Va vol 46 no 3 may jun 2018

MAY/JUNE 2018

•The Waco CSO •Helio Couriers at AV 2017 •Textbook Tri-Pacer •Model 17 Staggerwings •CallAir Cadet

Vintage Airplane STAFF

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. Jan Johnson 920-426-6110. . . . . . . . . . jjohnson@eaa.org Art Director. . . . . . . . . . . . Olivia Phillip Trabbold ADVERTISING: Vice President of Business Development Dave Chaimson. . . . . . . . . dchaimson@eaa.org

History lesson

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

A few months back a survey was sent to the VAA membership via e-mail. Thanks so much to all of you who took the time to contribute to this very important survey. As an aside, the average time that it took for more than 2,000 of you to complete this survey was 8.3 minutes. I particularly appreciate the comments and suggestions made by so many of you.

From a statistical perspective, responses were returned from 48 states, Puerto Rico, and 13 other countries, including six Canadian provinces and three Australian states. Ninety-three percent of you agree with our formal mission statement, and 88 percent of you think that we are meeting the goals of our mission.

Ninety-seven percent of you agree that VAA’s mission and work to preserve the rights of vintage aircraft restorers and their right to keep these aircraft flying is of major importance. Two demographics that I find particularly interesting are that 70 percent of us hold a tailwheel endorsement and 87 percent of us have attended EAA AirVenture Oshkosh at least once!

As you can well imagine, there were hundreds of personal comments included with the multiple-choice selections, which we are now in the process of collating and analyzing. The Vintage board of directors will begin a detailed survey review at our next board meeting in May. Again, thank you so much for participating.

Recently, I made the final drive to Jack and Golda Cox’s home in Asheboro, North Carolina, to retrieve the remaining items from their estate that have been donated to the Vintage Aircraft Association by the Cox family. Included in the donation was all of Jack’s research material and files. I took the time to look through some of the files (I did not go through them all: There are five four-drawer filing cabinets of donated material!), and I almost unbelievably found two files with the original paperwork (correspondence, drawings, etc.) that led to the formation of the Vintage Aircraft Association. Of course, we all know that at its formation the name of our organization was the Antique/Classic Division of EAA. What most don’t know is that sevcontinued on page 4

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

www.vintageaircraft.org

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Vol. 46, No. 3

MAY/JUNE 2018

CONTENTS

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44

VAA 2018 Director Election

16

One Rugged Yet Regal Golden Age Survivor The Waco CSO

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

24

Helio Couriers Desend (Slowly) on AirVenture 2017

Sleek & Splectacular

The Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwings

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

My CallAir Cadet

Why I decided to throw money in the air

by Alex Nelon

A reunion of a rare STOL aircraft

by Budd Davisson

Tigers in a Cage

30

A brief history of Helio C/STOL aircraft

by Stephen A. Ruby

Textbook Tri-Pacer

36

They don’t come any more original

by Budd Davisson

SCOTT GERMAIN

ANY COMMENTS?

Send your thoughts to the Vintage Editor at: jbusha@ eaa.org 2

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53

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

COLUMNS

14 Good Old Days

4 VAA News

60 The Vintage Mechanic Part One: Maintenance and troubleshooting – ignition systems Robert G. Lock

1

Message From the President History Lesson Susan Dusenbury

10 How to?

Fabricate a wood wing bow Robert G. Lock

64 VAA New Members

COVERS FRONT COVER: Photo by Ed HIcks BACK COVER: Photo by Tom Pawlesh

www.vintageaircraft.org

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Message From the President

VAA News

WERE YOU BORN TO BE A BARNSTORMER?

continued from page 1

eral names for the organization were considered, including the Historical Aircraft Club and Vintage Aircraft Club. Also in the files were rudimentary hand drawings of potential logos for the organization. In the end, it was Jack’s rendering of a logo that was accepted by the group. Jack, by the way, created many of the early logos for EAA and the divisions. The donation also included the notes and minutes for both the organizational meeting that was held in November 1971 and for the first board meeting, which was held in February 1972. Dave Jameson was elected as “provisional” president of the new organization in November of 1971 and served officially as president at the February 1972 board meeting.

Newly elected Antique/Classic board member Nick Rezich devised a point system for aircraft judging. Jack also preserved all of Nick’s original judging forms and criteria in the folders. This is just a small sample of the information that I found in those two files. Our plan is to have copies made and framed of some of this material for display in the VAA Red Barn.

I will close by quoting a paragraph from the February 1972 meeting of our newly formed organization. “Still robust and ramrod straight, Capt. Eddie made his entrance amid a standing ovation, his famed wide-brimmed felt hat firmly in hand — a rare and inspiring glimpse of an aviation immortal.” This was World War I fighter ace and Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross recipient Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, who very famously flew for the 94th Aero Squadron also known as the Hat in the Ring squadron in WWI. Capt. Eddie was also the first CEO of Eastern Air Lines. Now how special is that!

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TM

The American Barnstormers Tour proudly announces the pilots joining us with their fabulous Travel Air biplanes for the 2018 summer tour: MIKE RINKER - 1932 Travel Air B-14-B - Tennessee - Wright 975- This was one of two built in 1932 due to the Depression, with a top speed of 187 mph. Mike is an ATP rated pilot with more than 12,000 hours.

CLAY ADAMS - 1929 Travel Air E-4000 — Minnesota - Clay Adams was born in 1959, which he claims was about 50 years too late.

JARED CALVERT - 1927 Travel Air 4000 — Texas - Jared Calvert purchased his Travel Air 4000 at age 28 in 2015.

DAVID MARS - 1929 Travel Air 4000— Mississippi - Mars has 15,000 flight hours and has been selling rides in vintage aircraft — he has six — since the 1970s.

FRANK SCHELLING - 1928 Travel Air 4000 — California - Frank’s main interest has always been airplanes. He purchased a Curtiss JN-4H “Jenny” in 1972 and completed it in 2003.

ROB LOCK - 1929 Travel Air E-4000 — Florida - Rob is the owner/pilot/ restorer/mechanic of Waldo Wright’s Flying Service, founded in 1990 with the goal of “Reliving the Golden Age of Aviation.”

BRIAN SHEPHERD - 1929 Travel Air B-4000 - California - After 30 years in the music business, Brian finally gave in to his real passion, which was flying.

RICHARD ZEILER - 1929 Travel Air D-4-D (TWO) - California - Lycoming R-680-13- Richard is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who flew an O-1E Birddog in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969.

PEDRO LANGTON - 1928 Travel Air E-4000 - California - Pedro was the winner of the Crete to Cape Town South Africa Rally in 2016.

THOMAS LEAVER - 1928 Travel Air D-4000 - England - The Barnstormers thank Tom for bringing his lovely ship back to the U.S. for this memorable tour.

Tour stops include: Jefferson City, Missouri (July 5-7), Ames, Iowa (July 8-10), Watertown, South Dakota (July 12-14), Brainerd, Minnesota (July 15-17), Eau Claire, Wisconsin (July 19-21), and will conclude at the 2018 EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI (group arrival July 22-static displays only).

National sponsors of the tour include Concorde Battery, Aircraft Spruce and Specialty, Desser Tire, David Clark, Gulf Coast Avionics, PolyFiber, Phillips 66, the Beechcraft Heritage Museum, and Hooker Harness.

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 Jan Johnson VAA

PO Box 3086

Oshkosh, WI 54903 E-mail: jjohnson@eaa.org 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.

www.vintageaircraft.org

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CONNOR MADISON

TM

Friends of the

RED BARN

In the fall of 2001, two of the Vintage Aircraft Association’s most effective officers created a program with the goal of having dedicated members support improvements to the Red Barn and all that the Red Barn represents. These two individuals were thenpresident Butch Joyce and VAA treasurer Charlie Harris. The idea behind the program not only included physical improvements to the Red Barn, but also offered a means to support and expand VAA’s programs for members and their guests during the EAA convention.

Over the years the Friends of the Red Barn has enjoyed a high level of success, which has allowed us to This is the new north entrance to our iconic Red Barn. At the opening of AirVenture 2017 we remake much-needed structural repairs to the Red Barn dedicated our expanded Welcome Center and also itself while developing and expanding programs for dedicated the Stadtmueller Patio to the original our guests at Vintage Village. As our flagship building, family who farmed this land for over a century. the Red Barn has served us well as a meeting place where old friends meet to renew their friendship and as a gathering place where you are certain to make new friends. The Red Barn is the home to Vintage hospitality and now houses an area depicting the very interesting history of the Red Barn. New to the Red Barn in 2018 will be a tribute to our Hall of Fame inductees and to those individuals who were so instrumental in the founding and early success of our organization.

Interestingly, a large majority of the Red Barn’s supporters have been involved since the very first year of the Friends of the Red Barn program. Vintage is extremely proud of these dedicated members and supporters. They are at the very foundation of what we are working towards in the vintage aircraft movement. These donors are directly responsible for the Friends of the Red Barn’s success and for making the Red Barn the focal point of Vintage Village, with all of the gracious hospitality that the Red Barn is so famous for.

We are very proud of the fact that this VAA treasure — the Red Barn — was member created and is member maintained, principally through our Friends of the Red Barn fundraiser program. Our Vintage area has over the years grown from one dilapidated and abandoned barn into an entire village filled with interesting and fun places to visit. And yet, there is much, much more to be done. With your help, every year we will provide our members and guests with an ever more broadened fun-filled and interesting experience. All of the supporters’ names are listed annually at the Red Barn and in the pages of Vintage Airplane magazine.

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

Susan Dusenbury, President

Vintage Aircraft Association

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CONNOR MADISON

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2018

Two Passes Breakfast at Tall Pines to VAA Volunteer Café Party

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2 people, full week 2 people, full week 2 people, full week 1 person, full week

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

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2 tickets

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1 ticket

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Special Two Air Show Weekly Seating Wristbands

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

1 ticket

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STEVE MOYE R

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

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

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2018

TM

Name: __________________________________________________________ EAA #: VAA #:________________

Address:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

City: _____________________________________________________________State: ZIP:__________________

Choose your level of participation: o Diamond Plus ($1,500 or more) o Diamond ($1,000-$1,499) o Platinum ($750-$999) o Gold ($500-$749) o Silver ($250-$499) o Bronze Plus ($150-$249) o Bronze ($100-$149) o Loyal Supporter ($99 or less) Badge Information

Phone:__________________________________________________________ E-mail:

o Payment enclosed (Make checks payable to Vintage Aircraft Association)

(for Bronze Level and above)

o Yes, prepare my name badge to read: _________________________________ (Please print name)

o Please charge my credit card for the amount of: $ Credit Card Number: Expiration Date: Signature:

o No, I do not need a badge this year.

Certificates o Yes, I would like a certificate. o No, I do not need a certificate for this year.

Vintage Aircraft Association | 3000 Poberezny Rd., Oshkosh, WI 54902 | 920.426.6110 | EAAVintage.org The Vintage Aircraft Association is a nonprofit educational organization under IRS 501(c)(3) rules. Under Federal Law, the deduction from Federal Income tax for charitable contributions is limited to the amount by which any money (and the value of any property other than money) contributed exceeds the value of the goods or services provided in exchange for the contribution. An appropriate receipt acknowledging your gift will be sent to you for IRS gift reporting reasons.

www.vintageaircraft.org

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VAA 2018 Director Election

See attached insert ballot to vote Susan Dusenbury, Vintage 5721

Susan is a longtime vintage aircraft enthusiast, Vintage Aircraft Association member, and chapter leader. She began flying at the age of 15 on a private airport called Overton Field located near her shared hometowns of Andrews and Pawleys Island, South Carolina, and earned her private pilot certificate during her senior year in high school. She is a graduate of Francis Marion University with a Bachelor of Science in business administration and a graduate of Florence-Darlington Technical College with a degree in aircraft maintenance technology. While in college, Susan earned her commercial, multiengine, instrument, flight instructor, and A&P mechanic certificates.

Susan is a longtime EAA and VAA member and volunteer and is president of the Carolinas-Virginia Antique Airplane Foundation (VAA Chapter 3). She served on the national EAA board of directors as a volunteer director for 20 years and recently retired from ABX Air (formerly Airborne Freight Corporation) after flying 25 years of night freight. She has owned and/or restored several vintage airplanes, including an Aeronca 7AC Champ, a Luscombe 8A, an Inland Sport, and a Culver Cadet. Susan now owns and flies a 1953 Cessna 180 from her farm and airport, Dusenbury Field, located in Walnut Cove, North Carolina. She is currently working on her 1937 Taylor J-2 Cub and Stinson SR-6 Reliant.

Steve Nesse, Vintage 6490

Steve grew up on a farm near his hometown of Albert Lea, Minnesota. It was there that his father, Luverne, sparked Steve’s interest in airplanes when he bought and brought home a 1946 Navion.

Steve immediately developed a deep interest in aviation and talked his father into selling 8

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him the Navion. Steve soon earned his private pilot certificate and began attending the EAA fly-in conventions in Rockford, Illinois. It was during his first fly-in at Rockford that Steve joined EAA, never dreaming that 51 years later he would still be attending that same fly-in, which, of course, has moved to Oshkosh.

Steve is a member of VAA Chapter 13 and over the years has held several officer positions, including president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer.

Steve is also an active member of the Carolinas-Virginia Antique Airplane Foundation (VAA Chapter 3).

He is a longtime volunteer for VAA at EAA Oshkosh AirVenture where he started the VAA metal shaping workshop in the mid-1990s. Steve currently serves as chairman of the Tall Pines Café and has been serving as the organization’s secretary since 1991.

Dan Knutson, Vintage 18753

Dan, a pilot of 44 years, lives in Lodi, Wisconsin. He can often be found either flying or enjoying an airport picnic at Knutson Field, which is named after his father, Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame inductee Richard Knutson.

Dan is an accomplished pilot and has participated in the restoration of 22 airplanes, nine of which he still owns.

Since getting his pilot certificate in 1973, he has enjoyed studying and owning vintage airplanes. He also owns and restores collector automobiles.

Dan has worked in the automotive industry for 47 years. He started out washing cars in high school and now is a partner in two Chrysler/Dodge/Ram/Jeep dealerships and works in one of the largest dealer groups in the state of Wisconsin. His role includes inventory management, purchasing, and employee supervision.

Through the years he has appreciated making lifelong friends through aviation. Dan has a passion for vintage airplanes and would be grateful for the opportunity to serve the members of the Vintage Airplane Association.

Joe Norris, Vintage Lifetime 5982

Joe earned his private pilot certificate in 1978 and bought his first airplane in 1979 — a 1955 Piper Tri-Pacer. He flew it for about a year and then converted it to PA-20 Pacer (tailwheel) configuration. During this time Joe helped form EAA Chapter 706 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. Over time Joe has earned commercial pilot and flight instructor certificates with airplane and helicopter ratings, as well an A&P mechanic certificate with inspection authorization. Joe is also a designated airworthiness representative for experimental amateur-built and light-sport aircraft.

Joe joined EAA in 1976 and became a lifetime member in 2002. He is also a lifetime member of VAA. Joe has been actively involved with EAA, serving as a technical counselor and flight advisor, and has been an officer in two EAA chapters. Joe has volunteered at the EAA convention for many years, and was one of the five original members of the EAA Homebuilt Aircraft Council.

In October of 2001 Joe was hired as a senior aviation specialist in EAA’s aviation services department.In 2008 EAA created the position of homebuilders community manager, and Joe was selected to fill that role.

Joe left EAA in 2011 to work as a flight instructor at Cub Air Flight in Hartford, Wisconsin, and then helped set up the transition training program at Sonex Aircraft in Oshkosh. Joe rejoined EAA in 2017 as flight training manager, overseeing the Sport Pilot Academy program.

Joe has owned several vintage aircraft over the years, including the aforementioned Piper Pacer, a Cessna 180, a Piper J-5A Cub Cruiser, and a Waco UPF-7. Joe built and flew a Sonerai II homebuilt and also owned a homebuilt Pitts S-1C. He currently owns a Piper Super Cub.

Robert “Bob” Lumley, Vintage Lifetime 6560

A native of Athens, Georgia, Bob retired as vice president of a Milwaukee-based construction firm. He soloed in 1968 in a Piper PA-11 and holds a commercial pilot certificate. Bob is a lifetime member of EAA and VAA. He’s also a charter member of VAA Chapter 11 in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

As a volunteer since 1984, Bob has designed and managed the construction of additions to the iconic VAA Red Barn, the Vintage Hangar, and other Vintage area buildings. For years, Bob also managed the Red Barn gift shop. Bob was also a volunteer at Pioneer Airport, participating in its Young Eagles program with more than 300 missions. He serves as Santa for the EAA Aviation Museum Christmas In The Air program and is on the Vintage nominating committee.

Bob currently serves as chairman of Vintage Pioneer Video during AirVenture. In 2009, Bob was a recipient of EAA’s President’s Award.

Jon Goldenbaum, Vintage 15278

Jon grew up in Texas and earned his private pilot certificate at age 17, exchanging work for flying time as a line boy. At 19, he was a professional pilot working to put himself through the University of Texas instructing and flying charter.

In 1968, he joined the Air Force, where he spent 20 years flying fighters through two tours in Vietnam — one in the A-1 Skyraider as a Sandy pilot and another in the OV-10 as a Nail FAC — accumulating 608 combat hours, a Distinguished Flying Cross, and 11 Air Medals. In the rest of his military career he flew T-38s (Laughlin Air Force Base), F-111s (Upper Heyford), F-5Es (Nellis and Alconbury), and F-15s (Langley AFB). He also commanded the 71st Tactical Fighter Squadron (F-15s). While on active duty, he could not stay away from general aviation, so he owned and maintained a J-3 Cub, a BC-12D Taylorcraft, and a Stinson 108-3. After promotion to colonel, he retired from the Air Force to join Delta Air Lines in Atlanta. With Delta he flew B-727s, 737s, 757s, L-1011s, and the MD-11. While flying for Delta, he became involved in aircraft businesses, specifically manufacturing and distributing fabric and coatings for antique aircraft and warbirds. He moved to California in 1992 after he and his partners bought the Stits factory at Flabob Airport in Riverside. After several mergers, he is still running Consolidated Aircraft Coatings, manufacturing Poly-Fiber, Ceconite, and Randolph fabric covering systems. He is also the chairman of the Tom Wathen Center, which runs Flabob Airport.

He stays active flying and instructing in a multitude of aircraft, including warbirds for the Palm Springs Air Museum, several DC-3s and C-47s, as well as his Navy N3N-3. Fifteen years ago he organized the nonprofit that operates the DC-3 Flabob Express. www.vintageaircraft.org

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How to?

ROBERT G. LOCK

Fabricate a wood wing bow A wing bow is actually a lamination of spruce wood, although some factory wing bows were made of steamed oak — pretty difficult to duplicate. Wood laminations are a series of thin strips piled together, formed and glued, thus taking a predetermined shape.

Laminations are used to fabricate fuselage bulkheads or any other part that requires an intricate shape.

When restoring my Command-Aire, I was faced with laminating wing bows for both upper and lower wings. But the task was not as easy as it appeared, as the wing bows’ curve was not flat but rather followed the wing ribs’ negative camber.

Forming these bows would require that I fabricate a complicated fixture to hold the laminations in a precise shape. I surmised that the original factory really did not do this. I decided to disassemble a wing bow on an old wing. Finding nails in each lamination, I soon discovered that each wing bow was actually fabricated on the fully assembled wing, which made good sense. So here is how it was done.

First, when cutting strips of spruce for the lamination, plan on using just one piece of solid wood per bow. That way the moisture content will be the same in each lamination. It is important that laminations be within 2 percent moisture content with each other; therefore, I make sure that all strips are cut from the same piece of wood. I have found that 1/8-inch-thick strips can be bent into shape without soaking, so that is what I use. Soaking the strips to accomplish bending changes the moisture content of 10

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Figure 1

Figure 2

the wood, and there is a delay in gluing because said strips must thoroughly dry before bonding. In Figure 1, the spar ends are left square rather than being tapered so two nails could be driven into the spars to hold laminations in place. The first lamination is in place, clamped to the leading and trailing edges.

Both surfaces must be coated with adhesive, and then the next lamination will be laid in place.

Figure 4 shows the wing bow lamination cured and removed from the wing. The bow looks like a flat lamination, but it has a curvature to follow the negative camber of the wing ribs. When removed, there should be no spring-back in the lamination.

At this point the spar ends can be tapered to the desired configuration after removing the four nails.

It is always necessary to use more adhesive on

Figure 3

The next lamination is laid in place, and the laminations continued until the desired thickness is reached.

Figure 2 shows the first lamination coated with glue in preparation to receive the next spruce strip.

After the strips are built up, the lamination is securely clamped for a good adhesive cure, which is overnight. Figure 3 shows a number of small Cclamps applying pressure to the structure.

After allowing the wing bow to thoroughly cure (be sure to observe the minimum curing temperature for the adhesive being used, as this temperature will vary

Figure 5

the strips so it will be squeezed out when clamps are applied. Figure 5 shows glue on the shop floor under the lamination, assuring that there was, in fact, excess adhesive squeezed out.

After the wing bow has been cleaned of any waxed paper that may have been used to keep it

Figure 6

Figure 4

between adhesives). Synthetic resin glue (Resorcinol) requires a minimum curing temperature of 70 degrees, while some epoxy resins will still cure at a temperature of 50 degrees. I never allow temperature to drop below 70 degrees no matter what type adhesive I am using, which is a good rule to follow.

from sticking to the structure, it is carefully fitted to the wingtip, care taken to assure proper fit. Figure 6 shows the wing bow glued to the wing structure.

Figure 6 shows the first step in initial shaping of the bow using a hand plane. The plane will take off wood at a rapid rate with less sanding dust than using a disc sander. However, once the bow has been roughshaped, the next step will be to carefully sand using a 6-inch disc sander. Care must be taken not to remove too much material, as this mistake is difficult to repair. www.vintageaircraft.org

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Figure 7 shows the intermediate sanding step.

Note that the spar ends are tapered before the wing bow is glued in place. It is just easier to cut, plane, and sand the spar taper before the bow is in place.

The final sanding is done by hand using emery paper strips as shown in Figure 8.

After this final sanding is completed, the wing bow is essentially completed. However, plywood gussets must be installed over the spars and onto the bow to assure strength of assembly. Negative camber of wing ribs can easily be seen in this photo.

Figure 9 shows the wing bow in place with all ribs in place and triangular gussets bracing the bow at critical attach points. The plywood gussets bridging the spars and ribs to the bow have not been installed at this point, as is the plywood leading edge. I’ll show that in another column.

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9 12

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It doesn’t matter what you see; you just have to see it for yourself.

EXPERIENCE OSHKOSH

World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration ®

JULY 23-29 BUY NOW & SAVE!

EAA.org/Experience

Photo by Erin Brueggen

© 2018 EAA

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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One Rugged Yet

Regal Golden

Survivor ED HICKS

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Age

The Waco CSO

by Sparky Barnes Sargent Surrounded by a circle of ardent admirers at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017, NC656N effused a rugged yet regal aura as current owner Justin Niemyjski, Vintage 31218, and previous owner Larry Harmacinski, Vintage Lifetime 11740, regaled the crowd at Vintage in Review with the grand old biplane’s history. One of only five Waco CSOs listed on the registry today, this glistening emerald-andgold biplane has alternately plied the

airways, waterways, and snow-covered fields since 1930.

Justin, who has an affinity for vintage-type airplanes (as evidenced by his 1946 Twin Beech), bought the Waco in early 2017 from the estate of antiquer Bob Howie, who in turn had purchased it from Larry in January 2006.

Justin inherited his love for flying from his father, and has already passed that along to his son, Trevor. “I’ve been www.vintageaircraft.org

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SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

Close-up view of the pilot’s cockpit – note the rudder bar. at Oshkosh every year of my life,” he explained. “I’m 42 and had my first lesson at 23. Then, about 11 months later I purchased my Piper Pacer, got my [certificate] a week later, then my tailwheel endorsement a week after that. I have just under 2,000 hours and almost all of that is tailwheel.

Trevor is 24, and he just finished his third airplane restoration. We have a 2,600-foot strip at home in Raymond, just southwest of Milwaukee.”

Wright-Powered Waco

The CSO is a three-place biplane with outrigger-style landing gear, and it can be flown on wheels, skis, or floats. Powered by a 225hp Wright J-6 R-760, it was known early on as the CS-225 or J-6 Straightwing. About 17 were built, according to aircraft historian Joseph Juptner, who wrote that the CSO “shared all the other fine attributes and pleasant character that made the Whirlwind Waco such a great favorite. Repeating its performance of a year previous, Waco Aircraft entered two of their new model CSO in the grueling 5,000-mile National Air Tour for 1929, and they finished one-two.”

E i g h t y- e i g h t y e a r s l a t e r, NC656N still has Wright power, but it’s now a more robust R-

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Justin removed the tailskid and installed a tail wheel to fly in to AirVenture.

760-E1. “It’s supercharged to 285 hp,” Justin said. “This engine had 11-1/2 hours on it when I bought the plane; it was overhauled by Mike Connors, and he’s the Wright guru. I’m fortunate to have that engine because it doesn’t use oil, and it’s just been perfect.”

Ju s t i n c o u l d n ’ t b e m o r e pleased with the CSO’s handling characteristics.

“It’s a very easy and nice flying airplane,” he said. “I had to have the tail wheel on it to come to Oshkosh, but it’s really a joy to fly on the tailskid — it’s almost easier.

This airplane is fun to fly! It stalls down around 40 mph, and I’ll fly the pattern at 70 mph, come on short final at 60 mph. It’s a heavy airplane and settles down at the upper 40s or 50s. It cruises at 90 mph — not super fast, and not terribly slow. If you fly just a little over 100 mph those flying wires start screaming! That’s what everybody always says about these old airplanes — just listen to the wires, and they’ll tell you when to slow down. The Wright burns 14.5 gph, and this Waco has a 63-gallon main tank and two 15-gallon tanks in the center section of the upper wing.”

Accustomed to flying an airplane with narrow gear (such as his son’s Monocoupe), Justin found it easy to transition to

the Waco’s narrow gear. The mechanical brakes, however, offered a bit of a challenge. “That’s one of the most difficult parts of the airplane,” Justin said. “The brakes are very touchy and grabby; they’re either on or off. This airplane has a rudder bar [instead of pedals], and there are ‘arms’ sticking off the rudder bar that operate the heel brakes, which is also awkward. It’s easy to fly from grass, but I would say that pavement is a little more interesting!”

Since Justin has plans to acquire his seaplane rating, he’s hanging on to the old EDO floats that came with the biplane. “When this Waco is flying on those floats, they are the oldest known set of flying EDO floats. They’ve been with this airplane since brand new,” he said.

“It also has polished aluminum wheelpants and a speed ring.”

Larry said that particular speed ring has an interesting history.

“The data plate calls it an ‘antidrag cowl,’ which incidentally had been on NC11211, a Mike Murphy Taperwing Waco, which was restored by Bud Kilbey and flown by the Linco Aces Team,” he said.

Provenance

The biplane’s history is, of course, only partially revealed by the official registration and air-

COURTESY LARRY HARMACINSKI

worthiness records. But thanks to Larry, this Waco’s provenance has not only been well preserved, but it’s also been brought to living legacy status. After researching the history and original logs, Larry and his wife, Ilse, who is also a pilot, made numerous trips back to the Adirondacks where the Waco seaplane served the community for three decades.

One of those local residents, Don Leadley, helped the Harmacinskis connect with many of the former pilots and people who well remembered seeing NC656N in its glory days. (Ergo, much of the material for this article comes from Larry’s personal research, which he has generously shared.)

South to Florida

NC656N was manufactured by the Waco Aircraft Company in Troy, Ohio. It was completed February 10, 1930, and was soon winging its way south to its first owner, Robert W. Orrell of Daytona Beach, Florida. Robert installed a set of new EDO M-2665 pontoons on the airplane for a short period of time. By midMay 1931, he decided to do some long-distance sport flying, so he converted the CSO back to a landplane. At that time, a bit of touchup work was done on the lower

Larry and Ilse at Hamilton Lake, Indiana, returning from the Adirondacks.

wings and tail group, and new center section wires and a speed ring were installed. Soon thereafter, Robert sold it to Air Service Inc. of Daytona — of which he, along with Stanley Strother and Paul W. Harvey, were officers.

North to New York

The CSO flew to North Beach in the Queens borough of New York City in 1931. It was serendipitous timing and had a profound influence on the Waco’s future. It just so happened that New Yorker William B. Abrams had established a “resort” camp on the shore of Piseco Lake near Speculator, New York. Amenities included camping cabins, carousel rides, fishing, baseball, and rides in a Travel Air on pontoons. But vandals set the Travel Air on fire one summer night, and Bill found himself in need of a seaplane. When he heard about NC656N, he lost no time in procuring it. Pilot H.E. Merchant delivered the CSO to Bill, and stayed on to fly rides for a few months.

Larry’s research turned up the following: Other pilots included Red Panella, Rip Strong, Harold Scott, and Harold Campbell, and the Waco flew frequently for a couple of seasons. Rides and charter trips for fishermen and

hunters to outlying lakes were quite popular. The Straightwing was also used for something a bit unusual — aerial fish planting. One or two pilots were said to have returned from Canada with adult beverages on occasion during the last year of Prohibition. Around this time a young man named Johnny Knox began working odd jobs at the camp and earning flights in the CSO. In October 1934, Bill Abrams sold the Waco to William R. Strong of Lake Pleasant, New York. The next year, the CSO was disassembled and restored, and in 1936, a 250-hp Wright was installed. Local pilot Charles J. Smith was busy flying the CSO, taking rangers, fishermen, and hunters to the outlying lakes, as well as continuing with the successful aerial fish planting.

COURTESY LARRY HARMACINSKI

The Waco when owned by Seaplane Airways in the 1940s.

Pilot Merrill Phoenix in the late 1930s with a load of two deer on West Canada Lake. www.vintageaircraft.org

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SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

On golden wings … NC656N has a cherished historical legacy.

Charlie was also buddies with local pioneering seaplane bush pilots, including Merrill Phoenix and Holland “Dutch” Redfield.

One day, Charlie gave Dutch a ride in NC656N; it was a flight that was long remembered. In early 2000, Dutch responded to a letter from Larry, sharing highlights of his association with NC656N. “I got to fly this airplane once [on May 5, 1936],” he wrote. “Charlie Smith gave me a couple of landings on Onondaga Lake near Syracuse, just before we put my own Waco [F-2] on floats for the summer.”

Dutch went on to praise the CSO. “The CSO is probably the best-performing seaplane ever built,” he wrote. “It is a powerful airplane that can be forced into the air at unbelievable attitudes and angles of attack and low airspeeds. … I never thought of the airplane as a nimble airplane. I thought of it as a rugged, powerful airplane that could be frightfully overloaded and never blink in its performance.”

During the mid-to-late 1930s, the CSO was also briefly registered to Maurice X. Alderman and Matthew T. Windhausen (the latter of whom Dutch proclaimed was a fine mechanic).

Seaplane Airways

In January 1940, Seaplane Airways Inc. of Speculator, New

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(L-R) Some of the Niemyjski family members at AirVenture: Lucas, Melayna, Jody, Kaden, Justin, and Colton.

York, became the new owner of NC656N. William Dunlop was president, Charlie was secretary/ treasurer, and young Johnny was a silent partner. NC656N underwent a significant airframe restoration and a new engine was installed that May. Larry’s research revealed that Seaplane Airways used the Waco to “haul supplies for several state conservation department projects, including loads of lumber and concrete mix to build ranger stations, as well as food and supplies for the workers. Various entries in the Waco’s old logbooks easily stir one’s imagination: ‘Load of Hay and Oats for horse,’ ‘First ship on Lewey Lake,’ ‘Fire fighters to Beaver Lake,’ and ‘1,000 pounds groceries Spruce Lake.’”

Another flight stands out simply because of the passenger: heavyweight boxing champion Max Schmeling, who held the world title in the early 1930s. Schmeling maintained a training camp in Speculator, and flew with Charlie in NC656N on June 12, 1938.

Seaplane Airways thrived, but with the onset of World War II, the ship was placed in storage at the Speculator Garage until May 1946. Then the wings were reinstalled, and the Waco was towed down the street to the shore of Lake Pleasant. Amazingly, the Heywood starter had retained

enough air to turn the Wright over — NC656N was ready to fly!

Changing Hands

In 1951, Seaplane Airways sold the Straightwing to William Northup of Round Lake, New York.

Around that time, the engine received a top overhaul, a new nose cowl, and an exhaust collector ring. In 1954, William sold the ship to John Bartell of Albany, New York. John sold it the next year to Edward Woch and Lymand Farr of Utica, New York.

Lymand based the Waco at White Lake and flew it for years.

In January 1964, the CSO once again changed hands, and its new owners — Dean Flansberg, William Weakley, Gordon Clark, and Dominick DeLucia of Poland, New York — devoted their time to bringing the biplane back to airworthy status.

It was ready to fly by August, but sadly, NC656N sustained substantial damage in October 1964 when a young, low-time pilot prematurely lifted off Beaver Lake in Baldwinsville, New York. Disheartened, the men put the forlorn Waco into long-term storage.

West to Iowa

I n 1 971 , Ri cha rd H. Wa lling bought the neglected Waco and hauled it home to Muscatine, Iowa. He invested quite a

Specifications Dimensions Wingspan upper Wingspan lower

30 feet, 7 inches

Length

22 feet, 6 inches 9 feet, 2 inches

Height

29 feet, 5 inches

Performance Engine Max speed Cruise Landing speed Rate of climb

Wright J-6-7-225 128 mph 85-90 mph 45 mph

Cruising range

540 miles 19,000 feet

Ceiling

1,100 fpm

Capacities Empty weight Useful load Gross weight

1,628 pounds 972 pounds 2,600 pounds (landplane), 2,850 pounds (seaplane)

Fuel

63 gallons 8 gallons

Oil

Derived from Juptner’s U.S. Civil Aircraft and Larry Harmacinski.

ED HICKS

bit of time and energy to restore NC656N. Numerous repairs included new spars and ribs for the left wings, left longeron welding, and the installation of a new left “N” strut and wing attach fittings.

He obtained a CSO landing gear with Bendix wheels and brakes, and a new old-stock set of Gruss shock absorbers. Additionally, new fuel tanks, a new stainless steel firewall, a new battery box, and seat belts were installed, and the Waco was re-covered with the Stits Poly-Fiber process.

Finally, the biplane was airworthy again, and Richard, accompanied by his supportive wife, Joan, flew the Waco to Oshkosh in 1980. Then in 1987, some welding work was required on the right landing gear to bring it into proper original alignment from a previous repair. In 1989, fabric was removed from the

lower right wing due to a ground mishap, and a sizable splice was made on the rear spar using new Sitka spruce before the wing was re-covered. All told, Dick kept the CSO flying for a decade until he and Joan relocated to Texas.

Full Circle

By June 1991, the time had come for Richard to part with the CSO. Larry, an airline pilot, had been looking for a Waco and was first in line. He set the hook when he showed Larry an old postcard with the Waco moored by Bill Abrams’ camp on Piseco Lake.

That captivated Larry’s imagination and cinched the deal. Richard checked Larry out in the CSO, and after replacing a broken tail-leaf spring, Larry departed Arlington, Texas. He took off just before sunrise and arrived at the National Waco Reunion at Mount

Vernon, Ohio, at sunset. During that 11 hour and 17 minute flight, the front windscreen acquired a “patina” of engine oil, and Larry had plenty of time to dream up two nifty goals for the CSO. The first was to put the ship back on its floats, and the second was to fly it back to the New York lakes where it once was such a familiar sight. So Larry drove to Kentucky where the old EDO M-2665 floats had been stored, strapped them atop a borrowed Pontiac station wagon, and hauled them home to Mishawaka, Indiana.

While attending EAA Oshkosh in 1993, Larry fortuitously met Don Leadley, who remembered NC656N and was thrilled to see it on the flightline — albeit on wheels. Afterward, Larry and Ilse journeyed to the Adirondacks several times, wending their way www.vintageaircraft.org

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ED HICKS

down a collaborative memory lane as they met some of the pilots from yesteryear and scouted the CSO’s old haunts. The young couple decided to return with the CSO on floats in 1996, and devoted their resources to making it happen.

“The floats had almost no corrosion, but there were two propeller gashes between the second and third compartments from the 1964 mishap. J.J. Frey at the old EDO plant in New York was a huge help; he located the blueprints for the floats, which took a lot of guesswork out of the jumble of cables and pulleys. During the fall of 1995, I had the floats repaired by Tony Barnum (whose great-great uncle was P.T. Barnum!),” Larry said. “In the meantime, I worked on the Whirlwind and replaced gaskets and seals, and was able to reduce oil loss to just under one quart per hour.

Later, Ilse and I took the wings off, painted the big numbers on them, repainted the fuselage 22

MAY/JUNE 2018

with factory trim, redid the panels, upholstered the cockpits per factory, and installed new fuel tanks. I copied the Seaplane Airways logo from old photos, and had a stencil made so it could be painted on the vertical stabilizer.”

The floats were ready to be installed in July 1996, and Larry figured flying to Oshkosh from Indiana would be a nice trial flight before heading on to New York. But there was still some work to be done.

“A team of friends and Waco lovers came together when most needed,” Larry said. “Butch Harvey worked his 4130 magic in producing some complicated fittings and a missing strut for the old EDOs, as well as building a trailer to move the seaplane on land. Hank and Alice Strauch built a takeoff dolly, and gave all the good advice I needed to go with it. Greg Muir spent several sleepless nights in the hangar to help me get the Waco ready. My first dolly takeoff went smoothly,

and with a providential tailwind, I pointed the Waco toward Lake Michigan. Just over three hours later, NC656N had her first water landing in 32 years.”

The grand old CSO seaplane caused quite a splash — literally and figuratively — upon landing at the EAA Seaplane Base on Lake Winnebago. Larry and Ilse received a Special Recognition Award for NC656N. Afterward, they flew to Big Long Lake in Indiana and stayed at a friend’s cabin, while Larry put in some practice time on the water. “ T h e f o l l ow i n g we e k , we pointed the Waco toward the Adirondacks. Touching down on Piseco Lake in front of Johnny Knox’s hangar, Ilse and I found a warm reception, and quite a crowd had been assembled by our hosts, Don and June Leadley,” Larry said. “I nosed the Waco up on Johnny ’s beach, and as I climbed down from the cockpit, a gentleman was running his hands over the floats.

He said, ‘Didn’t there used to be a big gash right here?’ After he paused for effect, he said, ‘Hi! I’m Bill Weakley — the one who last flew her on floats!’

Johnny Knox generously offered us use of his hangar and fueling facilities.”

The several-week visit to the Adirondacks quickly became a memorable ‘NC656N family’ reunion, far exceeding anything Larry and Ilse could have imagined. Once again, the CSO was hopping rides over the lake region. Larry gave rides to the CSO’s former pilots, owners, and admirers, including Don Leadley and his brother Jack, Lymand Farr, Bill Douque, and Wilsey Waggoner.

“Taking off from Leadley’s Cove, a right turnout brought the Waco over the beach house of Margaret Dunlop — Bill had gone west long ago, and she would wave enthusiastically as the Waco rumbled overhead, a ghost from the past. She related many stories from years gone by. William B. Abrams’ grandson Bill last flew in the Waco at age 6; during our visit, Bill and his wife, Roberta, were right at home in the front cockpit of this waterborne time machine,” Larry said. “We took off and flew a wide sweep over Abrams’ beach where the camp had been, and out over the sparkling waters of Piseco Lake. The efforts to return the Waco to New York were rewarded beyond measure. How triumphant for the Waco to soar once again over the waters of Speculator!”

Larry continued being a good steward of NC656N through the years, doing routine maintenance as well as having an oil cooler installed in 2001, and new landing gear Vees fabricated in 2002. All told, he and Ilse flew the Waco — on 1931 Marston skis, EDO floats, and Bendix wheels — for about 15 years and more than 500 hours.

Golden Wings

The future of this storied and widely cherished survivor of the golden age seems bright, since it continues to be in the care of yet another passionate aviator, who has already logged more than 60 hours and given more than 80 rides in NC656N. A reverent smile lights up Justin’s countenance as he sits on the flightline beside the regal old biplane. “The Lord has truly blessed me, and I am so grateful to be the caretaker of antique airplanes,” he said. “As a boy, I only dreamed of being able to fly these timepieces, and now I greatly enjoy giving rides and sharing this gift with others! I’ll probably keep this Waco for a long time — I haven’t sold an airplane yet!”

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www.vintageaircraft.org

23

A reunion of a rare STOL aircraft

by Budd Davisson

ED HICKS

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Helio Couriers

Descend

(Slowly) on AirVenture 2017

www.vintageaircraft.org

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CHRIS MILLER

“I can’t think of the name of it.

You know: the white, high-wing airplane with blue trim that was practically standing still during the air show and came close to landing backwards in the wind.

You know the airplane!”

Yes, almost everyone who has seen an EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show in the last couple of decades knows that airplane, courtesy of the Jungle Aviation and Radio Service (JAARS) missionary demo pilots. However, just as we sometimes can’t think of a song’s name, no matter how popular it may be, many of those watching the air show don’t know the airplane’s name. Those who made the pilgrimage to AirVenture 2017, though, came away knowing the airplane’s name well because the seldom-seen bird was anything but seldom-seen on the grounds. It had an awesome presence in 2017 because there were no less than 10 Helio Couriers wingtip to wingtip in Vintage parking! They were hard to miss, partly because two of them were 26

MAY/JUNE 2018

on amphib floats and towered over the crowd like the surplus airplanes we used to see parked on top of filling stations and such.

The Helio Gathering The Helio get-together was definitely a birds-of-a-feather event, and the crowd can thank Stephen Ruby, Vintage 20972, of Oshkosh for having the perseverance to bring the tribe together. The airplane itself is unique, and it attracts individuals who, in general, see airplanes in a different light. These are not your average Sunday morning hamburger run pilots, and they are attracted to the Helios for lots of different reasons. Safety and overall utility combine with the airplane’s “different” history, however, to form the gotta-haveit quality for most owners.

Floridians Andrew and Erika Stolte’s 1967 bird was one of the high-profile Helios on floats.

“The airplane was built only 15 miles from our house, and several of my friends’ parents

worked at the factory,” Andrew said of his Helio. “So, there was that connection. However, as soon as I flew one, shortly after getting my [certificate], I knew I had to have one. Besides that, flying private allows us to bring our dog with us without the headache of the airlines.”

Their airplane began life as a U.S. Air Force U-10D, then went to a tri-gear configuration while with the Civil Air Patrol. Later, an interim owner, Ken Meines, converted it back to a taildragger and put it on floats.

Bob Wallace, a captain of oceanographic research vessels who calls Plymouth, Massachusetts, home, had a more compelling reason to own a Helio than most.

“My father, John E. Wallace, worked for Wiggins Airways in Canton, Massachusetts, beginning in 1940 and continued with them after the war,” he said. “In 1948 Wiggins took on a project to convert a Piper Vagabond into Helio’s prototype/proof-of-concept aircraft, which came to be known

CHRIS MILLER

as the Helioplane. He worked on that and then started with Helio as production foreman and continued with them until his death in 1972. Later, of course, I finally had to have one for myself. Too bad my father did not live to see it. Could have used him many times! It’s one of the greatest and safest airplanes flying — fantastic machine and solid. Besides, as a kid, all the coolest airplanes and guys at the airport were flying taildraggers.”

Bob’s airplane is of note because it was the very last Helio to be built. It originated in 1984 as an H800 but was modified with the installation of a 420-hp Allison turboprop engine and now sits on EDO amphib floats.

Also of note is that the first Helio Courier built, serial No. 1, owned by Simon Drouin, was parked only a few feet from Bob’s Helio.

John Sessions, who had his 1957 model at AirVenture, gave the shortest, most concise answer as a reason for buying a Helio, “To fly where others cannot.”

John listed the airplane’s legendary STOL performance as a major attraction for him, as did almost all of the other owners. He had aviation in his family background in that his father designed and built the jigs for the P-51 canopy, but he also has had a longtime association with JAARS, which is an aviation-based Bible-translation organization that depends on helicopters and aircraft like the Helio to take its missionaries to the ends of the earth.

As much as John loves his Helio, he said flying it can be challenging. “It can be very tough,” he said. “It will not stall but is really a beast in a crosswind.”

The Helio gear is placed farther forward than usual to allow maximum braking without the tail coming up. That puts t h e C G we l l a f t o f t h e g e a r, which, combined with the large vertical tail surfaces and sillyslow landing speed, gives the wind ample opportunity to encourage the pilot to do his best.

Still, John said the only thing he would do over about buying a Helio is to “buy two!”

The aircraft is now owned by S.O.A.R. (Service Oriented Aviation Readiness) in Bolivar, Missouri, where it is used in training pilots and mechanics for missionary service. It was brought to AirVenture 2017 by Kevin Dunn, who is one of S.O.A.R.’s instructor pilots. It was originally sold to the Guyana Defence Force in South America and was returned to the United States in pieces in 1979. It wasn’t reassembled until 1995 and then spent some time in Alaska on floats.

While all Helio Couriers have interesting backgrounds, most usually involving time spent well off the beaten path in countries few have heard of, N6463V has a possible connection to a life far removed from that of a missionary airplane.

“There is some speculation that after the British Guyana Defence Force removed construction number 1233 from www.vintageaircraft.org

27

JACK FLEETWOOD

ED HICKS

service, it was surplused to [The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project in Jonestown],” Kevin said. “This is because C/N 1233 and C/N 1282 were stored at Port Kaituma Airstrip, which is sometimes referred to as the Jim Jones Airpark. I was not able to verify anything except the fact that the two Helios were at the airport. If they had been surplused to the cult, then, when the possessions of the cult were disposed of after the mass suicide, the airplanes would have reverted back to 28

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the Guyana Police Commission, who sold them to a U.S. buyer.”

As for flying it, Kevin said, “It’s a Helio: It won’t stall, it will fly at 27 mph, and the leading edge slats make the biggest difference.

It’ll cruise at about 130 mph at 12 gph at 2600 rpm and 24 inches of manifold pressure.”

This agrees with what other owners said about their airplanes.

“While in college, I had flown a Helio belonging to a friend and loved it but assumed that I’d never be able to afford one,” Lynn Hawkins, a Helio owner

from Franktown, Colorado, said.

“However, in 2012, N289LM, a 1956 model, came up for sale. It needed quite a lot of work, but my mechanic friend, Bill Stukenholtz, who I had worked for while I was in high school, said, ‘You’ve been bragging about Helio Couriers for years. This is your chance, so put up or shut up!’ Bill helped me fly the Courier to his maintenance hangar in Lincoln, Nebraska, where we worked on it for two and a half years. It was a proud day when I flew it home to Colorado. We rebuilt or replaced almost everything in the airframe, but it’s a 61-year-old airplane so we seem to always have something to fix. However, piece by piece we’re getting her whipped into shape. It’s still a project, but it’s a flying project!

“It’s been great in the way it brought our family and friends together! It’s our hunting, fishing, and camping plane. It’s our family truckster. It’s a blast to fly!

But mostly, it’s my baby!”

ED HICKS

A Rebirth of the Courier?

The Helio Courier has been out of production since 1984, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is dead, and it certainly isn’t forgotten. In 1994 the type certificates for all three Helio types (Courier, Twin Courier, and the turbine Stallion) and all assets were sold to Helio Aircraft LLC, a partnership that includes David Maytag.

David said the purchase included about 90 percent of the jigs and tooling for the Courier and 100 percent of the paperwork and engineering data pertaining to the Courier. This is important when it comes to production and certification. However, the small number of surviving Couriers doesn’t constitute a large enough market to consider the production of parts.

If the Courier were to go back into production, it would be with a new-generation powerplant: the EPS V-8 diesel. The engine puts out between 320 and 420 hp and really isn’t a traditional V-8 because the cylinder bank angle is very shallow. But it’s not a flat engine either. Reportedly, it is expected to be certified by the end of 2018. David thinks the EPS is the

right engine for the airplane because, being geared, the airplane can swing a bigger prop with it.

Even more importantly, it can run on Jet A, which in most parts of the world is much more available than high-octane aviation fuel.

David said we shouldn’t get our hopes up, but there have been some “high-level, encouraging discussions” that may lead to funding a restart of production.

All that supporters can do is keep their fingers crossed.

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JACK FLEETWOOD

Tigers in a Cage A brief history of Helio C/STOL aircraft

by Stephen A. Ruby, Vintage 20972

The ultimate goal of aeronautical engineers is to have their products make significant leaps in an industry where safe, speedy transportation is paramount. The STOL category is at the other end of that spectrum, where the factors at stake are the ability to provide novel ideas and making them a reality. The Helioplane of 1949 is one such experiment that actually worked and later became the Helio Courier, also known as the tennis court airplane (because early tests were conducted from a Harvard University tennis court).

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At the Beginning: The Helioplane The remarkable Helio Courier was the brainchild of Dr. Otto Koppen, professor of aeronautical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Dr. Lynn Bollinger of the Harvard Business School. Their goal, in the mid-to-late ’40s, was to design and manufacture an airplane that not only had STOL capabilities, but also had the combination of the highest coefficient of lift and the lowest possible drag.

Prior STOL designs, such as the Curtiss Tanager that was entered

in the Guggenheim Safe Flight Competition, were slow, aerodynamically dirty, and depended on low wing loading for shortfield performance. They also could not be safely maneuvered when operating near their stall speed. The plane they envisioned would not stall or spin at any airspeed, could make steep turns even when flying at 30 mph, and would have a good useful load, range, and a high enough cruise speed to make it a practical crosscountry airplane. Such a plane, they reasoned, would have great

appeal to the flying public.

As a starting point, the two professors and a third investor each put up $6,000 (about $63,000 in today’s dollars, $189,000 total), and purchased the fuselage, wing panels, and horizontal tail surfaces of a Piper PA-17 Vagabond.

They engaged Wiggins Airways of Canton, Massachusetts, to modify the airframe to their specifications, the work being done at the old Greater Boston Metropolitan Airport. The fuselage was lengthened by 4 feet, the landing gear was made taller and placed farther forward to ensure prop clearance, and the vertical tail was increased in area and height.

A salutary side effect of the new gear position was that it allowed full braking at touchdown, without danger of the plane flipping tail over nose.

The rudder was split into top

The remarkable Helio Courier was the brainchild of Dr. Otto Koppen and Dr. Lynn Bollinger. and bottom halves, with the bottom serving its conventional function, while the top acted as a giant trim tab, interconnected with the full-span, slotted flaperons to counteract adverse aileron yaw. A mechanical “brain” increased the deflection of the upper rudder in direct proportion to flap deflection.

Leading-edge slats were fitted to smooth out airflow over the wings’ top surface at high angles of attack,

almost doubling the amount of lift available. Amazingly, according to an interview Koppen gave before his death, these slats provided 64 percent of the total lift. According to his calculations derived from wind-tunnel tests, the Helioplane should have left the ground in 100 feet. Actual flight tests showed that 125 feet was required for the ground roll. This was the source of much speculation among the staff at MIT, until one of the engineers theorized that the coefficient of lift measured in the wind tunnel derived from steady-state conditions, whereas in reality, the airplane would accelerate quickly through its liftoff speed and the circulation around the wing lagged somewhat behind. By the time it “caught up” to the point where enough lift was being created to allow the craft to leave the ground, another 25 feet would have been covered. Under-

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ED HICKS

SCOTT GERMAIN

standably, the team found the extra few feet quite acceptable, and moved on.

Power was supplied by a fourcylinder Continental engine of 85 hp, swinging a wide-chord, 9-foot Aeromatic propeller via a V-belt reduction drive. This combination adhered to Koppen’s formula for ideal STOL performance, which involved squaring the propeller diameter in inches (81) and dividing the result by the horsepower (85); the resulting number should be close to unity.

At that time, the Aeromatic came the closest to constantspeed performance as was available for light planes in those days. By balancing aerodynamic forces against springs and counterweights, it provided low pitch at takeoff and high pitch at cruise.

In spite of the lengthened landing gear, the 9-inch minimum ground clearance of the prop that was required by the Civil Aeronautics Administration was not met. In fact, it was short by 1-1/2 34

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inches! The CAA pounced on this and sent no less than four test pilots to Canton, with the stated intent of making the prop strike the ground. Try as they would, they were not able to do so. With the application of full throttle, the plane would rise up on its 12inch travel oleos, and would be off the ground before they could even think about raising the tail.

In fact, the tail wheel was always the last to depart. Likewise, touchdowns always occurred in either the three-point attitude or tail wheel first.

Finally, the CAA threw in the towel and accepted the design asis. Jack Phillips, who is still very active after a career as head of sales for Wiggins, during which he sold more than 1,000 Piper aircraft, was the first test pilot on the Helio project. The abovedescribed “proof of concept” aircraft, as the CAA called it, was actually named the Helioplane.

It now hangs in the Smithsonian, a tribute to this pioneering effort.

A Newer Design The second design, purposebuilt as a four-place and considered the prototype Helio Courier, used a Continental O-300 engine of 145 hp, swinging an 11-foot prop. It was soon discovered that the Helioplane was less than willing to go around corners — it didn’t like turning due to a strong adverse yaw. To resolve this, Koppen devised a typically ingenious solution. He ignored conventional spoilers (like those found on Mitsubishi MU2s) and developed what he, somewhat oddly, called interceptors. These were unusually positioned close to the wing leading edge and a pair on each side literally scooped up the smooth airflow and prevented the slat in front of it from generating too much lift, leading to a sharp rolling moment. Rigged to operate at large aileron deflections and thus at low speeds, it works very well. This plane was destroyed in the vicinity of Concord, Massachusetts, when the

pilot attempted to fly through a line of squalls and crashed.

The Helio Courier Is Born Realizing that large props like the one the prototype used were impractical, the professors followed up in 1954 with an all-metal design using a Lycoming GO-435C2B2 engine with planetary reduction drive to a constant-speed metal propeller just over 100 inches in diameter. This provided more than adequate static thrust, essential for the quick acceleration needed for STOL operations.

Slower tip speeds made for a very quiet and efficient propeller. Cooling drag, which is usually 25 percent of the total, was reduced by the pioneering use of ejectors, also known as augmentors. Exhaust was dumped into the engine cooling air exit plenum, and the

high velocity of the gases would entrain the cooling air, accelerating it and creating the needed pressure differential ordinarily produced by drag-creating cowl flaps. Eventually, it was determined that ejectors were a maintenance headache and were not cost-efficient so they were eliminated in favor of conventional cowl flaps. Helio Courier H-391B, N242B, was awarded type certificate 1A8 in June 1954. Nearly 530 airplanes rolled out the door made by the Mid State Manufacturing division of Helio Aircraft in Pittsburg, Kansas. The type can be summarized as the airplane everyone wanted but no one could afford. A brief startup in 1983 only produced 18 airplanes. About 150 Helios survive and are being flown in areas not accessible by any other airplane.

*Indicates Liberty Tri-Motor TOUR STOP

Helio Stallion: A Breed Apart The Helio Stallion was a military, slab-sided armed escort very close in mission purpose to the Fairchild A-10 Thund e r b o l t I I . It wa s e q u i p p e d with wing-mounted rockets, a side-firing cannon, and a provision for a 500-pound bomb.

The turboprop single comp e t e d w i t h t h e Po r t e r P C - 6 and Turbo Beaver. However, the Stallion beat them all in cruise, climb, and slow flight.

On August 25, 1969, Helio Stallion No. 003 was awarded type certificate A4EA , claiming a 200-knot max cruise. Eighteen examples were built, and only two survive. Too expensive for the civilian sector, the Stallion remains one of the most unusual backcountry STOL airplanes produced.

greeneville, tn * | may 3-6 dEridder, la | may 3-6 lexington, ky * | may 10-13 hot springs, ar | may 10-13 williamstown, wv * | may 17-20 enid, ok | may 17-20 richmond, in * | may 24-27 lebanon, mo | may 24-27 bolingbrook, il * | may 31-june 3 lee’s summit, mo | may 31-june 3 iowa city, ia * | june 7-10 york, ne | june 7-10 bloomington, iL * | june 14-17 o’neill, ne | june 14-17 rockford, il * | june 21-24 rapid city, sd | june 21-24 bismarck, nd | june 28-july 1 port clinton, oh * | june 29-july 4 Visit flytheford.org or call 1-877-952-5395 to reserve your flight. www.vintageaircraft.org

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Textbook Tri-

They don’t come any more original

by Budd Davisson JOHN DIBBS

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MAY/JUNE 2018

Pacer For sale: Nearly new old-stock 1953 milk stool. Low mileage. Only used by little old lady on Sundays.

Stored in environmentally controlled barn on weekdays. If interested, come by Abe’s Grocery. Ask for Mabel.

Vaughn Lovley and the never-been-touched Tri-Pacer.

Okay, so I’m being facetious here. But not by much. In a world where Botox and Bondo are responsible for maintaining a public face, mechanical or otherwise, we fully expect and accept the occasional face-lift. So, when viewing someone or something that is 65 years old but actually appears young, we know that a plastic surgeon has earned his or her pay. A tuck here, some paint there. However, there are those few who actually do skate through life never once needing the help of a cosmetic whittler. Tri-Pacer N1301C is one of those aerial personages that has lived that magical life. www.vintageaircraft.org

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Vaughn Lovley shows off what is probably the most original TriPacer in existence.

LAURIE GOOSSENS PHOTOS

The lighter colors help brighten the cockpit and there’s not a nick or repair in sight.

There were approximately 7,500 Tri-Pacers (the much loved flying milk stool) built between 1950 and 1960 (it lived on into ’64 as the Colt). How many do you suppose survived totally untouched to today? Better yet, by 1953, approximately 75,000 general aviation airplanes of all types had been built since World War II. What are the odds that there 38

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are others that survived as well as N1301C? It would be safe to say the odds are 75,000 to one. Basically, zero. So, what’s the story behind N1301C, and what is so special about it being untouched?

Life Begins for N1301C

1950 was an important year.

How i m p o r t a n t d e p e n d s o n whom you ask. Many will point

out, with some glee, that 1950 was the first year that Piper put a nose wheel under its PA-20 Pacer and called it the PA-22 Tri Pacer. This forced Cessna to do the same to its C-170, making it the C-172. However, according to some hardcore taildragger pilots, this was the beginning of the end of civilization as we know it. For Piper, however, it was an absolutely brilliant move because their sales streaked upward. N1301C was an early participant in the nose wheel development race that was just then taking off. Literally.

The original PA-20 Pacer was the third short-wing design that Piper developed in an effort to thwart a downward postwar sales spiral. The PA-15/17 before it, the Vagabonds, were two-place bargain basement airplanes aimed at getting postwar pilots into the air as inexpensively as possible.

The 1949 Clipper was touted as a four-place airplane, but really

It’s a miracle that the fuel selector doesn’t show more wear.

LAURIE GOOSSENS PHOTOS

The control yokes are on the ends of a “T” control column behind the panel. The white knob is the brake.

Nice legs for a 68-year-old!

Obviously, the old Tri-Pacer has done its share to avoid bugs.

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“Pleasant” is the best way to describe the looks of a Tri-Pacer — very balanced and model airplane-like.

JOHN DIBBS

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wasn’t. You could put two people in the back seat, as long as they weighed almost nothing and you didn’t intend to take off in any but the coolest conditions with lots of runway in front of you. In 1950, Piper took a more serious look at the four-place market and built the Pacer. With the 125-hp Lycoming O-290, it was a decent three-place airplane with extra room. However, almost as soon as Piper put a nose wheel under it, the size of the market became apparent and bigger engines — 135 hp as in N1301C, then 150 hp, and, finally, 160 hp became standard. The O-320 150/160-hp engines actually made a four-place airplane out of it.

When N1301C left the plant, it went first to a dealer who almost immediately sold it to Fairmont Air Services in Fairmont, Minnesota. The sale price was $4,159.27 (a little more than $38,000 in 2018 dollars — what a bargain!).

Fairmont was a small air taxi operator and used the airplane for short passenger hauls. However, it sold the aircraft a little over a

New Homes for N1301C

without leaving hand marks?

For whatever reason, Minnesota and Wisconsin attract airplane people, and a lot of vintage aircraft are rebuilt, collected, and flown in the area. One of the foremost enthusiasts is Bill Burggeman in Anoka, Minnesota.

When he decided to sell his collection, noted aircraft restorer Forrest Lovley was contracted to sell it, which included a large number of really valuable highend antiques. And then there was the Tri-Pacer.

“I was late getting into the vintage airplane game, which seems weird considering that I was always surrounded by Dad’s airplane friends and vintage/antique aircraft were never out of sight,” Vaughn, Forrest’s son who is himself coming up as a restorer, said.

“And we never missed Blakesburg or Brodhead. However, I was young and was busy being a teenager and then a young man trying to get a career started. However, a few years ago, the stars aligned and I jumped into the vintage airplane thing with both feet. The first being a Vagabond. And, I knew about the Tri-Pacer.”

Considering that Vaughn’s family history is built around big, impressive antique airplanes and he himself owns a Waco YKC-S cabin bipe, one of only two still flying, it would be easy to assume that something like a Tri-Pacer would be beneath him. But, it wasn’t.

LAURIE GOOSSENS PHOTOS

When N1301C left the plant, it went first to a dealer who almost immediately sold it to Fairmont Air Services in Fairmont, Minnesota.

The sale price was $4,159.27 (a little more than $38,000 in 2018 dollars — what a bargain!).

year and 250 hours later, probably because it wasn’t exactly the right one for an air taxi operation. The b u ye r, He n r y Re d e r o f Lakefield, Minnesota, held on to the airplane for 32 years, during which time he put 600 hours on it but cared for it meticulously.

How do you move the overhead trim knob

Remember speakers in the overhead? And dome lights?

“Dad had already sold most of the collection but wasn’t having any luck with the Tri-Pacer,” Vaughn said. “I, on the other hand, thought it was really an unbelievable airplane. So, I bought it. This is where my dad’s working life spilled over onto mine.

Even though I’m certain Dad didn’t think I was paying any attention to what he did while I was a kid, I couldn’t help but soak up a lot of things. I had spent my entire life around airplanes that were either being rebuilt or needed rebuilding, and Dad often started with nothing but a pile of www.vintageaircraft.org

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JOHN DIBBS

scrap, much less a complete airframe. Even if it was a complete, flying airplane, almost every one of them looked as if a part might fall off any minute.”

Vaugh said that even as a kid he recognized the amount of work that went into his dad’s restorations.

“As I watched and helped him I was very conscious of the incredible amount of time he spent researching details on the airplane he was working on,” he said. “Inasmuch as authenticity was key to everything he did, every detail counted. I could easily see how hard it was to determine exactly how something had been done originally because it had been changed so many times since the airplane was built. You’re constantly wondering how this or that is supposed to be done. The Tri-Pacer 42

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was totally unique in that respect.

“My Vagabond restoration had taught me a lot about short-wing Pipers. However, every time I turned around on the Vagabond, even though it was a very wellknown airplane type, I would find several different opinions on how something was supposed to be done. This was because there was a lot of stuff they did at the factory that doesn’t show on the drawings.

And it may have changed through the years. There’s no definitive reference you could go to and know it was exactly right. With this Tri-Pacer, you have no doubt that whatever was on it was done right because nothing had ever been changed. Nothing! Ever!”

On Being Original

Often, the original fabric on

vintage airplanes will be beyond salvaging, but that was not so with N1301C. “It’s pretty wild to punch test 65-year-old fabric and have it pass by a fairly wide margin,” Vaughn said. “This is largely because of where it has been since it was put in the museum in ’87, and it hadn’t flown since ’96 when I bought it. It was sitting in the back corner of a dry, temperature/humidity-controlled display hangar and was far enough away from any windows that it was fairly dark so the fabric saw very little UV. I don’t know how the last owner stored the airplane, but it’s covered with cotton and painted with dope, a combination that’s not known for its longevity, yet there it is.

So, he too apparently had ideal storage conditions available.

There’s not a single patch. Not a bit of new paint. It’s almost as if it’s been in a vault since the day it left the factory.

“There is also zero rust on anything. The tubing looks perfect, and not even the clevises have any corrosion or oxidation. The paint doesn’t shine, but dope usually doesn’t and who cares anyway. What is important is that the airplane is literally a time capsule of Piper short-wing technology. This airplane should be the go-to reference for anyone restoring any short-wing Piper of this vintage.”

When Vaughn brought the airplane to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017, many of the short-wing in-crowd knew it was coming. So, as soon as it was on the grounds and parked in front of the VAA Red Barn, a steady stream of reverent short-wingers began streaming past. The majority of the air show crowd saw nothing special about the airplane but

short-wingers knew better.

“It was really fun listening to those who know short-wing Pipers say things like, ‘Oh, that’s the way it’s supposed to be done,’” Vaughn said. “Even some of the absolute experts, like Clyde Smith and Bill Pancake, crawled around the airplane and found stuff they hadn’t seen before or had forgotten about. The airplane was doing what I had brought it to Oshkosh to do: It was definitively answering questions that couldn’t be answered any other way.”

know for a fact that I’ll never own an airplane like that again. But, that’s okay. I owned this one, and I feel as if I made the right move toward getting it protected.”

Although he’s stepped away from owning such a vital piece of aviation history, Vaughn said he’s open to whatever may come in

the future.

“Of course, I keep hearing airplane-in-a-barn stories, so who knows what I may stumble across,” he said. “That’s one of the fun aspects of being into vintage airplanes. There always seems to be another one out there, but none will be like this one.”

The Responsibility of Artifact Ownership

A problem with owning a time capsule airplane is the awful responsibility it places on the owner.

It’s more than just an airplane.

“Frankly, every time I’d fly the airplane I’d worry about it,” Vaughn said. “It’s like an egg: Even a minor incident would totally change its character. The smallest repair would make me feel terrible. From the first day I got it I knew that I wasn’t the right person to have it. I wanted it to be in a museum somewhere where it was protected but still available to anyone needing definitive Tri-Pacer information.

I made a few tentative gestures in finding it a new, public home, but that’s really not my thing.

Then, an individual approached me and wanted to buy it so he could donate it to the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven, although neither of us had any idea whether that was remotely possible or not.

“Part of me didn’t want to sell the airplane but another part wanted it protected, and I just couldn’t do it justice. So, I parted with it. Fortunately, it went to a good, protective home, and I hope it goes even further than that. I www.vintageaircraft.org

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Sleek

&

Spectacular 44

MAY/JUNE 2018

The Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwings

by Sparky Barnes Sargent, Vintage 715783

T

hey were a sight to behold — seven Model 17s that joined the flightline during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017. Sounding like rumbling thunder straight out of the golden age of aviation, five of them captured the crowd’s attention as they taxied out from the Vintage area for a photo shoot one afternoon.

The Model 17 was born in the 1930s when Walter and Olive Ann Beech’s fledgling Beech Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kansas, endeavored to build a better biplane. Ted Well’s sleek Staggerwing design included noteworthy features such as a streamlined fuselage, faired gear legs (later retractable gear), and the now-iconic negativestagger wings.

Like so many onlookers did during AirVenture, let’s meander down “Staggerwing row” and learn a bit more about each of these grand old biplanes and their pilots.

NC18575

SCOTT GERMAIN

Michael Greenblatt and his 17-yearold son, Benjamin, flew to Oshkosh from their home in Columbus, Georgia — and Benjamin flew a good portion of the flight. Michael is president of the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee, and was happy to see Staggerwings so well represented on the flightline this year. www.vintageaircraft.org

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SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

Benjamin Greenblatt and his father, Michael with NC18575, a 1937 Beech D17S.

JACK FLEETWOOD

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NC18575 shines in the clear blue sky.

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

N92SL, a 1941 Beech D17S, is the color of a fine merlot.

179 so it’s a handmade airplane. A four-digit serial number indicates an airplane that was production line produced (i.e., for the military). The earlier airplanes were all handmade and ‘one-offs’ as directed by the purchaser.”

According to Michael, NC18575 was the first aeromagnetic mapping airplane owned by Airmag Surveys of Philadelphia (now Keystone Aerial Surveys Inc.) “In 1944, Airmag hung the first magnetometer out of a hole in the belly of this airplane, and used a crank with a cable to lower it and let it fly behind the airplane,” he said. “It put out radio waves, which they used for geological surveying. This airplane is kind of unique because it came

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

Michael first fell in love with Model 17s when he saw a yellow one at Centennial Field in 1990.

“I just had to have one, and within a year, I bought my 1937 Beech D17S,” Michael said. “I’ve been enjoying it ever since! When it came off the production line, it was painted international orange, plum purple, and gold as Louisiana State University’s airplane. It was in the process of finish and restoration when I bought it, and won Outstanding Closed Cockpit Biplane at EAA Oshkosh in 1992.

Over the last 27 years we’ve virtually gone through everything in the airplane again. It’s fully IFR certified and has a GPS, autopilot, and storm scope.”

Michael said one of his favorite things about his Pratt & Whitneypowered Staggerwing is the crowd it draws at airports.

“Plus, it’s a challenge to fly because it’s got a fairly narrow gear, which keeps you on your toes,” he added. “As an 80-year-old airplane, it’s got its quirks. There’s no dihedral in the wing, so it’s like you’re sitting on the head of a pin.

But it’s a great flying airplane and travels well. At 65 percent power it cruises at 165 mph and burns right at 23 gallons an hour. It carries 179 gallons — it has a tank in each wing and two in the fuselage — so it will fly almost seven and a half hours. Basically this is a stock D model; it has an early serial No.

Tony and Beth Debevc camped alongside their 1941 Beech D17S. out of the factory without landing lights, but now it has landing lights in the lower wings’ leading edges. It also has had the halfmoon windows added on each side of the fuselage; this airplane has very narrow windows compared to other Staggerwings, so

the visibility is not as good.”

Michael said he learned early on that this grand old biplane demands his full attention. “I got my tailwheel endorsement in this airplane with a gentleman by the name of Bud Fuchs. You really have to fly the airplane; the autopilot will do it well, but in turbulence it’s all over the place. But it’s a great traveling five-place airplane.”

There’s no doubt that Michael, who also restored an award-winning Beech 18 and a 1940 Piper J-4 Cub Coupe, has passed along his love for antique airplanes to his children. His daughter, Elizabeth, learned to fly in the J-4 and soloed it at 17. Benjamin received his tailwheel signoff and private pilot certificate in October 2017 and flies the Staggerwing with his father as much as possible.

N92SL

Ohioans Tony and Beth Debevc spent their third trip to Oshkosh camping alongside their Pratt & Whitney-powered 1941 Beech D17S (serial No. 01640).

“We like to be right here, where all the action is,” Tony said. He bought the airplane in 2013 and has since brought it up to IFR specifications, added en route navigation and approach GPS, and upgraded to ADS-B. “It was given to the Royal Navy as a lend-lease aircraft and spent about four to five years in England during World War II,” Tony said of his Staggerwing’s provenance. “Then it came back to the U.S. Navy in California after the war and went through a number of people’s hands in California. Dennis Nicholas restored the aircraft in the 1980s to its current condition. [Later on] a collector bought it, and he was going to put it in the living room of his house and hang it from the ceiling, but his

wife didn’t agree. So we went out there with a mechanic who’s very familiar with Staggerwings and did a pre-buy inspection on it in the middle of the desert. We really did an extensive annual to make sure everything was okay.”

Tony has logged about 160 hours in his Staggerwing so far, and shares his flying time with a couple of Stearmans he owns. “I’ve been fortunate,” he said with a smile. “I also have a 2,000-foot grass strip where we keep the airplanes.”

When comparing flying the Staggerwing to flying a Stear m a n , To n y s a i d t h e S t a g gerwing has more directional control on landing. “ I t h i n k t h a t ’s d u e t o t h e weight of the engine,” he said.

“The Staggerwing has a tendency to follow the nose, just like with nosewheel aircraft. It’s heavy and very bouncy, so it’s hard to grease one on, so to speak, because the landing gear has a spring with oleo strut assist. I wheel land it, because it’s very hard to see forward, and it doesn’t slip real easy like a Stearman where you can keep the landing point in sight.

They usually recommend a tail wheel-low wheel landing configuration for the Staggerwing, and that seems to work the best.”

Tony also said he has been pleased with the Staggerwing’s performance. “This aircraft carries a lot of weight, including five people and five fuel tanks for a total of 123 gallons. Its normal cruising speed is 155 to 160 mph, but it can go 180 mph if we want. It has plenty of power, so I can operate out of my grass strip just fine. It likes to touch down at about 70 mph so it does take up a fair amount of runway, but on takeoff it only needs about 800 feet — it can get it off the ground with no problem!”

Incidentally, Tony’s Stagger-

wing is the color of a fine merlot.

That’s quite appropriate, since he owns Debonne Vineyards in Madison, Ohio, which is the largest estate winery in Ohio and has been in his family for 45 years. He’s also started Double Wing Brewery, which, not surprisingly, has a stylized Staggerwing logo.

N16GD Super G

Mike Toman was flying this 1944 Beech G17S and thoroughly enjoyed the rare opportunity to fly with a handful of other Staggerwings during the photo shoot. “It was a lot of fun,” he said. “Flying in a formation of five Staggerwings at one time is pretty awesome!”

N16GD (formerly NC5653N, s e r i a l No. 6 76 6 ) wa s m a n u factured as a D17S and commissioned to the Royal Navy during World War II. After the war, Woltz Photo of Des Moines, Iowa, acquired the airplane for its business operations. It was later bought and donated to the Beechcraft Heritage Museum by Robert Dedek, and then Jim Younkin of Springdale, Arkansas, acquired it in 1993. A master craftsman and designer, Jim transformed the airplane from a D model into his own 1990s version of Beech’s 1940s G model. The G model was originally an upgraded D17S built

by Beechcraft. The company only produced 20 G models; the faster and more economical four-place Bonanza was introduced in 1947.

Jim fabricated all new external sheet metal and re-engineered the airplane’s systems, making it a Super G. It was still powered by a 450-hp Pratt & Whitney R-985 swinging a Hamilton Standard 2D30 prop, but had a fully enclosed cowling with cowl flaps. By then, Gerry Dederich owned the airplane, and N16GD was hauled up to Faribault, Minnesota, where www.vintageaircraft.org

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SPARKY BARNES SARGENT PHOTOS

NC16GD was converted from a D Model into a “Super G.”

Mike Toman flew this 1944 Beech G17S to Oshkosh.

the final assembly, finish, interior, and avionics were completed by Roy Aero Service in 1996.

“This one has a little bit longer nose so the visibility is a little more restricted, but it flies like a Cadillac,” said Mike, who also flies several other Staggerwings.

“I have maybe a couple hundred hours in Staggerwings, and the others are all good, but this is a really nice-flying machine. It’s fully IFR equipped and has an autopilot and oxygen. It’s nice to come to Oshkosh in the Staggerwing; you get a lot of attention and good parking! I’m a corporate pilot, and I love the Learjets; the Staggerwing was the golden age Learjet!”

N16GD was the Antique Customized Aircraft Champion at EAA Oshkosh 1996, and was part of David Oreck’s collection

then Charlie Harley, who flew this airplane when he was in the Navy, bought it and brought it home to Davenport, Iowa.”

Ro y, o f M u s c a t i n e, Io w a , bought N4612N in 1995, despite Gary’s insistence that it wasn’t a practical airplane. “Roy told me, ‘My dad owned three, and I’d like to have one.’ Well, we’ve flown it all over the place — I’ve got 200 hours in it!” Gary said. “Roy likes the back seat, which is like a big comfortable couch.”

Roy had the biplane restored in 1997, and it was an Award winner at AirVenture 1998. Gary has flown it to Florida several times.

“You can pull in next to a Learjet and nobody pays any attention to the Learjet,” Gary said with a laugh. “One time we stopped for fuel, and this guy comes up and asks, ‘What kind of airplane is

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N4612N

Pilot Gary Lewis has a longtime association with this 1944 Beech D17S (serial No. 6874).

He’s been flying it for owner Roy Carver Jr. for more than 20 years.

“It was a U.S. Navy executive transport and was based in Olathe, Kansas. We have all of the military logbooks for it, which is really unusual,” Gary said. “Then it was mustered out of the military and went to the war surplus department. It changed hands a few times, and

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT PHOTOS

Gary Lewis and Andrew Carver.

Andrew’s father, Roy, owns this 1944 Beech D17S (s/n 6874).

for two decades until it was sold in late 2017. For more information about N16GD, see Budd Davisson’s “Super ‘G’ Staggerwing” article in EAA Sport Aviation, November 1996, and Thomas A. Horne’s “Beech’s Beautiful Biplane” article in AOPA Pilot, October 1999.

N4612N is a 1944 Beech D17S owned by Roy Carver Jr. of Iowa.

This D17S was built by Beech Aircraft Corporation at Wichita, Kansas, in July 1943. it’s a bi-wing,” said Craig, an airline pilot with about 25,000 hours. “I started flying general aviation Cessna 150s and 172s, and then Cubs and Aeroncas, then graduated to a Stearman.

I was fortunate enough to purchase this airplane from a gentleman in Fredericksburg, Texas. I base this aircraft and my Piper

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT PHOTOS

this? And where do I fuel it?’ I told him it’s a 1944 Beech Staggerwing, and you don’t — you hand me the hose! It has a 23-gallon tank in each wing and a 29-gallon in the fuselage. So you have five tanks and two fuel selectors — it can keep you busy. This one has a 450-hp Pratt, but the emblem on the engine says Jacobs. That’s because during the war, Pratt couldn’t keep up with production so they farmed some engines out to Jacobs to assemble.”

Gary checked out Roy’s son Andrew in the Staggerwing for insurance purposes. Andrew, now 43, earned his private certificate when he was 17.

“It was a new challenge for me to fly this airplane. I love it, especially when Gary’s sitting next to me doing his back-seat driving,” Andrew said, smiling. “Gary’s a good mentor; the taildragger experience is definitely a rewarding challenge. Flying the Fisk arrival was adrenaline pumping because I had the controller and also Gary trying to tell me what to do. But it was awesome, and the number of airplanes [there] is pretty amazing. We just flew in for the day; I’ve always wanted to come to Oshkosh, and this [was] my first time. Gary’s been kind of the caretaker of the airplane. He’s getting close to retiring, so he’s passing the baton to me. That’s a lot of responsibility; this is a very special airplane, and I need to make sure I’m ready for that.”

Craig Copeland bases his Staggerwing at Monticello Sky Ranch near Atlanta.

N487CC

Craig Copeland has always had a love for Staggerwings, and has owned his 1943 Beech D17S (serial No. 4837) for three years now.

“For me, the Staggerwing is the airplane that has everything — a round motor, tail wheel, cabin class, retractable gear, and www.vintageaircraft.org

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Pacer at Monticello Sky Ranch, a 3,900-foot grass strip located an hour southeast of Atlanta.”

Craig said his Staggerwing was originally built for the Navy as a GB-2 Traveller but was decommissioned in the late 1940s.

“It spent most of its time up in Rhode Island: It did some mapping work and liaison work with the Navy,” he said.

Craig said with everyday operations the Staggerwing can be very maintenance intensive.

“If you keep up on the maintenance and keep it in flying condition, it’s a great airplane,” he said.

“It holds 121 gallons so if fuel is $5 a gallon, it costs about $600 to fill it up. But it’s worth every penny to own it and fly it. The best thing about owning the Staggerwing is … I feel like I won the lottery; it’s a dream come true!

I’ve always loved this airplane … the scariest thing about owning it is that I’m afraid I’m going to wake up and find out it was only a dream! There are less than 100 flying today, and I feel very privileged to own a part of history.”

NC80306

is that it’s a piece of artwork,” he said. “For 20 years now, Staggerwings have been ranked [by various aviation publications] among the most beautiful airplanes ever made. We’re just fortunate to own them; anybody could if they have the money and the desire. It’s a great airplane; they’re a hallmark airplane in my mind.”

Chris has his own 1944 D17S (N16M, serial No. 6765), which he bought in 1988.

“I enjoy taking my wife and kids and going all over the place,” he said. “I flew mine from Denver to Florida and back again, through [bad] weather at very high altitudes — the airplane performs flawlessly. It’s not economical, but it’s very dependable.

I’ve restored eight Staggerwings, and there are a couple of misconceptions I’d like to correct. One is this: The concept that Beech designed these airplanes for visibility is not correct. Not that I’m any expert, but if you look at the airplane and figure out how air flows over surfaces and where it goes, you can see they designed it because there are aerodynamic advantages to the reverse stagger, such as less parasitic drag. The other thing is that in a high angle of attack stall, the lower wing will stall while the upper wing’s

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT PHOTOS

Jack Cronin’s 1946 Beech G17S (serial No. B-5) returned to flying status the week prior to AirVenture 2017 after a 26-year hiatus.

Jack’s friend, architect Chris Jacobsen, was pilot in command for their flight from Denver to Oshkosh, and shared a bit about its history.

“Jack bought this authentic G model in 1992 and flew it until 1994,” he said. “Then he took it to Jim Younkin who used Jack’s plane and one other authentic G as prototypes for converting D models to G in appearance.

Younkin’s team completely rebuilt Jack’s plane after taking it apart in order to have an accurate guide to create the planned conversions to the D models. So there was an awful lot of sheet metal changes involved, which is a huge deal because it’s all complicated compound rolls and shapes, and the firewall is different. Basically everything from the foot wells (where the rudder pedals are) forward is all different on a G than a D. The airframe’s the same, but they changed the cowl, lengthened the engine mount, and changed the slope on the windshield. Beech did it on serial No. 424 back in the prewar era as a proof of concept, I think.”

Like other Staggerwing owners, Chris has high praise for the airplane. “They’re a sleek, fabulouslooking airplane. The nostalgia is part of their appeal, and the other

It takes some muscle to move a Staggerwing on the field!

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Chris Jacobsen and Jack Cronin with Jack’s 1946 Beech G17S (s/n B-5).

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT PHOTOS

NC18781, Bill’s Dream, is a 1938 Beech F17D with a fuel-injected Jacobs. still flying. When I’m teaching people how to fly these airplanes, we go out and do this high angle of attack stall, and then it gets into a rocking motion. It’s a very predictable rocking horse maneuver: It’ll fall and pick itself back up again and again. The airplane is very hard to spin, but it will spin and the recovery procedure is like every other airplane, but you just let go and it’ll fly it-

self out. Another thing is that everybody says it’s a complicated airplane. It’s not so much that it’s complicated; it’s just that the parts count is very high!”

NC18781

Pilot brothers Ron and Mark Morrison personally restored their late father’s Staggerwing, which they ’ve affectionately named Bill’s Dream. This 1938

(L-R) William Morrison with his father, Ron, and uncle, Mark.

Beech F17D (serial No. 204) has won multiple awards through the years and is based at DuPage Airport in West Chicago.

“In 1974 my dad saw an ad for a Staggerwing in the Los Angeles Times, and he had dreamed of having one since he was 21,” said Ron, who is an aerospace sales specialist for FedEx. “My mother said, ‘I can’t believe you’ve wanted something for this long

SCOTT GERMAIN

www.vintageaircraft.org

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A gathering of handsome Staggerwings under the sunny Wisconsin sky.

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT PHOTOS

and never told me — we’ve been married 35 years!’ So he got the airplane and rebuilt it, and got it flying in 1980. In 1985, Dad suffered a fatal heart attack en route to Oshkosh on board an airliner.

Four months later, the Staggerwing was destroyed in a hangar fire at Torrance Airport.”

Heartbroken, the brothers and their mother decided to restore the blackened airframe in 1986.

“When we got it to the silver coats, we didn’t have money for color, so we put stripes on the silver and it looked pretty good — some Staggerwings were originally that color, so we decided to have a silver Staggerwing,” Mark said. “We got the airplane back flying in 1990 and Capt. Bud Fuchs checked us out in it. We’ve been flying it to Oshkosh every year since then. It’s been a great traveling airplane; it cruises about 180 mph, and we’ve flown it over 2,000 hours.”

Bill’s Dream continues to be a 52

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labor of love for Ron and Mark.

“We put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into maintaining it every year. We do admit to being plane crazy — we also built an RV-8, just finished an RV-10, and we’ve restored two Luscombes.”

Since 2009, NC18781 has been powered by a fuel-injected 330-hp Jacobs L6MB engine. “We worked with the FAA for five years to get a one-time field approval for this engine which improves performance and prevents problematic carb icing,” Ron said. “This airplane is 500 pounds lighter than the D models, which have the 450-hp Pratt & Whitney, so the performance is about the same, except this one is a little bit lighter and more agile. It’s a beautiful flying airplane; if you fly it you’ll fall in love with it because it’s just so nice and solid on the controls.”

The third generation of Morrisons may well be caring for and flying Bill’s Dream one day. Ron’s

son William recently soloed the family Luscombe, and Mark’s daughter Margaret holds a private certificate. “This airplane has been a great family bond,” Mark said. “We’ve had so many enjoyable experiences with it. Ronald met his wife in Tennessee through the Staggerwing Club, and I can’t tell you how many people we’ve met and made friends with.”

“I grew up in a car seat on the workbench while my dad and uncle were working on this airplane, and I help with every annual inspection,” William added.

“I’ve grown up living and breathing this stuff, and I wouldn’t trade it for a thing!”

Beechcraft Heritage Museum 570 Old Shelbyville Hwy Tullahoma, TN 37388 Airport Identifier KTHA 931-455-1974 www.beechcraftheritage museum.org/

My CallAir Cadet

Why I decided to throw money in the air to see what would happen

by Alex Nelon, Vintage 721230 photos courtesy of the author

S

ometimes, the stars align just right and you find yourself face to face with a very special airplane. That’s what happened to me in April 2012 when my friend Richard handed me a printed flyer describing an airplane for sale at

2013 a nearby airport. We made some calls and bundled into the Cub for a look-see. Another friend, Stan, met us there. Stan is an A&P mechanic whose opinion I value when it comes to old airplanes and who will drop what he’s doing when he senses an adventure. www.vintageaircraft.org

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2012 First look.

At first, it kinda sorta looked like a Cub, but it wasn’t. Porterfield? Nope. I kept running down the list of airplanes you seldom see these days and finally surrendered to the books. It was a CallAir. Oh boy. What’s that? After a little further research, on the internet this time, I discovered that it was originally an Interstate Cadet design. Huh? I still get those questions at fly-ins, and it’s great to be able to answer them.

With Stan’s okay I bought the engine and the airplane came with it. The Continental C90-8F (90 hp, flanged crankshaft, and original to the airplane) had just been overhauled, and a new prop was installed. I had my Cub, and the 90 would have worked really well on it, but for whatever reason I looked more into the airplane itself and found it was one of a kind and the bones were good. Then I thought maybe a re-cover and paint job might do the trick, but the wood trim was going bad, the interior was shot, and the brake system was impossible to repair (no parts), so little by little the notion of a complete restoration just sort of happened. My friend Pete said it could be a real tar baby.

Look it up; he was right.

The airplane flew with me for 54 MAY/JUNE 2018

a little over a year before it came time to fish or cut bait, and we stripped off the 1966 fabric in October of 2013. That was easy. I tried to take as many pictures as I could, but later on found that there are never enough. Same with labels for various cables. It took about a year to fully comprehend the job ahead of us and to start cutting wood and metal using the old parts for patterns.

While the mechanical gurus were scratching their heads, I sent off the instruments to Keystone Instruments in Lock Haven to be refurbished and recalibrated, and ordered newly cast rudder/brake pedals and other parts from Tim Talen in Oregon, the acknowl-

2013 Stripped down to the bones. edged authority on Interstate Cadets. In reality, my job was to do research, write checks, and be useful by not getting in the way.

Onward to the nuts and bolts of the job. Once stripped of coverings, the airframe proved to be in good condition; the wing spars were in good shape, and most of the fittings were reusable. The Cadet ribs are an unusual shape and do not lend themselves to rib stitching; instead, fabric is attached by means of clips, much like Martin clips. Fortunately, Tim had a sizable quantity made and in stock for his shop, and we bought what we needed from him.

2015 Fabric prep.

2014 Flight control cover.

At the end of the first year, the control surfaces were covered and the wings were on their way. To show that nothing is as easy as it seems, the elevator trim actuator is an eccentric cam in a horizontal plane, mounted inside the covered elevator. It’s effective but complicated. There were more than a few of those why moments during this project. All the woodwork other than the spars was replaced.

In the second year I had the airframe media blasted, base and epoxy primed, and had the fittings cleaned to be ready for reinstallation. I wanted to be as close to the original configura-

tion as possible, so we mounted a ground plane and antenna behind the baggage area inside the fuselage. It works; other stations report our transmissions are loud and clear, and reception is good. I use a handheld radio since there is no electrical system.

In the project’s third year, the many parts and pieces were finally coming together, and our shop owner said it looked “almost like an airplane.” Sheet metal, stainless firewall, and careful repairs to the original nosebowl and windscreen eyebrow took many hours and a lot of patience.

We were 90 percent done, 90 percent to go. I was beginning to get antsy. The project seemed to be

2016 Fuselage cover.

dragging. What I didn’t see is all the trimming and fitting and detail work that goes into finishing a rebuild project. Despite the encouraging signs, I was practically nuts at the end of the third year. I missed my goal of taking the Cadet to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2016, which I thought was realistic, but it was still on sawhorses.

Then, it was an airplane! The interior was tastefully redone, and parts magically began coming together just as Malcolm, the shop owner, said they would. The finished product was ready to test.

After some last minute tweaks and just short of the three and a half year mark, I flew my airplane home from Florida to North Carolina. There were still a few gremlins and things to tighten and redo, but all in all I was happy with my new 1952 airplane.

Along the way I met some great people, mostly over the phone, and had some useful information practically fall into my lap. One fellow, a retired Air Force major general, had a photograph on his wall at home that showed the original colors and paint scheme on his favorite airplane — the Cadet he worked on part time at the CallAir factory when he was a high school student! (CallAir www.vintageaircraft.org

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Interstate L-6. founder Reuel Call offered to sell it to him for $2,800, but that was more than a young man making 60 cents an hour could afford).

This airplane is one of a kind, the only CallAir Cadet built. That alone makes it unique, but what really seized me by the throat was the history of the design and the people around it.

Interstate and Call Cadets

The Cadet’s design was created by a respected aeronautical engineer, Ted A. Woolsey, and became a project for fledgling aircraft engineering students at the Interstate Aircraft and Engineering Company of El Segundo, California, in 1939. These young men started out not knowing anything about airplanes or aeronautical engineering, but they were eager to learn and tackled their work with enthusiasm. An account by one of those students revealed that they made their way surreptitiously to the ramp of the El Segundo airport to take measurements of some of the airplanes tied down there!

Design, engineering, and certification testing proceeded and resulted in the S-1 Cadet. Powered for its first flight in April 1940 by only 50 hp, it was quickly reengined with 65 hp. Re-engineering and then testing over four months resulted in type certification in early 1941 as the S-1A. Pro56

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duction certification followed.

The total development cost was only $15,000. Orders poured in, and the airplanes were snapped up as quickly as they could be produced; more than 300 were delivered going into 1942, according to U.S. Civil Aircraft Series by Joseph Juptner. These early airplanes went primarily to contract schools under the Civilian Pilot Training Program. One gained fame as the “Pearl Harbor” Cadet, flown by Cornelia Fort at the start of the surprise attack on the Hawaiian naval base.

In late 1941, some of these trainers were delivered as S-1A65F (for Franklin engine) airplanes, and in early 1942 others were delivered as S-1A-85F and S-1A-90F models with increased horsepower. Juptner wrote that these were considered to be the best of the lot.

Civil aircraft production was halted in 1942. The S-1A series airplanes under type certificate A-737 were superseded by the beefed-up S-1B (L-6) series for the military under type certificate A-754. A military contract for 250 airplanes was fulfilled, an interesting drone project began and ended, and with that and the end of World War II, Interstate was out of the airplane business.

Interstate sold all production rights, tooling, and jigs for both type certificates to Max Harlow

in 1945. Parts, supplies, and incomplete airframes were sold to Reuel for his aircraft factory in Afton, Wyoming. One S-1A airplane was produced from Interstate inventories in 1950, and the Civil Aeronautics Administration (the precursor to the FAA) required it to be designated an Interstate Cadet. Reuel bought the type certificates and production rights from Harlow in 1952 and with this paperwork in hand, a pre-production prototype, the CallAir Cadet 90 — my airplane — was built under the family brand name. This was the only CallAir Cadet built before the project was shelved.

Tragedy struck the Call family twice when, in 1968, Reuel’s business partner Barlow Call died in a midair collision while herding horses in his S1-B1 (civilian L-6). His son, also named Barlow, died five months later in an accident. The heart had gone out of the Call’s Cadet program. The remains of the Cadet project were sold to William “Big Deal” Diehl of Anchorage, Alaska, in 1969, and production of a higher-powered version of the S-1B called the Arctic Tern began.

Only a few of these airplanes, along with a couple of variants, were built before the type certificates were sold to Bart Miller.

In 2006, Bart was killed when a piece of equipment toppled onto

Reuel Call. him while moving the production line to New Hampshire. The type certificates were then transferred to STOL Aviation LLC, Lebanon New Hampshire, in 2007.

Reuel Call

Reuel was an American success story through and through.

He was born in 1908 in Afton and was the founder of several companies in addition to the Call Aircraft Company.

Reuel was a visionary businessman long before he became involved in the manufacture of airplanes. He was in the trucking business and, later, was a pioneer in the marketing of selfservice gasoline stations and convenience stores after he observed people were buying gas and then going to grocery stores for basic items. He stocked his stations with bread and milk, and the inventories became increasingly varied as his Maverik Country Stores spread across the mountain west, eventually supplied by two oil refineries he also owned.

Reuel received flight instruction in Idaho and Utah and earned his pilot certificate in 1932. One account describes a flight he made from California to Afton in the dead of winter in 1933 in a Kinner Sportster, which Max designed. Thinking he might want to put the Cadet back into production, Reuel bought the type

Barlow Call, Sr. certificates from Max in 1952.

Reuel started the Call Aircraft Company in 1937 with his brother Spencer, who was chief design engineer, and his uncle Ivan. Together, and without any prior aeronautical engineering experience, they designed their first airplane: the Call Model A. Some accounts state the airplane was ready in 1940, others say it was in 1941; Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft dates the first flight in 1941 on snow skis, which were also a Call design. Carl Petersen’s first-person account says the airplane received its approval for testing on December 7, 1941, after which the team took a lunch break and heard of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

With civil aircraft production curtailed during the war years, the Calls kept their factory open and their employees working by repairing damaged airplanes from the Civilian Pilot Training Program. Near the war’s end, the Call Model A airplanes received their type certificate (A-758) on July 26, 1944, and production began as soon as parts and supplies became available.

An additional family member, the elder Barlow, joined the com-

pany after his war service as a civilian flight instructor for the military. He became president of Call Aircraft Company in the 1960s and remained a fan of the Cadet design even while his attention was focused on the homegrown CallAir and its variants.

Reuel faced some big challenges and addressed them the way a self-made man would; when the market turned downward, he simply pulled back aircraft production to compensate and began looking for other ways to keep the company afloat. One answer was the CallAir snow car, an enclosed predecessor to the recreational snowmobiles we see today. These were designed for winter rural mail delivery, forestry services, and predator control as well as recreation, and they were very popular. Powered with aircraft engines and pusher props, they supplied vital transportation during the snow-covered months.

Another market for CallAir airplanes opened up: agriculture. The A-4 had been re-engined with a 150-hp Lycoming and was a real load-hauler as a passenger plane. Reuel removed the right seat and replaced it with a hopper and distribution chute through the bottom of the fuselage for crop dusting. The A-4 Ag was the first purpose-built ag airplane. A fellow in California was found who had a good bit of experience converting Stearmans and N3Ns for dusting and spraying, and Reuel brought him on board. Herb Andersen became an integral part of the Call Aircraft Company and was instrumental in the certification of the CallAir A-5 Ag, A-9, and B-1 models. The airplanes were an immediate success, so much so that CallAir dealers twice tried to buy the www.vintageaircraft.org

57

2017 company. The second attempt resulted in a sale, and Reuel left his airplane business to concentrate on his other ventures.

Reuel’s legacy lives on with the Star Valley Ranch Airport in Afton, which he founded. He died in 2002.

Call’s Cadet

The CallAir Cadet was part wishful thinking and part good

old American determination.

Call Aircraft was headquartered in Afton, and if that rings a bell it’s because in more recent years manufacturing for the Christen Eagle, Pitts Special, and Aviat Husky are there. These companies are all heirs to the Call legacy.

The Cadet was the perfect airplane for ranchers in the rough backcountry of Wyoming in the minds of Reuel and Barlow.

Reunion in 2017 at the Western North Carolina Air Museum.

58 MAY/JUNE 2018

Their company first became acquainted with the design by rebuilding and servicing Cadets that were operated by training schools affiliated with the Civilian Pilot Training Program.

The Calls had an airplane of their own design that languished during war years when production of civilian airplanes was curtailed. Their low-wing, CallAir A-series airplanes were a big hit,

Specifications

Empty weight Max gross weight Fuel capacity Max speed Cruise speed Stall speed

871 pounds 1,250 pounds 15 gallons 12 mph 100-105 mph 38 mph

able to operate effectively on comparatively low horsepower in the thin air above Afton’s 6,300-feet MSL elevation. To build their own airplanes, the Calls snapped up Interstate’s inventory of hard-toget parts and supplies immediately after the war By the time they were in a position to go into production with the high-wing Cadet, the market was saturated with war surplus and postwar production airplanes from the four biggest manufacturers (Piper, Taylorcraft, Aeronca, and Stinson — Cessna was coming on strong), and the opportunity was lost. Two Cadets were built with CallAir serial numbers. The first, in 1950, was built with all Interstate parts, and without the type certificate in hand it was badged as an Interstate. I do not know the status of that airplane. Only one pre-production CallAir Cadet was built, the CallAir Cadet 90 (officially S-1A-90C) with a 90-hp Continental engine. It was issued a certificate of conformity with type certificate A-737 and was later issued its own standard airworthiness certificate.

The original engine survives with the airplane today. The original owner of record: Reuel.

Reuel’s Cadet was sold to a flying school in Atlanta in 1954, was resold to another school in North Carolina in 1955, and was then sold to two families in Black Mountain, North Carolina, in 1957 who kept it for 55 years with one short break in the middle. When the airplane passed to me in 2012, I promised to keep in touch, and we all gathered in 2017 for a family reunion at the Western North Carolina Air Museum in Hendersonville. The airplane flies regularly and is a popular conversation-starter at area fly-ins.

Now, my stewardship of this airplane must come to an end. I regret I’m finding it harder to get in and out of the airplane at my age so I must find another pilot with a love of old airplanes to take it from here.

The restoration of this airplane has been a labor of love, and I’ve made sure the photo albums are full to remind me of a time when we — the CallAir and I — shared the pleasure of each other’s company.

Mechanic Reimagined.

EAA's WomenVenture is an annual celebration of women in all facets of the aviation community.

July 25

Register online at:

EAA.org/WomenVenture

Presented by:

www.vintageaircraft.org

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The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK

Part One: Maintenance and troubleshooting – ignition systems First, let’s review the entire ignition system as installed on a typical seven-cylinder radial engine.

The magnetos provide the spark; the switch either grounds one or both magnetos or opens the circuit so both magnetos operate via the primary (P) leads. The harness carries high-tension voltage to the spark plugs, and the ensuing arc that jumps the gap between the spark plug’s electrodes ignites the fuel/air charge in the cylinder combustion chamber. Simple enough. When everything works properly the engine runs smoothly and produces rated power. If one component causes a problem, the outcome is anything from an rpm drop to a complete loss of power.

I’ve had ’em all!

Let’s start with the magneto and cover some problems from rough running to not running at all. First we’ll look at timing of the magneto to the engine. The manufacturer specifies the full advanced firing position in relation to crankshaft position and specifies the number of degrees before top dead center of the piston in the number one cylinder. The number one cylinder is always on the top of the engine (for radials), and it may or may not be the master rod cylinder. The Wright R-760 uses 25 degrees, the Lycoming R-680 uses either 30 degrees or 34 degrees for front plugs and 30 degrees for rear plugs, the Pratt & Whitney uses 25 degrees, the Jacobs L-4 uses 30 degrees, and the Continental W-670 uses 32 degrees for the right magneto and 60

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Figure 1

29 degrees for the left magneto.

• If the magneto is not properly timed to the engine, then the drop will be excessive (greater than 75 rpm) but the engine will run smoothly.

• If the magneto has a shorted lead or if a spark plug is fouled, the drop will be 150 rpm and the engine will run roughly. In this case, leave the magneto switch on the roughly running magneto, even though the engine doesn’t want to run well. After about 2-3 minutes, shut the engine off and check the spark plugs to find the one that is cold. Remove that plug and inspect it for fouling. If the plug doesn’t appear fouled, put the plug in the opposite side of the cylinder and run the engine again.

If the magneto drop changed to the opposite magneto, then the plug is not operating. If the problem stays with that particular magneto, then the lead is bad.

• If a magneto has some excess drop beyond the 75 maximum allowable but the engine runs smoothly, the cause might

be the point opening. The point gap should be checked every 100 hours of operation. To check the point gap opening (Figure 1), assure that the magneto switch is in the OFF position and always treat the propeller as if the magnetos were HOT. Rotate the propeller until the point cam follower is on the highest part of the cam lobe.

At this moment the points should be opened to the maximum. Insert a feeler gauge to check for clearance. It is normally 0.012-0.014 inch for a Scintilla VMN magneto. If this clearance does not exist, carefully open the points and check for pitting or burning. If the points are good, using a small open-end wrench, loosen jam nut A and turn the points at B until the proper clearance is achieved. Hold the points at B with a wrench and tighten jam nut A to a snug torque.

Rotate the propeller so the magneto moves through all four lobes, checking the point gap opening at each lobe. You should always check the magneto-to-engine timing after adjusting the point gap opening. If the adjustment was small, it may be possible to retime the magneto simply by loosening the three retainer nuts on the pad and then moving the magneto in the slot. If the magneto timing cannot be reset by this method, it will be necessary to remove the magneto and retime it to the engine.

• Figure 2) Checking the point gap on a Bendix SF7 magneto. The point opening should be 0.010 inch minimum, 0.012 inch desired, and

0.014 inch maximum.

•Closely inspect the felt wick that lubricates the phenolic plastic point cam follower as it rides on the hardened steel cam. Points that slowly lose their gap opening can be traced to non-lubrication of the felt wick. Carefully apply a couple of drops of oil to the wick at every 100-hour inspection to keep the wick lubricated and pliable.

• Check the points for burning or pitting. This is normally caused by a faulty condenser assembly.

The condenser keeps the points from arcing when they open, and excessive arcing will eventually destroy the platinum surface by creating pits and valleys. If this happens, both the points and condenser should be replaced.

•If the magneto suddenly fails to operate, first check the connections to the unit. Occasionally a Plead will chafe and cause a ground, so the problem is not in the magneto, but in a wire that connects the magneto to the switch. (This commonly occurs as the P-lead passes through the firewall.) Or the switch may be faulty. I have had both problems on occasion, so it is worth the time to inspect the magneto switch and P-lead and associated connections. I once advised on a 300-hp Lycoming R-680 installed in a Stinson Reliant. The Lycoming engine uses a dual magneto, which is essentially two magnetos incorporated into a single unit with a single drive shaft. One magneto worked and the other did not. To remove the magneto was a major job, just about requiring partial removal of the engine from the airframe. I suggested the owner check the magneto switch, instructed him on how to use an ohmmeter, and turned him loose.

A phone call came indicating that the magneto problem was in the switch. He saved a lot of money and

labor by doing this simple check. However, if the magneto is the culprit, it is best to remove it and send it out for an overhaul. I know of no mechanic who will disassemble a magneto and try to troubleshoot it. I replace points and condenser, but that Figure 2 is just about all.

•If the magneto drop is around 150 rpm and the engine runs roughly, the problem is most likely a fouled spark plug. Conduct a cold cylinder check to locate the plug.

As explained above, run the engine on the rough magneto to isolate the plug. Remove and replace, or clean, gap, test, and reinstall. I usually keep a couple of spare good spark plugs in the baggage compartment with necessary tools to remove and replace them. With 100LL fuel, spark plug fouling in these old engines is a continual problem. I’ll address that in a future column on maintenance.

•Once in a great while a harness lead will break down, causing an indication of a fouled spark plug.

You can trace this by removing the cold plug and swapping it to the other bank of plugs. Run the engine and if the problem moved to the other magneto, the problem is the plug. If the problem stayed with the initial magneto, the problem is the lead. Sometimes moisture will manifest itself in the terminal end (sometimes called the “cigarette end” of the lead).

Porcelain cigarettes were used on all old shielded harnesses and are removable. If you suspect moisture in the lead, that is the most likely place to find it. Remove the cigarette and dry the lead; then reinstall the cigarette. On newer har-

Figure 3

nesses the cigarettes may not be removable. You can gently pull the lead while holding the cigarette end to check for contaminants.

Sometimes I have found engine oil in that area. Figure 3 shows the older-style shielded harness with a removable cigarette (terminal sleeve) and elbow. It is this area just above the shielding and cigarette where moisture can cause problems. I remember when I was young (probably around 17 years www.vintageaircraft.org

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Figure 4

Figure 5

old), it was necessary to handprop the 450-hp Pratt & Whitney engines. In the wintertime it was a real drill because the oil was thick and the engine very stiff. If the pilot didn’t keep the engine running once it fired, you could hand-prop until you were exhausted. The pilot, who also was my flight instructor, had been flying for years, and I recall him saying that the spark plugs were “frosted over.” I maintained that since there was fire inside the combustion chamber there was no way there could be moisture on the plugs. He made me remove the front bank of plugs, and sure enough, there was a little water all over the firing end of the plugs. I took them into the hangar, blew them dry with compressed air, and reinstalled them. After a few more turns the engine finally started. Amazing!

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•Conducting a “cold cylinder” check can easily isolate spark plug problems. If the engine runs on the magneto that shows an above average drop in rpm, the plug not firing will be cold. In the military we used a grease pencil touched to the exhaust pipe to check for a cold cylinder. Another easy method is to tape a small cloth ball to a pencil, drop the cloth in water, and move to each cylinder, touching the exhaust pipe with the wet cloth. If it is hot, it will sizzle; if it is cold, the moisture will remain on the pipe for a short period of time. The plug will be so cool that you can grab on to it. You have just found the faulty plug! When removing a plug, should it be dropped to the floor it should be discarded, so be very careful. At the price of spark plugs you should exercise extreme caution. Look into the firing end of the plug (Figure 4) for traces of carbon or chemical deposits that bridge between the center electrode and the plug body; you may be able to detect a small carbon or chemical deposit from the fuel burn bridging the gap. If this is the case, clean the plug, check the gap, and reinstall the plug. To equalize wear, the spark plugs should be removed every 50 hours of operation, the gap reset, and the plugs reinstalled, moving the front plugs to the rear and the rear plugs to the front. I normally get at least 500 hours or more of operation from massive electrode spark plugs using this method. The rear bank of plugs will wear greater than the front bank, and the rear plugs will tend to foul quicker than the front, so this automatically cleans the plugs and equalizes the wear. I set the gap in massive electrode spark plugs to around 0.016 inch to 0.018 inch at each 50-hour oil change. I use a special gapping tool that can be purchased from all suppliers.

Figure 6

I slowly and carefully bring the tangs to the correct gap, making sure not to overshoot and make the gap too narrow. Always use a wire gauge and never a flat feeler gauge.

Figure 5 shows the correct method to reset the gap in a spark plug.

•On a trip east, the Continental R-670-5 engine began to have intermittent rough operation. I tried everything to determine what was happening—carburetor heat, power changes, etc., but the problem persisted. We made a precautionary landing at a nearby airfield and discovered that the left magneto was running roughly, with a large drop in rpm. I installed a spare magneto, and we went on our way. I later opened the bad magneto and discovered the rotor assembly was broken in two, thus causing the magneto to go in and out of timing to the engine.

• Recently the rpm drop of a Scintilla VMN7DF magneto continued to exceed the 75 rpm maximum, so an investigation was conducted. The point gap opening was within limits, and the points were in good condition.

There were no contaminants on the points, so the magneto was removed from the engine and a spare installed. Upon inspection of the magneto I found the point return spring had failed and the points were not closing properly. Interesting! You can see the broken spring in Figure 6.

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