vintage airplane - jan 1993

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jan 1993

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January 1993 Vol.21,No.1CONTENTS

1 Straight&Level/Espie"Butch Joyce2 IC News/compiledbyH.G.Frautschy4 AeroMail

PageS5 Waco39Romeo/Don Toeppen9 TexasTrimotor Trip/Andrew King13 The ImpossibleDream . .NormPetersen17 I'veNeverSeenaWacoLikeThat Before!/H.G.Frautschy21 WhatOur MembersAre Restoring/

NormPetersen23 Passit toBuck/EE."Buck"Hilbert24 MysteryPlane/GeorgeHardie26 WelcomeNewMembers27 Calendar30 VintageTrader Page 21

FRONT COVER. .Charles "Chalkie" Stobbart and Peter Hengst reallywanted to fly to the EAA Convention in Cha lkie 's Fairchild 24W , so theydid all the way from South Africa See Norm Petersen's article on thist ; : ; ; : : ; 3 intrepid pair and their adventure, starting on page 13. EAA photo by CarlSchuppel. shot with a Canon EOS-1 equipped with an 80200mm lens.1/500 @ f8 .0 on Kodachrome 64. Cessna 210 photo plane flown by Bruce

EDITORIAL STAFFPublisherTom Poberezny

Vice-President,Marketing and CommunicationsDick MattEditor-in-Chief

Jack CoxEditorHenry G. FrautschyManaging EditorGolda Cox

Art DirectorMike DrucksComputer Graphic SpecialistsOlivia L PhillipSara Hansen Jennifer Larsen

AdvertisingMary JonesAssociate EditorNorm Petersen

Feature WritersGeorge Hardie, Jr. Dennis ParksStaff PhotographersJim Koepnick Mike SteinekeCarl Schuppel Donna Bushman

Editorial AssistantIsabelle Wiske

EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION, INC,OFFICERSPresident Vice-PresidentEspie "Butch" Joyce Arthur Morga n604 Highway St . 3744 North 51 st Blvd.Madison, NC 27025 Milwaukee, WI 53216919/4270216 414/4423631Secretory TreasurerSteven C. Nesse E.E. "Buck' Hilbert2009 Highland Ave. P.O. Box 424Albert Lea, MN 5I:flJ7 Union, IL 60180507/3731674 815/9234591

DIRECTORSJohn Berendt Robert C. "Bob " Brauer7645 Echo Point Rd. 9345 S HoyneCannon Falls, MN 55009507/263-2414 C h 3 ~ ~ ~ ~ 9 ~ ~ m 2Gene Chose John S. Copeland2159 Carlton Rd. 283 Williamsburg Ct.Oshkosh, WI 54904 Shrewsbury , MA 01545414/2315002 508/8427867Phil Coulson George Daubner28415 Springbrook Dr. 2448 Lough LaneLawton, M149065 Hartford, WI 53027616/6246490 414/6735885

Charles Harris Stan Gomoll3933 South Peoria 104290th Lane, NEP.O. Box 904038 Minneapolis. MN 55434Tulsa , OK 74105 612 /7841172918/7427311

Dole A. Gustafson Jeannie Hill7724 Shady Hill Dr. P.O. Box 328Indianapolis, IN 46278 Harvard , L 60033317/293-4430 815/9437205Robert Lickteig Robert D. "Bob " Lum ley1708 Bay Oaks Dr. 1265 South 124th St.Albert Lea, MN 5I:flJ7 Brookfield, WI 53005


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anyone told us; that was just the way todo it. From the day we bought it untilthe day it left , it was cruised at 2550 rpmSTR IGHT LEVEL and it would indicate about 32 34

by Espie "Butch" JoyceIn the December issue of VINTAGEAIRPLANE , the article on DeltonPerry's Piper Tri-Pacer sparked a lot of

memories for me. I'd like to tell youwhy this article prompted so manypleasant memories.My father, Espie Joyce, Sr. , becameinterested in flying around the year1936 and was flying by 1937. At thattime he had a garage with severalmechanics working for him. He openedup an EXXON service station inMayodan, North Carolina. There was asmall airport in Mayodan , and soon hewas just bitt e n by the " bug " andbecame interested in flying. AfterWorld War II, he purchased a farmoutside Mayodan of about 100 acresand built a home for us. Now that wewere out in the country , he developed arunway on this farm , basically for ourown personal use.Charles Bailey, who ran a smallairport as a si deline , and was veryinterested in airplanes, also ran a bodyshop and wanted my father to constructa body shop building on his airport. Italso was to be used as a place to teachflying , e tc. during this period of time.Charles eventually ended up with aboutfive or six J-3 Cubs and J-5 Cruisers forpeople to rent and lea rn to fly in . Healso owned a Gullwing Stinson that heused for charter work.

Growing up in our home near theairport , naturally I was always therearound the planes. I developed my lovefor aircraft in general and this particularera of aircraft during the time I spent onthe farm and at the airport. I workedaround the old Stearmans , crankingthem up when I was 13 years old. I was

say that they have never been into asmall area that had as many pilots orpeople who have learned to fly andrece ived their licenses. It was the resultof Charles Bailey and other people likemy father who promoted aviation.Most of these people around town donot fly any longer , but some are stillflying and taught others who are nowflying and have careers in aviation.I remember my fath e r buying abrand new Piper Cub Coupe, and later,a new Super Cruiser. We had a greattime People would land and then taxiover to our house for a cookout and toenjoy themselves. It was a communityof aviation people that I grew to knowduring that period of time , and I stillhave long-term friends from that periodin my life.The reason the Tri-Pacer articlesparked such an interest for me is thatonce our Super Cruiser was gone , wedidn 't have an airplane for about a year.One morning we were eating breakfastand my father was looking out the windowat the hangar and he said , " I cannot dowithout an airplane," so he bought a oneyear-old 135 hp 1953 Tri-Pacer.

During the period of time that heowned this Tri-Pacer, I was about theage that I was old enough to start myflying. John Pace, who earlier had beenan ag pilot and opened an airport inMartinsville , Virginia would fly down toMadison in a J-3 or a J-5 Cruiser andwas teaching my older sister, Frances,and myself to fly.

I was 11 years old a t th e time;Frances was 5 years older than lBasically we used the J-5 Cruiser for thelessons. We got to the point that Johnstarted teaching us spins. Frances justdidn't like this aspect of flying andstopped taking lessons. I continued on

mph at that e ngine speed, making itmuch faster than the 172s of the time .We never had one minute of troubleout of that engine, and when I sold itafter my father died , it hadapproximately 1500 hours on it and hadnever had anything done to the engine.Of course, at that time we didn ' t knowthat the 7/16" valves were no good.Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

On Sundays I would sit around theairport after I got my commerciallicense and hop passengers in the TriPacer. It was really not hard at thattime to hop passengers and make a$150.00 to $200.00 on a Sunday. At thatparticular time I was working during theweek as a mechanic and bringing home$75.00 per week.People talk about the price ofairplanes now compared to the price ofairplanes in the past ; when we boughtthe Tri- Pacer new in 1956, it was about$12,600.00for the airplane. It was prettywell equipped. Now these days that'snot very much money, but you mustkeep in mind that in 1956 you could buya brand new Studebaker pickup truckfor 1 ,200.00 and people were makingabout $45.00 per week at that timePossibly, I think people are more ableto own aircraft now than ever before ,but I think it is simply a mental attitudethat makes it hard to relate the prices oftoday to the prices of yesteryear,especially to people like us who havebeen around aviation so long.I might mention, also, that when myfather bought this Tri-Pacer fromPiedmont Aviation in 1956, there was agentleman at Piedmont , Joe Culler, whowas a salesman there. Joe and myfather got to be really good friends overthe years. Joe was selling, at that pointin time of aviation, an average of 30airplanes per month. We all thought itwould last.
http:///reader/full/12,600.00http:///reader/full/12,600.00


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3 ~ W J compiled by H G FrautschyAVIATION MECHANIC

AND REPAIRMANRULES CHANGESIf you are an A P mechanic, th eFAA is a bout to issu e a Noti ce of

Pr o posed Ru l e ma kin g (NPRM) thatwill directly affect how you can exe rcisethe privileges of yo ur certificate.

For the past two yea rs, the FAA andthe Profess ional Aircraft MaintenanceAssoc ia ti o n ( PAMA ) ha ve bee nreviewing FAR Part 65 with the in tento f up gra din g th e ce rt i fic a ti o n a ndtraining requirements of mechani cs andrepairm en.

An additional working group , madeup o f indu s tr y re pr es e ntative s , a ndorganized by the FAA , was assigned theta sk of fo llowing through on th e FAAa nd PAMA recco mend a ti o ns. Th i sgroup , ca lled the FAR Part 65 WorkingGr o up . includ e d re prese nt a ti o n byEAA.

When th e N PRM is is s ue d , it isexpec ted to s ta te the foll owing:In additio n to th e cur re nt requireme nt for six mo nths of ac tivity o ut ofeve ry 24 month period (FAR 65.83), a

minimum o f 16 ho urs o f a ppro ve dtr a ining will be required in ord e r toco ntinu e t o function und e r th eprov isions of a mechanic's ce rtifi cat e.N TE: th is requirem ent would app lyonly to th ose operating as mechanics forcomp ensali on. It would no t apply toth ose wh o wo rk on ly o n in cl ud in gres torin g th eir own p ersonal aircraft ando th erwise do n ot mak e th emse lvesavailab le fo r hire.A related change will revise th e sixmonths of activity to ] ,000 hours ineach 24 month pe riod.

m e ch a nic s a nd re p a irm e n would beremov ed from FAR Part 65 and placedin a new FAR Part 66.Ch a rlie Schuck , EA A 's Washington

Repr es e ntativ e, is a me mb e r of th eco mmittees that have bee n studying a llo f th e pr o p os ed c ha n ges to th erepairmen and mechanics rules , and hasbee n kee pin g EAA Headquarte rs up todat e o n all o f th e propo sa ls. t isexp ected th a t the FAA will iss ue th eN PRM som e tim e in th e fir st half o f1993, a t which time we will advise you inboth SPORT AVIATION a ndVI NT A G E AfRPLANE. Wh e n th eNPRM is published , we will list th eDock e t Numbe r and add ress that yo uca n m a il your co mm ents to the FA A.

MTBE APPROVED FOR USEIN AUTOGAS STCsAt E AA 's re qu es t , th e FAA hasapproved the use of autogas co ntaining

meth yl-te rti a ry-butyl-e the r (MTBE ) ina ircraf t be ing o pe ra ted in accordan cewith the provisions of supplemental typecertifica tes (ST C) issued by th e EAAAvia t io n Foundati o n a nd Pe t e rse nAv iation. MTB E had prev iously bee nincluded on a list of Oxyge nates th atcould not be used in fu e ls intended fora ircr a ft u se. A dvi so r y Cir cul a r A C23.1521 -1 A will be rev ised to reflect thischange.

Th e use o f fue ls co nt a inin g alcoho ladditives is still prohibited.Cited as de te rminin g fact ors in th edecision to approve th e use of MTBEwere the fact s that . . .

-MTBE co ntinu es to be used b ya lmost a ll oil co mpanies as a blendingagent to increase th e oct a ne ra tin g o f

have incl uded MTBE as a n additiv e.( A STM is th e orga ni zation thates tablishes the specifica tions for a ll fuelrefined and sold in the United States .)E AA comm e nds FAA' s Ba rr yC le me nt s, Ma nag er , Sm a ll Ai rpl a neDir ectora te, a nd Jack Sa in , Manage r ,E ngine and Prope lle r Directorate, andth eir res pec tive sta ffs fo r th eir time lyac tion on E AA 's req ues t. With the newwint e r re quir e m e nt fo r th e use ofoxyge na te d au t o fuel in mo st m ajorme tropolita n a reas around th e na tion ,and with mo st of that fu e l conta iningMTBE, a major pr oblem was loo min gfo r ho ld e rs of a ut o fu e l ST C s.Fortun ate ly, th e ha rdships th a t wouldhave res ul ted have bee n averted.

MORE TYPE CLUBSA couple more type clubs should be

ad d ed to th e li st we publi sh annu allyevery Novemb e r. Th ey a re:

Travel Air R es to rers AssociationJerr y Impe llezze ri , Pres id ent4925 Wilma WaySan Jo se, CA 95124408/356-3407Newsle tte r: 4 per yearDu es: $15 per yea r US and Canada$20 Fore ignInternational Li aison Pilot andAircra ft A ssociation (ILPA)1651 8 Ledges toneSan Antonio , TX 78232Bill Stra tton , Editor512/490-ILPA (4572)Newsle tter: Li aison Spoken HereDu es: $27 per yea r US and Canada30 per yea r Fo re ign


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>c:Q)0o0..S0.. __ ________________________________________________ __ '

While visiting the Southwest Regional EAA Fly-In at Kerrville, Texas this past fall , EAAFounder and Chairman of the Board Paul Poberezny snapped these shots of BrianDaltons praiseworthy 1928 Travel Air 4000.a Wright J 5 engine.a ircraft , has announced th e re ti reme ntof preside nt Tom Lowe . Tom has beentirelessly hea d ing up th e active group (ithas an inte rnation a l memb e rship of o ve r1500 me mb e rs) fo r th e past 22 yea rs.Tom wishes to thank all of hi s friend sand associa tes who have made th e pa st22 year s so e njoy a bl e, and ho pes thate veryon e concern e d will le nd th e irsupport to the n e w presid e nt , BrianRiggs of Ro c kvill e, MD. Br i a n is aStearm an pilot and res to re r, and is th ea uthor of many of th e technica l articlesthat have appeared recently in the SRA"Outfit " newsle tt e r. Our bes t wi shes toT om for his continued enjoyme nt of hisSt e ar m a n , and we comm e nd Bri a nRiggs fo r voluntee ring to ta ke on th este ward ship of th e SRA. f yo u areinte res ted in joining th e SR A , yo u cancontact th em Stea rm an Restore rs As sociation , c/ o Brian Riggs , P .O. Box10663, Rockville, MD 20850.

DO N'T MISS TH EFEBR UA RY EAA ADULTAIR ACADEMY

This good looking ant ique is powered by

EAA AIR ACADEMYAT SUN'N FUN '93

Th e E AA Air Academy w ill move toSun ' n Fun fo r it s fi r s t yo uth AirAcade my o ffe red a way fro m O shk o sh .From April 17 thru the 24th , youth age d15 - 17 w ill have the opportunit y to "shareth e skill s and lo re of av ia ti o n " inconjun c ti o n with th e E A A Sun ' n FunFl y-In . The $450 registr a tion fee includedho usin g, fo od and prog ram expenses fo rthe wee k. Don ' t de lay, reg is tr a tion islimit ed a nd will b e con s id e re d in th co rd e r rec e iv e d. Co nt ac t th e EAAEdu ca ti o n o ffi ce fo r a n in fo rm a ti o np ack age a nd reg is tr a ti o n m a te ri a ls.Phon e 41 4/426-4888 or write Educatio nOffice, EAA Avi a tio n Fo unda tion, P.O .Box 3065. Oshkos h WI 54903-3086.

EAA OSHKOSH DATESD o n ' t fo rge t , th e d a tes fo r th e 4 1s t

Annu a l E AA Co nv e ntion a t Wi tt ma nFi eld in Oshkosh, WJ. have bee n changedslightl y to a llow mo re memb e rs to take

>c:Q)0o0..S

- - - - 0..'d et a il s bec om e ava ilabl e . Mak e yo urpl a ns no w to at t e nd EAA OSHKOS H'93. For more info rma tion, ca ll 414/4264800 o r write E A A Oshk osh '93, E AAA via ti o n Ce nt e r , P. O . Box 3086,Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086.

NOMINATIONS FORANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISIONOFFICE RS AND DIRECTORSIn acco rd a nce with th e E AA A n tique/Classic Division's bylaws, the terms

of six di rectors, th e Vice -Pres ide nt andTr ea s ur er will ex pi re a t th e Di v isio n 'sannu al bu siness mee tin g at Oshkosh. WIon Wedn esda y, Au gust 4.No min a tions fo r any e lec tive office(including th e s ix e lective Directors, th eVice- Pres ident and Treasurer ) can onlybe m ade on of fi cia l nomina tion fo rm swhich m a y b e o btain e d from E AAH ea dq u a rt e rs. (C o nt a ct To m Po b e rezny's o ffice.)

Each nomina ti on form must conta in aminimum of ten ( 10) signa tures of E AAA n tiq ue/ C las s ic Di vi s ion m e mb e rs in


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MAIL

Curtiss Jr photos supplied by DanCullman right), holding his reproductionof n original airspeed indicator.

Dear H.G.You know I am an enthusiastic supporter of the "YoungEagles Program". Champ and I were making our dent in the

Rideless Kid Population long before the program was announced. But I suggest there is another group needing attention - the "pi lot stops". The industry likes to talk about"pi lot starts", but I think the industry is properly embarrassed by the numbers of "pi lot stops". I know too manyex-pilots. Bet you do , too. They are ex-pi lots for manyadmitted reasons, but the real reason is that flying wasn ' t asmuch fun as they thought it would be. I think they were doing it wrong. Champ and I have some converts to our credit

to prove my contention . Take a bored ex -pil ot ,stick him in a real airp lane with no radios and gyros, bounce him into a couple of good grass stripsand flying looks much different!

As an o rganization of real pilots in real airplanes, the members of the EAA Antique/ClassicDivision can best reac h these ex-pilots. I encouragea ll of us to be aware of the thousands of not-soYoung Eagles out there who need our help to discover wha t rea l flying is all about.

All the best,Joe DickeyA/C4169Columbus, INJoe also wrote an essay about an evening a few

years ago, when the last thing on his mind was takingan airport kid for a ride. Published in last month sissue of VINTAGE A IRPLANE it s a thought pro-voking piece, and you can find it on page 72 - HGFDear H.G.,


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" Hey , look at thi s picture!"" It 's a Waco , isn ' t it ?" said Joa n, mywife.She 's not much for a irplanes. It 's OK

to use a j e t to go fr o m one pl ace to an othe r, but to fall in love with on e, neve r!She recognized this on e because I'd flownso many UPF-7s and pictures of them appea r throughout th e o ld photo album. Butthis one was in VINTAGE AIRPLANE ,November 1991 , page II.

My mind flash ed back to 1942. We 'djust fini shed WTS Primary in Be midji ,Minnes ot a a few d ays be fore Th ank sgiving (VINT A GE A IRPLA NE, A ugus t1983, page 16). It was but a short wait before th e le tt e r ca me a ssi g nin g ChuckO 'Mear a and me to Midwest Airways, anFBO in Cudahy, Wi sco nsin.I'd neve r hea rd o f Midwes t Airways ,but kn ew where C ud a hy was. a nd couldfind the Medford Hotel where we were to

co n s in Mil-wauk ee ca mpu s . Mid wes t wa s cur re ntl y tea c hing aNavy program in their J-3 Cubs, and WTSSecondary in th ree Waco U PF-7 s. H ankWeil, V. G . " Bill " Ca rl sen and Russ Rite rwere the Second ary instructors for we 20stude nt s f rom va ri o us pa rt s o f the co un tr y . Rit e r wa s a lso th e Chief F li ght In structo r.Chuck drew Hank We il , who had bee n


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Front end of a Waco UPF-7 mounted on Federal SC-4 skis. Note all-metal Curtiss-Reed prop, winter front on 220 Continental withtape over the openings and a unique system used for maintaining attitude of the skis in flight-a spring loaded piston is attached toa vertical member that pulled the ski to level with nose and tail cables. These skis are rated up to 2850 Ibs. (Below) 39 R restsin the hangar at M itchell Field, Milw ukee, WI du ring the winter of 1942.We started with th e same man e uve rs

we d use d in Primar y; rec tangula r pat te rns, S turns across a road, eights on anint ersect ion , and pylon eights, at 500 fee t.Above 1500 feet we did stalls and prec ision spins. Old hat , but much more fun inan open biplan e Ju s t call us Jimm yDoo little.

After we 'd flown th e bird e nough tofeel a t home, it was tim e to start ae robat-ics. First was the loop, a rea l easy one thatmo st of us had seen in th e J-3 Cub whe nthe in structor got tired of Primary mane uvers. Easy to do , and it sha kes th e cob-webs outBack on the ground , Bill said. "Tomor


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longed until we were again right side up.It worked better the next time around;

I just pu shed aga in s t the rudde r peda lsand my feet staye d where th ey were sup -posed to. Befo re the cour se was ove r, wewere doin g Imm e lmans, snap ro ll s, laz yeights and chand e lles. While so lo , we alltried a few improvisat ion s not in the stan-dard sy ll ab us. But my favorite was th elazy eight. Start out just like the syllabussa id, but pu sh it to th e point where yo uwere on knife edge a lmos t sta lled as shefell through th e hori zo n. Wh en she cameup through th e horizo n at 180 deg rees.she wa s go in g all out a nd th e wind wasscrea min g through th e ri gging. H ardly alazy eight now; a whifferdill , I d say. Th enchange the pattern ev e r so s li ght ly andyo u we re in a Cuban e ig ht. This waspretty heady stuff. Our chande lles werelike th e WW I escape ma neuve r, not th efunny lookin g thing the FAA as ks for to-day. On e could never escape from anyonewith th at thin g Ju s t watch closely atOshkosh during th e ai r show; th ose boysknow how to do it

The front pit of th e Waco was built fortwo peop le. Bill could ra ttl e a ro und in itlike a pea. Stick pressures during aeroba t-ics are sub stantial , a nd Bill had difficultyge tting eno ugh leverage, particula rly dur-ing th e inverted st uff. Fortun a te ly forhim , th e re were tw o diagonal br aces att he front co rn e rs of the cockpit. Theywere padded and lea th e r cove red . He d

use his lef t h and to grab the left brace andthi s gave him eno ugh he ft to handle th epressures.

Wi sco nsin winters are no to ri o us forfrosting your gizza rd . Though we were ina n Arm y program. we did no t hav e theflight clothing th e reg ular Arm y boys had.Before fli ght we d put on eve rythin g weowned, and we still froze .A couple of weeks into th e pro gram ,WTS found so m e new old s toc k CCC(C ivilia n Co nse rva tio n Co rps) gree n uni-forms a nd mad e th e m av a il a bl e to us.They were like horse blanke ts a nd ple ntywarm. C huck had a bit of a problem inthat as an acco mpli shed woodsman. hewas of a gro up who loo ked d own on th eCCC boys. After a ll , if city boys a re im-ported to the wild e rn ess, th ey are totalg ree nh o rn s. It takes tim e to lea rn th eways of th e woods. To have to wear thatuniform rubbed him th e wrong way; how-eve r , th e wea ther was cold , the uniformswarm and in th e e nd . apprec iated .

Early on, the snow carne. In those da ys,Mitche ll did not plow snow ; they rolled itThey con structed a long rolle r o ut of whatappeared to be a piece of corruga ted stee lculv e rt tubing. It was we ight ed , an ax lewas stu ck in the middle and a tow bar at-tached to each end. This thing was pulledove r th e runways and taxiways . The sur-face was quite smooth until sp rin g camea nd la rge chunks of ice started poppingup , leav in g huge potho les . Th a t was when

Flight instructor Hank Weil , ready forsome open cockpit dual instruct ionduring the winter of 1942.


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.-- -..ehuck O'Meara, in his green wool eee pants, pauses next to one of the UPF-7 s.You can see the ridges in the snow from the corrugat ed steel tube used to roll thesnow fla t.the punishment caught up with the crime

With th e arrival of the snow, all theMidwest airpl anes were put on skis. Thishas to be somewhat like flyin g a float-plane. Ground turns are made by pushingthe rudde r and blasting th e e ngine. Likeany taiJdragge r, a ilerons are use d exten-sively to steer.

When it came to inverted maneuvers,a new sound had bee n added. On e end ofth e ski wa s held in place with a stee l cable; th e other with a s hock cord, whichpermitted the to e to remain pointed in anupward di rec tion so the ship could landwithout stubbing the ski. Wh e n the shipwas rolled , th e ski would flop and a loud"clunk" was hea rd. Roll right side up , andth e ski re turn ed to its prop e r position ,with another "clunk" as th e to e againpointed up. It ac ted almost lik e a B-747

"1 lea rned about flying from th at "On the days wh en the ceiling was toolow for YFR (CFR in the o ld terminologyfor Co ntact Flight Rules), Hank Weil puthis old a irline ba ckground to go od use.He' d tak e a s tude nt out and fl y fi e ld cir

cuits IFR. Thi s was in the day when noone talked di rec tly to ATe. Th e airp la newould ca ll th e towe r or radio ra nge andask for the clearance . They in turn phonedATC which , in th i s case, was lo ca ted inth e Nationa l Guard hangar on Ce nt ralAv e nue on th e wes t side of Midway Air-port. If one was flying for an airline, thecompany had assigned radio frequ encies.The plane called the company radio oper-a tor who mad e th e phone call. It was avery time consuming operation. Thus ,H a nk ca lled th e towe r for a takeo ff andla nding. f th e center advised it was OK ,

Don Toeppen , winter 1942. His coldweather f l ight gear consisted of eeewool pants , long j oh n s, a number ofsweaters and his leather flight jacket ,finished off with a pair of chopping mitts.


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Texas Trimotor Trip

y ndrew King(EAA 275985, IC 1073 9

Th e common facts and eve ryday expe riences of life se ldom hav e any e f-fect on the figurative spin of the ea rth ,but each of us with our own pe rspective can often find a significance inth e m. Be ing an active history buffbrings its own sp ecial apprecia tion ofpeople, places, and things, and thi s ison e of the be ne fits of involvement inantique airplanes .[n th e summ e r o f 1940 an yea rold boy had his first airplane ride, froma fi eld near H e rkim e r in upstate NewYork , in a ba rn sto rming Ford Trimotor. 52 years and hundreds o f mil es

Fl o rid a . We we re a lso joine d o n th eadventure by tw o o ther Wee ks Air Muse um mechanics, Ru ss Lang and MikeArmstrong.

At th e appointed hour we boa rd edanother type of Trimotor (Boeing 72 7)which deposited us a fe w hours la ter atDallas -Fort Worth Airp ort. The fir stor de r of bu siness was to vi sit H art leeFie ld in Denton to chec k out the goodies be in g of fe re d th e n ext d ay in th eaucti o n o f Bill Hill ' s avi a tion co ll ection , th en we checked into a ho te l anda fte r dinn e r se ttled down to get so meslee p. Th e aucti o n turn e d out to bemor e o f a soci a l eve nt fo r m e - whi leK e rmit wa s bu yin g Wri ght J -5s a ndparts, [ was catching up with som e o f

I sat in th e back fo r th e first ta keoff as Ke rmit advanced th e throttl esa nd th e Fo rd lev itated s kywa rd. Wem a d e a pass for th e CA F gu ys a ndth en hea ded ea st , 1600 miles of fl yingin front of us . An ho ur o r so out wera n in to a line of sc a tt e red thund e rstorm s a nd discovered th at ra in outsid e mea ns a little bit in sid e as we ll ,not enough to bothe r us mu ch though,we we re trimotoring

Mike , Ru ss and I too k turns in th eright sea t and 200 mil es la te r , af ter 3hours of flying, Kermit greased on e onat Br eckinridge wh e re o ld friend s fo rhim and new fri e nd s fo r us were waitin g. U n fo rtunat e ly we had to ge t towork right away when we discovered a


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Kermit and Mike up front somewhere over Texashave used a tailwind to help with our when it was delivered new to Robert-75 mph cruising speed. Once again we son Airways in St. Louis, his formertook turns in the right seat and occa- airmail employer.sionally eve n in the left. Taking hold I had brought my own charts andof that big wooden control wheel and drawn out our course so that when itlooking out at those engin es and the was my turn to fly I could put my mapcorrugated wings stretching out be- in my lap. fly pure pilotage and ignoreyond was a great experience for an an- the Loran and VOR and other unnec-tique airplane nut such as myself and essary modern abbreviations. I wanteda real learning experienc e. This was to be as close as was safely possible toadded to by knowing that Charles experiencing the 192R I never kn ewLindber gh had flown thi s airplane After three and a half hours of dron-

ing along we touched down in Mar-shall Texas just short of the Louisianaborder where we had a broken exhaustclamp welded, got some lunch, andwere photographed and interviewed bythe local newspaper. That was ourlongest leg of the trip although theFord carries enough fuel for over 5hours of flying 231 gallons burned at13 per hour per engine. Strangely, thecenter engine ran hot while the twooutboards one with an oil cooler andone without ran equally as cool.

Interstate 20 was our main naviga-tion aid on the next leg across northernLouisiana and into Mississippi. Afterpassing over Tallulah, Louisiana weswung north a little to pick up the bigriver and spread our shadow on themuddy Mississippi for about 10 milesbefore pulling up and passing over thefamous Civil War town of Vicksburg.and then flying a little further east to alanding at Williams Airport near Jack-son Mississippi. By now the wind hadfinally shifted around from the north tothe northwest and was helping us alonga little bit, especially on the next legwhen we veered south to make Hatties-burg for our overnight stop. Those last100 miles on Monday went by in justove r an hour and sunset saw the Fordtied down on the ramp at Hattiesburg sChain Airport. Incidentally we had tocarry our own tie down ropes that werelong enough to reach the wing two on


13/36

ea ch side , because the Ford is known tobe susceptibl e to th e wind , as a nyon ewho knows a nythin g about wh at ha ppened to th e EAA Trimotor befo re itsres toration will rea lize .It was unusua lly cold that night , in thethirties, and I'd onl y brought along o neli ght jacket , but th e ne xt mornin g wassunn y a nd per fe ctl y windless. I was inthe right seat at engin e start-up, and Ke r-mit turned to me a nd said, It 's all yours,make a left downwind departure.

75R4 is equipp ed with th e o rig inalJohnson Bar brake system, which somepeopl e confu se with th e Wa co o r th eBriti sh brak e sys te ms - th ose in vo lvepulling a lev er (pulling the throttl e inboard on the Waco or pulling o n a separa te br ake leve r in the old British a irplanes ) and then pushing on the rudderpeda ls for diffe re nti a l br a kin g. In theTrimotor th e rudder peda ls have nothin g to do with th e brakes. In s tea d,th ere s a la rge le ve r that lo o ks lik e agea rshift lever be twee n the sea ts. co nnec t e d to th e tw o brake cy lind e rsmo un ted un d e r th e floor at 45 deg reea ngle s to th e ce nt e rline. Pullin g thele ve r straight back ge ts both bra kes,back and to th e le ft ge ts left br ake. andb a ck a nd to th e ri g ht giv e yo u , o fco ur se , ri g ht bra ke. It do es n ' t t a kemuch gettin g used to and eve n th o ughth e re s no t a ilwh ee l st ee rin g, o nl ybungees holding th e tailwhee l str a ight.the airplane taxis quite easily, waddling

Andrew King sitting in the back, note the baggage compartment almost ull ospare parts and the rag stuffed in the door to stop the draft.alo ng like its nickna mcsake. says something about its short fie ld ab il

Run -up is pr ett y simple , and on take iti es) , the use of ail erons fo r directi onaloff o ne of th e bigges t fac to r s in fl ying control on th e ground , so on t ake-off atth e Fo rd becom es a ppare nt - ad ve rse H atti esb urg, after advancing th e throtyaw. I had be en to ld abo ut thi s by fo r tl e s and ge ttin g th e ta il up . I ex p e ri mer owner AI Chaney and was aware o f me nt ed a littl e and fo un d th a t it wasthe tec hniques from grow in g up around quite poss ibl e to swing th e nose backth e br ake less Wo rld Wa r I airpl anes a t and forth by turning th e whee l op pos iteth e Old Rhin ebec k Ae rodrom e ( in ci th e directio n you want ed to go. Al saysdent a lly, this ve ry Trimotor has land ed that on landin g th is is th e best way toand taken off at Old Rhine beck . whi ch ke ep str a ight and with tha t heavy , slow


14/36

Home at last parked next to a younger brother on the Museum ramp.rudder I can believe it.

Th e oldest flying airliner in theworld gets off the ground prettyquickly, although it's no rocket ship onclimb-out with the three 235 hp WrightR-760's doing their thing. On our tripwe usually cruised at altitudes between1,000 and 2,000 feet above the groundfor a panoramic view of the deep southcountryside . In smooth air, as with somany really old airplanes, the ship is adelight to fly although you can see whythey called them ships back then-thebig. slow moving craft can make youfeel more like an Admiral than an aviator. In rough air the story is quite different and I 've gained even more re spect for the fellows who flew thesemachines every day in all kinds ofweather. You ride the thermals andwatch the tachs. f RPM goes up youpull the nose up a little and vice versa ,happy to hold altitude within plus orminus 200 or 300 feet. Elevator controlis fairly normal , heavy but not bad andeffective enough, but rudder andaileron are as poor as anything I 'veever flown and real turbulence can bemore than disconcerting. A wing goesdown , you crank in some aileron and

Curtiss Jenny is not as bad as you hear ,but the Trimotor...

You hear people joking that itclimbs , cruises , and lands at the samespeed, well , this one climbed at 70 ,cruised at 75, maybe 80 in smooth air ,and glided at 75, although I think wewere touching down around 50 mphwith Kermit making wheel landings.The landing rolls seemed short enoughalthough he did seem to be working alittle to keep us straight, I can seewhere it might be tough if you wantedpower and brakes at the same time.You can ' t do both without two righthands or a really good co-pilot. We didland at Winter Haven with the windfrom about 30 degrees to the right at 25knots gusting to 30, but it was the bestlanding of the whole trip , which we decided was because Kermit was sowired for it, concentrating real hard .

We had initially figured on stayingovernight at Winter Haven but duringthe morning the most wonderful tailwind developed and although it wasbumpy we made great time throughMississippi and Alabama, past Mobile,and on into Florida to a stop at Tallahassee. There we ate lunch and figured

it, we flew through some of the roughest air of the whole trip, still takingturns keeping the old lady on a more orless even keel.The Gulf coast followed along on our

right for awhile and then we angled intowards the lake country and our stop atWinter Haven , where standing on thewing to pump a hundred and some gallons of avgas into the tanks becamequite a task in the strong wind. After aquick peek in the hangar at JoeMackey's old Taperwing Waco we werealoft again and following the concretecompass of Route 27 towards home.Past Lake Okeechobee , a fly-by atClewiston where I tried to rock thewings without much success, thenthrough the Everglades to fami liar skies.

Soon a red-white-and-blue monoplane curved in alongside us as Lindacame to meet us in her CAP 231. She'dbeen in the Trimotor with Kermit inthe fall on the trip from California toTexas and had decided to forego thecontinuance of the trip with the four ofus (can you blame her?).

The control tower , no doubt used tothis kind of thing by now , authorizedthe traditional fly-by over the museum


15/36

a;0.0.l :)/)

)

by Norm PetersenU nless yo u have had th e pleasur e rebuild e rs ca ll e d th e " LS -l res tored the Fairchild unde r th e " LS-l

of mee tin g th e two pilots in this hair Docum e nt " . Th i s rulin g a llows th e Docume nt , it had to be upgraded to araising adventure, it would be hard to average pe rson to restore an antique Standard Airworthiness Ce rtificate bycompre he nd ju st how th ey mana ge d a irplane , providin g he d oes at leas t the South Africa n Di rectora te of Civilto co mpl e te s uch a n o ut l a ndi s h 51% of th e wo rk , and is lega l to fl y Aviation (D C A) it 's c a ll e datt empt. However, C harles " Chalkie " p a pe rwork" - many p o unds of it -Stobb a rt ( E AA 27 35 68) of Gall o plus inspection s of all kinds and th eM a no r , So uth Africa a nd P e t e r ad h e re nce to m any additional ru l es


16/36

The familiar outboard type landing gear of the Fairchild 24W represents the classicdesign of many years ago. Note the large 70 gallon fuel tank installed in the rear seatand the all-important pilot relief tube extending underneath the airplane.

Howeve r, with the extreme sca rcity ofsuch items and the coll a ps e of a nyfac tory activit y in building ne wAeromatics, none were to be had . Inth e final analysis , a new Sensenichwood e n prope lle r wa s o rdered fromth e factory a nd a ir-shipped to SouthAfrica.Flight tests req uired fo r a StandardAirworthine ss Ce rtifi ca t e include dmakin g ta k eoffs at 20 % over gross


17/36

aided in the completion of the flight.First off was the use of GPS fornavigation. Both Chalki e and Peteradmit this was a Godsend as it gaveprecise locations at all times. WithoutGPS , they might not have been able topull it off. Please bear in mind that aconsiderable portion of the trip wasflown under IFR conditions and thevast experience of the two pilotscoupled with the performance of the

bottom cylinder suffered a sticky oilring.With 13.5 hours of fuel (122gallons) on board , the Fairchild had amaximum range of 1100 nautical mileswith the normal cruise figured at 85KTS . Fuel costs averaged about $4.50per gallon with the lowest price inLuxembourg and the highest price inGreenland - $7.50/ga\. (At 9 gal/houryou can now understand why they

Oa.a.l.cuj)o

Peter Hengst to walk outside beforeblood was shed When they finallydeparted for Imbaba for fuel , the fuelhandler had gone home 15 minutesbefore they arrived and would not stayto help them under any circumstances(They filled up on auto gas fromacross the street - strictly illegal - but ,so be it.)Denied permission to land atPescara, Italy , because they lacked


18/36

c.8Eoc>Q)

: :::Q)oStanding proudly on the grass at EAA Oshkosh 92 is the immaculate Fairchild 24W-41, wearing its South African registrationZS -VWO and looking none the worse for its nearly 10,000 mile journey. This successful tr ip is a triumpha nt accomp lishmentfor the two plucky pilots and an everlast ing credit to the Fa irchi ld 24 and its many devotees, worldwide.E ngland afte r four hours of so lid IFRand received a huge "Welcome" fromth e locals a t Bre ighton , a nea t grassstrip whe re th e only requirement toland is a tailwhee l Th e following daywas spent co mp l e tin g a fif t y hourinspecti o n, clea ning up th e a irplaneand loading th e necessa ry life ra fts,e tc. on board fo r the long ove r waterflight s.

Th e well es tablished gove rnmentalpo licies of jo lly o lde En gland gave th epa ir a few more joys befo re lea vin g.Th ey a tt e m p te d to go th r o ug hCustom s a t Sto rn oway in th e Oute rHebrides. A T C contacted th em anda d vise d th ey wo uld arriv e fift ee nminut es af te r th e ag e nt ha d go n ehome fo r the day. Wh en asked to staya n extra fi fteen minut es, th ey we reflatl y told , " No dea l, I'm go ing home "

Narssa rsuag , G ree nland , only to di eout a ft e r 80 miles. Th e 550 n.m. tripwas made at 200 fee t over th e wa te rwith th e te mp e r a tu r e ju s t a bo vefreezing. Oh yes, the artificial h ori zo ntumbled ha lfw ay th ough the fli ghtCrossing the Gree nland ice she lf at10 ,000 fee t , th e pa ir was sta rt led tohea r th ey we re requ es ted to climb to13,000 In spit e of th eir best efforts,th ey radioed th at the Fairchild woul dcl imb no hi gher with the huge loa d a n d A T C al l owe d th e m to s tay a t10 ,000. A rr i vin g in G oose B ay,Labrado r, th e p ilo ts were tr ea ted toquit e a cel e br a ti o n by th e loca lpopUl a tion as th ey enj oyed a day o fffro m the ir trave ls.Fl ying across Ca nada, the Fa irch ildm e rril y chu gged a lo ng as th e p a irapp roached no rmal civilizati on aga in,

treat ed the pair as celebri ties and whenyou a re th e subj ec t o f a ce lebr atio n,why not partake? A short fligh t up thelak ef ront and on to Fond du Lac, WIon Tu es day a llowed th e preparationsto beg in fo r the final esco rted trip toOshkosh on Wedn esday.

With a n es co rt of E d W eg ne r 'sbr ight red Ran ge r powe red Fa irchild24 and C harlie Be ll 's br i ght ye ll owWarn e r Fairchild 24, th e trio headedfor O s h kos h a t 9 a. m . in tr a ilfor m a ti on. Th e bea ut i f ul blu e skysee m ed t o a lm os t acce nt th e" W e lc o m e" as C ha lk i e a nd P e te rbrou g ht ZS -VWO in t o th e hu gegath e rin g a t O shk osh with a pe rfectlanding on Runway 18. T he receptionco mmittee includ e d To m a nd Pa ulPobe rez ny amid a hos t of o th e rs andChalkie and Pete r we re overwh e lmed .


19/36


20/36

position when he enters it and remains sothroughout the periods of take off andlanding run. One other feature set the N model apartfrom it 's Waco brethren . The Waco N wasthe only Waco cabin model to have flapson all four wings, added to help make theai rplane one of the easiest to handle airplanes of its time.


21/36

th e Cubs are owned by Jack, and th e othertwo are owned by Jack 's son, Douglas, andhis so n-in-law , Steve Hinson. Each hasbee n given th e g ift of the Cub, with th eproviso that th e plane cannot be so ld.Eac h is to pass the ai rplane on down thelin e. That should be no problem for Douglas' young son, James Jackso n Goodnight. James is 2- 1/2, and already is an air

on th ough, and Jack went to work at Ca nnon Mills to earn a living. He continuedworking on heatin g a nd ventilation systems on the side, building up that businessuntil he co uld work at it full time. Afterworking as a full time co ntrac tor , th e business was built up to th e point Jack coulddabble in airplanes aga in , which he didwith a vengeance. The flying and airplane

cEEor:::

Waco ZVN 8 restorer Jack Goodnight(center) is flanked by his son Douglas onthe left and his friend ill Bewley on theright during their visit to E OSHKOSH92,

Spending a ll h is avai lab le time. Jackand hi s crew organized and restored theWaco ZVN-8 in a relatively shor t periodof time . The time frame is even more impressiv e when you see the grea t lookingresults of their labor. Wi th a goal of br inging it to EAA Oshkosh '92, the fellowskn ew wh at they had to attain. and the project was attacked with gusto. Fortunately,the structure was in exc e ll ent shape - theweld ed stee l tubing fuselage needed onlyone small section replaced, and only threeareas required replacement of wood.Th e original wooden fairing structurearound the tubular fu se lage was very interesting to Jack. "All of the streamliningwoodwork on the fus elage is ti ed to thefus elage by string. None of it is bolted toit ," he ex plained.

Th e fab ric co vering acts as a tube tohold th e stringers in place on th e formers ,


22/36

Qj0.0.:Jr::)U

othe windows with plexiglass also shavedquite a few pounds (nearly 75 ). Whenfirst built by Waco in 1938, Jack's Wacoweighed 2463 Ibs. Eliminating the mag-nesium flare dispenser and the auxiliarypower system also took off unneededweight. After the restoration was com-pleted , the airplane tipped the sca les atjust over 2200, 250 pounds lighterPaying careful attention to details alsohelped keep the weight down - none ofthe bolts on the airplan e have more thanone washer; each bolt was matched to itslocation , so that no extra steel was addedto the airframe.

The wheels were converted to theCleveland wheels and brakes , and th eelectrical system was redesigned to besafer, without always-powered wires running a ll over the airframe (sometimes re

with the tricycle landing gear has beensome nosewheel shimmy. A pair of850xlO's are mounted on the main wheels,with a large 750xJO tire on the nose gear.When first designed , the large tires, it wasfelt, were needed to handle any type offield the 'N' model might encounter.With exce llent short fie ld performance,the Waco Cabin models were often calledupon to land in relatively short field, andoften the terrain was not the smoothest.A large set of wheels and tires, coup ledwith good shock absorption in the landinggear, allowed the strong cabin model Wacos to do the job when called upon.Unfortunately, when they flew the airplane over to the nearby airport in Salisbury, NC to load up for the trip to EAAOSHKOSH ' 92, the no sewheel vibratedso badly that it damaged the nosewheel

major problem.The interior of the airplane is com-

pleted in a beautiful cream broadcloth ,carefully matched to the outside colorscheme of D ay tona White and BostonMaroon by Jack 's wife , Betty. Jac k sayshe depends on Betty for her guidanceand taste when it came to the selection ofcolor and trim for the Waco - th e basicdesign was Jack s, but the final detailswere approved by Betty.

The instrument panel features a number of original instruments, as well as theaddition of a few newer gages to helpcope with the modern world. A shortstack of mode rn radios also allows theairplane to be flown most anywhere Jackand his compatriots wish to go.

Waco was known for the fine detailsthey included in the de signs of their air


23/36

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORINGy orm Petersen

Jim Lefevre'sPiper J-3 Cub, N98035A tr o ph y winn e r a t O shk os h a ndo th e r fl y-ins o ver t he yea rs, this ve ryni ce C ub , N98035 , SIN 182

m o un ted o n a se t of ra re J acobs skis ,is ow ne d b y Jim L e fev r e ( EAA227891 A IC 9586) o f Gree n Bay, WI.Jim h as o wn e d th e Cub fo r nea rl ytwe nt y yea rs with the las t re build fin ished in 1984. The J acobs s ki s , which

we re built in Yips ila nti , MI , o ri gina llyh a d woo d e n b o tt o m s, but Jim r e pl ace d th e m with a luminum botto msa nd h as used th e m for yea rs . Thi sphoto was ta ke n a t John H atz s 1986skipla ne fly-in at G leaso n, WI.

a rv Vandenheuval'sTaylorcraft DCO-65Parked next to the pine trees at Brod


24/36

WHAT OUR MEMBERS RE RESTORINGby Norm Petersen

Ted Davis' J-3 Cub,N30719

The good-looking man infront of the Cub is Ted DavisEAA 89935, A C 12403) ofBrodhead, WI and the J-3Cub , N30719 , SIN 5068. is awood spar model with an 8hp Continental and a woodprop. Mounted on a set ofFederal A 1500 skis , the Cubreally comes alive when thethrottle is opened. Ted hasused the Cub for instructionon wheels and skis. Since thisphoto was taken , the Cub hasbeen sold to Bernie Hannigan at Lake Geneva , WI.

Ron Harvey'sPiper J 4 Cub Coupe,N26700This very nice Piper J-4

Cub Coupe , N26700 , SIN -864, mounted on a set ofFederal A 1500 sk is , is thepride and joy of Ron HarveyEAA 56688) of Hortonville, WI. Powered witha Continental A7 engine of75 hp. the J-4 performs verynicely on wheels and skis.

Sharp-eyed readers will spotthe welded-on float fittingsthat Ron installed on thelower longerons before recovering the pretty side-by

side Coupe.

WeedenlDavisPietenpol Aircamper,


25/36

by ck Hilbert(EM 21, N C 5P.O. Box 424Union, IL 60180

Dear Buck,Th e encl osed photo is in response toyour " Pass it to Buck column in the Jul y' 92 iss ue of Vintage A irpl a ne. Yes

There a re st ill people th at s tack airpl a nes to store th e m. Thi s photo wasta ke n o n July 14 , ]992 at th e HoffmanFlying Service hanga r at Harr y BrowneA irport. Saginaw, Ml. Al Butch" Hoffman, J I'. and his father , Al Hoffman , Sr.s tored a irpla ne s in this mann e r a t th eJ ames C le me nt s A irport a t Bay City.Michigan during the '40s, '50s and ' 60s.This particular Taylorcraft BC12D , 1946model was being stored while waiting thearrival of its new owner , Dal e Senn of Cocoa , Florida. The prop and spinner weresupported by a cradle on the floo r.

Thanks fo r the memories,John C. HicksAIC 14423Pinconning, MI

e SS T TO lJn information exchange column with input from our readersDear Buck,

I am se nding a co uple of photos thatmayor may no t ki ck up a little nosta lgiain yo ur se lf and so me of o ur rea ders.These were taken by myse lf at about theage of 12 or 13 - a nd it 's not too hard tote ll th at photography was no t one of myston g talents at the time

Th e year wa s possibly 1935 , and th ea irplane was an old " Monoprep ownedby my uncle, Lyman Smith. Powered by a5 cylinder Ve lie engin e. I thought this o ld" Mon oprep was the ultim a te in spo rtaircraft at the time.I d on' t know what became of th e a ircraft nor do I recall too many other deta il s on it , other th an the fac t that it wasmanufac t ured by th e Mon oc o up e Co.Pe rh aps so me of th e rea de rs have moreinformation on this than I.

My uncle , who wound up teachin g pilo ts during WW II in Texas , eventu allyran a n a irport (Sky-Haven), nea r EauClaire, WI for a number of yea rs after thewar. a nd teachin g ex -G. I. 's o n th e G. I.bill.Hope this helps shed a little more lighton th i s no t too frequently see n Monocoupe model.

Yours Truly,Paul SpalleesEau Claire, WIAIC 13843Hi PaulNeat Pictures ' Thank s Jar sharing

them with all of us.Over 1 you}Bu ck


26/36

This month 's Myste ry Pl ane shouldbring many replies. It is a typica l GoldenA ge airpl a n e a nd should brin g backmemori es to many read ers. Th e photowas submitted by Owen Billman o f Mayfie ld , Ne w Y ork . An swe rs will be publi shed in th e A pril , 1993 iss ue o f VINTAGE AIRPLANE. Dea dline for thatissue is February 20, 1993.

Th e October Myste ry Pl ane remainsso mewhat o f a myste ry. Th e pho to appea red in the boo k Cradle o f Am ericanA viation by Ken Beatty , an account of

by eorge HardieA PRIL MYSTE RY PLANE SOLVED

Th e Myste ry Pl a ne from th e April ,1992 issue has fin a lly bee n revea led.A no th er view o f th e sa me a irpl a ne,was ta ke n by Di ck O sbo rn e, Co lo radoSprin gs, CO wh o se nt in th e ph o to reproduced on th e opposite pa ge. H e ex-pl a in s:

Th e photo was made whil e J was inhigh school in 1928- 1929. t was taken atthe Cheyenne, Wyoming Municipal Airpo rt , e levati o n 6, 096 feet a bove sea

leve l. Th e identi fica tion number on therudd er is e ithe r 565 or 5651. ded ucefrom the high as pec t ra t io win g th at i twas a low- powered des ign, poss ibly fo rth e hig h a ltitud e o f th e Wes t , a lmos t alow-powered glider. T his plane must bea o ne -of-a -kind , maybe by o ne of o urea rly homebuilders. I hope this will he lpin its eventu al identi fica tion.

EA A 's ace Libra ri an , D enni s Parks .co n ta c ted th e Na t ion a l A ir and SpaceMu se um s Da n H agedo rn , a nd he wasabl e to trace the ea rly regis tration num

be r. D a n writ es HI ch eck e d th e d a ta


27/36

base we have bee n con s tru cting o n th e1927 1 929 Air T ransportati on reg istra-tions e ntries and sure e nough, th e issueo f 9 Ju n e 1928 shows [0 # 5651 reg istere d as the All en Biplane, powered bya Wri ght M o re ho use e ng in e . t wasown e d b y E dmund F. A ll e n of U ta h ,which wou ld p ut it in the ri ght pa rt ofthe country at the right tim e. I fee l surethat this is ou r a irplane. Jack Cox andI wonder if this is the sam e ddie A llenof Boeing es t pilot fame? - HGF)A t first, a few me mbe rs th ought th eairpl ane mi ght be a Hawker Cygne t, butthat was hard to confirm. Peter Bowerswas kind e nough to se nd alo ng a photoof a Cygnet th at still exists. By co mp ar-ing it with the two photos of Mr. A llen'sbiplane, yo u ca n see the diffe rences betwe e n th e Cyg ne t a nd th e A ll e n ma chin e. You ca n see th at the ta il sur fa ceshapes a re differ e nt on the Cygne t, aswe ll as the cabane struts, which are twopa ir of box ce ll strut s on th e Cyg ne t ,whil e th e A ll e n bip la ne ha s a pa ir o f" V " strut s for th e ca ba ne . Th e A ll e n

Not our April mystery plane-the awker Cygnet.al so has aile ron s o n the lower wing o nly,whi le the Cygne t has a ileron s on a ll fourwings.

t too k a bit of digging, but thanks toa sha rp- eyed member , ano ther obscurea ir cra ft from th e pas t has bee n id e ntifi ed . Th a nk s to a ll th e me mb e rs who

or i gin a ll y se nt in re p lies to th e A p rilMystery Pl ane, as we ll as Di ck Osborne,P e te r Bo we rs and th e Smithsonian ' sDan H age do rn , who braved a mountainof remode ling du st in the upstairs officear ea o f th e Air and Sp ace Mu se um totrack this o ne down. Th anks to a ll

The April mystery plane has now been unmasked-it is the Allen Biplane, constructed during the late 1920 s.

The Allen Biplane, as captured on film y a young Dick Osborne in 1928 or 1929.


28/36

WELCOMENEW MEMBERS MEMBERSHIPINFORMATIONEAARichard Aleg re Santa Paula CA

William C. Alle n La Mesa CAJohn A. An son Albuque rque NMMike J. An spach Shippensburg P ACraig Arnold Pea rl and TXJ . She rwood A shton

On tario CanadaAl Ball Santa Paula CANorman Bartels Jr.

Apple Va lley MNPeggy J . Baty Columbia ILBrad Be aner Noblesv ille INPaul R. Beck Vale ncia CABob L. Bonde Las Vegas NVBrent D . Boo n Louisville KYZack R Bowen Robin sville NJEdward L. Brady Honolulu HIDavid Brand Toronto Ca nadaRod J. Bridge Orem UTPatrick Brockway Arca ta CAG. E. Burgly New Kensin gton PAFred H. Clapp Memphis MOJohn W. Cliffo rd Sterling. VARalph Cordle Jr . Palme tto GAGeorge W Co ttrill Ladue MOClark Crawford Hansville W ADavid D arbyshire Si e rra Madr e CAKen Dixon Miami FLGibby D ombros ki e Ce nte rville OHJo se A . Dominguez

Virginia Beach V AJohn Do naldso n Orillia CanadaWalter S. Do ugherty

Stone Mo unta in GAGeorge T. Dunn Brockpo rt NYSteph en A Edwards Longvi ew WAJoseph Virgil Elliott Cobington INLarry Ern ewe in

Inne rKip Ont ari o Ca nadaPaul H. Fairchild An chorage AKJoseph S. Fi eld Kingman AZLawrence Filener

Wern er HeyeCoppenbruegge Ge rma nyEdw ard C. Hoffman Jr.

Ta rpon Springs FLMicha el E . Ho we ll Hamilto n OHStanley W . Hubba rd Wichita KSCurtis Hu ghes

Colorado Springs COJuli an Courte nay Hunt

Orange Park FLAl an La Bri ere Ft. Jones CARemo Lanfranchi Sunnyva le CARobert W. Lee Bille rica MAJames W. Loo loian Arvin CAPeter Mahr Wes to n CTDarryl Mark owski Lubbock TXWylie Mason Anchorage A KRobert Wayne McCoy

Co lorado Springs CORod McLean Kalispe ll MTGe ne W. McMillen Dale OKAl an P. Mckee n Live rp oo l NYGl enn O. Mitte lstadt Tryon NCJoseph A. Mo llica Pi scataway NJJ . Lewis Moore Sandy Spring MDMa rk W Morriso n Bloomingdale ILFrank Thomas Mo rton Jr.

Mobile ALDenni s L. Murr Hibbing MNH. P. Myers Smithville MODa llas D. Nelso n

E dm o nton Alberta,Ca nadaBruce 1 Ol son St Croix Fa lls WIFrank M. Pav liga Rootstown OHJohn Pentick Thunder Bay,CanadaJohn Price Grapevine TXP. Ca rt e r Rise New York NYLes lie Sargent Ewa Beach HICha rl es M Schlosse r Miltona MNRobe rt Schmidle Sr. Newtown CTDanny Si ekierski Philade lphia PAMichae l E . Smith EI Reno OK

Membership in the Experimental AircraftAssociation, Inc. is 35 .00 for one year,inc luding 12 issues of Sport Aviation.Junior Membership (under 19 years ofage is available at $20.00 annually. Familymembership is available for an additional$10.00 annually. All major credit cardsaccepted for membership.(FAX (414) 426-4873.ANTIQUE/CLASSICS

EAA Member- $20.00. Includes oneyear membership in EAA Antique!C/assicDivision. 12 monthly issues of VintageAirplane and membership card.Applicant must be a current EAAmember and must giveEAA membershipnumber.Non-EAA Member- $30.00. Includesone year membership in the EAAAntique! Classic Division. 12 monthlyissues of Vintage Airplane, one yearmembership in the EAA and separatemembership cards. Sport Aviation notincluded.

lACMembership in the InternationalAerobatic Club, Inc. is $30.00 annual/ywhich includes 12 issues of SportAerobatics. All lAC members arerequired to be membersof EAA.

WARBIRDSMembership in the Warbirds of America,Inc. is $30.00 per year, which includes asubscription to Warbirds. Warbirdmembers are required to be membersofEAA .

EAA EXPERIMENTEREAA membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for$28.00 per year (Sport Aviation notincluded). Current EAA members mayreceive EAA EXPERIMENTER for

.. .,
http:///reader/full/Member-$20.00http:///reader/full/Member-$20.00http:///reader/full/Member-$30.00http:///reader/full/Member-$30.00http:///reader/full/Member-$20.00http:///reader/full/Member-$30.00


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The following list of coming events is furnished to our readersas a matter of information only and does not constituteapproval, sponsorship, involvement, control or direction ofany event fly-in, seminars, fly market, etc .) listed. Pleasesend the information to EAA tt : Golda Cox, P.O. Box 3086,Oshkosh , WI 54903-3086. Information should be receivedfour months prior to the event date.

J AN. 10 - SEBRING, FL - SouthFlorida Seaplane Fly- In Lake Jackson (SE corner). 305/421-8917.

JAN. 23 - OSHKOSH, WI - EAAAir Adventure Museum CockpitClimb. 414 /426-4800.J AN. 27 - P AL- WAUK EE, ILPal-Waukee Airport Pilot s Assn.General Meeting. 312 /853-3550.

FE B. 7 - OSHKOSH , WI - EAAAir Adventure Museum - C ha rl esLindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis ,a discussion by Verne Jobst. 414 /426-4800.

FEB. 7 - FT. MYERS, FL - EAAChapter 66 Pancake Breakfast Fly- In ,Page Field. 813 /947-1430.FEB. 12 - PAL-WAUKE E, ILPal-Waukee Airport Pilots Assn .Valentine's Day Party. 312 /853-3550.

MARCH 9 - OSHKOSH, WI - EAAAir Adventure Museum - Aviation Research Seminar by Dennis Parks, Director of th e EAA Boeing Aeronautica lLibrary. 414/426-4800 .MARCH 19-21- CHANDLER, AZ- 10th Annual Shamrock Air Der byCross Co u n try Speed R ace (AZ 99s).602 /961-1172.

MARCH 20 - OSHKOSH , WI EAA Air Adventure Museum. Womenin Aviatio n presented by the 99s.414/426-4800.

MARCH 20 - PUNTA GORDA, FL- EAA Chapter 565 Fly-In Breakfast.Charlotte Co. 8131575 1471.

MARCH 24 - PAL-WAUKEE, ILPal-Waukee Airport Pilots Assn. General Mee ting 312 /853-3550.MARCH 27 - OSHKOSH, WI

APRIL 24 - GLOBE, AZ - HolyAngels Fly- In . Globe San Carlos(Cutter A ir p ort). 602/425 5703425 /5979 .

APRIL 25 - SPRINGFIELD, IL 2nd Annual Fly- In Drive- In Breakfast. Capita l Airport. 217 /483-320l.APRIL 30 - MA Y 2 - BURLINGTO N , NC -Spring EAA Fly-In forAnt iqu e and Classic aeroplanes . Trophies in a ll categories; vintage aviation fi lms; good EAA fe llowship. Allwelcome. Contact: R . Bottom , 103Powhatan Pkwy , Hampton, V A23661.APRIL 30-MA Y 2 - CLEVELAND, OH - 9th Annual Air RacingHistory Symposium. 216 /255-8100.JUNE 26-27 - GREELEY, CO EAA Rock y Mountain Fl y- In.


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by Joshua StoH &William camp, Curators Long Island Cradle of Aviation MuseumRoosevelt Field was the center of the aviation world in the '20s and '30s. When Lindbergh made Paris in1927, he introduced to the world-the place of his departure-Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York. Duringaviation's Golden Age crowds flocked to see Charles Lindbergh, Admiral Byrd, Bert Acosta , Elinor Smith, JimmieDoolittle, Roscoe Tumer, Bert Balchen, Clarence Chamberlin, Amelia Earhart, Clyde Panghom, Ruth Elder, RuthNichols, and AI Williams. Roosevelt Field was more than an attraction or a stage for the dashing aviators; it wasthe premier showcase for demonstrations of flying skill or innovative design. Curtiss, Beech, Sikorsky, Bu melli,Bellanca, Fokker, Seversky, Grumman, and Waco all displayed their latest products. It was the capital of the a ir, the world's premier airport. Tracedthrough forty years of uninterrupted aviation history: from Glenn Curtiss' arrival with his pusher biplane in 1909, through the closing of the fieldat the dawn of the Jet Age in 1951, then takes us through the 1970s when Roosevelt Field's last hangar was destroyed forsubsequentcommercia ldevelopment. Extensively illustrated. Extensive & detailed text.

byJoahUISlol&W lI lamCllmp

81/2"111",140 pages 500+ photographs (most never befOre published), SOftbound, #107, $22.95world1s Greatest Scale Airplane DrawingsInternationally Acclaimed SCale Drawings by Paul MattNow In a set of 2books

cluded in a set of two volumes. Each drawing is highly detailedand is an accurate working print with all dimensions, specifications, airfoils, cross sections, templates, & color schemes included. Drawings are part of the collection of the internationallyacclaimed Historical Aviation Album by Paul Matt. Each bookis 8 1/2 x 11' , softbound and has 150+ pages per book. In additionto drawings, each book contains several detail photos. Includesdrawings from Golden Age, WWI, WWII, Classic &Modern Eras,Volume 1 cOlalns airplanes frolR Athrough G- #401, $24.95

The Taylorcraft storyby Chet Peek ~tory The complete story of the Taylorcraft Company and its airplanes are detailed in this new book.C.G. Taylor can truly be called the father of the light airplane industry. At one time Taylor's two famousdesigns comprised half of the world's light aircraft fleet.The story opens with the 1935 splif with W.T. Piper. Taylor designed a new plane, started a newcompany and succeeded against almost insurmountable odds. Deta ilso f the original design, the difficult searchfor financial backing and production facilities are detailed and illustrated with numerous original factory photos.b,

8112" 111", 236 pages, 425 photos,#108A - Hardbound $54.95#108 - Softbound $24.95

ROOSEVELT FIELDWorld 's Premier Airport

The. .-,A LORCRAFG

Ch . l l ~ 1 .Growth and prosperity are recounted, then wartime liaison production, and the post-war boom & bust.The author, Chet Peek, captures the spirit of the early aviation scene with color and clarity.Foreword to book written by Bob Taylor, 80n of C.G. Taylor. Epilogue to book written by Duke Iden,son of "Duke" lden, long-time Taylorcraft Sales Manager. Book includes several 3-view drawings.Chronological order and covers all major events, new models, ownership changes, from the start up tothe

Roosevelt Fieldworld S Premier Airport

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ = = = = ~ = ~I .; j - r . \H-++-t+t-+

325 pages of scale drawings of 124 type airplanes are in- . ' ...... , . ". ~ ~ ~- - ~ ~ I - : \ f \ , : , r_ - _ { ,-l 'r' '

V IS IO \"S OF L l1S C O M RE Visions of Luscombe- The arly Years by Jim zazash e rly }/c r s


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When aviation was in its infancy, a new and affordable lightairplane was m k i n ~ its debut. It was neither another warsurplus tandem seating biplane nor an underpowered monoplane. Those types were commonplace. Instead, thisairplanewas most unique . . . side-by-side seating, an enclosed cabin,a sexy fuselage, responsive flight controls, a powerful power plantand a single wing.What did Don Luscombe, this design's consummate promoter, call it? Monocoupe'clayton Folkerts, Jerry Lederer, Fred Knack and Ivan Driggs made the Monocoupe name synonymous withgracefu styling and sprightly performance.Other designs ncluded the four-place Monocoach, the open-cockpit Monoprep and the swift Monosport .Some evolved into sleek and powerful racers.Don Luscombe, who was he? A charismatic promoter, true, but he was a visionary. He anticipated correctlywhat the market wanted and he endeavored to meet this demand. Though he never designed his airplanes, hei i l l l ~ i i ~ brought together the necessary engineers and skilled workers who could design and build his airplanes.Don Luscombe's promotional efforts were aided by the many air racing and aerial derbies that were commonin the '20s and '30s. Race pilots such as Roberts, Omlie, Quinby, Bowman, Klingensmith and Livingston becameheroes and added to the aura of the Monocoupe legend.Don Luscombe's Monocoupe work was comparatively brief, lasting only seven years. Market forces and corporate events compelled Don to

pursue the means to mass-produce his airplanes. From 1933 through the next six years, Don Luscombe founded at least three other airplanecompanies that carried his name. He pursued his mass produced, all-metal visions with an unmatched enthusiasm. His factories produced stylishand robust airplanes with catchy names such as Phantom, Sprite, Ninety, Fifty, and Sixty-five. These new airplanes graced a wide arrayof promotional literature. Like the Monocoupe designs, the later designs offered class with performance .In addition, Don Luscombe created a school to train airplane mechanics in the n g i n r i n ~ and construction of metal aircraft. The LuscombeSchool of Aeronautics was developed to meet a rapidly growing demand for individuals expenenced in the art of working on ali-metal airplanes.Orders for Don Luscombe's airplanes flowed into the company, but it was the Luscombe Model 8 that truly fulfilled Don's goals of an affordable,mass produced, all -metal airplane for the private owner.81/2 111 , 325 pages, 325 photos, 3,l8w drawings, 6 color pages, #109A - Hardbound $36.95, #109 - SOftbound $26.95

The author spent ten years researching and writing this work. The story is backed up by appropriate documentation . It is an amazing story- one that has not been told until now. Personalities include: George E. Buck Weaver, Charlie Meyers, Ray Bucf' Vaughan, Hattie Meyers,Elwood H. Sam Junkin, Clayton Brukner and many more.In the case of the Waco Aircraft Company's founding there were two teams of two men each who were responsible. Messrs. Weaver andMeyers formed one team ; Messrs. Junkin and Bruknerthe other. Their interpersonal relationships are delved into extensively. Includes the insidestoryof the development ofthe Ohio Aviation School, the DBJ (Deuther, Brukner, Junkin) Aeroplane Co ., the Weaver Aircraft Co ., and the AdvanceAircraft Co. Comprehensive Waco history from 1910 to 1925. Soon-to-be-released Volume 2 will include Waco history from 1925 through the1930s to include the Taperwing .81/2 Iii , 190 pages, 150+ photos, 3,lew drawings, #106A - Hardbound $34.95, #106 - SOftbound $24.95Don't miss the new Waco history book... a masterpiece - Waco Historical Society - June, 1992

W CO symbol of courage and ExcellenceVolume 1 191 to 1925 by Fred Kobernuss S'ib 4r,g44mWaco - Symbol of ourage nd Excellence deals with the evolvement { ? T lme s t producer ofcommercial aircraft during the 1920s and '30s. For example, in 1927 this company built 460 airplanes whileBoeing rolled out 25 .It details the founding of the Waco Aircraft Company and treats its growth in historical perspective byilluminating facts and figures that represent not only the contemporary competition to the men of Waco but alsothe general aviation climate of those embryonic years.Only a handful were acquainted with the historical meaning of the 'Waco acronym . Now the mysterywhich enshrouded the formative years of the company has been removed.Painstaking research by the author, the late Fred Kobemuss, has cleared the ai rof prevalent conflictinginformation. Read the fascinating story of an aircraft company that had its own gravestone l ong before itsdemise.

;iY lIlb{l[ of QlnU ntg l1I 11 11

Excl'llwl'l'\ Iun ' f '


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BASIC AIRCRAFT PRODUCTS INC.4474 Hickory Drive, Evans GA 30809(706 863-4474

Fly high with aquality Classic interiorComplete interior assemblies for do-it-yourself installation.

Custom quality at economical prices. Cushion upholstery sets Wall panel sets Headliners Carpet sets Baggage compartment sets Firewall covers Seat slings Recover envelopes and dopes

Free catalog of complete product line.Fabric Selection Guide showing actual sample colors andstyles of materials: $3.00.

Q i r t ~ R O D U T S INC.259 Lower Morrisville Rd ., Dept. VAFallsington, PA 19054 (215) 295-4115

35 per word , $5.00 minimum charge. Send your ad toThe Vintage Trader, EAA Aviation Center, P.o. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-2591 .Payment must accompany ad. VISA/MasterCard accepted.

Fly-About Adventures and the Ercoupe-Full color, 130 pages,$17.95. Fly-About, P.O. Box 51144, Denton, TX 76206. (ufn)SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture, STC-PMAd, 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout, also complete fuselagerepair. ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC. (J. E. Soares, Pres.),7093 Dry Creek Rd., Belgrade, Montana. 406-388-6069 . FAX406/388-0170. Repair station No. QK5R148N.GEE BEE, etc. - Super scale model plans (used for Benjamin's R-2).Catalog $3.25, refundable. Vern Clements, 308 Palo Alto, Caldwell,1083605. (c-4/93)1930's Kollsman "Bubbleface" compass, have several, N.O.S., $225each. Many other vintage items - 44-page catalog, $5 . Jon Aldrich,Airport Box 706, Groveland, CA 95321,209/962-6121 . (c-12/92)

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VIDEO TAPE AVAILABLEFABRIC COVERING WITH RAY STITS. EDUCATIONAL.INSTRUCTIVE. TECHNICAL. Sponsored by EAA AviationFoundation. See This Tape First and Avoid Expensive Mistakes. VHS or Seta, $39.95 Prepaid. Also Direct from EAA(1-800-843-3612) and Poly-Fiber Distributors.WRITE PHONE OR FAX FOR FREE New Fifth Edition PolyFiber Manual With Updated Information. New Fabric SamplesWith Test Reports. Catalog and Distributor List

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CoIl1-800-831-2949 To orderACCESSORIES 8 DECAlS STENCIlS.W indshields .Rlters gCU PLACARDS.Shock Cords Tires ' i ...Ta ilwheeis .Spark Plugs ' AIRFRAME PARTS.Tubes Instruments . .Spruce .Fir Plywood.Wheel. Brakes & Axles .Adhesives .Nails Propellers .Tail. Draggers .Steel Sheet & Tubing Master Cylinders .Aluminum Sheet &Tubing- 706-229-2329FAXLEXANUEREROPLA;';E C O ~ I P \1', I; ;C. 800 -358-5228P.o. Box 909 Griffin, GA 30224-0909 Customer Service

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P o Box 35289 Greensboro NC 27425

BeCODle A Menlber Of The BAAAntique/Classic Insurance PrograDl!


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club in the country EAA's


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vintage airplane - jan 1993

Documents