vintage airplane - jul 2004

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jul 2004

1/36


2/36

VOL. 32,No.7

JULY2004

2

VAA

NEWS

6 MYSTERY PLANE

8

MY

FLIGHT

IN

AN AEROPLANE

LUCERNE, AUGUST 9, 1912

WalterC Hill,

Sr

10 95TH ANNIVERSARYOF

THE

CHANNELCROSSING

SPECIAL

CABLE

T THE

WASHINGTON

POST

1 1

11 CARLSON'STHULIN-BUILTBLERIOT

AGRANDFATHER'S INSPIRATION

H.G. Frautschy

15 FLIGHTSTORY - CONTINUED

A

GRANDFATHER'S

INSPIRATION

TomMatowitz

19 ABRIEFHISTORYOF

STEARMAN AIRCRAFTCOMPANY

AlanLopez

25

THE

VINTAGE

INSTRUCTOR

INVULNERABILITY/D

ougStewart

26 CALENDAR

27

PASS IT

TO

BUCK

A

STICKING

VALVE/Buck

Hilbert

28 NEWMEMBERS

29 CLASSIFIEDADS

Front

Cover: Re

storer/pilot MikaelCarlson

of

Sweden flies past

in

his


3/36

ESP

IE

BUTCH JOYCE

PRESIDENT VINTAGE ASSOCIATION

E irVenture Opportunities

You will be reading this just be-

fore you take off to Oshkosh, if

you are going,

to EAA

AirVenture

2004.

This year of course

will be

special for me as it will be the last

convention

while I

am

still presi-

dent. My term will expire after we

have

the

election

ratified

at our

annual

membership

meeting,

which

will be

held

Monday, Au-

gust 2, at 9:30 a.m. We will hold

the meeting in the Type Club tent.

f

you are interested

in attend

ing,

we ask that you verify the

meeting time/place

at

the

informa-

tion booth located in

the Red

Barn.

Speaking

of

the Red

Barn,

I

would like

to

thank all of you that

were able to

send your support

to

the Friends

of

the Red Barn

fund.

These funds are used directly to

support

and help improve your

Vintage

area

of the

convention

grounds.

The

VAA

maintenance

crew,

headed

up by your VAA Director

Bob Brauer, has spent a number of

weekends

in

advance of

the

con

your aircraft

and

personal

prop

erty. Volunteers also

judge

your

aircraft

and others.

More than SO

I

woul

like

to

thank all of

you that were

able

to

se

n

your support

to the ri

en s of

th

e Red rn

percent

of our volunteer

forces are

wish to ride around the

VAA

area

to get an overview of the wide va-

riety of aircraft

on

display.

You

can buy a ticket to

the VAA

picnic, which will

be

held at the

Nature

Center

on Wednesday

night. It s always a great time.

Just south

of

the Red Barn we

have a metal-shaping tent,

where

there will be a number of skills

demonstrated. One more tent to

the

south, we

have

located the

Type Club

Headquarters,

a center

of knowledge.

We invite various

type clubs to

set up

an informa

tion

table

so you

can

chat about

your favorite airplane.

There are plenty of different ac-

tivities , and your best bet is

to

check in with the information

counter located in the Red Barn. If

it seems like we do a lot during

the

week,

you re

right,

but

we

couldn t

do it without your help. How can

you contribute? Why

not

stop

by

our volunteer center,

located just

at the entrance to

the

VAA area,

and ask where

help is

needed.


4/36

5

Printed EAA

AirVenture

NOTAMs

Available

The printed notice to airmen

(NOTAM) for EAA AirVenture

Oshkosh 2004 is

now available

from

EAA

Membership

Services at

800-jOIN EAA (800-564-6322). The

NOTAM desc

ribes

arrival

and de

parture flight procedures

in effect

from

july

24

through

August 3, in

cluding procedures

for

the

many

types of aircraft

that

fly to

Oshkosh

for

the

event,

as

well

as

aircraft

that

land

at nearby airports. NOTAM

booklets are

also available

online

through

www airventure OI

g

Breakfast

and

a

ri

efing

The

VAA Tall

Pines Cafe will be in

operation again this year

with an

expanded

schedule prior to conven

tion, and fly-in style pancake

breakfasts during EAA AirVenture.

Starting

on

Friday morning, july 23,

and continuing through

Sunday,

july 25,

the

VAA

Tall Pines Cafe will

be open for breakfast, lunch,

and

dinner. Starting

Monday,

July

26,

only

breakfast will be served

at

the

Tall Pines Cafe. As we

had

last year,

an

FAA

Flight Service

Station FSS)

trailer will be located

near the

cafe.

At the

trailer,

which

will be

north

of

the VAA Tall

Pines

Cafe, you'll

be

able

to check the

weather for your

flight

and

obtain a full

briefing

from

FSS

specialists without

having

to trek up to

the

FAA Building near

the control tower.

We'll

see you

to the

northeast of

the Red Barn.

The volunteers who operate

the

booth will be happy to

tell you

when

your help is needed

each day.

t doesn't matter if it's just for a few

hours

or for a few days,

we'd

love

to

have your helping hands

Are You a Friend

of

the

VAA

Red Barn?

f so, be

sure to check in at the

information desk at the

VAA

Red

Barn.

There,

we '

ll

issue

you

a spe

cial name badge. We can also point

out the location for the Ford

Tri

Motor

rides

. f

you

have any

quest ions

, feel

free to ask

for

Theresa

Books,

the

VAA

adminis

trative assistant.

If

you need to

reach

her

in

advance

of

your

ar

rival, you can call

her at

EAA

headquarters

, 920-426-6110.

VAA Message

Center

f you would like

to

leave a mes

sage

for people

you

know who

frequent

the

VAA Red Barn, stop by

the

information

desk.

You

can write

them

a message in

our

notebook

on

a

string, and

we'll

post their

name on the marker board so

they'll

know

there's a message wait

ing

for

them.

Sure, cellular

phones

and walkie-talkies are great,

but

sometimes

nothing

works better

than

a hand-scribbled note

VAA Picnic

Tickets for

the Wednesday

,

july

Call

jeannie Hill (815-943-7205),

and

she will reserve

seating

so

your

type club

can

sit together.

Shawano Fly Out

The annual fly-out to

Shawano

is Saturday, july 31.

The

sign-up

sheet

will be at

the

desk at

the

VAA

Red Barn,

and the briefing

will be

at 7

a.m. the morning of the

fly

out. This year the meal will be

provided at

the Shawano

airport,

so we

won't

need to leave the

air

field. We' re hoping

to

have a good

turnout

this year

to

make up for

the weather cancellation last year.

The

community

of Shawano

is a

big supporter of VAA and puts

forth

a

lot

of effort to

sponsor

this

event.

t does

a

great

job,

and

we

hope you'll

help us thank Shawano

by joining

us.

VAA Red Barn Store

The VAA Red Barn Store, chock

full

of

VAA

logo merchandise and

other

great

gear, will be

open

all

week

long. Show

your VAA mem

bership card

(or

your receipt

showing

you

joined

VAA at

th e

convention),

and

you'll receive

a

10

percent discount.

On

Thursday,

july 29, from

7

p.m. to

9

p.m.

there will be a spe

cial

VAA Members-Only

Sale. Bring

your VAA card,

and

you'll

receive

an

additional discount

on

specially

priced merchandise . See you there

http://www.airventure.oig/http://www.airventure.oig/http://www.airventure.oig/


5/36

Theater

In

Th

e

West Side

Woods

V

irVenture

Vintage

Aircraft

V

ntique

a

mping

RE

Parking

reaMap

GENER L

L YOUT

To h ' m,mb,, '

who fly

0

Red

Barn

understand the layout of the con-

Type

Club "

VAA Special

vention area administered

by

the Parking

)

Showplane / Camper o

Display Area

VAA

, we've prepared

this

simpli- Starts at H

anga

r DRegis t ra t ion

Row 74 Cafe

fied

map. As yo u can

see,

_______ _ -

-

_________________

--

camping

starts

at

Row

74

on

the

-

parked

along road

east side

of

the main

and in rows

60

&

61.

north / south road (Wi

ttm

an

Ro ad), wi th the a reas to the

north of

that

line set up

to

han-

VAA

dle display-only vintage

aircraft.

Large Special

D

nterest

hat s why

you

may see open ar-

Comm Center

ircraft/

eas

as yo u

taxi south to

your

Antiques

camping location.

Once you arrive, you ' ll need

to

register your

aircra ft

and / or

campsite.

In add

ition to

roving

Row 78

Rows 60

Row

SO

registration vehicles

,

there

is

&

61

=,;:--,. EAST

S

IDE

Antiq

ue

one main

aircraft registration

Point

VAA CAMPING

AND

PARKING

' - - - - ' - -'-1.

_

_

-- ' -

_

building , located

just

south

of

STARTS

HE

RE

th

e Red Barn (see map ).

Th

e

CONTIN

UES TO ROW 150

EAA

convent

ion

cam pgrounds

,

both

on

the air side a

nd in

Camp

If you want your aircraft to

be

judged

by VAA

volunteer

judg

es, you need to

be

a c

urrent

Scho

l ler,

are

private camp

Vintage Aircraft Association member.

VAA

contri

butes

a

significant

portion

of

the costs

re-

grounds,

and are

not

open

to

lated

to the

EAA awards

that

are presented to the award winners . Another immediate benefit

non-EAA members. Each camp

of

VAA

membership is your free

VAA

AirV

en tur

e Oshkosh

2004

Partic ipant

Pl aq

ue, which you

site must

be

registered

by a can pick up

in

the rear of the

Red

Barn .

EAA

and

VAA

memberships are avai l

ab

le at both Air

current EAA member.

craft Registration and at the Membership booth located northeast of the Red Barn.

o

VAA

Past Grand Champions

VAA PARKING -

No Camping

Operations

Shack

Row 62

th r

ough

Row

77

Other

E

irVenture

V Highlights

Tony's Red Ca rpet Express will be

coordinated through the VAA Red

Barn.

To

schedule your transportation

need

s

simply

contact

us

at

the desk.

VAA Red Barn headquarters is also

the VAA media headquarters.

If

you

have

any questions

concerning spe

cial displays or events, ask at the desk.

The

DTN

weather system

will be

Please stop

in

to say h ello, e

nj o

y a

cup

of

coffee

or

a lemonade

and

set

a spell on the porch . We

look

for

ward to seeing all

of

yo u and value

your

input. Let us

know how

we can

mak

e your convention

stay more

pleasant and enjoyable.

Other Things

You' ll Find Near the

VAA

Red

Barn

• Membership

&

C

hapt

er

th i s, Operation Protect Our Planes

(

PO.P

) has created several designated

smoking

areas

with butt cans

along

the flightlin e but away from aircraft

and

refueling operations.

Designated

smoking

areas will be

south of the

ultralight runway; near

the

Hangar

Cafe;

near the Warbird

area (northeast corner

of

Audrey Lane

and Eide Avenue); the Wearhouse flag

pole area;

th

e shade pavilion

north of


6/36

houghts on

Proper ircraft Restraint

GENE MORRIS, VAA DIRECTOR, EAA AIRVENTURE]UDGE

H

ow badly would you feel if

your airplane were to seri

ously injure or

kill

someone?

I dare say that any VAA mem

ber would be beyond consolable. I know

I would

be

.

Yet by not properly tying down an

airplane while attending a

fly-in,

the

po

tential exists for a seemingly benign

airplane to become uncontrollably air

borne in the teeth of a thunderstorm's

gales.

Flipping an airplane over happens

every year, and it has happened at the

EAA

Convention.

Back in

the

early

1980s, a few airplane owners had to

come up with another way home after

their airplanes were totaled when blown

over during a thunderstorm

that

pounded Wittman

Field.

It's bad enough during a fly-in when

camping gear or lawn chairs are blown

about, but an airplane being blown over

or tumbling over and over can be lethal.

Unless we're all careful about properly

tying the airplane down, it can happen

again, with tragic consequences. Unfor

tunately, there are some folks who

believe that any tied own will do . The

fact is they're living in a fantasy world.

Because of the false sense of security

they can create, some tiedowns are al

most as bad as none

Which brings

us to

the real purpose of

this piece of tie down wisdom . I say

"wis

of any airplane, and to the airplanes and

people surrounding them.

I know these tiedowns are inexpen

sive and sometimes even easy to put in

the ground, but just take a look at what

is

holding your airplane down. The little

ring that fastens to the stake is put on

with a

1/8-inch

rivet. Some have an

other clamp or crimping arrangement

that

isn

t any better. Ask yourself:

"Would you

fly

your airplane with a 1/8

inch rivet holding the wing strut on?"

The other problem with any type of

screw-in anchor

is

that the

very act of

screwing

them into the

ground dis

turbs the soil

that

is supposed to hold

the tiedown in place. Simply put, there

isn't anything good about these types

of tiedowns.

Here's my confession: I used to use

these screw in type tiedowns.

But

after

seeing

what happened

to an Aeronca

Champ during the EAA Convention in

1993, I made some tests.

First,

I tied the rope to the top trian

gl

e,

and applied some force (an amount

that was

far less

than the

force

generated

by a single wing in a 50-60 mph wind).

t failed by straightening out enough for

the rope to slide off. The screw anchors

were placed outboard enough, or they

would have unscrewed or pulled right

out of the ground. Figuring I'd found

the major flaw in the tiedown, I welded

now the "downtown" airport at Spring

field, Missouri (SGF).

t

was a very pretty

day, and we made our way into the

hangar and explored

all

of the beautiful

airplanes. We knew almost all of them

from making models and reading maga

zines. Three years later, I was a regular

around the place and

was

hired on

as

a

line

boy.

There were many airplanes tied

down, for

there

was only one large

hangar on the "city" side of the airport.

One day, around 1944, we had a

mi

croburst hit the airport. Back then they

didn't

call

it that, but in retrospect that's

exactly what happened. All

we

knew

was

that a huge thunderstorm was coming out

of the southwest, and it blew like crazy.

Ted

Burris, a fellow line boy, was out by

the

gas

pit holding down a Stinson

105 all

by himself. How he did it, I really don't

know,

but

he did it

Just a few

yards away,

out in front of the hangar,

was

a loosely

tied-down Travelair 4000, and

it

was flying

about six inches off the ground, pretty

as

you please. To the right of the Travelair

was

a J 3 cub doing the same thing, except

that the stick was tied back. The main

wheels were off the ground. I

saw

the en

tire episode unfold in front of my

eyes.

Then, all of a sudden, that little Cub

went flying up and over the airplane

be

hind

it,

and then across Division Street,

landing upside down while going back

ward. When the storm abated, there was


7/36

the top of the stick, which both locked

the ailerons and held the stick forward.

After seeing

those

L-2's ride

out

the

storm, I have always tied my stick for

ward.

t

isn't always

easy,

but

for

a ship

with tandem seating, you tie

the

rear

stick with

the front

seat belt. On a

Cessna 140, Chief, etc., I have tied a

small, soft rope around

one

control

wheel,

and then around the throttle and

over to the right control wheel. That

way,

the ailerons and elevators are held

fast.

Arudder lock would

be

a good idea

too. Here 's an example why.

Some years ago our

C-140A was

tied

outside, and a gale had been blowing for

a day or two out of the west, right up the

tail

of that little

140. You

will not believe

this. The rudder had been pushed to the

right so hard and

for so

long that the lit

tle gap seal fairing on the leading edge

of the rudder had come out and lodged

on the outside of the

fin

That's when I

fabricated a rudder

lock

.

It's

a good thing

we

found that on the walk around for

the next flight, huh?

Being into wind stories, I have an

other or

so

to

qualify

my

creditability.

In

1946, after most operators had moved to

the "new" airport at SGF, I still worked

for

the

city

as

a line boy.

One bright

summer afternoon, the two large

hangars both had their doors wide open

and there were Cubs and Champs sitting

outside, untied . A fast growing cumulus

cloud sat just off the east side of the

field

and

it was

moving

west,

a

bad

sign.

All of a sudden it was obvious that

something

was

about

to

happen. I

was up

by

the

gas pit , near the terminal, and

quickly picked

up

on the action going on

around the hangars. People were scurry

most out to the runway.

I jumped out and grabbed the prop,

and

with some sort of super

strength

that I do not understand to this day, I

put

my feet up

on

the cowlin g and

pulled

that

little bulldog down to the

ground. I held

it

until help arrived, and

we

pushed it into the hangar. I received

a grateful

thank

you" from Roscoe,

which was appreciated, but I sure could

have used a

little

stick time in the

Champ While all this was going on, a

BT-13 without an engine rolled straight

backward, clear across the runway and

into a ditch.

If

you will notice, all of my wind sto

ries are

of conventional gear airplanes.

It

is just natural

for

an airplane facing into

the wind to want to fly. A light, empty

Cub is a prime example.

Now,

if the stick

is tied forward, the tail will come up and

"unload/l the wing,

which

is

exactly

what we would want. Nosewheel air

planes

will sit pretty

tamely

unless

they'

re

on a slope where the wing would

be at a higher angle of attack.

Back

in the 1940s, the stakes

we

used

were

just

old automobile rear axles,

driven into the ground at an angle, with

the differential gear on top . They were

heavy, and then of course,

the

sledge

went along too

Today there are so many really nice,

well-engineered tiedowns on the market.

Most use three stakes driven into the

ground at different angles. That type of

setup gives very good protection. Good

heavy stakes, placed outboard of the wing

attach pOint, will probably hold your

air

plane down

in

most

cases. Be

sure not

to

put them directly straight down; they

will

pull right out

of

the ground.

Many times you will find chains placed

along a cable on the ramp that has

slack

built right in. That might help, but I still

don't

li

ke chains.

When you go to a fly-in, take a look

around

at

the

airplanes

parked

near

yours to see how they are tied down.

Share any tips you might have with the

other

owners.

You

may have your air

plane

secured perfectly but if

those

upwind are

not

, the airplane you save

may be your

own

During AirVenture 2003 I spent four

early mornings observing all the aircraft

tied down in the Vintage area. I found

that out of 496 aircraft, 164 were,

in

my

opinion, and I photographed them, not

tied securely. Of those 164,

24

were tied

directly to, and only to, the little "dog

gie" ring. It might hold your dachshund,

but

not

a big dog, and definitely not a

light plane. Disappointingly, eight air

planes were not tied at all.

In conclusion and with

many

in

agreement with me,

we

must, number

one, outlaw the doggie stakes I'm always

disappointed to find there are vendors

who sell that type of tiedown right at

AirVenture.

I also believe that fly-in announce

ments,

postings

etc.,

should include

tiedown requirements, and they too

should clearly state that doggie stake

tied

owns

are

not acceptable.

Even

the trio

of reinforcing rods driven into the ground

will

perform better

in

a strong wind than

the

doggie

ring tiedowns.

. . . . . . .

For more

information on better

tiedown methods, visit

EAA's

AirVenture

website at:

http:

//www.ai/venture.org/2004If ying/t

ying down.html, and

the FAA

advisory

http://www.ai/venture.org/2004If!ying/thttp://www.ai/venture.org/2004If!ying/thttp://www.ai/venture.org/2004If!ying/thttp://www.ai/venture.org/2004If!ying/thttp://www.ai/venture.org/2004If!ying/thttp://www.ai/venture.org/2004If!ying/t


8/36

BY H G

FR UTSCHY

APRIL

S

MYSTERY ANSWER

Our April Mystery Plane was a favo rite of a few of

you who wrote in . It was

the

first Navy fighter. From

th

e many letters we received, here's a sample letter from

a long

tim

e member:

G

lad to see th

e

TS-1 (Curtiss or NAF) as this

month's

Mystery Plane; it s one of my favorites. Like the

Ryan

M-1 , it

had a limited

production,

but

has

its

ow

n

ni

che

in

history as

one of

the

first carrier-based

aircraft.

I'

ve

h

ea

rd it sa id that it

was

the first plane designed from scratc

h

for th

e

purpose

of

flying from an

aircraft ca

rrier.

I'm

sure you'

ll

get some

mor

e

informative r

eplies,

but I might

be able

to add some. I se

ri

ollsly

cons

ider

ed building

a

replica TS-1

after

th

e

Ryan,

ma

ybe some

day

I still will, but in any event, I

found

out

through the

NASM

that the National Archiv

es,

in College

Park, Mmyland, have drawings

of

the

TS-1. I went

there,

filled

out the

forms, was

given white

co

tton gloves to wear,

and was

allowed

to examine original

TS-1

drawings. Not

cop

ies, but orig

inal linen

drawings from 1926

There

were

some drawings missing, but they were reor

ga

nizing and said

that there might be

mor

e

drawings

that had not been

ca

ta

lo

gued

yet.

There was certainly e

nou

gh to build

from. Getting

copies was a com

pli

cated pro

cess,

but the TS-1 was also fea

tured in Skyways

maga

zine severa l years

ago, includin

g

drawings

made

from

th

e

ones

in

th

e National

Archives.

One

thing that I

rem

e

mb

er

from th

e

drawings is

a small

compmtment beneath the headrest that was labeled

some

thing

lik

e Pigeon Compartment,

apparently for the

carrier

pigeons that

th

e designers

thou

ght that

all naval aviators

would carry with them.

The onLy

sun/ivor

is

of course at

the

National Museum of

Naval Aviation

at Pensacola , a TS-2 modified

to TS-1

con

figurat

ion. (It was

on

loan from

th

e

NASM

and while

unable to

confirm its new location, Michael McCormick

wrote to tell us that it

is now

at

th

e new Udvar-Hazy

Center at Dulles. -HGF)

Also,

TS

stood for Turr

et

Shipboard from the early days when th ey Launched pLanes

from

pLatfonns above

the gun turrets on

battleships.

Andrew King

on

Harris, Cherry Hill, New Jersey

had

an explana

tion regarding the markings on our Mystery Plane:

t one

tim

e, TS-1s sported

a

diving bird logo

at

the front

of

the

fuselage.

When it was sh

own

that

the

lo

go infringed

on one used

by

a

co

mmercial cho

co

late com pan y, its use was

discontinued

...

which

maybe

ca

n exp

lain the bLa

ckened circle

on

the plan

e

in your maga

zine.

Other

answers were received from Orval Fairbairn,

Daytona Beach, Florida; William Mette, Campbell ,

Californi

a;

Michael McCormick, Houston, Texas;

Thomas Lymburn, Prince

ton

, Minnesota; Jim Stubner,

Mercer Island, Washington; Clarence Hesser, St.

Augustine, Florida; Richard Ormsby, Phoenix, Arizona;

Charles

F

Schultz, Louisvill

e

Kentucky; Wayne Muxlow,

Minn

eapolis, Minnesota; Wayne Van Valkenburgh,

Jaspe

r

Georgia; and

Russ

Brown, Lyndhurst, Ohio.

A good source for

more information on the TS-1

is

C

urti

ss A

ircraft

1907-1947, by Peter Bowers.

TO


9/36

My FLIGHT IN

N

AEROPLANE

Lucerne, August

9

1912

here

was quite a

number of

specta

tors in

the

aero

drome,

some stand

ing

around

as

if

waiting

for something

to

happen,

and

others

grouped around the

machine, intent on details of con

struction of this

modern

wonder

the aeroplane. Donning the long

brown

coat

brought

to me

by

an

attendant, and

handing

him

my

hat in

exchange

for

the cap and

goggles,

sent through the

crowd

knowledge

that

a

man

was going

to

fly. There was

just

a

tremor

of

excitement, more

felt than

ex

pressed,

save in the hasty

movements of

the onlookers to

find

the

best

points

of vantage

to

see

the

start.

s

I

buttoned

over

the

long

coat, a vest-like

garment

padded 3 to 4 inches thick

with

ei

derdown,

my

mother

thought

I too

had

caught a little of

the

"tremors"

and said

that

I was just a little pale,

but I

vow

it was either

her

excite

ment

or the

severe effect

of this

deep

brown raiment

on my blond

complexion

for I

had no qualms

nor

tremors,

not even

as

I climbed

the ladder

and

took

my

seat behind

the

engine

and

waited for

the

avia

W LTER

c HILL SR.

SUBMITTED BY

W LTER

C HILLJR.

ible

speed.

There was a terrific

beat

of wind in the face, and then

I felt the great aerodrome

sliding

behind me.

t

was hard

to

tell just

when motion commenced . There

was

no

jerk or

unevenness,

but

with incredible swiftness the great

doors swept by

and

then the

groups of onlookers,

hardly

dis

tinguishable

one

from another. I

was

conscious

all

at once that

the

roll of the wheels

had

ceased, and

I

looked down to

see

the grass

sloping

sharply away in the direc

tion

we were going. My

heart

may

have

been hitting

it up just a few

licks extra, for with the realization

that

I was flying I took

myself

in

hand to

be

sure

I

appreciated

all

that

was

happening.

We

were flying straight into

a

light breeze and rising.

The

ma

chine was perfectly

steady,

and

just enough vibration to assure

me it was alive.

The

exhaust now

had

a

sharp, snappy drone, not

unpleasant.

I

remembered then

that the

roar

had

ceased

when

we

left the

aerodrome. The propeller

sent back

a sharp breeze,

but

this

grew

less as

our speed increased

and

is

not more

than is

felt

in a

rapidly moving automobile. s

ward us. Another look down, then

I

could

get the sense of motion

for we

were just

over the

long

Quay National, with its wonderful

double

row of chestnuts and its

thousands of

afternoon

visitors.

The

sight was

fascinating . We

were well up

and

I had

begun

to

note the various

hotels,

tennis

courts, boathouses and other

fa

miliar points

when

I noticed the

length of the Quay began

to

swing

away to the

r igh t a dreadful

drop,

and a

side

motion

of

the

machine

startled

me.

We

were

turning to the left and

swinging

into

a direction

across

the

wind.

There

was a

slight cricking

of

the

plane,

and

we must have

encoun

tered

some of those

air

holes

the

aviators tell

us

about for

there

were several sudden drops

of a

few

feet, and

you

could

feel

the

cushions

of the air under the

plane as it seemed to

catch

on

again.

A few

more of those

tremors, and

for

the

first

time

a

slight

feeling

of

insecurity.

With

this

I

began to

look

about the

ma

chine

again-the

regular drone of

the engine was reassuring-the

broad

expanse

of

the solid-look

ing plane seemed ample

and


10/36

Rigi and Pilatus to the left and

right. The

mountains looked

higher than when viewed from

the ground

. I could see a number

of towns both on the lakeshore

and

inland. Looking

down the

motorboats

and

lake

steamers

were like toy things. We were

about 1 000 feet up.

The

wind

played a

perfect

chord on the

tight truss wires. I

had grown

so

accustomed to the

engine

I had

ceased to

notice

it. The

motion

was as

smooth

as

could

be-you

the lake and

took our

course back

toward Lucerne. Again the air holes

and an

occasional slight list as

the

crosscurrents

caught the

windward

plane. This time I was not afraid. I

rather enjoyed the slight bounding

sensation.

This

time

we flew high

over

the waterfront of the

city

of

Lucerne.

1

could

see the busy life

in the streets

but

it was all on a

pygmy scale. I felt no dizziness at

looking down bu t I do feel it

when

looking

down over the edge

of

a cliff. The comfortable seat

and

and we rolled right into the aero-

drome doors. The experience was

at

once

thrilling and

delightful.

Thrilling principally because of its

novelty probably and I believe the

sensation of flight will become as

commonplace as the motion

of

a

bicycle or motorcar. There

is

a cer-

tain

exhilaration

in the

upper

air

however

that should always be a

delight

and a

feeling of

freedom

from

collision that I have never

enjoyed

in an automobile.

The

motion is

very

agreeable and free


11/36


12/36

HOOSEUNIVERSAL FOR

High quality great

value

lamps

strobes

You can find our products carried

by the following distributors:

Aircraft Spruce & Specialty

Beuco

h ief

Wag-Aero

, . J , Since 1969

MNIVEHS{4£

CORPOR T ON

Visit us at www.universaJ-co.com

Fli

gh

t Co

nt

rol

Cables

Custom Manufactured!

Each Cable is Proof Load Tested

and Prestretched for Stability

* Quick Delivery

*Reasonable Prices

*Certification to MIL-T-6117

and probes

.

Sp eci

al

C

abl

e

to Th e

Wa

shin g

95th Anniversary of

the

Channel

Crossing

ton Post

London, July

25, 1909-

Bleriot's own account

of

his

ex

ploit,

which

will appear in

the

Daily

Mail tomorrow, is graphic. He says:

''It is more

important

to be the

first to cross

the channel by aero

plane

than to have won

the

prize

of

1,000 pounds. I

am

more than

happy

that

I have crossed the

channel. At

first I promised

my

wife that I would

not make the attempt. Then I deter

mined that

if

one

failed I would be

the

first to come,

and

I

am

here .. .

"At

4:30

daylight had come ... A

light

breeze from

the southwest

was

beginning

to blow. The air was clear.

Everything was prepared. I was

dressed in a khaki jacket lined with

wool for warmth over tweed clothes

and

beneath my engineer's suit of the

blue cotton overalls. My close fitting

cap was fastened over my head

and

my ears.

I

had neither eaten nor drunk any

thing. My thoughts were only upon

the flight and my determination to ac-

Louis Bh!riot just prior to departing

Calais the morning

of July 25, 1909.

unguided,

without a compass

in

the

air over the middle of

the channel.

I

touch nothing.

My

hands and feet rest

lightly

on the

levers. I

let the

aero

plane

take its own course. I care not

whither it goes.

For 10

minutes I con

tinue, neither rising

nor

falling nor

turning, and

then

20 minutes

after I

have

left the

French coast

I see

the

green

hills of Dover, the castle, and

away to

the

west the spot where I in

tended to land.

"What

can

I do? It

is evident

that

the wind has taken

me

out of

my

course. I

am

almost west of Margaret's

Bay, and

I am

going

in the direction

of

the

Goodwin Sands. Now it is time

to attend to steering. I press a lever

with my foot and turn easily toward

the west, reversing the direction in

which I am now traveling. Now, in

deed, I

am

in difficulties, for

the

wind

here by the cliffs is much stronger

and my speed is

reduced

as I fight

against it, yet

my

beautiful aeroplane

responds .. "

"Once more

I turn my aeroplane,

and

describing a half-circle I enter the

opening

and

find myself again over

dry land. Avoiding the red buildings

on my right, I attempt a landing, but

the wind

catches

me

and

whirls me

around two

or three

times. At once I

stop my motor, and instantly my ma

http:///reader/full/www.universaJ-co.comhttp:///reader/full/www.universaJ-co.com


13/36

Carlson's

THULIN BuILT

BLERIOT

magine you have a rare

airplane, one that people

love to see fly,

and

you

love to share it

with oth

ers.

Now imagine you

want

to

show it

to

folks,

but

the

only

way

to

get it

there

is by freight con

tainer. That's

what

Mikael Carlson

must do whenever he chooses to dis

play his Bleriot XI. The logistics are

daunting enough when you look at

In 1989, Mikael

found

his avia

tion treasure in a

barn

in Sweden.

Fully

intact

(but not assembled), it

was in remarkably good condition.

All the parts were

in

one place,

and

only a few (outside of

the

orig

inal

l inen covering and the

plywood

pieces) of

the

parts

needed

to

be

replaced

during the

ensuing restoration. When com

pleted in 1991, 95 percent of the

original airframe remained, includ


14/36

producing less

drag than its

bi

plane contemporaries. The weakest

link in the early versions of

the

air

plane

was

the anemic 30-hp,

7-cylinder R.E.P.

engine, or

the 3

cylinder, 2S-hp Anzani engine,

which tended to overheat. Neither

engine was really

up

to

the

task to

adequately

power the

700-pound,

high-drag airframe.

Early Swedish aviator Carl Ced

erstom

bought

a

l t ~ r i o t

XI in 1910

and

brought

it home to Sweden. A

few

years later,

he

sold

the

airplane

to Enoch Thulin,

who

founded the

AB Enoch Thulin Aero

planfabrik AETA) in

1914,

and went on to

build 23 license-built

examples of the Bleriot

XI,

powered by

the 7

cylinder, SO-hp

Gnome

Omega

rotary engine,

which

was

introduced

to

the

aviation market

in 1910.

The

airplane

bought by Mikael is

the

18th Thulin Type A

built,

and

could have

been

constructed any

time between

1914

and

1918,

when the company stopped

pro

duction

on

the

Type A. Except for

the engine

installation,

the

basic

design of the Type A mimicked the

design

of the 1909 Bleriot

XII,

piece for piece, including

the

obso

lete wing-warping used to control

the airplane along the roll

axis.

Bleriot had already

been

using

ailerons

on

earlier aircraft, so it

is

unclear why wing-warping was in

corporated

in

this design.

Mikael

found

out about the

potential

project

during

conver

sations

with a

model airplane

judge who had been

judging

Carlson s scale

models.

He was

nearing

completion of a full

scale,

rotary engine-powered

Thulin Tummelisa when

the

judge

mentioned

that

he

too

owned a Thulin aircraft.

It

took

a few years

of gentle

co

ercion, but in 1986, he was able to

buy the

Type

A

after

the

owner re

alized that Carlson

had the talent

and

the

drive to restore

the

Bleriot

to

flying status.

Its

individual history

is a

story

of serendipitous

survival.

Serial

No. 18 Thulin Type A was flown in

a

barnstorming

role

until 1919,


15/36

and then

was

sold at auction in

1920 or 1921. A couple of brothers

bought

a

pair of the Thulin-built

Bieriots

at the

auction, and a week

later

they

sold

one of the

pair to a

potential

aviator

in

northern

Swe

den.

He

would have attempted to

fly it, too, if

the

local police

hadn't

put

a

stop

to

it because he didn't

have

a

pilot's license.

At

that,

he

took

the wings off and

stored

it

in

a

barn,

and left to work as a

carpenter in America.

When he returned

to Sweden a few years

later, he

asked for

some help from a fel

low townsman to

dismantle the airplane

even further,

and

store it in

boxes. In

one

can

went the

bolts;

in

a box

went

all

the

metal fittings.

The wood structure

was

bundled

up,

and

the bracing wire coiled up like bail

ing

wire.

The

engine, along

with

its special tools, was disassembled

and stored as well. There it

sat

in

the

barn, a pioneer

airplane

kit,

until

the

model airplane judge's fa-

ther bought

it for

$50

in

1965.

They stored it

on the

second floor

of

their barn

until Mikael Carlson

bought it in 1986. Because he was

still working

on

his first homebuilt

project,

the

Tummelisa

fighter

plane replica,

the

Thulin-built

Bleriot would have to wait. carve a new

mahogany

propeller,

Thanks

to the completeness

of

and all the rubber and other con

the project, and his good fortune

in

sumable

materials in the airframe

having a solid, well-preserved en

were replaced. The Swedish airwor

gine to rebuild, the

Bleriot's thiness inspector reminded Carlson

restoration only

took

a year. e did

that

he

wasn't

allowed

to deviate


16/36

The

wing-warping

control is very

evi ent

n this snapshot

of

Carlson s thulin-built

from the drawings for the ering, and the nitrate dope covering.

Thulin/Bleriot, so it's quite exact, So what s

it

like to fly? For one

right down to

the 22

threads per

thing,

early aeroplanes

were

centimeter for the linen fabric cov-

meant

to takeoff

and land

into

the wind. Period. Fighting a

crosswind with an airplane that

has

roll

control

that is both slow

to react

and

fairly

ineffective

is

not conducive to a long

service

life. As Mikael pOinted out during

our interview,

light winds

are

also the best, i for no other rea

son

than

the fact

that

there

are

times when

a

wing

drops

due to

a

gust, and no amount of wing

warping

seems

to

bring it up

in

a

time period that the pilot would

be

happy

with

There is

not

much range be

tween what is needed for cruise

power

and for

descent,

and

with

all

the

bracing wire, a drop

in RPM

means the airplane will

come

down. With

twice

the

horsepower

available

than

the first

models of

the

Bleriot XI it's not as fast a de

scent, but there's not much reserve

thrust. There are

a lot

of brace


17/36

A grandfather s .

TOM

MATOWITZ

flew

it extensively

. He was a

character,

and probably

one

of

the most well-liked men

I ve ever known. t

wasn t

any

wonder. He was approachable

and

interested in others, and

gathered a

remarkable

group

of

people

around himself. He

was democratic

about

it , too.

His

friends

included

day

la

borers and

CEOs and

he

valued

them

equally.

We flew together often

enough

for me to justify a trip

to the local Army-Navy

store

where I bought an

NOS

WW II

military

flying

helmet.

I

pieced together

a serviceable

pair of AN goggles from parts

he

gave me,

and that was

about

the extent of the equip

ment I

had.

I was taught how

to

preflight the airplane,

and

from then on when I flew with

him , it was my job to check

the

oil

and

insure

that

the

pro

peller was turned over by

hand

before the engine started. I

cleaned the windscreens and

brought

the

parachutes

out

to

the

Stearman

to take it

granted. I

by that

I had grown

enough to

that

it couldn t l st forever,

but no

one could have

foreseen how it was about

to end.

By

May

of

1981,

Bill

and

I

had

been friends for six years.

Earlier that year he told

me

he intended to

become

a CFI.

I

figured

the

time

for

me to

Continued

from last month s issue.

As

it

turned

out,

this

was

only the

beginning. One

of

the

men I

met

that day

was

named Bill Neff, and he was a

partner

in both Stearmans. I

think

he

looked at me

and

saw

himself 30 years earlier. In

any

case, during the next six years

he

was

destined to become

one

of my best friends,

and

through his generosity I spent

many

hours

in

the air. As for

Esther, she and I remained on

cordial terms, but she became

interested in a much older

man

and

eventually married

him, and afterward

I

seldom

saw her.

I was spending a lot of time

at the airport and didn t lose

any time brooding

about that.

I didn t have much money, but

I was young, strong, and will

ing to work. I mowed

the

runway

with an

Oliver tractor

and a brush hog,

and

cut and

split firewood through

the

warm weather months to pro

vide fuel for the hangar s wood


18/36

Tom

sgrandfather George

K. ott

stands by his Taylor Cub. His flights with his very young

grandson

would leave a

lifelong

legacy.

another

room,

and

falling

silent

when

I e

ntered.

Finally,

one

of

them spoke up

and

said

that the

television

had

aired a brief

report

about

a fatal airplane crash

in

the

area.

They

were afraid that it was

Bill.

Offhand,

I

couldn't think of

anything that

seemed more un

likely. I almost

called

his hom e,

but

knew

he

was probably

not

ex-

pected back until much later,

and

I

thought

I would

only alarm

his

mother needlessly. I stayed up to

watch

the 11 :00 news to satisfy

of

the

summer somehow,

and

went

on to

graduate school

as

planned,

but I found it very, very hard.

Ten years passed before I visited

an airport again.

Then

I did some-

thing I hadn't

done in

a long time.

I read the aviation classified ads

sec-

tion of Cleveland's Th

e

Plain

e

aler

It so

happened

that someone ran a

large ad

that

day advertising a share

in

a Stearman for sale. Several days

later

, I found

myself standing

on

the ramp of

the

Geauga County air-

port waiting for a

ride in

the

sure how I felt about this for a num-

ber of reasons,

but

it was

too

late

to

turn back. Soon we reached a prac-

tice area

where

for

10

minutes

or

so I am

sure

I subjected this fine

old airplane

to

some of

the

clumsi-

est

handling it has

ever received.

Then

something happened. The

pilot spoke quietly in the inter

com, IlRelax-lead

the

next

turn

with more rudder. t

started to

come back to me. I made a series

of nicely

coordinated

turns to

headings, maintaining a constant


19/36

Tom

and the Engelskirger s Cub the

airplane

that brought him back

to the

sky.

trained

in the now

common mid

dle-aged Cessnas and Pipers to be

seen at any airport. I

shouldn t

dis

miss

them

lightly. I came

to

regard

them pretty highly

but

learning to

fly

these

aircraft only heightened

my

interest in

the

old airplanes.

Well

conditions had changed

pretty radically

since

I was a kid.

Now it

was

necessary to have a tail

wheel endorsement. This led to a

couple of major obstacles. I

had

to

find a

suitable tailwheel

trainer I

could rent and a capable instructor

to teach

me to fly it. Surprisingly

the airplane proved

to

be the easy

this story developed,

he also

proved

to

be an outstanding com

municator

endowed

with

superb

skills

as a

pilot.

I

couldn t

have

asked for a better role model

and

mentor. We began

with

a lesson

that

taught me to manage

heel

brakes and

the

correct

procedure

for hand propping an aircraft with

out an electrical system. With

limited

visibility

over the nose,

made worse by

the tandem

seat

ing I

quickly

learned to keep my

eyes outside

the

airplane during all

ground operations. The airplane it

self

proved to be

a

remarkable

fic

and taxied onto the runway

centerline. Holding the stickback

I pushed

the

throttle smoothly for

ward

and

began

the

takeoff.

s

the

speed gathered I

pushed

the stick

forward. The acceleration in

creased,

and a

moment

later

the

airplane

was

ready to

fly. A

little

backpressure was all it

took, and

the

Cub

and

I were climbing nicely

at 55

mph.

I made

the crosswind

turn,

reduced

the

power

and

en

tered the downwind leg. Soon it

was time to apply carburetor heat

reduce the power again and

enter

the base leg. With another

quick


20/36

The

Engelskirger s

Waco

UPF-7 brings

back

the

pleasures of open-c

ockpit

flying.

course, this led to other tailwheel

airplanes, and at one

pOint

I re

viewed my logbook

and noted

experience

in nine

different types.

Certainly

the greatest moment

came in the summer of 2002. Karl

and Pete

purchased

a 1941 Waco

UPF-7 from an estate sale in Day

ton. They flew

the

airplane home,

and

one fine evening

I drove

down

to

see it. There was a gath

ering

of

friends

and the

whole

thing turned into a sort

of im

promptu

party. I had never seen a

UPF-7 before, so I

looked

it

over

pretty closely At one

point

I stood

to switch to the rear cockpit

and

really fly it. My first takeoff as PIC

was

an

experience.

If you want an

idea of

the sight

picture

from

the

rear cockpit

of

a UPF-7

in

a three

pOint attitude, kneel on the floor

in front of a large dresser

and

then

try to see over

it

or

around

it.

t

certainly

shows why S-turns

are

mandatory and why

pilots used to

sayan

airplane

should

never

taxi

faster

than

a

man

can

walk.

Getting back to my takeoff, it

was time to

proceed.

I

taxied

out

to the centerline

and reached for

ward

and

to the right to lock the

ment to

take

stock. I

was

climbing

steadily

at 70 mph indicated

and tracking

the

ex

tended centerline

perfectly.

Then came

Karl s voice

again,

speaking qUietly over

the intercom, See?

It's just like any other

airplane . I reached

the

pattern altitude

and

departed to

the

south.

I was fortunate

enough

to

log several

hours in

the Waco.

It

involved a lot of

landings, takeoffs,

and

airwork.

I even

got

to

fly i t on a

short

cross-country,

and

started

to feel like I

was

really getting the

hang of it. We did have

one anxious

moment

when

one

of us

bumped the

car

buretor

heat

control

in flight and

momentarily killed the engine,

something

we

were very careful

not to

repeat. All in all,

it

was a

great experience, and I wish there

was

more

to

tell,

but with

very

good reason the decision was

made

to dismantle the airplane

for a complete restoration.

All of this has caused a lot of

reflecting

on my

part. My appren

ticeship as a Waco pilot

has

been

temporarily interrupted, but the

airplane will

be

airworthy

again

before

too

long,

and

there

are


21/36

A Brief History

of

Stearman Aircraft

Company

While attending the National

Stearman

Fly

-

In

at Galesburg, Illinois,

in

September 2000, I climbed up to

fuel my Stearman.

From my

perch

just ahead of the upper wing, I gazed

over acres of beautiful biplanes. A to

tal of

138

Stearmans had made the

annual pilgrimage to Galesburg. Of

these, only one aircraft ,

Tom

and

Nancy

Lowe

's

C-3R

NC799H, was

manufactured

by

the original Stear

man Aircraft Company. Technically,

all the rest of us flew Boeings

to

Galesburg. However, even Boeing

knew the value of a good name.

In the introductory section in Peter

Bowers' fine book Wings of Stear-

man

there is a photograph

of

almost

one hundred

PT

-

17s

outside the

Wi

ch ita factory awaiting delivery in

1941. Stearman Aircraft had been

A

LAN

LOP

EZ

loyd

Steannan

Origins

In 1924 Lloy d Stea rma n , Wa

lt er

Beech, and Clyde Cessna got togeth er

and organized th e

Tr

ave l Ai r Manu

StearmanWichita-

The C 3B

The first

production

aircraft from

t

he Wich

ita faci lity was the

C 2

which St

earman had

designed while

in

California.

The earliest models

mount

ed

th e

time

-tested OX-S en

gine. Soon

this aircraft,

now

d eS igna ted C-3B,

having

received

ATC

#55 (issued J uly 1928) carried

t h e 220 -hp 9-cylin der Wright J -S

Whirlwind. These aircraft were desig

nated

3POLB (3 -place, open,

land,

bip

lane) with provision for two pas

sengers in the front cockpit and the

pilot in

the

rear. So me C-2s were re

registered as C-3s so as to become

certi ficated aircraft. As private compa

n ies

took

over flying the mail in the

late

1920s t here was a

demand

for

ma il-carryi ng airplanes. The C-3MB

was designed with a mail pit in place

of the fron t cockpit.

Joseph Juptner, in his U.S ivil

Aircraft. had this to say of the Stear


22/36

many

of

the early short

haul

feeder

lines of

our

growing transcontinen

tal air

mail system was more

than

likely

one of its greatest claims to

fame

but

it was also very popular

with

the

so-called sportsman pilot of

this day

who

could afford

and

loved

a good airplane with plenty of

dash

and spirit.

The

C-3B was a

great

success for

Stearman. One of the

first

compa

nies to order the

C-3B was

Varney

Air Lines.

Walter

Varney

had been

the

only

carrier to

bid

on

CAM-5

(Contract

Air

Mail Route 5), between

Elko,

Nevada;

Boise,

Idaho; and

Pasco,

Washington. Much of this

route

covered

sparsely populated

and mountainous terrain. Winter

flying was especially perilous

along

this route

and

the

attempt

to

pro

vide year-round service came

with

a

price. Weather-related accidents,

which

occasionally

included

a

pilot

fatality, inevitably occurred.

The Stearmans performed

well

and, more

important,

proved to

be

reliable.

Air

mail

was

here

to stay.

Revenues grew 40

percent

in 1928

over

the

previous

year

and

Varney

claimed a

90 percent

performance

record. In

1929,

Varney expanded

his service, flying

to

Port land, Seat

tle, Spokane, and Salt Lake City.

In

all,

approximately

247 C-3B and

C-

3MB

aircraft were built.

t

eannan

C· 8

Specifications

Stearman C 3R usiness

Speedster

It must

be

remembered

that

this

period

immediately followed Lind

bergh s historic crossing

and flying

fever gripped

the

nation. In addition

to revenue operators, the late 1920s

saw many private individuals in the

market

for a personal aircraft. There

was also an

awakening

to the possi

bility

of

u

sing the aircraft

as a

business tool.

Al

though Stearman

continued to

sell

the

C-3B, a varia

tion

was

designed

for

the

business

market

and

the wealthy private

buyer. This model, deSignated

the

C-

3R

was called

the

Business Speedster.

t

was

almost

a foot longer

than

the

C-3B

and sported

the

new Wright

J

6-7 225-hp R-760 engine.

Although

the

C-3R (also a 3POLB)

was similar

to

the

C-3B

in perform

ance, it was successfully marketed as

an

upgrade, carrying a sleeker look

and outfitted with numerous

refine

ments including

an

upholstered front

cockpit. The C-3R was also approved

for

EDO

floats and 10 of the

total

production of 38 aircraft were sold to

the

Peruvian army air

force.

f

you

wanted to

buy a C-3R

in

1930

it

would

have cost $8,500. Tom Lowe,

for many years

the president of the

Stearman Restorers Association, has a

beautifully

restored C-3R, NC799H,

which he regularly exhibits

at the

Na

tional Stearman Fly-In.

Steannan

· RSpecificati

ons

Stearman M 2 Speedmail

Walter Varney had succeeded

where all had predicted failure. He

had not

only pioneered an air mail

route

that many said was unflyable,

but he

had made it profitable. In fact,

his sturdy and reliable Stearman C-3

aircraft were

soon

struggling to keep

up with the volume. Varney thought

a so lution might be

found

in Wi

chita.

This

excerpt

from

the

Wright

company

newsletter

he radewind

(February 1930, p. 10) describes the

excitement surrounding the rollout

of a new airplane:

Soon

rumors

leaked

out

that

the

Stearman factory was building a new

plane, a mystery ship, radical in size

and

power. Just before dusk

on

Janu

ary 16,

1929,

after

almost

every

spectator had left Wichita Airport, the

doors of

the Stearman

plant

were

opened

and

a

monster of

a

plane

wheeled out.

Silver-Winged,

and

trimmed in Varney Blue. t was twice

the

size

of any

Stearman

built

previ

ously. It had a massive, newly designed

Wright cyclone

motor in its nose.

Someone with

abundant

imagination

said

this

of

its

test flight:

l i l t

went

through the air like a bellowing ghost,

tearing the twilight to shreds.

Thus

was

born

the

legend of the

Bull Stearman. The M-2,

known

offi

cially as

the

Stearman Speedmail, was

powered by a Wright R-1750 525-hp

Cyclone

engine

. It

was

designed

specifically for

increased

air mail

loads and

could

carry 1,000 pounds

of mail. Deed

Levy

chief test pilot for

Stearman

Aircraft, put the

new

craft

through a series of flight tests. During


23/36

the founders of General Motors. Cliff

designed and raced cars at Indianapo

lis and was fascinated

with

aviation.

Over the years

he

probably

owned

a

couple dozen airplanes-Fleets, Wa

cos, etc.

Durant

had

earlier

bought

a

Stearman C-3B

from the factory in

1928.

The M-2 was designed with a cen

ter

section fuel tank

in

the

upper

wing, which had a capacity of 136

gallons.

Durant had

an additional

fuel

tank installed in

the fuselage

with a capacity of 127 gallons. Why?

We don't

know for sure, but probably

not for

long

cross-country fligh ts.

Cliff had built a pretentious home in

Roscommon, Michigan,

known lo

cally as The Castle. This was the era

of Prohibition and Durant was known

for giving some of

the

best

parties

anywhere. Durant's home had two

airstrips and was only a short flight

from Canada in the big biplane. The

extra fuselage tank in his

Stearman

M-2 held 127

gallons-or

635 fifths.

Varney was excited about putting

these large airplanes

with their

in

creased cargo

capacity to work

and

Stearman believed

that

success in

the

northwest would lead to orders from

other carriers. As the new Speedmails

were put into service they made quite

an impression

on

the Varney pilots,

not

always favorable. Walter

Doc

Eefsen, a Varney pilot, recalled:

Then the company got

larger

equipment-the Stearman M-2, all

mail 525 hp Wright engine, a

much

faster plane

but

also a much more

troublesome one. I had several forced

landings with this

type. I

took

off

the

guilty

cylinder

and

finding the

coolest cylinder took the valve cov

ers

off

and

found one rocker arm

broken. So I took

the

spark plugs

out

and

also

the

push rod

and the

bro

ken

part of

the

rocker arm. I got

two

farmers to crank

the energia

starter

and when engaged the engine

started

at

once

on

eight

cylinders.

The

plane

took off easily;

couldn't

tell from

normal

except

holding

the

RPM down some. At Boise they were

wondering what had become of me.

They finally

heard

something to the

northwest and

within

a

short

time

the Stearman was there on

the

field

and the thing itself told the story.

Doc Eefsen went on to describe

two other forced landings in

the

M-2

near Burley, Idaho.

On

another occa

sion when his

SpeedmaiJ's

engine

quit

while flying in

the

Columbia

Gorge near Arlington, Oregon , Eef

sen checked over

the motor but

could find

nothing wrong.

He

got

a

ride

about

five miles to a phone and

called Portland

to learn what

had

been

done

before the plane

had

been

dispatched. Told that a new gas cap

had been installed, he returned to

the plane, climbed

on

top

of

the up

per wing

and

found

that the

cap

had

not been vented

before

it was in

stalled.

Problems

continued

with

the

big

biplane. No orders came in to Stear

man for the M-2

from

other

operators and Varney soon began to

get rid of

those

remaining in his

fleet. Of

the

former Varney Stearman

M-2s,

some wound up

as

working

aircraft

in Alaska.

Most were de

Steannan M 2 Specifications

Fuel:

136

gallons

Oil: 15 gallons

Gross wt.: 5578 pounds

Useful load:

2136 pounds

Payload

:1026

pounds

Wingspan: Upper

46 feet

Lower

3

feet

Length: 30 feet 2 inches

Height:

11 feet 11 inches

Maximum speed: 147 mph

Cruise speed: 126

mph

Stearman -

Light Transport

The

LT 1

was a natural successor to

the M-2. A cabin provided seating for

four passengers in place

of the

cav

ernous mail pit.

The pilot remained

in an open

cockpit

behind the pas

senger cabin. The

LT 1

was a slightly

enlarged version of

the

M-2.

t

was

originally

designed

to mount

the

same Wright Cyclone engine,

but

af

ter the many

engine problems with

the

Varney M-2s,

the

LT 1 was deliv

ered with the Pratt

&

Whitney R-1690

525-hp Hornet (the same engine that

was on Cliff Durant's M-2).

During this time

the

air mail oper

ators were beginning to

think

about

carrying passengers

along with the

mail and Stearman

hoped to

capture

a piece of that market with the LT-l.

Stearman probably felt that Varney

Airlines would be a natural customer


24/36

Chicago and to St. Louis via Evans

ville, Indiana. Interstate had already

been operating Stearman C-3s and

had

evidently

been

satisfied

with

their

performance.

All

three

of

these

aircraft were

subsequently acquired

by American Airways

and

were, in

turn, sold to the

Canton

Government

in China in 1933.

Steannan T·l Specifications

Fuel:

145

gallons

Oil:

5

gallons

Gross

weight:

6250 pounds

Useful load:

2360 pounds

Payload:

1190

pounds

Wingspan: Upper 49

feet

Lower 34

feet 6

inches

Length: 32

feet 6

inches

Height:

2 feet

6 i

nches

Maximum speed: 138

mph

Cruise

speed: 115

mph

Stearman M

odel

"The Model 4 was the best airplane

I ever designed " declared Lloyd Stear

man proudly. Forty

of these

aircraft

were manufactured during the period

1929-1931

and

perhaps a dozen or so

remain.

Juptner

has this to say

about

the

Model

4: " ...

the

handsomest

plane that Stearman ever built ... with

the

N.A.C.A.

low-drag engine cowling

as an

integral

part

of the

configura

tion, the

Stearman 4 was

the

first

ther

a Single-seat mail plane

or

could

be ordered with a two-passenger front

cockpit. This utility was meant to ap

peal not only to air mail carriers, but

also to corporations, which were be

ginning to use aircraft as promotional

platforms, sales aids and executive

transports.

n

spite of the fact

that

this aircraft had the misfortune to ap

pear

during

the Depression, several

were sold to wealthy private owners

as well as corporations (particularly

oil companies) . Some mail plane ver

sions

went

to

Canada.

American

Airways

bought the

final

ten exam

ples produced. The Model

4 known

as

the Junior

Speedmail, was of

fered with a choice of three engines:

4C-Wright

]-6-9

Whirlwind 300

horsepower

4D-Pratt Whitney

R-985 Wasp

Jr.

300 horsepower

4E-Pratt

Whitney R-1340 Wasp

Sr. 420-450 horsepower

The

mail plane carried the M

suffix

and

was

known

as

the

Senior

Speedmail. Three

4EMs

were built for

Canadian National Airways.

There are several of these legendary

aircraft still flying,

with

a few

more

scheduled to be restored

in the

next

couple

of

years. Ron

Rex who

lives at

Leeward Air Ranch in Florida, has re

stored

his

Stearman

4D, c/n 4025,

N774H, in

the

livery of Western Air

Express. Ron

flew

his Model 4

to

Galesburg a couple of years ago.

Addison

Pemberton

has

an

out

standing

Model 4

restored

as

an

American Airways aircraft and

he

flies

this aircraft

to

Oshkosh regularly.

(Addison is presently restoring a

Boe

Field as a 4E powered by a Pratt

Whitney R-1340 AN-1 600-hp radial.

Bud is presently restoring a rare

de

Havilland DH89 Dragon Rapide and

his restorations regularly appear

on

the

cover of

EAA

Vintage irplane

magazine.

Jim Kimball

and

his son, Kevin, are

presently restoring a Model 4, c/n

4003, N665K to be powered by a 450

hp Pratt Whitney R-985. This

aircraft is scheduled to be flying some

time

in 2004. The Kimballs, besides

many

other

award-winning

restora

tions, are noted

re-creators

of the

GeeBee Model

Z the first aircraft

built by

the

Granville brothers for

the

purpose of racing

and the

fastest land

plane in

the

world in 1931.

Walt

House

informs me

that the

Kansas Aviation

Museum has

ac

quired

the

Texaco 4D,

c/n

4027,

N569Y, and will begin restoration

of

this aircraft in

the

near future.

Another Model 4 restoration be

longs to

Steve

Hamilton

of Carson

City,

Nevada.

Steve's 4E,

c/n

4023,

N791H, was originally the

Standard

Oil of Louisiana aircraft. It mounts

an

original Pratt

&

Whitney R-1340

SC-1

4S0-hp radial engine. This aircraft has

been

meticulously

restored

by Rick

Atkins, of Ragtime Aero

in

Placerville,

California. Rick also

did

the award

winning restoration of Ben Scott's 4E .

Perhaps

the

most legendary of

the

Model 4

Stearmans were

three 4Es

built for Standard Oil of California

in

1930. They carried the registration

numbers:

NC783H,

NC784H, and

NC78SH and were deSignated by Stan

dard Oil

as

Standard of California

Nos.


25/36

WHAT DO YOU

GIVE

THE TRUCK

THAT HAS

EVERYTHING

The 2 4 Motor Trend

®

Truck of the ear award

. . .

The new Ford F-1S0 has everything - the most

towing

strength,

the

highest

payload capacity

and the quietest interior.*And now,

Motor

Trend

.

has given it

the one

thing we couldn t.


26/36

A Large x

7

- Inch Calendar

Vintage Aircraft Association

D

u

u

Only $14.95

2005 Vintage Aircraft Calendar

Full Color Photos Taken by Award-Winning EAA Photographers

Dates will Showcase

Major

Flights

and

Innovations in Aviation

Each Photo will be Accompanied by a Detailed Caption

A Great Gift for all Aviation Enthusiasts


27/36

Invulnerability

DOUG STEWART

I once had a client who owned a straight

tailed Cessna 150. His airplane, although

not a show winner, was in rather decent

condition. The owner was contemplating re

locating to Arkansas where he was hoping

to buy some property with enough acreage

to put

in

a

runway,

albeit a short one . In an

ticipation of his potential operation out of a

short runway, he decided to put a STOl kit

on his airplane.

The

STOl

kit

certainly

improved the

short field performance of the

150

. Pulling

up the Johnson bar to get

40

degrees

of

barn door flaps gave a fairly short landing

as it

was,

but with the addition of the droop

tips and vortex generators to the wings

it

was

possible to land this airplane

and

clear

the runway

in

less than

350

feet, without

much

effort.

One day

this client decided he would do

an experiment to see another

way in

which

the STOl kit affected the airplane s per

formance. Without consulting anyone on

the ground he took off and began to climb

up over the airport.

And

he climbed ... and

he

climbed. After a while he was barely visi

ble

from the ground. This airplane, although

able to land

and

take off in rather short dis

tances , was not a rocket ship in climb .

Slowly the airplane's best rate

and

best an

gie climb speeds

converged

as he got

closer and closer to the service ceiling of

his little aircraft. Determining the increase

in

service ceiling and then finally the

ab

solute ceiling

was

his self-imposed mission.

Who

knows how long it took him to climb

above

12

,

500

feet (any time spent above

this altitude beyond

30

minutes requires

oxygen

for flight crewmembers, per regula

tion) , or above 14 ,

000

feet (oxygen all the

time) before he finally reached that point

him to turn and deviate around the snow

shower, but instead he penetrated right into

the snow. As the forward visibility immedi

ately dropped to less than a mile, he turned

to me, and with a huge grin said, "

Don t

y

ou

just love flying in the winter?"

I was astonished. He had seen the

snow

in

front of us, and rather than deviate

around it, had flown right into it . My re

sponse to his question was , "Tell me , what

the h ..

are you

going to

do now?

"

To

which

he

responded that he would just continue

straight ahead

and we

should come out the

other side, hopefully,

in just

a little while.

My

questioning about the mountains, some

of

which were not much below our altitude

and laying to either side of our route did

nothing to impress upon him the danger of

our current situation.

Taking charge I had him enter a lBO-de

gree turn, which at this

point

had

to

be

done on the instruments , as our forward

visibility had dropped to almost nothing

al-

though

we could still see down . As we

exited the snow squall I entered a disserta

tion on the risks that he had

just

exposed

us to. But apparently this fell

on

deaf ears.

Although this pilot was in his late fifties, his

mentality was that of a teenager. A mental

ity that says: " It can ' t happen to me I'm

immortal "

Whereas I was able to teach this pilot

good stick and rudder skills , I was unable

to convey upon him the requirements of

good

aeronautical decision

making .

Throughout the rest

of

our training together

I would attempt to reinforce the lessons

we

had learned

that

snowy day

in

the moun

tains

of New

Hampshire , but apparently I

was

unsuccessful. As the saying goes: "

you

can lead a horse to drink

.

.but you can 't

knew, the owner of an old Mooney M20 ,

who departed

on

his first flight after obtain

ing his instrument rating into known icing

with three passengers on board. I heard

how he had received the lecture of his life

from his instructor, after exposing not only

himself, but also three innocent

and

oblivi

ous passengers to great risk on that flight.

But that lecture was to no avail, for not

long after that

flight

he proceeded to fly

across the Sierra Mountains at altitudes

above

14,000

feet without oxygen.

He

re

lated to

me

how

he

"knew everythin

vintage airplane - jul 2004

Documents