, so some of the production run of Douglas A-20s were converted to P-70 and P-70A night fighters. They were equipped with SCR-540 radar (a copy of British AI Mk IV), the glazed nose often painted black to reduce glare and hide the details of the radar set, and had four 20 mm forward-firing cannon in a ventral bomb bay tray.

The P-70s and P-70As saw combat only in the Pacific during World War II and only with the U.S. Army Air Forces. The P-70B-1 and P-70B-2 aircraft (equipped with American-made radar) never saw combat but served as night fighter aircrew trainers in the United States in Florida and later in California. All P-70s were retired from service by 1945. So the aircraft shown in this one-of-a-kind Photo 7 is probably a P-70B-1 or P-70B-2 aircraft that was assigned somewhere in Florida.

TM

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Issue Frequency: Bi-Monthly. 5. No. of Issues Published Annually: 6. 6. Annual Subscription Pri ce : $ 4 2 .0 0 in U. S. 7. Kn own O f f i ce o f Publication: EAA, 3000 Poberezny Road, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Contact Person: Randy Halberg, Telephone: 920-426-6572. 8.

Headquarters or General Business Office of the Publisher: Same address as above. 9. Publisher: Jack Pelton, EAA P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Editor: Jim Busha, c/o EAA, 3000 Poberezny Road, P.O.Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Managing Editor: None. 10.

Owner: Experimental Aircraft Association, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. 11. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amounts of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: None. 12. Tax Status: Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months. 13. Publication Title: Vintage Airplane. 14. Issue date for circulation data below: Sep/Oct 2017. 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation (Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months/ No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date): a. Total No. of Copies Printed (6767/8858) b.

Paid Circulation (By Mail and Outside the Mail): 1. Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies) (5842/5850). 2. Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies) (0/0). 3. Paid Distribution Outside the Mails Including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid Distribution Outside USPS (313/303). 4. Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail through the USPS (e.g., First-Class Mail) (40/37). c. Total Paid Distribution (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), and (4)) (5842/5850). d. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (By Mail and Outside the Mail): 1. Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541 (0/0). 2. Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541 (0/0). 3. Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail) (0/0).

4. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail (Carriers or other means) (0/0). e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3), and (4) (0/0). f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15e) (5842/5850). g. Copies Not Distributed (See Instructions to Publishers #4 (page 3)) (925/3008). h. Total (Sum of 15f and g) (6767/6367). i. Percent Paid (15c divided by 15f times 100) (100%/100%). 16. Publication of Statement of Ownership: Publication required.

Will be printed in the September/October 2017 issue of this publication. 17. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including civil penalties).

James Busha, Publisher, 08/01/17. PS Form 3526, August 2017.

www.vintageaircraft.org

63

Vintage Aviation Fuel Pump

© 2016 Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc.

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OFFICERS President Susan Dusenbury 1374 Brook Cove Road Walnut Cove, NC 27052 336-591-3931 sr6sue@aol.com

Secretary Steve Nesse 2009 Highland Ave. Albert Lea, MN 56007 507-373-1674 stnes2009@live.com

Vice-President Tim Popp 60568 Springhaven Ct. Lawton, MI 49065 269-624-5036 tlpopp@frontier.com

Treasurer Jerry Brown 4605 Hickory Wood Row Greenwood, IN 46143 317-422-9366 lbrown4906@aol.com

grass strips, and unique aircraft. Visit EAA.org/Insurance today for the right coverage at the best price for you.

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BOOKS

Amazon book:”To Look Upward: One Flight Instructor’s Journey” A spiritual journey with challenges, accomplishment, and even abuse! Rob Mixon Classified Word Ads: $5.50 per 10 words, 180 words maximum, with boldface lead-in on first line.

Classified Display Ads: One column wide (2.167 inches) by 1, 2, or 3 inches high at $20 per inch.

Black and white only, and no frequency discounts.

Advertising Closing Dates: 10th of second month prior to desired issue date (i.e., January

10 is the closing date for the March issue). VAA reserves the right to reject any advertising in conflict with its policies. Rates cover one insertion per issue. Classified ads are not accepted via phone. Payment must accompany order. Word ads may be sent via fax (920-426-4828) or e-mail (classads@eaa.org) using credit card payment (all cards accepted). Include name on card, complete address, type of card, card number, and expiration date. Make checks payable to EAA. Address advertising correspondence to EAA Publications Classified Ad Manager, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086.

Copyright © 2017 by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association. All rights reserved.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE (USPS 062-750; ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published bi-monthly at EAA Aviation Center, 3000 Poberezny Rd., PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54903-3086, e-mail: vintageaircraft@eaa.org. Membership to Vintage Aircraft Association, which includes 6 issues of Vintage Airplane magazine, is $45 per year for EAA members and $55 for non-EAA members. Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54902 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Vintage Airplane, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. CPC #40612608. FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES—Please allow at least two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via surface mail. ADVERTISING — Vintage Aircraft Association does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising.

We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken.

EDITORIAL POLICY: Members are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with the contributor. No remuneration is made. Material should be sent to: Editor, VINTAGE AIRPLANE, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Phone 920-426-4800.

EAA® and EAA SPORT AVIATION®, the EAA Logo® and Aeronautica™ are registered trademarks, trademarks, and service marks of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. The use of these trademarks and service marks without the permission of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is strictly prohibited.

64

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

DIRECTORS Dave Clark 635 Vestal Lane Plainfield, IN 46168 317-839-4500 davecpd@att.net George Daubner N57W34837 Pondview Ln Oconomowoc, WI 53066 262-560-1949 gdaubner@eaa.org Jon Goldenbaum PO Box 190 Warner Springs, CA 92086 jon@conaircraft.com John Hofmann 548 W James St Columbus, WI 53925 john@cubclub.org

Ray L. Johnson 347 South 500 East Marion, IN 46953 rayjohnson@indy.rr.com Robert D. “Bob” Lumley 1265 South 124th St. Brookfield, WI 53005 262-782-2633 rlumley1@wi.rr.com Earl Nicholas 219 Woodland Rd Libertyville, IL 60048 eman46@gmail.com Joe Norris 264 Old OR Rd. Oshkosh, WI 54902 pilotjoe@ntd.net 920-688-2977

ADVISORS Paul Kyle 1273 Troy Ct. Mason, OH 45040 paul_e_kyle@hotmail.com

Aircraft | Personal Non-Owned | Powered Parachute & WSC Trike | Accidental Death & Dismemberment | Flight Instructor | Hangar | Airport

DIRECTORS EMERITUS David Bennett antiquer@inreach.com

Charles W. Harris cwh@hvsu.com

Robert C. Brauer photopilot@aol.com

Gene Morris genemorris@charter.net

Phil Coulson rcoulson516@cs.com

S.H. “Wes” Schmid shschmid@gmail.com

Ronald C. Fritz itzfray@gmail.com

John Turgyan jrturgyan4@aol.com

EAA.org/Insurance | 866.647.4322

When you insure with the EAA Aircraft Insurance Plan you are helping VAA to continue to promote the heritage of vintage aviation.

The Vintage Aircraft Association, headquartered in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is the world’s premier organization created to preserve and protect all aspects of vintage aviation.

Our membership is worldwide.