DECEMBER 2010
Season’s Greetings! On behalf of the officers, directors, and staff of the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association, we wish each of you peace and joy during the holiday season. May your New Year be filled with peace and prosperity, as well as many days of safe, enjoyable flying!
Paul Poberezny Tom Poberezny Rod Hightower Geoff Robison GeorgeDaubner Dan Knutson Steve Nesse Steve Bender Dave Bennett
Bob Brauer Buck Hilbert Jerry Brown Jeannie Hill Gene Chase Butch Joyce Dave Clark Steve Krog Jack Copeland Bob Lumley Phil Coulson Gene Morris Ron Fritz Wes Schmid Dale Gustafson John Turgyan Charlie Harris H.G. Frautschy Theresa Books and the staff of the EAA Artwork by Lonni Sue Johnson. Her article Christmas Listens begins on page 8.
A I R P L A N E Vol. 38, No. 12
2010
DECEMBER
CONTENTS 2
News
4
The Antiques in Winter If airplanes could talk . . . by Roger Thiel
6
The 1930 Consolidated YPT-6A From faded history to flying high by Sparky Barnes Sargent
14
My Friend Frank Rezich, Part III by Robert G. Lock
18
6
Light Plane Heritage The J.V. Martin K-III Scout by Jack McRae
20
The Vintage Mechanic Elementary theory of flight by Robert G. Lock
24
The Vintage Instructor Taxiing without incident by Steve Krog, CFI
28
Christmas Listens by Lonni Sue Johnson
30
Chapter Locator
32
Mystery Plane
14 STAFF
by H.G. Frautschy
34
Message from the Founder by Paul Poberezny
40
Classified Ads
COVERS
18
FRONT COVER: The husband and wife team of Mark White and Mary Wood, of Vero Beach, Florida completed the restoration of this 1930 Consolidated Fleet YPT-6A at their home at the Indian River Aerodrome. One of only four of that model that still exist, it’s now plying the skies of Florida. Sparky Barnes Sargent caught up with them during the Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In this past Spring. Read all about it in her article starting on page 6. BACK COVER: To honor the memory of Mystery Plane contributor and co-founder of the modern-day Flying Aces Club, David A. Stott (1929-2010), we present this wonderfully graphic cover of the October, 1937 issue of Flying Aces magazine. Flying Aces was one of the most popular pulp magazines of the 1930s, and it set many a young boy onto a path to an aviation career that started by building balsa model airplanes. A doff of the ol’ flyin’ cap to General Dave. “Thermals To Ya!”
EAA Publisher Director of EAA Publications Executive Director/Editor Production/Special Project Photography Copy Editor Art Director EAA Chairman of the Board
Rod Hightower Mary Jones H.G. Frautschy Kathleen Witman Jim Koepnick Colleen Walsh Olivia Trabbold Tom Poberezny
Publication Advertising: Manager/Domestic, Sue Anderson Tel: 920-426-6127 Email: sanderson@eaa.org Fax: 920-426-4828 Senior Business Relations Mgr, Trevor Janz Tel: 920-426-6809 Email: tjanz@eaa.org Manager/European-Asian, Willi Tacke Phone: +49(0)1716980871 Email: willi@flying-pages.com Fax: +49(0)8841 / 496012
Interim Coordinator/Classified, Alicia Canziani Tel: 920-426-6860 Email: classads@eaa.org
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1
VAA NEWS
“Actively Engaged” A&P-IAs and FAA Policy Clarification Preserving the freedom of flight, reducing regulatory barriers, and making general aviation affordable and accessible are what drives the work of EAA’s advocacy team every day. With the assistance of the Vintage Aircraft Association (VAA) staff, these freedoms are preserved and these barriers are reduced by providing clear solutions and practical alternatives backed by common sense, hard work, and dedication. Recently, the VAA and EAA staffs reacted to a notice in the November 5, 2010, issue of the Federal Register, Docket Number FAA2010-1060, http://FederalRegister. gov/a/2010-27834. The FAA was seeking comment regarding a “Policy Clarifying Definition of ‘Actively Engaged’ for Purposes of Inspector Authorization.” The “clarification” relates to the application and renewal process for airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanics who also wish to hold an inspection authorization (A&PIA). While not a notice of proposed rulemaking, the policy and its revision have far-reaching implications for those who apply their professional skills as an IA on a part-time basis. As published in the Federal Register, the policy is intended to provide an FAA air safety inspector (ASI) with a more tightly defined definition of “actively engaged.” The FAA intends to enforce the new policy when the IA renewal cycle begins on March 31, 2011. The issuance of the policy change caused concern that this proposal
2 DECEMBER 2010
would mean the end of inspection authorizations for part-time mechanics. The concern centers on the perception that the revised policy would allow an ASI to subjectively reject an application for an inspection authorization or its renewal if that ASI deems the level of mechanic’s work does not meet the standard for “actively engaged.” The VAA agrees with the membership and other aviation organizations that the specific wording of the proposed policy is confusing. As written, most commenters believe it appears to give the ASI more, not less, ability to make an arbitrary decision regarding the first-time application or renewal of an IA. EAA believes that this proposed policy should be revised to maintain the current level of part-time IAs and encourage mechanics that are eligible to apply for an inspec-
tion authorization. We recommend the agency clarify the process for both first-time applications and renewals within FAA Order 8900.1, Chapter 5. In that way an applicant can be assured that ASIs will make their determination regarding eligibility by using the current Federal Aviation Regulations as the only criteria, and the agency should ensure that an ASI cannot subjectively reject an application based on nonrelevant information. We will continue to work with the agency toward the best possible solution for EAA members, generalaviation mechanics, and the pilots who rely on their professional services. EAA requested an extension of the comment period, which was scheduled to end on December 6, 2010. As we were going to press, we were advised that the extension has been granted. EAA members are
2011 Share the Spirit Sweepstakes Up and Running!
Grand prize this year: a new Cessna Skycatcher Now through the end of EAA AirVenture 2011, people can enter the 2011 EAA Share the Spirit Sweepstakes by sending in coupons, such as those found in last month’s magazine; entering online at www.AirVenture.org/ sweepstakes; or entering at the event itself. The grand prize is a Cessna 162 Skycatcher with, courtesy of Shell Aviation, fuel for the year.. Other great prizes include a Coleman camper, a HotSeat Flight Sim bundle, a Bose 3·2·1 GSX Series III DVD home entertainment system, a Canon EOS 50D camera kit with lens, and a Hamilton Men’s Khaki Pilot watch. Every donation to the EAA Sweepstakes directly supports EAA programs, which allow members to share the spirit of aviation among fellow enthusiasts and the next generation of aviators.
urged to review the proposed policy, check with their IA, and submit comments to the Federal Docket no later than January 17, 2011. We’ll continue to update this story on the web at www.EAA.org. For additional information and continuous conversation on this topic, visit the Red Barn Forum within EAA’s Online Community at Oshkosh365.org.
•Free access to Sporty’s online Complete Flight Training Course, designed to take an aviation “newbie” all the way through the process of passing the FAA written exam. Other EAA member benefits include a membership card; member discounts on merchandise, flight experiences, the EAA Air Academy, and EAA AirVenture Oshkosh; and access to the EAA members-only websites and other information resources. To learn more, visit www.Sport Aviation.org.
Sporty’s Next Step Program Enrollment Surpasses 5,000 The EAA and Sporty’s Pilot Shop Next Step program has enrolled
more than 5,000 EAA Young Eagles, allowing them to pursue an aviation interest beyond a first-flight experience. The cornerstone of this program is free access to Sporty’s Complete Flight Training Course online. To date, Sporty’s has donated courses that have a retail value of more than $1 million. The program’s early success has sparked additional enhancements and benefits, including a free firstflight lesson upon completion of one of the Sporty’s courses. Numerous scholarships are available to support continued flight training. More information regarding Young Eagles and the Next Step program is available at www. YoungEagles.org.
EAA’s Annual Hall of Fame Induction
Free EAA Student Membership Answers ‘What’s Next?’ for Young Eagles Thousands of today’s young pilots got their start through a Young Eagles flight. However, many have asked, “What’s next for Young Eagles after their first flight?” The EAA Student Membership program, supported by EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University, is helping answer that question. It is available free of charge to any young person aged 8 to 19 who has completed a Young Eagles flight. EAA’s new student membership includes: •An electronic copy of EAA Sport Aviation delivered via e-mail each month and viewable on the Web or on a wide range of mobile devices and e-readers. •Free student membership in the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), which provides information on how to start building and flying models, plus access to thousands of AMA Flying Clubs. •Free admission to more than 300 science and technology museums in the ASTC network.
2011 honorees (l to r): Bill Weekley (Hal); John Vette (Kimberly Award recipient); Kyle Franklin (for his father, Jimmy Franklin); Morton Lester; and Dean Wilson. On the podium, EAA’s past and present presidents: Tom Poberezny, Rod Hightower, and Paul Poberezny. Nearly 300 people gathered in the Eagle Hangar of the EAA AirVenture Museum on October 29 to honor six individuals for their contributions to the world of aviation. Five were new inductees into EAA’s Halls of Fame and included Dean Wilson (Homebuilders), Morton Lester (Vintage Aircraft Association), John Ballantyne (Ultralight), the late Jimmy Franklin (International Aerobatic Club), and the late Hal Weekley (Warbirds of America). The evening’s sixth honoree, John Vette, received the Henry Kimberly Spirit of Leadership Award for his local volunteer efforts on behalf of EAA and the community. Vette, along with his wife, Susy, has continued his family’s longtime commitment to EAA by helping develop and grow dynamic programs that facilitate interest in aviation among youth, ranging from the launch of WomenSoar to such events as the Gathering of Eagles fundraiser. We’ll have more on the VAA inductee, Morton Lester, in next month’s Vintage Airplane. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3
The Antiques in Winter If airplanes could talk . . . BY
ingtip to strut, strut to tail feathers, tail feathers to wingtip, and six tail wheels below them, the antique civilian lightplanes huddled together at one end of the large communal hangar on a winter’s night. Outside, amidst a cadence of wind gusts, a single stark-white municipal light cast its monotonous self onto the modern metal hangar’s sides, and onto the piled snow—not new fallen, but growing thick crested and dirty. Inside, small fissures of its light came in through eaves and through edges of doors, making angular shadow shapes and hazy, double ghosts of the airplanes. The airport was located not far from a small city that still sprouted a water tower near an abandoned railroad bed, almost adjacent to a stream that in summer made a green ribbon of vegetation, which together with the small lake at its base had made a landmark homed onto by thousands of flight students returning from nervous cross-country flights over mile upon mile of section lines of the welcoming American Midwest. And the highway! The night was continuously punctuated by a distant, intermittent engine roar of trucks, passing a mile away on an interstate whose path, decades ago, in bypassing the airport had seemed to save it, but whose presence now, sprouting commerce, posed danger. The engines’ lionlike growling resonated through the night. Over the past weekend, the air-
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4 DECEMBER 2010
ROGER THIEL
port’s runway had been plowed, and all six of the antique airplanes had been pulled out of the hangar; one had received an engine run-up, and two had been flown. Old age is vigilant, and the antiques—five high-wing types and one open-cockpit biplane—stayed awake longer than the modern airplanes. At the other end of the hangar, the sleek composite homebuilts, new model factory planes, and sport aircraft types had voiced worry and reported shorter flights by their owners who proclaimed many words about cost, about less flying time, of making every flight count, of filling every seat, and of passing the hat. Their owners had also fumed about “yet another” political meeting over land use in which they had argued for the airport and had apparently prevailed . . . for the time being. For the umpteenth time, the antiques volunteered their stories to calm the younger airplanes, noting with chagrin, but no surprise, that the youth had apparently fallen asleep. In the hopes that some were still listening, the antiques began to speak, sharing their stories, one by one, over the distant, menacing sound of the trucks.
The Aeronca’s Story Of the six antiques, the first to speak was the Aeronca Champion, and this surprised the others. When flying, its short exhaust stacks made a loud staccato noise, and when on the ground, as if to adjust for this, it
usually remained silent. “I am a postwar 1946 model, but my manufacturer’s origins start in the late 1920s, as its first model was being developed as a minimum airplane. This was during the fresh years following the Lindbergh flight of 1927, when American aviation became ‘writ large’ and flared with heady image. The years 1927 to 1929, as my humble ancestor was developed, saw many startups of high-end airplanes: planes for the rich, planes for the powerful, planes molded in the image of headlong success, all riding the tidal wave of blue skies kindled by ‘Lucky Lindy.’ “My line’s makers—gray-jacketed, hard-nosed Cincinnati businessmen—were almost certainly tempted to join the bandwagon, but they continued with their ‘low-end’ product, deciding in rare perspective for the time to ‘live below their means.’ “Their first design debuted in 1929, within months of when the economic waters rose above flood stage and aviation was hit hard. The overwhelming majority of those ‘startupssince-Lindy’ were vanquished, some gone in just months. But my line had been designed so modestly that my makers found themselves in a harsh but survivable situation. “Those earliest Aeroncas were bulbous and ungainly, immediately provoking humor. They were called ‘flying bathtubs,’ and the joke that they might always be encountering head winds was an apt metaphor for how they fought for acceptance in the marketplace. My line’s manufacturers
played it so close to the vest that they even built their own engines, rare for any American airplane. “And so we persevered. Wise foresight or luck? Take your pick, but we stayed on our bulbous, weird-looking feet. “With Aeroncas’ operating rates as low as a small car, we suddenly became, for many pilots, the only means they had to fly at all.
seats, the nominal chieftain of the group, the Stinson Reliant, spoke up: “My high, widespread wing and my round engine and bump cowl give off a heady look of strength and chiseled design. We Stinsons were made for high achievers and for business—big business—and a company who owned me was also making a statement: that they were to be economically reckoned with, and that, in the second half of the 1930s, ‘prosperity is just around the corner.’ “I remember a dozen times when
For the umpteenth time, the antiques volunteered their stories to calm the younger airplanes We staggered through the Great Depression, through times when men and women felt that merely being at an airport and watching airplanes was good, and that if they could buy a cup of coffee while watching, it was great! “Inch by inch, nickel by nickel, year by year, we persevered. In the late 1930s we could finally buy engines from a mainstream source as we debuted an airplane on size with the competition. “In 1946 when I was made, at the crest of the postwar aviation boom that went bust, again we persevered, and then later as well, through more decades and many other versions which continue to this day. In the 1960s my line became an airplane with aerobatic and performance capabilities. There is almost no time period in which the Aeronca line, under one name or another, has not been manufactured. “Gray-jacketed businessmen who gritted their teeth and were armed with frugality fought economic holocaust and won. Improbable, clownlike origins, but a presence that continues to this day. And how did we do it? By ‘living below our means’!”
The Stinson’s Story With an upper wing towering so high that other high-wing aircraft could be stored underneath it, and the only antique with more than two
men in suits and overcoats posed by my door, with their Depression-era business name so proudly painted on my side. And I remember one time when, arriving with news of a new industrial plant to be built, that a press reception was hosted for my passengers at the airport’s parking area, and I was the centerpiece as dignitaries shook hands and a ceremony was undertaken. “I remember flying toward business destinations with heady, laughing talk of planned accomplishments by the men in all of my four seats. And I also remember the trips home from those quests, some of which included smiling passengers, but others in which frowning men huddled down into their overcoats in an embrittled silence. These men were now edgy to be so close to each other and avoided eye contact as a heavy gray hung in my cabin until I set them back on the company’s home field and they discharged into their cars. “Although seemingly at the top of my line, I can all too easily undergo a unique poverty that might not occur to the rest of you: I’ll never forget the times I was left in my hangar because my big business owners, although apparently at the tops of their respective games, could not afford to fly me, and would push me out and run up my huge engine on the ground for exercise—lying to other men that I
had instrument problems and could not fly. “And then came the war—not incidentally, what finally brought an end to all of those gray economic days. I was pressed into service with the Civil Air Patrol, to fly off the Atlantic Coast with a bomb shackled under me against invading German submarines. My pilots never saw a U-boat but patrolled alongside many convoys and ships, always far beyond gliding distance to shore. In one case, they spotted debris on the ocean that led to the CAP search in which another plane spotted some American merchant mariners surviving in a raft following a torpedoing. “These horrors—within a few minutes’ flight of the soft American experience on its home front shores! My bomb shackles were taken off in 1943 and the last evidence of them was gone by a 1952 re-covering. The information of my war work was not transmitted to my next owner and has remained unknown to the present day. “So now, with my beautiful rebuild and majestic stance and paint, when I arrive at an event, all I see, as in the old days, is the pleasant sight of leveled camera barrels. But am I therefore the biggest and grandest among you? Think again: My engine is large and thirsty, and my present owners, too, speak of economic considerations. “And so I appear, to the average onlooker, as the captain of this hangar group—but I could easily find myself as the one left behind. Since I am expensive to operate, my flights are always calculated, with high-profile destinations, with each seat taken, and with an atmosphere of purpose, rather than for little pleasure jaunts like the rest of you so regularly receive. “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. And the old unpleasantness sometimes recurs when I am wheeled out of the hangar and my engine is started. Each time I receive such a run-up—but no flying—in every one of my chiseled, classic lines—I shiver.” Next month: The other antiques join in the conversation.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5
The 1930
Consolidated YPT-6A
From faded history to flying high BY JIM KOEPNICK
6 DECEMBER 2010
SPARKY BARNES SARGENT
ometimes it takes a team of savvy sleuths to solve a conundrum. In this case, the team is a married couple—VAA members Mark White and Mary Wood, of Vero Beach, Florida—who purchased a 1930 Consolidated Fleet biplane project in Ohio and hauled it home to Indian River Aerodrome back in 2002. They were in the beginning stages of making it airworthy when the conundrum arose. There, clearly stamped on the cowling/engine compartment and cockpit coaming was a distinctive three-digit number, which wasn’t the same as the three-digit serial number in the aircraft’s paperwork.
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7
CHRIS MILLER
A previous owner had adapted the engine for an alternator, but Mark chose to go back with a wind-driven generator.
Inside the front cockpit.
CHRIS MILLER
SPARKY BARNES SARGENT
SPARKY BARNES SARGENT
Mary demonstrates how to adjust the windshield.
“We were surprised that the numbers didn’t match,” explains Mary, “and we said, ‘Uh-oh! Could this be an airframe with paperwork from a different airplane?’” They put their work on hold temporarily, in case there was a problem. Then step by step they skillfully took charge of the discovery process to uncover their airplane’s faded history. But before we delve into their r e s e a rc h , h e r e a r e s o m e b a s i c specifications for the biplane, which was built by Consolidated Aircraft under Approved Type
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Certificate 131 in 1930. This Fleet Model 2/YPT-6A, Serial No. 325, was built for the U.S. government, to be used for training. Its first owner was the Aeronautics Branch, U.S. Department of Commerce (Washington, D.C.). The two-place biplane weighed 1,101 pounds empty, with a maximum weight of 1,675 pounds. Its wings were constructed of spruce spars and aluminum ribs, and it had a stagger of 23 inches, with a span of 28 feet. Measuring 21 feet 8 inches from prop to tailskid, it stood 7
feet 9 inches tall. As powered by its original 100-hp five-cylinder Kinner K-5, its top speed was 110 mph, and it cruised contentedly at 95 mph while sipping from its 24-gallon fuel tank in the upper wing’s center section. Price was just under $4,000.
An Air-Minded Couple I t ’s n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t t h i s husband-wife team enjoys hands-on restoration work. A brief glimpse into their history reveals that both Mark and Mary were aviators before
SPARKY BARNES SARGENT JIM KOEPNICK
Note the flat, adjustable glass windshield and the modern avionics for today’s airspace.
they married each other 11 years ago. Mark grew up around aviation; his first ride was in his family’s Tri-Pacer. At the tender age of 11, he had already gained experience flying a Cessna 150, Cessna 172, and a Citabria. When he was old enough to solo, he flew the open-cockpit, parasol-wing, plans-built Corben Junior Ace built by his father, Don. Mark reflects that “I have always been infatuated with airplanes—especially biplanes. I worked on a Champ project with my father, and that’s how I really learned about restoration.” He also restored an Aeronca Chief and a Piper Colt, prior to restoring the 1930 Fleet. Mary soloed a Cessna 150 and earned her private certificate in the 1980s, when she attended Embry-Riddle. Her daytime job was working with the Goodyear blimp—handling ticket sales, managing mail, and answering the phones. Her next aviation-related job was working with parts in the shop at Frank Piasecki’s Heli-Stat in Lakehurst, New Jersey. She then worked with the crew on the Resorts International airship. Now she works with Flight Safety, in Vero Beach. Their first date was in a Piper J-3 Cub. It was a windy day, but Mark was determined to fly down from Lantana to a pancake breakfast at Boca Raton—primarily because he knew that Mary was one of the organizers. “It was very windy; it took me two tries to get it on the ground,” says Mark, smiling. “There were about 100 people there, and I was the only one who flew in.” Mary was suitably impressed. N o w, t h e y ’ r e n o t o n l y devoted to each other, but also to reviving forgotten facets of aviation history, as exemplified by N1P, their 1930 Consolidated YPT-6A Fleet. The biplane was their labor of love for seven
years, and they completed it in May 2009. Their military Fleet was a novelty in the Vintage area at Sun ’n Fun this spring—as well it should have been, given the hands-on work and detective-style research required to resurrect it to its original colors and markings.
Determined Detectives After finding that puzzling number (384) on the airframe components, Mark and Mary’s research started with finding a website that listed serial numbers for Consolidated Aircraft. “We discovered that 30-384 was a U.S. Army Air Corps (USAAC) s e r i a l n u m b e r, ” e x p l a i n s Mark, “with ‘30’ representing the year of manufacture (1930) and ‘384’ [being the military] serial number.” That number corresponded to the manufacturer’s construction number—325—which was stamped on the data plate and also recorded in the civilian aircraft records. Their research also revealed that their biplane was one of 16 built by Consolidated Aircraft Corp. of Buffalo, New York, for the USAAC (an additional six were built for the Navy). “We found out that only four of these aircraft still exist, and since they built so few of these, and hardly anybody knows about them… well, there was no other way to restore it but as a YPT-6A. That led to starting the project all over again, because we decided to do a lot more work on it,” he says, laughing and shrugging good-naturedly. “Now, this is the only one flying.” Armed with the knowledge that their Fleet was an Army Air Corps trainer, Mark placed a call to the Air Force’s toll-free number to see if he could find out some more information. “When I called, I said, ‘I hope I’m not calling the wrong person, but we’ve purchased this old
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
CHRIS MILLER
airplane, and it turns out it was used as a trainer in the military. We don’t know much about it; is there anybody I could contact that would help me?’ She said. ‘Sure, you need to call Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama—here’s the phone number.’ So I called them, and they wanted us to give them some information to prove that we owned the airplane. So we sent a copy of the registration to them, and they in turn found several pages of records relating to the airplane and sent them to us, free of charge. Those records showed t h a t t h e a i rc r a f t w a s a s s i g n e d to Brooks Field in San Antonio, Texas, in 1930. We then contacted Sheila Klein at Hangar 9, Brooks Air Force Base, and purchased a b o o k f r o m h e r e n t i t l e d Wi n g s Over San Antonio. That book had a photo showing the only Fleet to be assigned to Brooks Field.” M a r k a n d M a r y, t h e e v e r resourceful sleuths, took their research to the national level, by contacting the National Museum o f t h e U . S . A i r F o rc e , Wr i g h t Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. “They were extremely helpful, and then we contacted their restoration facility. They looked up the information that
10 DECEMBER 2010
had been painted on the side of the YPT-6A, because we had no idea what should be there,” elaborates Mark. “They provided us a lot of very thorough, very detailed information—at no charge—and sent us two 8-1/2-by11 photographs of one of these a i r p l a n e s t h a t w a s a t Wr i g h t Patterson in 1930. They helped us determine the colors from the black and white photo; the wings should be this yellow, the fuselage olive drab, the fin yellow, and the rudder olive drab and blue, with red and white stripes. The Smithsonian had the Air Corps markings, and they referenced each page in a book that pertained to what we were doing. In the back of that book, there were real paint chips, so we got the colors the same and were also able to get the stars the proper size.”
From Military to Civilian Shedding even more light on the history of their YPT-6A, Mark and Mary explain, “Basically, it’s the military trainer version of a Model 2 Fleet, and the ‘Y’ designation stands for a design which is under evaluation. [PT denotes primary trainer.] There was one experimental XPT-6 model produced, and then
five YPT-6As were produced; our aircraft was one of the five used to evaluate the design. Ten PT-6A production models followed. After its evaluation process at Brooks Field, ours was reassigned to Long Beach, California, in May of 1931. In August of 1931, it was re-designated a PT-6A. In 1933, it was re-designated as a PT-6A Special [Governmental Aircraft License No. NS-50] and was operated with the front cockpit designated for cargo.” The Department of Commerce sold the airplane to Waco Sales of New York Inc. in February 1934, as a Fleet PT-6A Special, Fleet Model 2. It was flown to Roosevelt Field, bearing civilian registration number N13927. It was registered and operated as a Model 2 Fleet from that point forward. In May 1934, the Fleet was sold to a private owner in Houston, Texas. In August 1937, the aircraft was purchased by Aldrich Flying Service of Houston and used for pilot instruction. Interestingly, a note in the aircraft records for 1937 reveals a rather unusual m a n d a t e : “ Ta i l w h e e l s a r e required on all ships operating at the Houston Municipal Airport, Houston, Texas, on account of damage to shell runways by tail
SPARKY BARNES SARGENT
Husband–wife aviators and restoration team: Mary Wood and Mark White. s k i d s . — s i g n e d b y M . F. C l a r k , Aero. Inspector.” The Fleet’s registration number (N13927) was changed to N1P in 1953. The aircraft remained in Texas with various owners until
1988, when Kenneth Carder purchased it and took it home to Ohio. Mark and Mary purchased N1P from him in 2001, after Mary spotted an ad for it in Trade-A-Plane. After completing their research on this unique Fleet, they purchased myriad supplies, donned their shop clothes, and began the years-long restoration process.
Hands-on Restoration “We did everything hands-on ourselves; we didn’t hire anything out, although we had some help from other folks,” recounts Mark. “A couple of longtime friends and members of the local EAA Chapter 99 group gave us helpful insight to the restoration process. The folks at EAA headquarters were also very helpful.” Overall, they found the airframe to be in excellent condition, which saved quite a bit of time
The YPT-6A is ready for its wings.
PHOTOS MARK WHITE
Mary works on one of the biplane wings.
that otherwise might have been invested in structural repairs. The most challenging aspect of their hands-on restoration, they say, “was handling the one-piece upper wing during the re-covering process. The upper wing is very fragile, and must be handled with care when removed from the aircraft, and when rotating it from top to bottom.” They replaced all of the hardware in the aircraft and covered the airframe with Ceconite and finished it with Randolph butyrate dope, using an old-fashioned, 40-year-old compressed air spray system. That was also a challenging process, thanks to the Florida heat and humidity. The forward portion of N1P’s fuselage was originally fabric-covered, but at some point in its history, the fabric from the aft portion of the front cockpit to the firewall was replaced with
The cockpit sheet metal coaming, ready for its hand- The couple used original paint chips for accurate stitched leather trim. military colors. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
This 1930 YPT-6A had a tailskid and 24-inch air wheels when the Army Air Corps used it as a trainer. SPARKY BARNES SARGENT
sheet metal. “We chose to retain the metal, because it serves as protection from fire,” shares Mark, “and it also makes the aircraft much more durable when entering and exiting the cockpit area.” They wanted to make the biplane as authentic as practical, yet still be able to enjoy fl ying it to any airport they’d like to visit. Hence, the layout of the front panel is original, while the rear panel sports modern avionics and radio equipment. “The rear panel is for safety and practicality; it has a radio, transponder, encoder, and intercom to make it practical to fly in today’s airspace,” Mark comments. “We know that takes away from its authenticity, but we wanted to fly it and enjoy it.” They also chose to retain the swiveling tailwheel, and the Kinner 160-hp R-56. This particular Fleet Model 2 was allowed a gross weight increase from 1,575 pounds to 1,740 pounds when the 100-hp Kinner K-5 was removed and the 160-hp Kinner R-56 was installed in 1962. Large tail surfaces were installed at that time, as well. Additionally, a previous owner had adapted the engine for an alternator, but Mark chose to eliminate that and installed a wind generator instead. (He does have the original but
12 DECEMBER 2010
cannot find replacement blades for it, so he’s using a WWII-era g e n e r a t o r. ) “ We ’ v e r e c e i v e d a great deal of priceless information to help keep our Kinner running, from Mr. Al Ball of Antique Aero Engines in California,” shares Mark. “There are very few people with his knowledge of the Kinner and its characteristics.” Mark and Mary contacted Sensenich, who reviewed the aircraft engine horsepower and a i rc r a f t s p e c i f i c a t i o n s . “ T h e y recommended and built for us the W92HA77 propeller, which we are extremely pleased with,” states Mark. “My cruise speed is 105 mph at 1650 rpm, and it burns 10 gph. We stop for fuel after one and a half hours—just in case the fuel pumps at the [destination] airport don’t work—this gives us plenty of fuel to fly to [another airport]. This airplane used to have a 31-gallon auxiliary fuel tank that was strapped on the belly, and I tracked down the blueprint for it,” says Mark. “It stalls very gently at 50 mph, and the horizontal stabilizer is adjustable in flight— it has a jackscrew trim like a Piper Cub. You have to reach down and pull the cable with your hand— there’s no lever for the trim—and you don’t have to make any trim
adjustment from cruise to power off for landing, because the trim does not change that dramatically.” Finishing touches for the cockpits included a hand-stitched leather coaming and original-style windshields. A curved Plexiglas windshield is installed for the front cockpit, and Mark located and purchased a flat, adjustable glass windshield—along with several copies of original blueprints pertaining to the biplane—from John Sommerfeld in Texas.
Flying High Mark and Mary virtually lived with their project, since its restoration took place in their hangar workshop, right next to their home. They both laugh good-naturedly as they share that it was challenging, at times, to work together. Yet they feel that the completed, airworthy Consolidated YPT-6A was well worth the seven years they invested on the project, and the interpersonal learning curves they mastered. They worked primarily on the weekends and occasionally more frequently, depending upon the task at hand. In retrospect, Mary emphasizes, “Perseverance is ver y important.” And Mark reflects, “Everybody has their own
idea how to tackle something. They usually end up with the same end result, but it’s sometimes difficult to agree on the same process—yet neither one is wrong.” Smiling, Mark recounts the project: “There were times you wish you’d never started on it, but you get through that. I think you feel better when it’s finished, and you’re flying it. There’s also just the satisfaction of knowing you’ve done it!” In the midst of the restoration, both Mary and Mark experienced their own personal transitions when they each lost their respective fathers. Mar y poignantly shares, “The most important mission the aircraft has performed recently is when we used it to scatter the ashes of Mark’s father over his favorite fishing area on an early Sunday morning.” They’ve also been flying their YPT-6A to local fly-ins, proudly transforming what was once faded history into vibrant reality, as together they fly high through the Florida skies. Throughout the week of Sun ’n Fun, Mark and Mary always seemed to have an inquisitive crowd gathered around their biplane, and the couple was bubbling over with enthusiasm as they answered myriad questions. Perhaps equally rewarding as the interest they received was the fact that the judges took special note of their restoration endeavors and selected N1P as the Outstanding Open Cockpit Biplane Antique. The YPT-6A is the first aircraft restoration they’ve tackled t o g e t h e r, b u t i t w o n ’t b e t h e last. As for the future, “We plan to hang on to the airplane right now and work on our other project—a 1929 Cessna AW,” says Mark. This hardworking couple is enthusiastically looking forward to yet another opportunity to revive early aeronautical history— and no doubt will be sharing it with others who also appreciate the early days of aviation.
What Our Members Are Restoring
Are you nearing completion of a re restoration? Or is it done and you’re busy fflying and showing it off? If so, we’d like tto hear from you. Send us a 4-by-6-inch p print from a commercial source (no home printers, please—those prints just don’t scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch, 300-dpi digital photo. A JPG from your 2.5-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine. You can burn photos to a CD CD, or if you’re on a high-speed Internet connection, you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane. (If your e-mail program asks if you’d like to make the photos smaller, say no.) For more tips on creating photos we can publish, visit VAA’s website at www.vintageaircraft. org. Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph? For more information, you can also e-mail us at vintageaircraft@eaa.org or call us at 920-426-4825.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13
My Friend Frank Rezich Part III BY
ROBERT G. LOCK
PHOTOS COURTESY OF REZICH FAMILY COLLECTION
I
n 1940, Frank Rezich took his skills to the Howard factory where he worked on assembling the models DGA-12 and -15 and even worked on the DGA-18. He was paid “piecemeal” wages. Frank remembers, “You got paid by the job—the quicker you put it in, the more money you made. But it didn’t work out for us because we didn’t have a production line. We turned out custom airplanes for buyers.” By the age of 19, Frank was supervisor of assembly and flight testing at Howard, quite a position for such a young man. Frank’s great talent was just beginning to bloom at this time.
14 DECEMBER 2010
Howard developed the model DGA-18 to satisfy a requirement of the Civilian Pilot Training Program for advanced aerobatic training. The ship was designed by Gordon Israel, who had previously designed the DGA-4 Ike and Mike racer and the famous DGA6 Mister Mulligan. Frank was put into a position of foreman of production from experimental to licensing. The ship eventually earned Approved Type Certificate No. 739. Frank headed the group that conducted the static load test on the model DGA-18. Frank remembers, “I had to raise my arms occasionally to get the blood [back
Above, a rare view inside the Howard factory, showing the “dope crew,” those hardy individuals who sprayed clear, silver, and pigmented dope onto all surfaces before final assembly. Two of Frank’s lifelong pals are shown, Mike Bernat (kneeling) and Bud Johnson (second from left). Frank recalls some of the names but comments about Eddie Brooks (standing left). Frank remembers that “…Eddie Brooks was so strong he could pick up a 55-gallon drum of dope!” Note the full face shield so the painter wouldn’t breathe noxious dope fumes. Five-gallon pails of pigmented dope can be seen on the left in the background.
into] my shoulder after lifting bags of weight to load the structure.� Only a few Howard model DGA18 ships were produced, but they did see service in the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) when the curriculum eventually called for advanced aerobatic training. Frank recalls being sent to set up the Howard final assembly line at DuPage Airport when the firm received a Navy contract for Army Air Forces model UC-70 and the Navy models GH-1 utility, GH-2 ambulance, and GH-3 instrument trainer. These ships were all variants of the civilian 1942 model DGA-15. During his time at Howard, he helped build the DGA-12 and DGA-15. When Howard received a military contract for DGA-15, the Chicago municipal factory was too small for a production line, so they moved the facility to DuPage Airport in Saint Charles, Illinois, about 45 miles from Chicago. Frank commuted from Chicago every day as he set up the first assembly line at the new plant.
In this original factory brochure photograph of 1940 for the first edition of the Howard Aircrafter, a publication for Howard aircraft owners, is one of the aircraft Frank was assembling for the corporation.
At the Howard factory with the DGA-18 crew, with a very young Frank Rezich standing on the far left with the prototype -18 ship in background.
A well-dressed Frank Rezich hand-props the Warner-powered DGA-18 aircraft at the factory in Chicago, Illinois. After the first test flight, some problems were revealed, one of which was flutter in the tail assembly. Gordon Israel proposed splicing the aft fuselage to change the angle of incidence of the horizontal stabilizer. Additional tubular bracing was welded to the aft fuselage structure, and by morning the ship was ready to fly. Besides being an expert mechanic, Frank was an outstanding gas welder. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
The prototype DGA-18 was powered by a 125-hp Warner Scarab radial engine and proved to be underpowered, particularly for aerobatics for which it was designed. The ship was modified into a DGA-18W powered by a 145-hp Warner engine and the model DGA-18K powered by a 160-hp Kinner engine. Approximately 60 ships were produced.
Before leaving his job at Howard, Frank had established himself as a leader and thinker at age 19. When he left Howard in 1943, he was only 20 years old but had garnered the equivalent of many years of experience.
16 DECEMBER 2010
Howard was also building PT-23 trainers under contract to Fairchild at that time. He was only there for the first five ships, as he was notified to prepare to be drafted into World War II. When Howard received these contracts, Frank recalls, “I heard that I might be drafted into the military. I said, how come, since I am in charge of a military aircraft production line. What the ---- is going on?” Thus a dilemma appeared, and Frank had to deal with the situation. “So we had a good friend, Pat Mullins, who used to be chief pilot for Bluebird Air Service—he was a good friend of Nick and I,” Frank says. “He used to come to our house for dinner. He goes down to Miami and gets hired as chief pilot for Pan American Ferry Division. They were trying to get a bunch of pilots together to deliver all those British airplanes to North Africa. The Army has no pilots, so Pat says, ‘Come on down, Frank. We need mechanics and flight engineers.’ So I hop down to Miami and get a job as a civilian. So we’re flying these things every day out
A Howard DGA-18W damaged during CPTP flight instruction at Bishop, California, circa 1943 to 1944. Markings on the side of the fuselage were required after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when flying was restricted along the East and West Coasts.
of Miami, Dinner Key, and Opalocka. We put long-range tanks in these airplanes and conducted endurance runs to see if we could make North Africa. We had everything from Martin Baltimores, A-20, B-25, and C-47—whatever
the British had. I guess I spent six months there. The military came and said that they were going to induct all of us. So I decided to go home. I got home for about seven days when I got drafted. I was sent through basic school and wound
up in the Air Transport Command, Ferry Division. We took two C-46s and a C-47 to India.” The Army Air Forces obviously had looked at Frank’s background and training in aviation very carefully because they assigned him to essentially what he was doing as a civilian prior to being inducted into the service. The year was 1943. Before leaving his job at Howard, Frank had established himself as a leader and thinker at age 19. When he left Howard in 1943, he was only 20 years old but had garnered the equivalent of many years of experience. Frank is now considered a one of a kind, a person who comes along just once in a lifetime with basic smarts and a knack for getting things done! Next month, we’ll delve into the war and postwar years as Frank shares his experiences ferrying Consolidated Vultee C-109s to North Africa and flying over the dangerous Himalaya Mountains on missions we refer to today as “flying the Hump.”
Landing accidents were common during CPTP flight instruction. This may be the same Howard DGA18W as shown above, moved to another position with the left wing propped up. Under the left wing the landing gear is broken, and missing from the photo is the Warner engine. Ver y few of these ships sur vived CPTP advanced flight training. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Light Plane Heritage published in EAA Experimenter November 1990
THE J.V. MARTIN K-III SCOUT BY JACK
he Martin K-III Scout was one of several interesting airplanes built by James V. Martin, pioneer aviator and inventor. Although this little biplane built in 1919 was described as an altitude fighter, it appears to have been much closer to our present concept of an ultralight airplane. Martin, a former navigator in the Merchant Marine and associate of Gen. Billy Mitchell as consulting engineer to the U.S. Air Service before World War I, claimed to have been granted 47 aircraft patents, including 25 on basic devices such as the retractable landing gear, slotted wings, and floating wingtip ailerons. In 1911 Martin held the world’s speed record of 70 mph. In 1912 he proposed a trans-Atlantic flight in a five-engined biplane of 100 feet span that was generally accepted as being possible at that time. He operated aircraft factories in Garden City, New York, and Elyria, Ohio, from 1914 where he designed and built several successful airplanes. During World War I he became a controversial personality when he refused to accept a $10 million order to build DH-4 airplanes, which he considered obsolete and unsafe. By the Act of Congress of July 1, 1918, aircraft patents
T
MCRAE
were made available to a patent pool known as the Manufacturers Aircraft Association. Martin refused to join the association and several times in the following 20 years unsuccessfully sued it for alleged patent infringements for sums ranging from $51 million to $150 million. The K-III Scout of 1919 incorporated many advanced features for that time, such as a retractable landing gear, floating ailerons, K-strut wing truss, and steerable tailskid mounted inside the rudder. Using a 45-hp ABC Gnat engine, the maximum speed was estimated to be 135 mph, which no doubt was very optimistic. The airplane was very light, having an empty weight of only 350 pounds. The span was 20 feet 2 inches, and overall length was 13 feet 3-1/2 inches. Construction was of wood and plywood with fabric covering. The fuselage was a plywood framework braced with diagonal wires. The landing gear was retractable by means of a hand crank and a worm gear. A novel feature was the use of Ackerman spring wheels, which were supposed to act as shock absorbers through flexible spokes. The 9-gallon fuel tank was mounted in the wing center section and was supposed
Editor’s Note: The Light Plane Heritage series in EAA’s Experimenter magazine often touched on aircraft and concepts related to vintage aircraft and their history. Since many of our members have not had the opportunity to read this series, we plan on publishing those LPH articles that would be of interest to VAA members. Enjoy!—HGF
18 DECEMBER 2010
to give a range of about two hours. It was claimed that the airplanes could be operated from a country road if necessary and could fly 22 miles per gallon of gasoline. In addition to its many interesting design features, the K-III Scout is an example of excellent workmanship and simplicity of construction. At present it is on exhibition at the Garber facility of the National Air and Space Museum. In his 1982 book The Aircraft Treasures of Silver Hill, Walter J. Boyne tells of the attempts to fly the K-III
Scout. Flight testing was done at Dayton in 1919 by Lt. W.F. Gerhard, who found the airplane so tail heavy that it was necessary to add 75 pounds of ballast in the nose. The engine was not powerful enough to allow the airplane to climb out of ground effect at about 4 feet altitude. Also, the floating ailerons were found to be completely ineffective. Sixty short hops were made. Boyne suggests that a redesign of the Scout into a safely flyable airplane would be a project for the homebuilder who has done everything.
J.V. Martin K-III Scout
AERO CLASSIC
Specifications
“COLLECTOR SERIES”
Total wing area
105 square feet
Ailerons
5 square feet
Stabilizer
9.5 square feet
Elevator
6.7 square feet
Rudder
4.9 square feet
Overall height
7 feet 4-1/2 inches
Equipment Weight
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Engine
85.50 pounds
Wings
60.75 pounds
Ailerons
9.50 pounds
Landing gear
16.38 pounds
Wheels
17.50 pounds
Struts and wires
8.25 pounds
Oil and gas tanks
9.75 pounds
Rudder and tailskid
7.75 pounds
Horizontal tail surfaces
14.50 pounds
Fuselage, complete
106.50 pounds
Propeller and hub
13.62 pounds
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Total weight empty
350.00 pounds
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
Vintage Mechanic
THE
BY ROBERT G. LOCK
Elementary theory of flight
When I was instructing airframe and general subjects for the airframe and powerplant mechanic certificate at Reedley College, three of my favorite subjects were theory of flight, weight and balance, and assembly and rigging. You really can’t talk about one without talking about the other two. Over my 50-year career in aviation, these three subjects played an important role, primarily because all three involve safety by providing stability and safety of the airplane in flight. So, this installment of The Vintage Mechanic is “Elementary theory of flight,” specifically tailored to the biplane. I’ll do my best to make this interesting and easy to understand. A glossary of terms used in this article appears at the end of the column. First let’s discuss what happens when air flows over a curved airfoil. Air molecules are speeded up over the top of the surface, and physicist Daniel Bernoulli discovered that with an increase in air velocity there will be a decrease in lateral pressure. Therefore an envelope is on the upper surface of an airfoil where ambient pressure is slightly reduced. Air on the lower surface of the airfoil, which is slightly increased, pushes the surface up, thus the production of lift. With the production of lift on the surface, there’s a corresponding increase in drag. This drag caused by the production of lift is called “induced” drag. Induced drag varies as to the amount of lift the surface is producing; thus the more lift the surface produces, the more induced drag is produced. The formula to determine just how much drag a particular airfoil will produce at a certain angle of attack is called coefficient of drag and abbreviated as CD. The amount of lift that a particular airfoil will produce depends on air density, speed of air over surface, shape of the airfoil, and angle of attack. This is called coefficient of lift and abbreviated as CL. All lift forces will be concentrated on a certain
20 DECEMBER 2010
point on the chord line, much like if one balances a pencil on the finger. The point where the pencil balances is where all weight is concentrated. This point on an airfoil chord is called center of pressure and abbreviated as CP. As the angle of attack of an airfoil increases, the CP moves forward on the chord line toward the leading edge. The CL increases, as does the CD. Angle of attack is given in degrees, and at the critical angle of attack, airflow over the airfoil will become turbulent, the air will burble, and the airfoil will stall. The stalling angle varies among airfoil shapes, but most older airfoils stall around 16 to 18 degrees angle of attack. Don’t confuse the stalling angle of the airfoil with the pitch angle of the airplane. These are two different subjects. There was little wind tunnel testing of airfoils in the early years of aviation. I can relate some really interesting stories regarding civilian aircraft design in the 1920s as told by Albert Vollmecke, chief designer for Arkansas Aircraft, later Command-Aire Inc. Albert designed my model 5C3 and provided me with quite a bit of technical data about design and construction in those early days. When one studies old biplanes, several things can be observed. They were all similar in size, shape, wing area, and general layout. They all used similar engines—whatever was available at the time. Certainly the Curtiss OX-5 and Wright J-5s were the mainstays of early civil aviation. Wing and power loading for those airplanes were all similar. The method of construction and rigging were also all similar, so their flying characteristics were alike. With that in mind, let’s put together a biplane and see how it flies. Most biplanes of the early era were designed with positive stagger in the wings. If the airfoil gap (the distance between the wings) was close together, there
Interference
Wings without stagger
Staggered wings
The effects of stagger and gap on biplane interference. Figure 1 If the gap and stagger were small, the increased pressure envelope would bleed into the increased pressure envelope and degrade lift forces. Gap measurement is set by the length of the interplane and cabane struts and is therefore not adjustable. Figure 1 shows effects of stagger and gap on biplane interference.
The next subject is wing stagger, which is adjustable on most biplanes. Figure 2 shows stagger. Stagger is set by the placement of cabane struts on fuselage longerons. Perhaps one of the best instructions ever written for biplane rigging comes from the Boeing PT-13/17 manuals. If you can rig a Stearman, you can rig any biplane! Figure 2 shows positive and negative stagger on a biplane. Positive stagger is measured by dropping a plumb bob over the upper wing leading edge so it drops at the interplane strut attach point on left and right lower wings. The diagonal cabane strut or stagger wires in the center section should be adjusted until the correct stagger is reached, plus or minus 1/8 inch. If the stagger is adjusted per factory specs (if you can find them), the center of pressure should be correctly located on the mean aerodynamic chord. I always rig to factory specifications. I don’t like to “fudge” stagger forward or aft to compensate for nose- or tail-heavy conditions. That must be addressed during restoration.
Stagger
was a liberal amount of stagger. Conversely, if the gap was far apart, there was less stagger. Stagger is important because it establishes where the center of pressure is located on the mean aerodynamic chord, which needs to be aft of the center of gravity location (CG) in all flight attitudes. Remember that the center of pressure will move forward as the angle of attack increases, so we don’t want the CP to move too close to, or forward of, the CG. Only a few biplanes had negative stagger, and perhaps the most famous is the Beech Model 17 Staggerwing. Most often, positive stagger was used in the design. If the aircraft had positive stagger, the upper wing leading edge was placed forward of the lower wing leading edge. Negative stagger is the opposite. If the ailerons were on the upper wing, then the designer would design the lower wing attach points with more angle of incidence than the upper wing. Conversely, if the ailerons were on the lower wing, the upper wing would have more angle of incidence. This is called decalage; if the ailerons were on the lower wing, the designer would want to cause the upper wing to begin to stall before the lower wing. In that way, the pilot will have aileron control through the stall. Lloyd Stearman designed the model 75 with 4 degrees of incidence in the upper wing and 3 degrees in the lower wing. The ailerons were mounted on the lower wing. If the airfoil stalls at 18 degrees angle of attack, when the upper airfoil reaches that point, the lower wing angle of attack is 17 degrees. The opposite would be true if ailerons were mounted to the upper wing. Aha! It’s the stability thing again. Having discussed decalage, let’s focus on gap. My Command-Aire has 80 inches of gap. That’s a lot of gap, but the airplane only has 9 inches of stagger! Gap is important because it separates the decreased pressure envelope on the top of the wing surface from the increased pressure on the bottom of the wing surface.
Positive stagger
Negative stagger
Different configurations of wing stagger. Figure 2 Now let’s discuss stability. Lateral stability is stability against a rolling motion. This is primarily provided by wing dihedral. My Command-Aire has no dihedral in the upper wings and 2 degrees in the lower wings. The New Standard D-25 has 1/2 degree in the upper wings and 2 degrees in the lower wings. The Boeing Stearman has 1/2 degree in the upper wings and 1-1/2 degrees in lower wings. So most all biplanes are quite similar in the rigging details. For a set of biplane wings, dihedral is set by the landing wire(s). Longitudinal stability is stability against pitching motion. It’s primarily set by the horizontal stabilizer and its arm from the lateral axis to its position on the aft fuselage. “Short coupled” airplanes tend to be touchy in pitch, while airplanes with a long arm from the lateral axis to the stab position tend to be very mild in pitch. Directional stability is stability in yaw. The vertical stabilizer provides this stability. Also in the mix is the arm of the vertical axis to the centerline of the engine. The longer the arm, the more the airplane will yaw. The
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
New Standard biplanes I fly have different arms where the engine mass is located. The yaw characteristics are totally different between the D-25 and D-25A. The D-25A has a 4-inch longer arm to the engine center of mass. So the fuselage and engine cowling forward of the vertical axis has something to do with the aircraft’s yawing stability. Figure 3 is a simple sketch of an
The basic three-axis control system of rudder, elevator, and ailerons. aircraft’s primary flight control system. Figure 3 Lateral control is provided by the ailerons, which control roll around the longitudinal axis of the airplane. Most common was the Englishman Frise (pronounced Freeze) or the German Lachmann slotted aileron. This aileron gave good lateral control at low airspeeds because there’s a slot between the wing and aileron. At high angles of attack the air would begin to burble and separate from the region at the wing trailing edge. But airflow on the bottom of the wing was still moving, so this air would flow through the slot and over the top of the aileron. But in level flight, the penalty was a small amount of drag, as air flowing over the top of the slot would tend to curl back into the slot, thus creating drag. A few aircraft manufacturers covered the slot with a sheet metal or fabric strip, which eliminated drag but reduced the low speed effectiveness. This photo is a rare picture from the Command-Aire files of Albert Vollmecke. It shows Albert’s design use of the Lachmann’s slotted aileron.
22 DECEMBER 2010
Adverse yaw was another nemesis that plagued early airplanes. When banking the airplane, adverse yaw worked opposite the entry into the turn; if the airplane was rolled to the right, the nose would rotate to the left. Thus a generous amount of rudder was required to get the airplane into a coordinated turn. Adverse yaw is simple to explain. When an aileron is moved down, it effectively increases the camber of the wing, changes the angle of attack, and increases lift, and the wing rises. On the opposite wing the aileron moves up, thus taking away the angle of attack to help move the wing down. The bank angle is created and the aircraft rolls around the longitudinal axis. To help offset adverse yaw, aileron differential was developed, which aided somewhat. Aileron differential required the up-moving aileron to have more travel than the down-moving aileron. Typical travels were 18 degrees down and 25 degrees up. The Frise aileron also had an aileron leading edge that would drop slightly below the lower surface of the wing when moving up. This plus the added travel up was an attempt to cause additional drag on the downward moving wing to counteract adverse yaw. Modern aerobatic aircraft utilize “spades” attached to the lower side of ailerons. Spades effectively remove all aileron adverse yaw problems. Longitudinal control is provided by the elevators and is movement around the lateral axis. The elevators effectively change the camber of the horizontal stabilizer. Up elevator changes the angle of attack of the stabilizer/elevator surface, and more downward lift is created, thus raising the nose. Conversely down elevator creates more of an upward lifting force causing the nose to move down. Also incorporated in the stabilizer or elevator is the longitudinal trim. Either the stabilizer pivots to change the angle of incidence (and therefore angle of attack) or the elevator is provided with tab. Both controls are actuated from the pilot’s cockpit. The trim tab actuator is designed to move the same direction as the control stick. That is, moving the control forward causes the nose to move down, and rearward movement of the control causes the nose to move up. The purpose of longitudinal trim is to remove stick forces in various flight regimes. Trim tab trailing edge movement up will move the elevator down, thus moving the nose down. Trim tab trailing edge movement down will move the elevator up, thus moving the nose up. Directional control is provided by the rudder and is movement around the vertical axis. Normally rudder travel is the same in both left and right directions. Typical travel is 23 to 30 degrees left and right depending on the type of aircraft and manufacturer’s instructions. If the aircraft is to exhibit proper spin recovery, the rudder must be rigged according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The rudder works like
an elevator; it’s a variable-camber airfoil that changes camber in relation to the vertical fin and causes an increase or decrease in lifting force. Right rudder input changes the camber, causing more lift to the left side of the vertical stabilizer, thus moving the nose right. Left rudder works on the opposite side of the vertical stabilizer. Tail wheel and rudder cable interconnect: Many aircraft use a steerable-type tail wheel. When the rudder pedal is moved to the right or left the airplane’s nose moves accordingly. A word to the wise—the tail wheel steering should work in a positive manner. Normally there’s a spring connecting the control cable to each side of the steering arm. Jack up the tail, move the rudder left and right, and make sure the tail wheel moves accordingly. Many aircraft have been damaged in a ground loop accident due to poor tail wheel steering. Other aircraft use a locking tail wheel; it locks in the straight position for takeoff and landing. Jack up the tail, neutralize the rudder, and check to see if the tail wheel tracks straight. A symmetry check is used here. Measure from the axle of the tail wheel to a point on the main landing gear axle. Both measurements, left and right, should be the same. Now, let’s put the airplane level flight at cruise power and see in detail how stability and control work. In level flight there are four forces acting on the airplane. Thrust = drag, and lift = weight. Thrust provided by the engine equals drag, which is both induced and parasitic. The weight of the airplane in pounds is equal to the lift produced in pounds. If the center of gravity is located forward of the center of pressure, the horizontal stabilizer provides a positive lifting force down. Therefore, anytime the speed is decreased, that lifting force will decrease and the nose will drop. If the pilot adds a small amount of back pressure on the stick causing nose-up movement, then releases the control, this is what should happen: Nose up, and the airplane begins to slow down, and the lifting force on the horizontal stabilizer is less; the nose moves down, and airspeed increases, increasing the lifting force on the tail down, pulling the nose up. This is repeated until the aircraft regains straight and level flight. The time involved in the nose-up and nose-down oscillations indicates positive static and dynamic stability. If these oscillations neither increase nor decrease, then the aircraft is neutrally stable in both static and dynamic stability. If these oscillations increase over time, then the aircraft displays negative static and dynamic stability. Hopefully, after this dissertation, one can see the importance of having the CG forward of the center of pressure (CP). The same kind of test can be made by inducing a slight roll, releasing the stick and seeing if the aircraft will return to wings-level flight. Dihedral should help bring it back to level flight. And moving the rudder to induce a yaw should result in the aircraft returning to straight
flight in a relatively short period of time with just a few oscillations back and forth. The vertical stabilizer (fin) should help bring back the original heading. Many older biplanes may have positive static and dynamic longitudinal and directional stability but may exhibit neutral static and dynamic lateral stability. The New Standard is that way. Once the roll has been induced (by turbulence), the airplane won’t return to wings-level flight. The pilot is always working the ailerons to maintain wings-level flight at cruise. These stability and control tests can be conducted when the air is calm and there’s no turbulence of any kind. Hopefully this discussion will give pilots a little more insight into why the biplane does what it does in flight. Keep in mind that the older the airplane, the less designers knew about stability.
Terms Longitudinal axis —the axis of roll. An imaginar y line from nose to tail through the fuselage.
Lateral axis —the axis of pitch. An imaginar y line from wingtip to wingtip.
Vertical axis —the axis of yaw. An imaginar y ver tical line through fuselage center intersecting both longitudinal and lateral axes. Chord line —a line through an air foil from leading edge to trailing edge. Mean aerodynamic chord —an imaginary chord line located between a biplane’s upper and lower wing chord lines that, if an air foil was superimposed, would give the same pitching and rolling moments. Center of pressure —a point on the chord line where all lifting forces are concentrated. Angle of incidence —the angle formed from the wing chord line and longitudinal axis. Usually a fixed angle but sometimes adjustable. Decalage —the difference in angles of incidence of upper and lower wings of a biplane. Greater incidence in upper wings = positive decalage. Greater incidence in lower wings = negative decalage. Angle of attack —the angle formed by the relative wind and chord line (sometimes the lower surface) of a wing. Relative wind —impact air on the wing sur face flowing in the opposite direction as the line of flight. Stagger —the distance (usually in inches) upper wing leads lower wing, or lower wing leads upper wing, for a biplane. Gap —the distance (in inches) between chord lines of a biplane. Camber —cur vature of an air foil. Upper camber has more cur ve than lower camber. If camber is the same on top and bottom sur faces, the air foil is said to be symmetrical. Induced drag —drag pr oduced when the air craft is creating lift. Parasite drag — d r a g p r o d u c e d b y a p o r t i o n o f t h e aircraft’s frontal sur faces that tends to impede its for ward movement.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
Vintage Instructor THE
BY Steve Krog, CFI
Taxiing without incident everal days ago I watched an individual taxi away from the hangar, headed for the runway. The pilot, who was quite experienced, was excited about the flight—it was the first time in many years that his eldest daughter was going for a ride with him. The daughter, too, was excited about making the flight (good father/daughter bonding time). The day was bright and sunny with a surface wind of about 10-12 mph, gusting to about 15 mph. These winds were nothing unusual to the pilot, as I had flown with him for several hours previously, and we had flown in winds considerably stronger. As they began taxiing away from the hangar I shouted to them: “The toughest part of the entire flight will be getting the airplane to the runway.” The pilot nodded and smiled. Taxiing required traveling about 150 yards with a direct crosswind before turning downwind onto the hard-surface taxiway. The controls were positioned properly, slight power was added, and they began the trip to the runway. At the point where a 90-degree turn downwind was required, the pilot stopped and cleared the taxiway for any other traffic. Power was then applied along with full right rudder, but the airplane didn’t want to turn. The direct crosswind was hitting the left side of the airplane broadside, preventing the turn. A touch of brake was applied and a bit more power added. Still nothing. And still more power was added, along with more right brake but no response. Then the pilot made the cardinal sin of taxiing with a brisk wind. He pushed the stick forward! Instantly the tail came up and the distinctive ting, ting, ting of prop tips glancing off the taxiway was heard! By the time I had walked to the taxiway, he had shut down the engine and had exited the airplane. He
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stated simply, “I feel terrible about this, and I know exactly what I did wrong.” Together we moved the airplane back to the hangar and sat down for a cup of coffee. I could see that he was quite upset with himself, and I didn’t want him leaving the airport without talking about the incident (and lowering his blood pressure). Before he departed I suggested he return the next day, and I would make an airplane available for him to fly. He needed to get back in the saddle before convincing himself he should no longer fly. After the individual left the airport I began thinking of all the taxi incidents I had observed at the airport. I recall watching a Stearman go up on its nose (after suggesting to the owner/pilot that it wouldn’t be wise to fly it until he fixed the sticky brakes), a Citabria and a Waco attempting to taxi through the wooden runway markers, numerous airplanes taking out runway lights, and a Cub with Cleveland hydraulic brakes go on its nose three times. There are a number of other instances, but these are the most vivid. What, if any, was the common denominator in each of these mishaps? Wind? Unfamiliarity with the airport? Pilot inattentiveness? Pilot unfamiliarity with the aircraft systems? After giving thought to each situation, I arrived at the conclusion: It was usually a combination of all the above. Very little space and explanation is given to proper taxi techniques in any of the flight-training handbooks commonly used today. A lot of that is due to the use of tricycle airplanes, I’m sure. However, there are still thousands of tailwheel airplanes being flown and new tailwheel airplanes, thanks to the light-sport aircraft movement, being added to the general-aviation fleet every day. It certainly appears this is a gross oversight by publishers of today’s training manuals. This
oversight also carries over to many of the younger instructors providing tailwheel training today. I’ve collected flight-training manuals, current and historical, for years, and I had to go all the way back to a manual published by the Civil Aeronautics Administration in 1943 before I could find more than a paragraph devoted to ground handling of a tailwheel airplane. The ability to taxi an airplane successfully is a key part to any successful flight, but little time and effort is devoted to proper taxi methods. In the past 12 months I’ve had the pleasure of flying with more than 100 individuals in the pursuit of flight training, tailwheel checkouts, and biennial flight reviews. I can attest to the fact that most individuals are very lax when taxiing! As a result, I’ve developed a list of things that every pilot should practice whenever attempting flight, but which are especially important when flying a tailwheel airplane. Some of the key points made include:
the propeller. Ailerons are ineffective because the prop blast does not reach them. If your airplane has a steerable tail wheel, the rudder control will be rather stiff while the plane is on the ground. More pressure on, but less movement of, the rudder pedals will be used in taxiing than if directional control is dependent on the rudder alone.
When taxiing, look for other airplanes and ground obstructions. Your visibility is extremely limited when on the ground. While taxiing, make S-turns so that you can see what is directly ahead of your airplane. Be careful that the blast of air from your propeller (prop blast) doesn’t blow dust on spectators or endanger other airplanes on the ground.
Use the throttle gently. In taxiing, the engine should be kept running only fast enough to keep the plane moving slowly, about as fast as you could walk across the ground. When the plane is at rest, it is necessary to increase the engine rpm to start the plane moving, but once it is rolling the engine rpm should be reduced. Rest your hand on the throttle at all times.
In taxiing, the stick is used to keep the tail on the ground. When taxiing into the wind (upwind), keep the stick back of neutral, and when taxiing with the wind (downwind), keep the stick forward of neutral. When taxiing into the wind, the elevators should be raised by holding the stick back, so that a sudden gust of wind will only serve to hold the tail on the ground. When taxiing with the wind, the elevators should be lowered by holding the stick forward, so that a sudden gust of wind from behind the airplane will force the tail down.
BILL KERSHNER/THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL
If the plane has brakes, they are used to control the plane when it is moving slowly on the ground. To stop, both right and left brakes are applied simultaneously. To turn right, the right brake is used. To turn left, the left brake is used.
The ability to taxi safely is a learned experience. The rudder is the most important control when taxiing. On the ground, most of the pressure on the controls is exerted by the stream of air from
When taxiing with a quartering head wind or tail wind, the ailerons become a necessity for proper ground handling, especially on a high-wing plane. When dealing with a quartering head wind, move the stick or control wheel so that the upwind aileron is in the up position, preventing the wing from generating enough lift to raise the airplane off the ground should a wind gust be encountered. When taxiing with a quartering tail wind, turn the stick or control wheel away from the wind; the aileron on the windward side of the airplane is now in the down position, which helps prevent the wing from lifting should a wind gust occur. Using the wing leading edge as your primary reference point, when the surface wind is from a direction that reaches the wing from the front, “climb into the wind.” When the wind strikes the wing from behind the wing leading edge reference point, “dive away from the wind.”
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
What, if any, was the common denominator in each of these mishaps?
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BILL KERSHNER/THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL
Upcom ing M ajor F l y - I ns
Position the stick back and elevator up when taxiing into the wind. Move the stick forward with the elevator down when taxiing with the wind.
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BILL KERSHNER/THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL
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A quartering wind requires up aileron when taxiing into the wind and down aileron when taxiing downwind. Following these simple rules explicitly will help prevent an incident like the one mentioned earlier. A little common sense will prevent a very costly repair! The next day my pilot friend did return and flew for an hour or more, including a half-dozen landings. When he taxied back to the hangar, the expressive grin he was wearing was priceless. Confidence restored, he was again flying, and I’ll bet for the remainder of his flying career, he’ll never again have a problem taxiing correctly in a tailwheel airplane.
26 DECEMBER 2010
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Christmas Listens AET AND TEXT BY LONNI SUE JOHNSON
It is coming, the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. From the upstairs window in the late faint dawn, the pond is like a wreath, frozen around the edges and open in the middle where its two springs bubble up. At opposite ends of the day, both rising in the east, the moon is full and high and the sun is cool and low. You can hear the earth, cranky on its axis, gears whiny-cold, as if without sufficient oil. I guess we’ve taken most of it away for our own uses. Primitives marked the solstice with festivities, hoping to entice
28 DECEMBER 2010
the sun back. For me it will mean more hours a day flying. I do a little dance down the stairs, which are yellow like my airplane, the Cub. And Christmas is coming. The recovery from Thanksgiving is complete, and it’s time to make wreaths and find some branches big enough to make into a Christmas tree. The walk out to the wood lot is long and usually over light snow. I listen, through earflaps, over the sound of my own breathing, to the crunch of each step. My boots make tracks, swimming pool blue. The weeds are stark lace with seeds
drying for spring. Millions stick on and come along. The shrill of a hawk, a dog barking, the acceleration of a truck as it climbs to the top of Route 33, a tractor grinding grain, and the wind—all bounce and echo across the valley. Sky and land meet with no division. Nature erases. She clothes the big signs of man in white. And begins a slow delete. Roofs disappear into pearly skies, machinery edges merge into trees, until there is only a spiral tag of wood smoke to identify the houses and barns.
Our gift is this fresh emptiness like a new sheet of paper, a new chance. Suddenly comes the crescendo of a Continental engine, and I look up from the pile of green at my feet and see a Cub with skis making a low pass over the runway. Brightmoving yellow against the gray sky, gone in a flash. Seeing someone else flying when I am on the ground always gives me an ache. The trip back dragging boughs is intense with the perfume of pitch. They leave a brushed mark that looks as if a large bird has struggled a whole field’s length on a long takeoff. I follow the scent of cherry and birch and oak and maple burning in the wood stove, home. The yearly ritual inscribes its point on the full circle of the year. Snow is still a novelty, not yet too deep. Later the walks will be on snowshoes and the tracks funny looking with the occasional large deep hole from a loss of balance. Cross-country ski tracks too have their stories to tell. Last winter I was laughing out loud just looking out the window at the betraying trail of my afternoon jaunt up and down the hill. Lots of large messy areas interrupted the otherwise elegant sliding marks. And a few snow angels as exclamation marks. I had hoped for an immediate new snow to cover it, angels and all. My thoughts fill with people who aren’t here, vanished as the wheel of the days keeps rolling. And how easy it’d be to no longer make tracks; too tired, too lazy, or too preoccupied. So I think; make them memorable. On fresh snow, the cats are usually the first out. They map a beeline trail between the hangar and the warm nose of the Cub and the north porch where their dish is, and then back to the barn toward warm milk. The cows make wide welldocumented paths up into the hill pasture. The deer more daintily bound with half their travel airborne. The Cub on skis makes graceful swishing curves leading out to the runway. Then its tracks go straight
and magically end as the plane lifts off into the air. Like the tracks of a rabbit until it is hoisted unluckily up by a hungry hawk. Back warm inside, from the window, the views are like Christmas cards. The towering weeping spruce makes festive edges to the fields and slowly the holiday spirit takes hold. There is a belief that on Christmas Eve, at midnight, animals can talk. Certainly I give the cows a lot to talk about on a daily basis. When I taxi by them in the Cub they snap their heads around. But once they see I’m not chasing them, they just nod and bat their long lashes at me. And sometimes bellow a bit. But I haven’t heard words or laughter.
Our gift is this fresh emptiness like a new sheet of paper, a new chance. Inside the barn at chore time there is the most satisfying sound of munching and the smells of fresh split green bales of hay and grain and milk. Milk for the calves and pigs but also poured out for the barn cats, Tippy, Mouse, Squeak, Squawk, Schnitzel, and Babe. And milk for me to bring back to the house to pasteurize and put in the morning cappuccino. Will the cow, cats, pigs, and horse really speak? And if they can, what about airplanes? Airplanes seem to be more than just a machine for going places. Watch, and you can see otherwise very matter-of-fact people back from a flight push their planes into the hangar, or tie them down, checking around to see that all is well, and begin to walk away. Then suddenly they double back and give a pat and sometimes a kiss on the nose cowling, and say, “Thank you,” out loud. I pay attention during the preflight
checks and while flying. Little squeaks and whistles can be revelations. Inside the healthy roar of the Cub’s engine I listen warily for the muffley sound of ice collecting in the throat of the carburetor, which I must melt immediately by pulling on the carburetor heat. I love the final cadence of the click click click of the propeller as I shut down, in front of the hangar doors. If the Cub could talk, I’d like to listen. Captured in the spirit of the holidays it might concentrate on dreams for the future instead of complaints about the past. Like not enough flights, or mud on its belly, not enough washings and waxings, the cost of gasoline. Maybe its wishes will match mine. To fly across the country, or at least to Michigan to see cousins and other friends and family who need rides in a bright yellow J-3 Piper Cub. Sitting on the Cub’s tire I think about putting on the skis, grateful that my friends can help me. I know this airplane has enjoyed these snowy flights, and even on wheels landing on frozen lakes. Flying, there are only the prints from the trip out to the runway, and then landing. In between is freedom. I am planning to save midnight on December 24 for a visit to the Cub, its nose covered with a quilt and probably cast limp from the engine heater, and then to the barn to listen. Now bending branches into fragrant circles, I think of the past year and the one ahead. Three wreaths with red ribbons: one for the cats, one for the cows, and one for the Cub. December 2005 Watercolor Farm Lonni Sue Johnson Editor’s Note: Lonni Sue Johnson sent this wonderful piece to us back in December of 2005; we’ve been hanging on to it hoping that it would bring a special kind of joy both to her and her family, and to each of you this holiday season.—H.G. Frautschy
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
Chapter Locator VAA 27, Delaware, Ohio. Sept. 18, 2010, monthly pancake breakfast.
DAVE BOYERS
Visit the VAA chapter nearest you and get to know some great old-airplane enthusiasts! You don’t need to be a pilot to join in the fun; just have a love of the great airplanes of yesteryear. CALIFORNIA
FLORIDA
KANSAS
Hayward, CA, VAA 29 Meeting: 2nd Thurs., 6:00 p.m. Hayward Airport, Hangar: Atlantic 3 Gary Oberti, President Phone: 510-357-8600 E-mail: info@vaa29.org Website: www.vaa29.org
Lakeland, FL, VAA 1 Meeting: Contact President Bobby Capozzi, President Phone: 352-475-9736 E-mail: mx180a@aol.com Website: www.FSAACA.com
CALIFORNIA
ILLINOIS
Overland Park, KS, VAA 16 Meeting: 2nd Fri., 7:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m. dinner at LaCaretta Mexican Res. Gardner, KS for any interested; 7:30 p.m. meeting at CAF Hangar, New Century Airport Kevin Pratt, President Phone: 816-985-3248 E-mail: kpratt@vaa16.com Website: www.VAA16.com June 24-25, 2011 Fly-in
Sacramento, CA, VAA 25 Meeting: 2nd Sat., 9:00 a.m. See chapter website for location. Jim Jordan, President Phone: 916-569-2002 E-mail: jimsfcu@ix.netcom.com Website: www.Vin25.org Dec. 11: 10:00 AM Brunch (KSAC)
CAROLINAS, VIRGINIA Walnut Cove, NC, VAA 3 Meeting: Contact President Susan Dusenbury, President Phone: 336-591-3931 E-mail: sr6sue@aol.com www.VAA3.org May 6-8, 2011 Spring Vintage Fly-In Person County Airport, Roxboro, NC
30 DECEMBER 2010
Lansing, IL, VAA 26 Meeting: Contact President Peter Bayer, President Phone: 630-922-3387 E-mail: c180bayer@yahoo.com
INDIANA Auburn, IN, VAA 37 Meeting: 4th Thurs., 7:00 p.m. DeKalb County Airport (kGWB) Hangar A—VAA 37 Clubhouse Drew Hoffman, President Phone: 260-515-3525 E-mail: drewhof fman@vaa37.org Website: www.VAA37.org
LOUISIANA New Iberia, LA, VAA 30 Meeting: 1st Sun., 9:00 a.m. LeMaire Memorial Airport Hangar 4 Roland Denison, President Phone: 337-365-3047 E-mail: vaa30@cox.net
MINNESOTA Albert Lea, MN, VAA 13 Meeting: 2nd Thurs., 7:00 p.m. Albert Lea Airport FBO Paul Stieler, President Phone: 507-377-2291 E-mail: pstieler@smig.net
NEBRASKA Plattsmouth, NE, VAA 31 Meeting: 1st Sat., 10:30 a.m. Plattsmouth Airport Term Bldg. William Kroeger, President Phone: 402-331-3887, E-mail: pilotwill@cox.net
NEW HAMPSHIRE North Hampton, NH, VAA 15 Meeting: 2nd Sat., 11:00 a.m. Hampton Airfield Eric Obssuth, President Phone: 603-479-5832, E-mail: sandhillaviation@att.net
NEW JERSEY Andover, NJ, VAA 7 Meeting: 1st Sun, 10:30 a.m. Andover Aeroflex Airport Joe Tapp, President Phone: 908-872-3821, E-mail: joetapp@comcast.net
OHIO Columbus, OH, VAA 38 Meeting: 2nd Sunday, 1 p.m. Contact president for location. Perry Chappano, President Phone: 614-496-3423, E-mail: polestar@ameritech.net
OHIO Delaware, OH, VAA 27 Meeting: 3rd Sat. 8-10 am, May through Sept. Delaware Municiple Airport (DLZ) Terminal Building Woody McIntire, President Phone: 740-362-7228 E-mail: wjmcintire@cs.com, Website: www.EAAdlz.org
OKLAHOMA Tulsa, OK, VAA 10 Meeting: 4th Thurs., 7:00 pm Hardesty South Regional Library No meetings in July, Nov. & Dec. Joe Champagne, President Phone: 918-257-4688, Email: skypal@groveemail.com
TEXAS Spring, TX, VAA 2 Meeting: 4th Sun., 2:00 pm David Wayne Hooks Airport (KDWH) Fred Ramin, President Phone: 281-444-5309, Email: fredramin@sbcglobal.net
WISCONSIN Brookfield, WI, VAA 11 Meeting: 1st Mon., 7:30 pm Capitol Drive Airport Office James Brown, President Phone: 262-895-6282, Email: jb1910@wi.rr.com
Want to Start a VAA Chapter? It’s easy to start a VAA chapter. All you need to get started is five vintage enthusiasts. Then contact the EAA Chapter Office at 920-426-6867 or chapters@eaa.org to obtain an EAA Chapter Starter Kit. EAA has tools to help you get in touch with all your local vintage members, and they’ll walk you through the process of starting a new chapter.
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
by H.G. FRAUTSCHY
MYSTERY PLANE This month’s Mystery Plane comes from John Underwood of Glendale, California.
Send your answer to EAA, Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Your answer needs to be in no later than January 15 for inclusion in
the March 2011 issue of Vintage Airplane. You can also send your response via e-mail. Send your answer to mysteryplane@eaa.org.
Be sure to include your name plus your city and state in the body of your note and put “(Month) Mystery Plane” in the subject line.
SEPTEMBER’S MYSTERY ANSWER ur September 2010 Mystery Plane came to us from W. Duffy Thompson of Lakeland, Florida. Duffy’s been with us a long time—he’s VAA No. 53, EAA 75124! The photo was part of a collection of shots given to Duffy by
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Don O.W. Emerson, whose father and brother also had colorful careers in aviation. Here’s our first answer: Okay, this one was easy; it is a Hanriot HD-1, powered by a Le Rhone 9JB of either 110 or 120 hp. It is a French
fighter from the First World War that was operated by Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, and the U.S. Navy during the war. It was also used by Paraguay after the war as an advanced trainer. The U.S. Navy used them after the war for experiments on shipboard-launched scout planes along with Sopwith Cam-
els. There are about four examples left in the world in different museums, one of which is the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. The largest users of the aircraft were the Italians, who built them under license issued by the Hanriot company. William D. Barger Del Rio, Texas Here’s a bit more from Russ Brown of Lyndhurst, Ohio: 1916 Hanriot HD-1 The September Mystery Plane will be well-recognized by WWI aircraft enthusiasts as a Hanriot HD-1. This example is a Le Rhone 100-130 hp rotary-engine-powered standard type as identified by rudder shape and lack of side cowl extension behind the cockpit. Minor civil modifications are removal of the single cowl-top centerline Vickers gun, and insertion of a step behind the port (left) side lower wing. The HD-1 was designed by Pierre Du Pont at René Hanriot Co. at Billancourt, France, in 1916. As French fighter orders concentrated on S.P.A.D.s, the HD-1 was available to the French naval air service, to Belgium, and for large production in Italy by Nieuport-Macchi. Initial French production provided Belgium Squadron 1ere (Later 9ere) with a
fighter of “good performance and was exceptionally maneuverable and light on controls.” Production of some 800plus for Italian use by license-built Nieuport-Macchi began at Varese, Italy, in November 1916 and continued postwar WWI with 70 built by Macchi. Belge First Escadrille de Chasse HD-1s were camouflaged with random patch light brown, dark brown, olive green, and light gray doped upper surfaces, and likely aluminum under surfaces. Belgian Audre Demeulemeester flew a yellow HD-1, while Willy Coppens destroyed Hun balloons in a blue painted HD-1. Italian HD-1s are either camouflaged or overall aluminum with colorful squadron art, ref. Profile Publication No. 109 (out of print). French hero Ace Charles Nungesser barnstormed in the United States with a HD-1 painted with his black heart and coffin-and-candles personal insignia. This HD-1 was later used in Hell’s Angels and Wings movies and was restored by Ed Maloney in 1952. U.S. Navy-purchased HD-2s had enlarged rudders and in-board roundels on wings. Other correct answers were received from Brian Baker, Sun City, Arizona; Wayne Muxlow, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Martin A. Robb,
Grants Pass, Oregon; and Wes Smith of Springfield, Illinois. Regular readers of this column will remember the names of some of our most active enthusiasts of Mystery Plane. George Hardie, Charles Schultz, Dave Pauley, Pete Bowers, and many others have all “gone west.” I’m sorry to report that one more enthusiast and Mystery Plane contributor has passed away: Dave Stott of Trumbull, Connecticut. Dave was a longtime friend from the model airplane world, and for nearly all of the 1980s we worked for the same company, Sikorsky Aircraft. He was a consummate model builder (it was even his professional life for most of his career), a walking encyclopedia of aviation both big and small, and a man with an infectious laugh, who, as co-founder with Bob Thompson of the modern-day Flying Aces Club for enthusiasts of free-flight model airplanes, started a movement that continues to enrich the recreational life of thousands of folks around the world. Like so many of our older friends who have left us, he will surely be missed.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
From the
Founder Editor’s Note: EAA’s Founder, Paul Poberezny remembered this short editorial he wrote soon after the formation of the Antique/Classic Division of EAA. As we get ready to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Division, now the Vintage Aircraft Association, Paul, and I felt it was an appropriate piece to reprint, as the words still strike a similar chord these four decades later.
—HGF
Paul H. Poberezny
T
he Antique-Classic Division of the Experimental Aircraft Association has the potential of being one of the largest activities within the sport aviation movement. It brings together those with specific interests in aviation of the older and the classic airplane. The forming of divisions within EAA was for a different purpose than one might think. No, it is not to expand and gobble up the good work of other fi ne organizations. It is to offer to those within our own international organization the opportunity to seek others with similar interests—the opportunity to participate and to help me guide the many aspects of sport aviation in a continued successful manner. It is to put out an additional separate publication through its own funding; to elect its own officers and directors; to help augment our international offi cers in carrying out their work and responsibilities; to help at the annual convention in preparing its forums, judging for awards, greeting, and parking aircraft. We have expanded the team, offering the opportunity to more people to become involved— delegated the responsibility. With more and knowledgeable leaders the possibility of our movement failing lessens. True, the workload at headquarters in some areas is greater; however, the advantage outweighs this, and I hope always will.
The FAA looks to us for greater leadership in all areas, whether it be antiques, classics, homebuilts, or warbirds. Our desire to work with each other, to maintain and restore our aircraft with the highest degree of skill, is well-known throughout the FAA. This respect will always lessen the need for additional regulation. All of us together have developed a great family—a real fun and good fellowship group. We are giving purpose to our endeavors and our machines. Though we may at times attempt to rationalize why we own and operate our birds, would we not have to do the same with a horse, golf clubs, or a snowmobile in summer? I am very pleased with the growth and enthusiasm of our EAA members and divisions. Our renewal rate for 1972 was approximately 88 percent and for 1973 could be a bit higher. I hope this speaks well for the work of our staff, our divisions, and the officers and directors. We will continue to do our very best.
Reprinted from Vintage Airplane July 1973. 34 DECEMBER 2010
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VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President Geoff Robison 1521 E. MacGregor Dr. New Haven, IN 46774 260-493-4724 chief7025@aol.com
Vice-President George Daubner N57W34837 Pondview Ln Oconomowoc, WI 53066 262-560-1949 gdaubner@eaa.org
Secretary Steve Nesse 2009 Highland Ave. Albert Lea, MN 56007 507-373-1674 stnes2009@live.com
Treasurer Dan Knutson 106 Tena Marie Circle Lodi, WI 53555 608-592-7224 lodicub@charter.net
DIRECTORS
Steve Bender 85 Brush Hill Road Sherborn, MA 01770 508-653-7557 sst10@comcast.net
Dale A. Gustafson 7724 Shady Hills Dr. Indianapolis, IN 46278 317-293-4430 dalefaye@msn.com
David Bennett 375 Killdeer Ct Lincoln, CA 95648 916-952-9449 antiquer@inreach.com
Jeannie Hill P.O. Box 328 Harvard, IL 60033-0328 815-943-7205
Jerry Brown 4605 Hickory Wood Row Greenwood, IN 46143 317-422-9366 lbrown4906@aol.com Dave Clark 635 Vestal Lane Plainfield, IN 46168 317-839-4500 davecpd@att.net John S. Copeland 1A Deacon Street Northborough, MA 01532 508-393-4775 copeland1@juno.com Phil Coulson 28415 Springbrook Dr. Lawton, MI 49065 269-624-6490 rcoulson516@cs.com
Espie “Butch” Joyce 704 N. Regional Rd. Greensboro, NC 27409 336-668-3650 windsock@aol.com Steve Krog 1002 Heather Ln. Hartford, WI 53027 262-966-7627 sskrog@aol.com Robert D. “Bob” Lumley 1265 South 124th St. Brookfield, WI 53005 262-782-2633 lumper@execpc.com S.H. “Wes” Schmid 2359 Lefeber Avenue Wauwatosa, WI 53213 414-771-1545 shschmid@gmail.com
DIRECTORS EMERITUS Robert C. Brauer 9345 S. Hoyne Chicago, IL 60643 773-779-2105 photopilot@aol.com
Charlie Harris PO Box 470350 Tulsa, OK 74147 918-622-8400 cwh@hvsu.com
Gene Chase 2159 Carlton Rd. Oshkosh, WI 54904 920-231-5002 GRCHA@charter.net
E.E. “Buck” Hilbert 8102 Leech Rd. Union, IL 60180 815-923-4591 buck7ac@gmail.com
Ronald C. Fritz 15401 Sparta Ave. Kent City, MI 49330 616-678-5012 rFritz@pathwaynet.com
Gene Morris 5936 Steve Court Roanoke, TX 76262 817-491-9110 genemorris@charter.net
John Turgyan PO Box 219 New Egypt, NJ 08533 609-758-2910 jrturgyan4@aol.com
TM
Membership Services Directory Enjoy the many benefits of EAA and EAA’s Vintage Aircraft Association
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EAA Aviation Center, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Phone (920) 426-4800
Fax (920) 426-4873
Web Sites: www.vintageaircraft.org, www.airventure.org, www.eaa.org/memberbenefits E-Mail: vintageaircraft@eaa.org
EAA and Division Membership Services (8:00 AM–6:00 PM Monday–Friday CST) membership@eaa.org 800-564-6322 FAX 920-426-4873 www.eaa.org/memberbenefits •New/renew memberships •Address changes •Merchandise sales •Gift memberships EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 888-322-4636 www.airventure.org Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft Hotline 877-359-1232 www.sportpilot.org Programs and Activities Auto Fuel STCs 920-426-4843 EAA Air Academy 920-426-6880 www.airacademy.org EAA Scholarships 920-426-6823 Library Services/Research 920-426-4848 Benefits AUA Vintage Insurance Plan 800-727-3823 www.auaonline.com EAA Aircraft Insurance Plan 866-647-4322 www.eaa.org/memberbenefits EAA VISA Card 800-853-5576 ext. 8884 EAA Hertz Rent-A-Car Program 800-654-2200 www.eaa.org/hertz Editorial 920-426-4825 www.vintageaircraft.org VAA Office 920-426-6110
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EAA Members Information Line 888-EAA-INFO (322-4636) Use this toll-free number for: information about AirVenture Oshkosh; aeromedical and technical aviation questions; chapters; and Young Eagles. Please have your membership number ready when calling. Office hours are 8:15 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (Monday - Friday, CST)
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is $40 for one year, including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION. Family membership is an additional $10 annually. All major credit cards accepted for membership. (Add $16 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.
VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION Current EAA members may join the Vintage Aircraft Association and receive VINTAGE AIRPLANE magazine for an additional $36 per year. EAA Membership, VINTAGE AIRPLANE magazine and one year membership in the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association is available for $46 per
year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included). (Add $7 for International Postage.)
WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARBIRDS magazine for an additional $45 per year. EAA Membership, WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $55 per year (SPORT OficAVIATION magazine not included). (Add $7 for International Postage.)
IAC
Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club, Inc. Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $45 per year. EAA Membership, SPORT AEROBATICS magazine and one year membership in the IAC Division is available for $55 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included). (Add $15 for Foreign Postage.)
Membership dues to EAA and its divisions are not tax deductible as charitable contributions
Copyright ©2010 by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association, All rights reserved. VINTAGE AIRPLANE (USPS 062-750; ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published monthly at EAA Aviation Center, 3000 Poberezny Rd., PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54903-3086, e-mail: vintageaircraft@eaa.org. Membership to Vintage Aircraft Association, which includes 12 issues of Vintage Airplane magazine, is $36 per year for EAA members and $46 for non-EAA members. Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Vintage Airplane, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. PM 40063731 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Pitney Bowes IMS, Station A, PO Box 54, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5. FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES — Please allow at least two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via surface mail. ADVERTISING — Vintage Aircraft Association does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken. EDITORIAL POLICY: Members are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with the contributor. No remuneration is made. Material should be sent to: Editor, VINTAGE AIRPLANE, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Phone 920-426-4800. EAA® and EAA SPORT AVIATION®, the EAA Logo® and Aeronautica™ are registered trademarks, trademarks, and service marks of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. The use of these trademarks and service marks without the permission of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is strictly prohibited.
36 DECEMBER 2010
www.shopeaa.com/vaa Telephone Orders: 800-843-3612
Snoopy Flying Ace Mug Wake up and be encouraged to be a hero! 14 oz. ceramic mug. Microwave and dishwasher safe.
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Canvas Bag & Matching Hat Biplane embroidered cap and tote are 100% Cotton. Metal buckle at the back of cap adjusts for size. Choose bluegrass teal or chili red. Teal Cap #5265687314060 Teal Tote #5265687014060 Red Cap #5265687314020 Red Tote #5265687014020
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Wooden Toy Planes Cherry Wood Triplane (see price by photo) #5265657300000 Handmade in Wisconsin, the sturdy plane has wood that ages to a deep red. Wing span is approximately 12-1/2 inches. Propeller spins. Pilot can be removed from the cockpit. Maple & Walnut Monoplane (see price by photo) #5265657400000 Also made in Wisconsin, the monoplane has a wingspan of 12 inches. Pilot can be removed from plane for playing.
Tote
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Coaster Set Set of six tin coasters each with a unique design. Cork backed. Approx. 3-1/2 inches across. Storage tin included. #5251604200000
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 37
DC-3 (10-inch wingspan)
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Tin Planes
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Decorative wind-up planes from the Schylling Collector Series for the adult who still enjoys a bit of whimsy. DC-3 #5265856700000 Looping Plane #5265856800000 Prop Plane #5262618600000
3-D Puzzle Plane 27 pieces for children 6 and up. Item #5264861600000
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Child’s Colorful Watches Delightful watches with bright aviation bands. Each watch Choose the band with spaceship, or jets (either light blue or royal blue background). Spaceship #5265685530020 Royal Blue or Light Blue Band with Jets #5265685530061
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38 DECEMBER 2010
Mini 3-D Puzzles Looking for a great project for a young child? This is your solution—fun and easy. These puzzles can be painted, colored with markers or decorated with stickers. Approx 3 inch wingspan. Mini Jetliner #5264861500000 Mini Hydro Airplane #5264861400000
Pilot Bears Cozy stuffed bears are dressed in leather, goggles, helmet and silk scarf for a ride in the open cockpit. Both have soft curly fur. Smaller bear is 8 inches tall 5260372100000
*$6.95 Larger bear is 10 inches tall 5260372000000
*$9.95 Dark Wooden Plane
*$19.95 www.shopeaa.com/vaa Telephone Orders: 800-843-3612
Dark Wood Airplane Decorative fun, this wooden airplane is an accent to any room in the home or office. Approximate Wingspan 14 inches, fuselage 11 inches and 5 inches high. Item #5260372300000
From US and Canada (All Others Call 920-426-5912)
Or send to: EAA Mail Orders, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086
Cow Plane
Limited supplies available.
*$4.49
*Shipping and handling NOT included. Major credit cards accepted. WI residents add 5% sales tax.
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Natural Wood Airplanes Cute little airplanes have a 5-inch wingspan and will sit on your desk holding a pencil. When children come to visit these planes are the perfect thing to entertain them. Paint, in a color scheme of your choice, on the plain wood one.
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 39
VINTAGE TRADER
S o m e t h i n g t o b u y, sell, or trade? Classified Word Ads: $5.50 per 10 words, 180 words maximum, with boldface lead-in on first line. Classified Display Ads: One column wide (2.167 inches) by 1, 2, or 3 inches high at $20 per inch. Black and white only, and no frequency discounts. Advertising Closing Dates: 10th of second month prior to desired issue date (i.e., January 10 is the closing date for the March issue). VAA reser ves the right to reject any adver tising in conflict with its policies. Rates cover one insertion per issue. Classified ads are not accepted via phone. Payment must accompany order. Word ads may be sent via fax (920-426-4828) or e-mail (classads@eaa.org) using credit card payment (all cards accepted). Include name on card, complete address, type of card, card number, and expiration date. Make checks payable to EAA. Address adver tising correspondence to EAA Publications Classified Ad Manager, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086.
Stained Glass Panel Colorful antique airplane action depicted in a stained gel glass design. Size is 36 inches long x 12 inches high. #5265751300000
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SERVICES Always Flying Aircraft Restoration, LLC: Annual Inspections, Airframe recovering, fabric repairs and complete restorations. Wayne A. Forshey A&P & I.A. 740-472-1481 Ohio and bordering states. Biplane Builder Ltd. Restoration, fabric, paint, fabrications, paperwork with 53 completed projects, Wacos, Moth’s, Champs, Pitts etc. Test flights and delivery. Indiana 812-343-8879 mike@biplanebuilder.com, www. biplanebuilder.com.
BOOKS Cessna Sensations, new photographic book showing Cessna WWII through the early 1960s. Great gift, buy at Amazon.com or signed at vintageflyer.com 100+vintage cockpit original photographs with information in new book; Portals into the Sky. Buy Amazon.com or signed at vintageflyer.com
40 DECEMBER 2010
Airplane Journals Airplane Garden Stake This popular metal airplane is handmade by a craftsman in Wisconsin. The airplane will weather with age becoming more beautiful. Item # 5265689400000
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Books can be used as a journal, sketch book, or scrapbook. Each book has 30 spiral bound sheets of smooth blank white acid free cardstock.
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