vintage airplane - jul 2006

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jul 2006

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2/44

y

J

u

L

E

VOL.

34

, No. 7 2006

CONT ENTS

1

Straight & Level

by Geoff Robison

2 VAA News

5

Aeromail

6 Restoration Corner

Disassembly of an aircraft

by Stan Gomoll

9 A Place They Call Oshkosh

Poem by Bruce Reek

1 Here Come the Cubs

Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Cub convoy

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

18 Connie's Coupe Top Waco

How a young lady s biplane survived and was revived

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

26

What

Our Members

Are

Res

toring

28 The Vintage Instructor

Airplane single-engine sea

by Doug Stewart

3

Pass It to

Buck

Tool "daffynitions"

by Buck Hilbert

32

Spark Plug Rotation

A few maintenance tips

by Steve Bender

34

Mystery Plane

STAFF

EAA Publisher Tom

Pober

ezny

EAA Editor·in·Chief Scott Spang l

er


3/44

GEOFF ROBISON

PRESIDENT, VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

AirVenture

is

coming

Okay,

you yardbirds, listen

up.

Time's a wastin'. By

now

you

should

have all

of

your plans

in

place to at

tend the world's

greatest

aviation

event we all know as EAA AirVen

ture Oshkosh. The lineup of activities

this year is

shaping

up into yet an

other awesome event. From

the

excit

ing American Barnstormers Tour (20,

that's right, 20, beautifully restored

vintage

aircraft from all around the

country)

to the beautiful display of

Vintage

past Grand

Champion air

craft-not

to mention our virtually

unmatched display of Antique, Clas

sic, and Contemporary category air

planes. Want to see

the

first Waco

INF

ever made? Its restorers are planning

on

bringing it here! So, dust off

that

hangar queen you've been keeping to

yourself, and come share it with

us

at

this year's excit ing event

in

Oshkosh.

I have mentioned only a few of the

featured activities

scheduled

for the

Vintage area. To see everything hap

pening at

AirVenture

this

year, visit

EAA's websites at www EAA org and

tial

reaction

was to explain

to the

gentleman

that

EAA

was already fill

ing this bill

quite

nicely and that we

didn't need to repeat that

planning

information

beyond pointing out

when

it's

available

and the

various

outlets for that data.

. we don't

do enough to

properly

promote

a first visit

by

our valued VAA

members to

Oshkosh.

But the more I thought about this

conversation,

the

more

I realized a

number

of

us

have made

the trek

to

Oshkosh for so

many

years that we

pretty

much

have

it down

to

a sci

ence. I f you think

about

it, we don't

do enough to properly promote a

need

to create a checklist of items

necessary to make your visit easier

to

plan,

which would

in

turn

virtually

assure a more pleasurable experience

at

AirVenture Oshkosh.

Although

I

failed to record

the

name

of

the member who called

,

thanks

for

sharing

your

thought

provoking concerns with

us

. Al

though it's too late to get

anything

together for this year's event, I

think

an

all

-encompassing

checklist could

be an invaluable

planning

resource

for

those members who find them

selves wondering about

unanswered

questions and where to get them an

swered. We will set our sights on re

solving this issue for

the

2007 event,

so stay tuned for future developments.

Since everyone keeps

asking

me,

the upgrade and

now

annual inspec

tion of

my Cessna 120

is

a

continuing

saga. Progress is

being

made, but

the

annual

ended

up being the annual

from H.E. double hockey sticks, as my

mother-in-law used to say. After way

too many trips to the

cylinder

over

http:///reader/full/www.EAA.orghttp:///reader/full/www.EAA.org


4/44

V

irVenture

rea

Map

=:J

To

help members who fly \.

"))

Theater

In The

in

understand the

layout

of

West Side -

I Wood s

the convention area adm inis-

Vintage Aircraft ( I

Camping Antique

tered by VAA we've prepared

this simplified

map.

As

you

can see, camping

starts

at

~ o '

Row

74

on the east side of

oS

the

main north/south road

(Wittman Road), with the

ar-

Type Club

Parking

Starts

at

-.--- Row 74

eas

to

the

nort

h

of

that

line- - - - - - - - -

set up to handle display-only

vintage

aircraft. That's

why

you

may see open areas as

you

taxi south

to

your camp

ing location.

Once you

arrive, you'l l

need to register your aircraft

and /

or campsite.

In addi-

tion to roving registration

vehicles,

there

is one main

aircraft registration building,

located j ust south of the Red

Barn (see map).

The E

AA

convention campgrounds are

private campgrounds and are

not

open

to

non-EAA mem

bers.

Each

campsite must

be

registered

by a

current

EAA member.

If

you

want your aircra

ft

to

Tall Pines

-.--- Cafe

Near Ultralights

Row

78

EAST SIDE

-

VM CAMPING

AND PARKING

STARTS

HERE,

Parking ( ( r

))

-0

D

Type Club &

Showers Workshop Tents

Showplane/Camper 0('\

r \

) RegIStration V V

Red

Hangar Barn

Cafe

' - - - - - - - - -=

=---

- -------

- parked along road

and in rows

60

&

61.

VM

Large Special

Int erest

Aircraft /

Antiques

Rows

60

Row

SO

& 61

Anlique

Point

___ _

-- -...c.:.:..- - -...L.l.

_ _

Flight

Planning for

Your

E irVenture

Trip

As an EAA member (an impor

tant part of your VAA

membership) ,

he and his buddies from Shelbyville,

Illinois,

do their best

to keep the

old biplanes happy (and

keep

tire

wear to a minimum ) by flying cross

V

RE

GENER

L YOUT

VAA Special

Display Area

D

omm Center

o

VM

Past Grand Champions

No Camping

Operations

Shack

Row 62

through

Row 77

CONTINUES

TO

ROW

150

be judged by V

AA

volunteer judges, you

need

to

be a

current

Vint age Aircraft

Association member. VAA contributes a

significant portion

of

the costs related

to

the

EAA

awards that are presented

to the award winners. Another immedi

ate benefit

of

VAA

membership is your

free VAA

Ai

rVenture Oshkosh

2006 Par-

tici pant Plaque, which you can pick up

in

the

rear of

the

Red Barn. EAA and

VA

A members

hi

ps are available at both

aircraft registration

and

at

the

mem

bership booth located northeast

of

the

Red Barn.

Breakfast and Briefing

The VAA

Tall Pines

Cafe

will

be

in

operation

again this year with

an expanded

schedule

prior

to

con


5/44

for your

flight

and obtain

a

full

briefing from FSS specialists without

having to

trek

up

to the FAA Build

ing

near the

control

tower. We'll see

you there each

morning for "break

fast and a briefing."

Are

You

Friend of the VAA

Red

Barn?

I f so, be sure to check

in at

the in

formation desk

at

the

VAA

Red Barn.

There, we'll issue you a special name

badge.

We

can also

point out the

lo

cation for

the

Ford Tri -Motor rides.

If you

have

any questions, feel free

to ask for

Jennifer

Lehl,

the VAA

ad

ministrative assistant. I f

you

need to

reach

her

in advance

of

your arrival,

call her

at

EAA headquarters, 920

426-6110.

Our

thanks

to

each of you who

have

contributed

to

the VAA

Friends

of the

Red

Barn 2006 campaign. We'll

have the list of contributors in next

month's edition of Vintage Airplane

VAA

Message Center

If

you would

like

to

leave a mes

sage for

people you know who

fre

quent 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 th e ir

name

on

the

marker board so

they'll

know there's

a message waiting for

them. Sure, cellular

phones

and

walkie-talkies

are

great,

but

some

times nothing works

better

than

a

hand-scribbled note

VAA Picnic

Tickets for

the

Wednesday, July 26,

will reserve seating so your type club

can sit together.

Shawano

Fly Out

The

annual fly-out

to Shawano

is

Saturday,

July

29. 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. The com

munity of

Shawano

is

a big supporter

of

VAA

and puts forth a lot

of

effort to

sponsor this event.

It

does a great job,

and

we hope you'll help us

thank

Sha

wano 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

with

expanded hours all week

long,

Monday

through

Saturday,

8

a.m.

until 6

p.m.

Early

bird arrivals

can

shop on the

previous weekend as

well,

during limited hours. Show

your VAA membership

card (or

your

receipt

showing

you

joined

VAA

at

the convention),

and

you'll receive

a 10

percent discount.

On

Friday,

July

28,

from

7

p.m.

to 9

p.m.

there will be a special VAA

members-only

sale. Bring

your VAA

card,

and you'll

receive an addi

tional discount on

specially priced

merchandise.

See

you

there

VAA Volunteer

Opportunities

Are

you an

ace

pancake

flipper?

If

you're

not one

yet, we

can

help

The VAA Tall Pines Cafe is looking

for volunteers

who can help

provide

a hearty breakfast to all the hungry

campers on the south end

of Witt

AirVenture

is

prohibited because it's a

hazard to all aircraft. There are several

designated smoking areas with

butt

cans along

the flightline, well 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;

the

shade pavilion north of

the

control tower; and near the Ultra

light Barn. Locations will be indicated

on

EAA s

free convention grounds

map. The admission wristband also in

structs visitors

that

smoking

is

allowed

only

in

deSignated smoking areas.

Pilots

Advisory:

Avoid Saturday

Afternoon Arrival

When

you're making plans for your

Oshkosh flight, you

should

be aware

of

several mass arrivals

Saturday

af

ternoon, July 22.

That

afternoon four

large groups of aircraft plan to

fly en

masse to

Wittman

Regional Airport,

and

they

will

be

given priority by

EAA

AirVenture controllers.

At

1

p.m.,

as

many

as

100

Beech

Bonanzas will accompany the

annual

Bonanzas

to

Oshkosh (B20sh) forma

tion fligh

t.

The firstCessnas to Oshkosh (C20sh)

flight in honor of the 50th anniversary

of

the C-172/182 will

begin landing

at

2 p.m.

with

50 airplanes. A second

wave of mixed Cessnas

is

scheduled to

begin arriving at 3 p.m.

If

weather or

other operational concerns get

in the

way, this second group will be told to

use the Fisk arrival.)

At 4 p.m. ,

the annual

Mooney


6/44

rates on

admission and

special dis

counts

and

perks throughout

the

week, but also once inside the gate

they

can take advantage

of what the

E Member Village has to offer.

Learn about a new or

established

membership program

or benefit.

Or about

a special

members' dis

count during the convention.

Stop

in and grab a cup

of

coffee

in the

morning,

cool off when

the sun is

high,

attend

a

members-only

f-

ter Hours reception,

or

check e

mail anytime at

the

Internet

Cafe.

Member

Village is

located just west

of AeroShell Square.

I'm

really excited about what

we have

in store

for

E

members

this

year, said

Katrina

Bradshaw,

E

membership marketing

direc

tor. Our

goal

is

to

provide

extra

service

and

benefits

to make

a visit

to

AirVenture as enjoyable as possi

ble

and try to provide a true sense

of what

it means to

belong.

This

year, the campground will

have its own mini Member Village

that

wi

ll

offer

many

of these same

services before

the

show

opens,

in

cluding Internet access.

Once

the

show starts (from July 24-30), mini

Member Village

hours

may

be ad

justed

according

to

demand.

At Member Village proper, see

the Lucky

Lease

Diamond DA40,

grand

prize

of

the

E

Great

Prize

Giveaway,

and informational

booths for E Young Eagles, E

AirVenture Museum,

all the E

divisions, and NAFI. An enlarged

kids' area will also have lots of

certificate. And

a kit p l

ane

will

be

constructed

at the E Member

Village Workshop.

Don't

forget

your

E

mem

bership card, Bradshaw stressed.

Those

who

join at convention will

receive

temporary

membership

identification,

allowing them to

take advantage of the specia l

dis

counts

and perks.

Vo

lunteer

at E

Member Village

Sound

like

a place where you'd

like

to he

lp

during the convention?

Become

a

volunteer at

E

Mem

ber

Village by sending an

e-mail to

Kristy Heiman,

[email protected],

or

call E

Member

Services at 800

564-6322.

More on the

Web

Visit www.AirVenture.org for more

information on E AirVenture

2006

.

-

Admission

and

hours:

www.Air-

Venture .org/2006/plann ng/adm iss ion.

html

- Find

or share

a ride

to Oshkosh:

www.AirVenture.olg/rideshare

-

Site

maps: www airventure org/

2006/planning/ orms_schedules.html

- Forum schedules: www.AirVenture.

org/2006/events/ orums.l1tml

- Accommodations:

www.AirVen-

ture org/2006/planning/where_to_

stay.html

-

Disco

u nts on

airfare: www

airventure org/2006/f/ying/airline_

discounts.html

- Get the NOTAM: www AirVen-

ture.org/atc/index .html

Red Barn for a fresh copy. We ll have

plenty of reprints available, with a

special guide on the back to help you

find

just what

you're looking

for in

the Vintage area

of

the convention.

Here are a few items to help you

plan

your trip:

See Living Aviation

History

during Good 01

Days

Step

back

in time at

EAA s Pi

oneer

Airport

when

we

celebrate

the

annual

Good

01 Days

of

avia

tion

August

19-20.

Good 01 Days

activities include

a

children's

ac

tivity center, where kids will have

the

opportuni ty to experience

hands-on games

that were popular

during the golden age of aviation.

See

a

variety

of

vintage

vehi

cles on

disp lay, or

take

a free

ride

around the

E grounds in a

vin

tage prewar vehicle. Visitors can

t ry ut

telegraph

equipment

by

sending

messages between

two Pi

oneer Airport buildings.

Airplane rides will

be avail

able

thro

u

ghout the

weekend

in

the 1929

Ford Tri-Motor,

Pitcairn

Mailwing, 1929

Travel Air biplane,

1927

Swallow

biplane, and several

Young Eagles

airp

l

anes.

Visit www AirVentureMuseum

org

for

more information. And re

member, admission

is

always

free

for

E

members.

Election

Correction

In order to revise

the

names listed

as the 2006 proxy agents, the proxy

statement

for the 2006 ballot requires

mailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp://www.airventure.olg/ridesharehttp://www.airventure.olg/ridesharehttp://www.airventure.olg/ridesharehttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp://www.airventure/http://www.airven/http://www.airven/http://www.airventuremuseum/mailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp://www.airventure.olg/ridesharehttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp://www.airventure/http://www.airven/http://www.airven/http://www.airventuremuseum/


7/44

Young

Eagles

Flights

Enclosed is a photo and newspaper

article about our Young Eagles Rally

on

July

2

and

3, 2005. We flew a

total

of 207 kids

in

these two days.

The following aircraft gave Young

Eagles flights

the

first day: Aeronca

Champ, Piper Super Cub, Cessna

150, Cessna 172, Cessna

177,

and

Cessna 180. Weather condit ions were

a temperature of 95°F a heat index of

110°F,

and

a 90-degree crosswind of

8 knots.

Flights

began at 10 a.m. and

continued

until each

and

every Young

Eagle had

experienced the thrill

of

flight, usually

about

6 p.m. We all

agreed that flying these Young Eagles

was so rewarding

that

we would have

gladly done

it

a third day.

Please

encourage everyone to fly a Young

Eagle. I

know

that out

of

207 flights,

we have inspired quite a few to learn

to fly in the future.

Sincerely,

Roland Denison

VAA

Chapter 30

New Iberia, Louisiana

Anderson Greenwood

I

would

like to know what

information

is

available about a small

aircraft developed

in

the late 1950s/

early 1960s, known

as the

Anderson

Greenwood. Do any still exist? Who

engineer, and

his brother-in-law,

restored to flying condition.

Marvin Greenwood. Its first flight was In

1974,

s/n 4 was photographed at


8/44

Current Editor's Note: This issue

of

Vintage irpl ne contains one

of

a series

of nine

articles pertaining to

the

res

to ration of antique and classic airplanes. Directors of the

th

en-named Antique/Classic Division of EAA originally

wrote

them in

the mid-1980s,

but

they are still relevant for today's vintage aircraft enthusiasts. The late Art Morgan,

a longtime volunteer chairman

of the A/C

Parking Committee, wrote this article. Our members have years

of

experi

ence

and

a tremendous amount

of

talent; however, it's likely everyone willieam something new from each article.

Pl

ease let us hear from you; write to H.G. Frautschy, Edito

r,

Vintage Airplane

P.O

. Box 3086, Oshkosh,

WI

54903

3086, or e-mail

Vin tageA ircra t@ea

a

org.

-HGF

Disassembly of

an

aircraft

Y

STAN

GOMOLL

Plan head

You ask,

Wha

t 's so

difficult

about taking an airplane apart?

All

I

need

are a few

wrenc

hes, screw

drivers, punches, and a hammer.

Not so With

the

price of airplane

parts and their lack of availability,

it pays to plan ahead .

There

are many ways

to

dis

assemble an aircraft. I t

can

be

quick and dirty with all the parts

thrown

together

in

a

cardboard

box;

then at

a later date you may

find yourself trying to figure out

the puzzle. Or one can take a little

time now

and save a

lot of head

scratching later, wondering where

all the odd parts go and looking

for

the

missing parts that fell out

of

that

cardboard box.

One can

learn

a lot about the

condition of

the

aircraft by check

ing the

condition

of the

bolts

during disassembly. All the parts

should be marked, such as cables,

20

or

30

feet and give

i t

a good

looking over. Check for

symmetry

of the airframe,

paying

close

atten

tion to the

tail

group.

I

have

seen

fuselages twisted up

to

10 degrees

due to improper repair, wind

dam

age, or an accident. Check that the

tail wheel is not leaning to one

side or the other. Look

at

the air

craft from the side

to

determine i f

both wings have

the

same amount

of dihedral

and/or

sweepback.

Take

pictures of everything.

Those items that look simple now

can become very complicated later.

Take pictures of each cable routing,

the

windshield,

windows, baggage

compartment, fairings, seat belt(s),

instrument

panel, control

wheels

or

sticks,

rudder

pedals, etc. And

be sure to

include

several different

shots of the engine

compartment.

The old saying a picture

is worth

a thousand words was never more

true. And when the project is fin

mailto:VintageAircra([email protected]:VintageAircra([email protected]:VintageAircra([email protected]:VintageAircra([email protected]:VintageAircra([email protected]:VintageAircra([email protected]:VintageAircra([email protected]:VintageAircra([email protected]:VintageAircra([email protected]:VintageAircra([email protected]


9/44

gine readings? (This should

must be weighted.

be noted for later compari

Take

picture

s

of everything

and

Always

remove

the pro

son.)

keep accurate notes

peller before removing

the

3.

Are

the con trois

sloppy?

4. Does

the

aircraft

fly

straight

and level, hands

off?

5. Are

there

vibrations

during takeoff or landing?

6. At

touchdown,

does

the

aircraft

have a ten

dency to go left or right?

These are some

of

the

things to look for, as they

can provide clues about

problem

areas. For

exam

ple, ground-handling trouble can

result

from

a bent landing gear,

loose wheel bearing, weak shock

cords,

an improperly

mounted

tail

wheel , etc. A defective shimmy

dampener

can cause problems

on

tri-gear airplanes.

Before

Disassembly

Things to do or have on

hand

be

fore disassembly:

1.

Spray

all

visible bolts,

hinge

pins, and turnbuckles

with

light

penetrating oil such

as

WD-40.

2.

Drain

gas

tanks,

sump, and

carburetor.

3. Drain oil.

4 Remove battery.

5. Have containers, such as cof

fee

cans

with

covers

and

Ziploc

plastic bags for loose parts.

6 Have proper tools; long brass

punches are useful.

7 Have pre-bUilt wing racks, or

tires, or cushions off an old couch

for proper identification.

The stated suggestions generally

pertain

to

all vintage aircraft; how

ever, certain types will require special

handling.

Some

taildraggers

be

come excessively nose-heavy when

the wings are

removed,

so

to

pre

vent them from standing on

their

noses the

tail

must be

tied

down

or

the

aft fuselage

weighted with

a

couple of concrete blocks. Likewise,

a tri-gear airplane will become tail

heavy

when the

engine

is

removed.

To prevent possible damage to the

tail

and/or the

aft fuselage, the nose

Now that

you

know what lies

he d

and

you ve

had

your morning

coffee

and

your

help

has arrived-let s get

on

with

the job

at

hand

engine,

and even

though

you previously

drained

the

carburetor, treat the engine

with

great

respect. Next,

disconnect all engine con

trols and

wires.

Keep in

mind when removing an

engine

that an old

auto

or truck tire makes a good

pad to lay

it

on.

If the fuselage is going

to

be towed home

on

its

landing gear, first remove

the brake assemb lies, as

they can cause

the

wheel and tire

to

overheat. This could cause a tire

to

blowout or even start

on

fire, re-

sulting in

the

loss of

what

you have

worked so

hard

to acquire. Repack

the

wheel

bearings

and

reinstall

them whether

you load the fuse

lage on a trailer or tow it

on

its gear.

Be

sure

to hang

red flags

or

mount

clearance lights on the fuselage be

fore towing.

Check

that

the

load does

not

exceed the legal width for the

states

you'll

be

traveling

through.

Also

check

the height for suf

ficient clearance under bridges,

overpasses, and

wiring along

your route.

If you plan on working in your

garage, make sure

the

project will

fit through the door

If you experience

inclement

weather on moving

day,

wrap

the aircraft

in

heavy

plastic,

mummy-like,

starting

at the rear


10/44

Before

disassembly

tag all flying

and

land-

ing wires and struts

identifying

the

exact

location of each.

the hardware

you

remove

so

you ll

hav

e an idea of what

to

shop for as

replacements. I f you remove bolts

that

are

too long and

made

up with

a handful of washers, be sure

to

re

place th em with correct sizes.

Start

by

removing

all

the

fair

ings

and

inspection plates,

includ

ing wheelpants if installed .

Spray

all bolts, hinge pins, and turnbuck

les again. Install gust locks

on

flaps

and ailerons (can be two flat boards

with a spring-loaded bolt between

them). Disconnect control cables,

fuel

lin

es,

pitot-static

lines,

and

electrical wires.

Pull cotter pins and remove nuts

from

all wing attach boits,

jury

s

trut s, and

lift struts at both ends,

but do

not

remove bolts yet. Take

extra care

when

removing fuel lines,

usin g two

wrenches

to

keep from

breaking fittings in

the

fuel tank.

It s recommended to use a min

imum of three people in remov

ing

a

wing

panel (depending on its

weight, more could be needed)- two

to support

it

and one to knock out

bolt,

then

the

front

spar

attach

bolt.

Th

is will help

to

keep the

wing

from

swinging aft and bending the rear

attach fitting

.

Then

pull

the

panel

straight away from the

fuselage

and place it

on

cushions off to

one

side,

out

of

the

way.

If

it

wasn t

pre

viously removed, take

care not

to

Use separate

c n

tainers for

all the

hardware

damage the

pitot

tube.

After the

wings

are off, the rud

der,

elevators,

a nd stabilizer are

removed-also

the fin if it s

not

in

tegral with th e fuse lage.

The

bigger the airplane, the more

problems will be encountered due to

size

and weight-for

example,

with

Stinson Reliants, Fairchilds, How

ards, Wacos, etc. The wing panel on

a Gullwing

Stinson

requires at least

four

men to

support it while a fifth

removes th e attach

bolts.

Again, a

factory manual will be

most

useful

in

determinin

g

the proper proce

dure

in disassembly and assembly of

the plane.

Biplanes pose special problems

with their greater

number of wing

panels

and

associated

struts and

wires. Befo re disassembly, tag all fly-

ing and landing wires and struts,

identifying

the

exact

location of

each, including top or bottom ends.

Remove the fairings;

then

discon

nect the

cables

or pushrods

to

the

ailerons. Place gust locks on all aile

rons. Disconnect fuel

and

pitot tube

lines,

and

electrical wiring

to

lights,

i f

installed. Remove nuts from wing

attach bolts and all struts.

Loosen the flying

wires,

taking

care

to

not gouge,

scratch,

or bend

these items. (They re very expensive

to

replace these

days.) Some wires

have provisions

for

using

a wrench

to

aid

in

l

oosening

jam

nuts-oth

ers will require two blocks of hard

wood clamped

around

the

wire.

Before

removing

the

upper

wings,

be sure to support the lower panels

(with sawhorses or people power) so


11/44

ILLUSTR TION

TYSON

RININGER H.G.

FR UTSCHY

PL CE

T H E Y C A L L

O S H K O S H

BY BRUCE

REEK

The moon shines brightly

Casting

wing

shaped shadows

The

breeze

gently

creeking

an

unlocked

rudder

The

sound o a swing band rarely

heard

anymore

Bringing

back memories o

my youthful

flights

I

look to

my right

I start

to

think o the

young

people

Who down through the years

have

come with their dreams

That I would

give

to them their

first hours

o flight

I

hear people

say

as

they

find out

my

age

Why would anyone this old

fly

all o this way?

Then I hear a young boy ask his father these words


12/44

Celebrating the 70th anniversary o the Cub Convoy

O

ub

pilots

from n ear

and far converged on

Sun n Fun at Lakeland,

Forida, this year to cel

ebrate the

70th anni

BY

SP RKY B RNES S RGENT

proceeding en masse to Miami.

The Convoy was held

annually

un

til the beginning of World War II and

slipped

away

into a closed chapter

of aviation

history until 1994, when

ily welcomed to participate . Mutter

knew that at least 40 aircraft would

need

to

sign up in order to make a

noteworthy entrance and showing at

Sun n Fun.


13/44

Weleomes

the

Cub Conv0l'

to depart as a group

and land

in trail

on

the grass runway

at Lakeland on Monday, April 3. However,

the

rendez

vous point was

changed

just a couple

of

weeks prior to

the

event

due

to

the

FAA's requirement that

the

Convoy

depart

from

Plant City

Airport

to make

a mass arrival

to Sun

'n

Fun. About 30 Pipers arrived at Plant City by

twilight on Sunday, April

2,

and

21

more arrived the fol

lowing morning.

That

Sunday

afternoon, Convoy

participant Rusty

Studenroth

was one

of

several pilots who helped,

in

his

words,

practice

the

takeoff

and arrival sequence for

Monday's mass arrival at Lakeland by just flying

around

the pattern at

Plant City, using 30-second intervals. It's

elementary-just

don't run into the guy in front

of

you,

and

keep your distance just like

you

were in a busy traf

fic pattern at a pancake breakfast fly-in . Having recently

retired, Studenroth just couldn't pass up the opportunity

to participate in the Convoy

and

made

the

solo flight to

A total of 6 Pipers, including

Super

Cruisers, five float

planes, an L-4, and newly minted Cubs, such as the

American

Legend

Aircraft

Co. s Legend Cub and CubCrafters Sport Cub,

participated

in

the

Cub Convoy.


14/44

At least two aircraft in the Convoy

highlighted

unique

facets of aviation

history. A handsomely restored rep

lica

of the

original Janey

the

famous

Piper L-4B flown by Capt.

Dutch

Schultz

and

used for artillery

spotting

in Europe during World War II filled

a welcome niche beside its J-3 Cub

brothers,

along with

a noteworthy

1947 PA-12.

The City o the Angels

a

Piper Super Cruiser

currently

owned

by Cub Convoy organizer Mutter

and

beautifully restored by Dave Liebe

gott, was

the

lead aircraft of a pair

of

PA-12s that completed a flight around

the world in 1947. Its soft touchdown

on the grass at

Sun

'n Fun was the

culmination of the Cub Convoy's de

lightfully lengthy mass arrival, which

endured

for

about

an hour.

ub omrade

The Convoy's festivities continued

Tuesday

afternoon, when the

par

ticipants enjoyed a delicious catered

sounded like a lot of fun and encour

aged several other pilots

to partici

pate

in the

event. I have a couple

of

other

airplanes, but they

are

'going

'The Dest thing

ohoutthis

OUO

Oonvogisthe

hrigkligks

t s u

in m!l

~ o n s e!les:'

-Susan

Davis

places' airplanes, and

the

Cubs are

my

'I'm already

there'

airplanes, he

said with a candid smile, adding, lilt's

Ray Cook, beaming with happiness,

and then I was invited to

the

Dayton

Air Show and Aviation Heritage Invi

tational,

where

[ met Harry Mutter,

who was there with his Super Cruiser.

He talked about

the

Cub Convoy,

and

I decided to participate. Cook's solo

flight from Kenosha,

Wisconsin,

to

Plant City took 14 hours and 15 min

utes, spread out over a day

and

a half.

Pilot Gary Austin didn't have quite

as far

to

go

when he

flew

the

replica

of the original

Janey

down from Geor

gia for owner Mike Brady (who

is

affil

iated with the Army Aviation Heritage

Foundation).

Austin says

this

1943

L-4

was rebuilt in

southern

Tennes

see, and Capt. Schultz was really im

pressed with the way it looked. Schultz

wrote

the

book

Janey:

A Little Plane

in

a

Big

War about his experiences flying

the

original plane. The owner wants

to sell it, so I flew it

down

from At

lanta to Plant City by myself in about

seven hours.

t

was hazy, but for the


15/44

Cubs gathered at Plant

City on Sunday

before departing to

Clyde

and

Susan Davis

flew

their

Cub all the way from Cali-

Lakeland

the

next

day.

fornia

to Lakeland to

join

the

Cub Convoy celebration.

the type club tent. But this year

they

cheerfully took advantage of

the

op

portunity to fly south together

from

Hartford

, Wisconsin,

in

their 1945

Cub. This couple

is

well accustomed

to sharing flying time; Sharon wanted

to learn to fly after college, and she

ended up completing her flight in

struction with

CFI Steve Krog.

The

two were married the following year.

IiThis

is the

way to go, said Sharon,

explaining that, liflying

to

Sun n Fun

was a first for us. It took

5

hours

of

flying

and

two

days. We landed at

sunset

at

Plant City on Sunday,

and

i t

was a beautiful trip, other than

some head winds

and a little bit of

fog

in

Tennessee. I

started out with

gloves, a

headband,

and a couple

of

layers of clothing,

but of

course

i t

got

warmer

as

we flew further south.

We

convoyed with three

other

airplanes.

Gerry Sheahan flew Steve's Cub, Ron

Sharon Krog

land

husband

Steve) flew

their

Cub

from

Wisconsin

to Lakeland.


16/44

Behold-a field of yellow Cubs honors the 70th anniversary of the Cub Convoy.

Clyde

and

Susan Davis of Willits, Cal

ifornia, say

they

typically plan

one

long adventure in their

faithful 1939

Cub, NC25806, every

summer.

This

year, their

decision

was

made in -

stantly when they

heard

about the

70th anniversary of

the

Cub

Convoy

.

Flying as sport pilots, they shared

the 43-hour flight from west

to

east,

beginning

150 miles north of

the

Hollister for lunch and

to

Bakersfield

for the night. The

next

day, it was

on

to

Daggett

in the

Mojave

Desert for fuel,

and an

overnight

with a

friend near

Eagle

Airpark

in Arizona.

"After that, we

had

to

cross all

those

mountains,

and we saw

125-

mph groundspeed

on

the

GPS There

were also

a

lot of

flat plains at 6,000

feet above sea level

along that

route.

Anyway,

we

flew

Jim

Colburn

flies

by

in

his sharp

looking 5.

along their flight, one place in particu

lar stands out in their memories. "That

was the grass strip

at

Reynolds Airport,

just

north

of Mobile, Alabama. When

we

landed,

1 asked him i f there was

any place close by

to

spend the night,

and he

asked me if 1 had a driver's li-

cense," said Clyde. "I said yes,

and

af-

ter 1 showed it to him, he said he d

let us use his car.

Then

1 asked about

getting some lOOLL, because we were

a little

bit low.

He said

th

ey

didn t

use


17/44

Here s

an

unusual combo-a Curtiss

P-40

and a J-3 Cub,

landing

on the runways at

Lakeland.

since Clyde had

to return

earlier to

get back to work. "I've always wanted

to fly a long solo cross-country, and

since I got

my sport pilot

certificate

last November in

the

Cub, I feel ready

to do it. It took me much longer to get

my license than I had hoped, but tail

wheel-endorsed CFls are hard to come

by in northern California. When we

first got the Cub, my husband would

let me do air work upstairs,

but not

landings or

takeoffs,

and when

I fi-

nally got my first flight instructor, she

explained why that was.

He

said,

You

don 't understand, Susan-airplanes are

like

your children "'

She intends to take

her time

and

visit friends and family as she wings

Gary

Austin

taxis this

Piper

L-4, which has been restored as a replica of the

her way back

to

the Golden

Gate

L-4B

Janey that was flown in

Europe by

Capt. Alfred Dutch Schultz during

from

the Sunshine

State. "The

only

World War II.

thing

I get

nervous

about is i f

the

wind s too high,

so I plan

to

get

up


18/44

A ubpilot makes a wh l

l nding

on

the

grass at lakeland

Adistinctive Super ruiser ro

ll

s out by the windsock on the grass runway at lakeland

early

and

fly

in

the

mornings

. I

want

to fly over the

mountains on my

way

home

,

but

my

husband doesn t want

me to, so I've agreed

to

go

the

less

mountainous southern route over 1-

40," she said, adding with a hearty

at

Sun

n

Fun was

the

' joy

of

flight,'

and

I sure

had

that I don t think my

long cross-country

was a big deal; I

just

thought

of it

as

three- to

four

hour legs, one at a time.

Now

that

I m home , I think the most impor

mer sed themselves in the long rows of

Cubs at Sun

n

Fun, and especially for

the participants themselves.

Perhaps Susan Davis best described

the

Cub Convoy

experience

with an

expression that

illuminates

a feel


19/44


20/44


21/44

the Calhoun Beach Club

in

Minne-

apolis,

Minnesota. When she took

delivery of her Waco in November

1935,

her address

was listed as

Wings Field

in

Ambler, Pennsylva-

nia.

By the

following summer, she

had

changed her address to

the

prestigious Lafayette

Club at Min-

netonka Beach.

Yet little else

has been

discov-

ered about her life, such as when

and where she learned

to

fly;

after

all, the

sporty

Waco

YPF with its

narrow

tread, was

not

a

beginner s

airplane. Waco

built

only two YPF

models

in

1935; they

were the

first

of the new advanced

F

models,

with an

improved Clark Y airfoil, a

more

sophisticated and

complex

fu-

selage, a new

empennage

design, a

bump cowl,

and

a coupe top for the

pilot. The

front

cockpit could

hold

two

passengers

or

simply have a de-

tachable metal cover placed over it.

NC15700 is the only

YPF

still

in

existence. t measures

22

feet

10

inches from prop

to

rudder, stands


22/44

Owner Jerry Wenger with Ben and Jeremy Redman

of

Rare Aircraft Co.

Note

the

bumps on

the cowling

with

Connie Johnston s

distinctively

designed

gold trim .

struts and stainless flying wires ac

cented the wing and

tail

structure.

Grimes retractable landing light fit

tings

were

installed in the upper

wings, and

Johnston

elevated her de

sign a step

beyond tradition by

spe

cifically requesting that there be

no

Waco logo

on the

biplane.

The way she designed

the

plane,

you knew it was going to be neat

looking when it was finished. It's just

all her,

and

I hope I can find some of

§

her family so they can see the plane

and

maybe. tell me more

about

her,


23/44

the

YPF during air shows as owner

Bill

Shaw

flew it. Doyle couldn t

get into the front cockpit

with

his

parachute on,

though , so

he stood

out on the wing

walk

while

the

Waco

climbed to

jump altitude.

About three owners later, the Waco

was

in

Miami, Florida,

during the

early 1940s, where

another woman

owned

it for a few

months.

Then

early aviation pioneer

Clyde Ice (South

Dakota

Aviation

Hall of Fame), known for his record

of

"safe

and

sane flying," traveled

to

Florida in

September

1942

and

purchased

it for use

in

the

World

War

II

Civilian Pilot Training Pro-

gram

(CPTP). As he flew the

Waco away from Florida

at

a low altitude, his

attention

was suddenly

diverted to

a

German

submarine that he

saw

surfaced in a river inlet. Ice landed

at

the

nearest air base

and

informed

them

of

the intruder

so

appropri

ate action could be taken. Ice con-

tinued

homeward, flying NC15700

to Spearfish, South Dakota,

where

he used

the

Waco

as an instrument

trainer with the

pilot s

coupe top

canopy painted black, and the in-

structor in the front seat.

After the CPTP disbanded, Ice

sold

the

biplane

in

August 1944 to

a Beulah, Wyoming, rancher by the

name

of

Spencer Harper. I t seems

that Harper liked to hunt deer, and

one

day he landed out

in

a field

with

the Waco, shot a

deer

with a nice

rack

of

antlers, and then loaded it

in

the

front cockpit. When Harper

landed back at

the

local airport, the


24/44

Note

the tapered wing root

where

it

joins the fuselage

and

the art deco

style

of

the co

upe

top.

old biplane nosed over and flipped

on its back.

t

went back inside the

hangar, and

Harper

stored it until

1974, when he sold it

toJim

Horne of

Eagan, Minnesota. Horne intended

to

restore it

and

carefully kept up

with

its parts and pieces for

2S

years before

selling

the

project

to the

Waco's cur

rent owner, Jerry Wenger.

Intrigue and

Inspiration

Wenger has

been

flying since he

was a teenager,

when he

earned free

Connie

J

ohnston

selected

the

bold

color combination

of

Berry

Brothers

Plum Bronze

and

bright Nassau Blue.

Look closely

at the

gold

trim

lines

and

you ll notice Connie Johnston s

initials

(ly.

ing

sideways) in

the

leading

portion .

my inspiration. And my uncle barn

stormed in Wacos from Iowa

to

Col

orado

down

to

Louisiana.

are

ircraft

Under the guidance of Wenger, the

Rare Aircraft Ltd. restoration team was

put

to work

bringing Connie John

rated with a chuckle, We sometimes

say that we're John Deere mechanics

working

on

flying tractors, just to

re-

mind ourselves how important it is

to be able to step back from a project

and remember

that it's a 1930s air

plane. The airplane is wonderful be

cause it's simple-that's its heart, its


25/44

The

one-of-a-kind

1935

Waco

YPF

with

its

coupe

top,

was

an

eye-catcher on

the flightline.

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26/44

The Waco YPF has a

narrow

tread,

making it

a bit more

challenging to

maneuver

on the

ground

.

You ll

notice

modern

avionics in the

Waco YPF s

panel a

concession

to safe

and

practical operation

of the

biplane

in today s airspace.

esting

to

see how this family business

embraces the unique challenges

at

least

half

a

dozen other

full-time

employees.

Our restorations are a

w

a

ponents

left

intact, creating quite

a

conundrum

for

those who want to

restore it. "This is

the third

airplane

project

I've

bought

out

of

a

barn,

explained Wenger, happily

adding,

and

it

had at

least a

dozen

signifi

cant

original parts. Now that's a lot "

Even so,

i t took

a

considerable

amount

of detective work to fab

ricate and reassemble

the biplane.

Rare Aircraft was able to obtain some

Waco

YPF

drawings from the Smith

sonian

,

adding to previous owner

Jim

Horne's collection of more

than

a

dozen

sub-assembly drawings.

Ex-

isting parts were used for

patterns

if

they

were

no longer considered to

be airworthy.

According to Ben

and

Jeremy

Red-

man , the original parts and pieces

included the

steel-tubular airframe,

boot

cowl, oil scoop, air intake scoop,

and

engine cowl. Additionally, there

were

many hardware

items

and

fit

tings for the cockpi ts , such as the

handle

for

the

locking tail wheel,

the

throttle,

foot tread,

rudder

pedals,

and

even

the

knob for

the

front cock

pit door.

The

original struts

showed

signs of wear, so they decided to build

new ones and had them chromed p r

Johnston's original personal specifi

cations.

One

interesting

note

is that

the

landing gear-to-fuselage

attach

ment points new for Waco on this

model-were so well worn that it was

necessary

to

go

through the

laborious

process of fabricating and attaching

new ones.

While

many of the wing

fittings

survived,

the

wings themselves served

only

as

patterns, from which

the

Rare


27/44

My father and I both insure our vintage aircraft through

U

Inc.

We

have both found the service to be consistent prompt and

very courteous. t

is

a pleasure doing business with AUA

Steve Manchester

Steve

Manchester

Raynham

MA

• Owner: 1946

Commonwealth

Skyranger 185 N7382

• Currently working

toward

commercial

rating

• Member: E and

OP


28/44

THE YELLOW ROSE

O

TEXAS

Retired Delta captain Bill Scaggs

of

Irving Texas last

flew a

Stinson

108 when

he

was a 22-year-old with just

more than 1 200 hours

in

the air. Now retired with more

than 24 000 hours he found this Franklin-powered Stin

son 108-3

in

a

barn

and the

restoration was completed

December 3 2003 thanks to Don Lewis an airframe and

powerplant

mechanic

with

an

inspection authorization.

BOB NORRIS'

FLEET

Bob Norris a retired

United cap


29/44

CURTISS ROBIN

Brian T. Coughlin of Cazenovia,

New York

sent

us these two pho

tos of Doug Wallbridge s 1929 J 1

Curtiss Robin, NCS34N, powered

by a 17S-hp five-cylinder Wright

J6-S (RS40). Doug is shown with

the airplane during its run-up

and taxi tests,

accomplished

af

ter an eight-year restoration. Last

flown in the early 19S0s, the air

plane

was

part of the

Clarence

Ingersoll

collection

in Remsen,

New York.

Mike

Connor overhauled

the

Wright J6-S engine, and Darren

Banfield

made

a new

cowling

and

fuel

tanks before his un

timely

passing.

With

the

excep

tion of those two contributions,

all

the remaining work

was ac

complished

by Doug, including

a new set of wood wings, with

new ribs built per a

supplemen

tal type certificate

supplied

by

Lane Tufts. Doug Wallbridge

is

no

stranger to

aircraft

construc

tion; he has built

a

Starduster

Too,

Fly Baby, and Cassutt

racer and

rebuilt a cabin Waco

and

PT-19 . In

the side photo

graph, Doug is

holding the

in


30/44

BY DOUG

STEW RT

Airplane single-engine

sea

Our go-around

pOint

was

still

about

a thousand

feet in

front

of

us, so I endeavored not to raise the

nose any higher

than the

ever-so

slightly nose-high attitude I

had

es

tablished at

about

a

hundred feet

higher than I was now, and I kept

my power set to yield about a

hun

dred-foot-per-minute descent

rate

while my

airspeed

stayed about 10

knots above the stall speed of the

Bellanca 7GCBC I was flying.

Since there was no

wind our

groundspeed was virtually the same

as our airspeed, and

the

hills

on

ei

ther

side seemed to

be whizzing

by. Not only were they whizzing by

above me they appeared to whiz

by below

as

well, as

the

calm, glassy

water of the lake underneath

me

re

flected not only the hills beside me,

but

the

cerulean sky

above.

There

was no

way to

judge

my altitude

above

the water

so I proceeded as

my

instructor

, Master

Instructor

for

the

addition of the

airplane

sin

gle-engine sea

ASES)

rating

to

my

pilot

certificate.

I

have to say, I have done many

things

in airplanes

that

were totally

exciting

and enthralling but

this

. at idle power,

there will e

no

problem in

telling where the

wind

s coming

from. In rather

quick fashion,

was very similar

to

the

one

we flew

on wheels.

So when

I was invited

to present a seminar at this year s

Speculator Seaplane Fly-In, I could

procrastinate no

longer. I

just

had

to

get my rating.

The excitement

for

me

started

with the

preflight inspection. I

con

sider myself fairly nimble and agile

for my age, but it was a challenge to

walk a tightrope from one float to the

other

as I worked

my way around

the airplane

that

was moored

to

a dock in

the

Esopus Creek in up

state

New York.

Not only does one

have to

inspect

all the

things

that

are part of a land airplane but all

the

other things associated with

the

airplane s

operation on

the water as

well. The flying wires that brace the

floats,

the

cables and pulleys that

connect the

air

rudder to the water

rudders, and the cables and pulleys

that lift the water rudders out of

the water

all

have

to be

inspected

.


31/44

there are so

many

things to be aware

of, and to pay attention to. Wind, cur-

rent, boats, Jet Skis, swimmers, logs

some

partially submerged), rocks

(some of these partially submerged as

well), beavers (

no

alligators

up

here

in New

York , and

more are all there

to compete for your attention.

And then there are the water rud-

"Don't flare.

don't flare . . .

you're

pulling

back

on

the stick

..

don't

flare "

These

words were

reverberating

through my

head-

set

loud

and

clear.

ders. Up or down-which way should

they be? I was told I am not alone, as

a l

and

pilot

transitioning

to sea,

in

forgetting to include raising or low-

ering the water rudders

as n eeded .

They

need to be

down

for

the

idle

and plow taxi and up for step taxi,

Stop

the

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metal.

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ry

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32/44

E.E.

BUCK

HILBERT

ool

"daffynitions"

that snaps off in bolt holes you

couldn't

use anyway.

2 TON ENGINE HOIST:

A tool

for testing

the

tensile strength on

everything you forgot to discon

nect.

CRAFTSMAN

1/2

X

16 INCH

SCREWDRIVER:

A large pry bar

that

inexplicably has

an

accurately

machined

screwdriver tip on

the

end opposite the handle.

AVIATION

METAL

SNIPS:

See

hacksaw.

TROUBLE LIGHT:

The

home

mechanic's own

tanning booth

.

Sometimes called a drop light,

it

is

a good source of vitamin

D,

the sunshine

vitamin, which

is

not otherwise found

under

cars

at night. Health benefits aside, its

main

purpose

is to consume 40

watt light bulbs

at

about

the

same

rate that lOS-mm howitzer shells

I know a bunch

of you

are on the

Internet, since I get plenty of calls

and

e-mails, so a few of you have seen these

tool

daffynitions

already. I wish I

knew whom to credit, but I've

not

been

able to pin down a name. Since we've

been chatting about tools for

the

past

few

months, I thought you'd like to see

some of these. Here we go:

Glossary

of

Tools

DRILL PRESS: A tall, upright ma

chine useful

for

suddenly snatch

ing flat metal bar stock out of your

hands so that

it

smacks you in the

chest and flings your beer across

the room, splattering it against that

freshly painted part you were drying.

WIRE WHEEL:

Cleans paint off

bolts

and then

throws

them

some

where under the workbench with

the speed of light. Also removes

fingerprints

and

hard-earned guitar

calluses from fingers in about

the

time it takes you to say ouch ..

more dismal your future becomes.

VISE GRIPS : Generally used af

ter pliers to further

round

off

bolt

heads. If

nothing

else is available,

they

can also be used to transfer

intense welding heat to

the

palm

of your

hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used

almost entirely for lighting vari

ous flammable objects in your

shop

on fire . Also handy for ignit

ing the grease inside the wheel

hub

you

want

the bearing race

out of.

WHITWORTH SOCKETS:

Once

used for working

on

older British

cars and motorcycles, they are

now

used mainly for impersonating

that

9/16 or

1/2

socket you've been

searching for the last 15 minutes.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK:

Used

for lowering

an

automobile

to

the

ground after you have installed


33/44

coal-burning power plant 200

miles away and transforms it into

compressed air that travels by

hose to a Chicago pneumatic im

pact wrench

that

grips rusty bolts

that were last overtightened

SO

years ago by someone

at

Ford,

and

neatly rounds off their heads.

PRY

BAR: A tool used to crumple

the metal surrounding that clip or

bracket you needed to remove in

order to replace a SO-cent part.

HOSE

CUTIER: A tool used to cut

hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed

as

a weapon of war,

the

hammer

nowadays

is

used

as

a kind of di

vining rod to locate

the

most ex

pensive parts not

far

from

the

object we are trying to hit.

MECHANIC

'S

KNIFE: Used to

open and slice through the con

tents of cardboard cartons deliv

ered to your front door; works

particularly well

on

contents such

as seats, vinyl records, liquids in

plastic bottles, collector maga

zines, refund checks, and rubber

or plastic parts. Especially useful

for sliCing work clothes,

but

only

while in use.

DAMMIT

TOOL:

Any handy tool

that you grab and throw across the

garage while yelling DAMMIT at

the top of your lungs. It is also the

next tool that you will need.

Come

or

the weekend

BUILD FOR A LIF IME

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SCHEDULE

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Arlington,

WA

Aug . 19-20 Indianapolis, IN

Aug. 26-27 Oshkosh, WI

Sept. 8-10

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(Atlanta Area)

Sept. 9-10 Corona, CA

Sept. 9-10

Denver, CO

Sept. 1 5-1 7 Oshkosh, WI

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• Electrical Systems &Avionics

• Introduction to Aircraft Bu ilding

• Fabric

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• Electrical Systems Avionics

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•

RV

Assembly

• Repairman

LSA

) I

ns

pection- Airplane

• TIC Weld ing

• RV Assembly

• Fabric Covering • Sheet Metal

Bas

i

cs

• Electrical Systems Avionics

• Composite Construction

• Introduction to Ai rcraft Bu ilding

• Repairman LSA) Inspection- Airplane


34/44

SP RK PLUG

ROTATION

A few m inten nce tips

Y STEVE ENDER

F

r years m ny of us have been t ught to carefully

more wear on the center electrode, while others have more

remove, inspect, and clean our engine s spark plugs

wear on the outer electrodes. Electrical energy to fire these

before reinstalling

them

into the same position from

plugs is provided by magnetos,

nd

these magnetos gener-

which they were removed. The thinking behind this

ate this electrical energy by rotating magnets within a multi-

was to detect po ten tial engine problems early. While there

turn wire core. To put it simply, the north

nd

south poles

is a lot to be said for this organized approach, I believe a

of

the

m gnets induce ltern ting

positive nd negative

more methodical approach should

electrical voltage within the wire core.


35/44

the plugs that have worn center electrodes does this easily.

Of course, every rule of thumb has to have an exception,

and for firing polarity it is the Bendix 0-2000 and 0-3000

magnetos found on a few four-cylinder engines. These mag

netos

always fire

with

the

same

polarity, so

plug rotation

will

not

even out electrode wear.

The

second

major cause of spark plug wear is a

direct

result of using shielded spark plug leads. Using two electri

cal conductors separated

by

electrical insulation within the

shielded lead reduces aircraft radio electromagnet interfer

ence. Electrical energy is carried to

the

spark plug by elec

trically pre-charging the shielded lead, which then acts as

a linear capacitor,

storing almost

25

percent of

the

electri

cal energy sent to the plug. When the plug fires, the energy

stored within

the

lead is discharged

into

the spark plug. This

discharge occurs across

the

plug's electrodes after

the

fuel

has been ignited, thus serving no useful function, while in

creasing electrode wear. The rule

of

thumb for ignition lead

capacitance is

the

longer

the

ignition lead,

the

greater

the

capacitance energy stored within the lead, and the greater

the

residual spark

plug

electrode wear.

Rotating

the

spark

plugs to cylinders with shorter lengths of ignition leads will

equalize this wear between the spark plugs.

Finally, lead salt

deposits formed from

the burning

of

aviation gasoline containing lead additives cause corrosion

on spark plug electrodes and shorten plug life. Rotating the

plugs from the bottom cylinder position to

the

top cylinder

position

will

help

equalize

plug

wear caused

by this

corro

sion.

The

use

of

fuel additives

such

as tricresyl

phosphate

TCP) can also minimize both fouling

due

to excess lead de

posits

and

the corrosion caused by the deposits.

Here is a simple, methodical procedure for spark plug

rotation that gives

rotation

from

bottom-to-top,

short-to

long lead and

ensures

reverse

plug

polarity.

This

method

will work with most horizontally opposed aircraft engines.

If your engine manufacturer has a recommended plug rota

tion

schedule, it should be used.

For a six-cylinder engine:

T

to B

2B to

5T

Just Like

in

the Good Old Days

All the

Randolph

products

a the

Randolph

colors a the Randolph

quality.

n

aviation

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again...

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stay.

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Or

e mail

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hese are the irst tools you need

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you re-cover your

airplane. Anyone who has used them

http:///reader/full/randolpbaircraft.comhttp:///reader/full/randolpbaircraft.com


36/44

BY H.G. FRAUTSCHY

THIS

MONTH'S MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US

FROM

THE COLLECTION

OF

ELMER "BUCK" LEIGHTON, COURTESY OF HIS GRANDSON, CHRIS STRAUSS.

THEY SHARED A COPY OF A

CD

OF PHOTOS WITH THE E LIBRARY.

Send your answer

to EAA

Vintage Airplane P.O. You can also send your response via e-mail. Send

Box 3086,

Oshkosh

WI 54903-3086. Your

answer

your answer

to mysteryplane@eaa org Be

sure to include

needs to be in no later

than

August 10 for inclusion

your name, city, and state in the body of your note, and

in the October 2006 issue of

Vintage

Airplane.

put (Month) Mystery Plane in the subject line.

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


37/44

APRIL

. S

MYSTERY

ANSWER

The April Mystery Plane came to

us from the

collection of

l

ongtime

V member Ted Businger of Ash

Flat, Arkansas. The

Roy

Russell

photo

generated exactly one response. I t

came from Minneapolis, Minnesota,

member Wayne Muxlow:

li he

April

2006

Mystery Plane

would be the Santa Ana VM-l. Built

in 1928

by the Santa Ana Aircraft

Co.,

Santa

Ana, California.

Later

evolved into the Activian.

Origi

nally powered

with

an

80-hp

An

zani, it

was later

powered by a

100-hp Kinner."

Aerofiles.com

and

Ted s

notes

on

the back

of

the photo

confirm

the VM-l (registered as X4564) was

built in Santa

Ana

and that the

manufacturing

rights

were

later

sold to Grays Harbor Airways, Grays

Harbor,

Washington

.

With

a 38-foot

wingspan, a

length

of 25 feet, and a

750-pound useful load, it's not sur

prising the VM-l s 80-hp Anzani

was replaced on the Activian by the

100-hp Kinner.

Flight Control Cables

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Each

Cable

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Load Tested

and Prestretched for Stability

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.acomweld/ng.com

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38/44

Top Waco continuedfrompage 4

cased innocuously in

an

old wooden

crate. Ben Redman shared

the

discov

ery in his own words, a touch

of

awe

still

in

his voice: "Jeremy

and

I opened

the box and took

the

top off- it still

had that old-fashioned wood

straw

in i t-and there were brand-spanking

new, never-been-used

aluminum

Hill

Aircraft

Streamliner

wheelpants

for

the

YPF. They hadn't even

been cut yet; they were

blanks We didn't even

know what to say for a

couple of minutes.

We

though t, is this real?

Hill was really

the

big

fairing

and

streamline

maker

of the

day,

and

it was just really cool to

see them. That was the

biggest score with

that

airplane.

We mounted

the original identifica

gine

and propeller. It was originally

equipped with a 225-hp Jacobs

L-4

en

gine

with a fixed-pitch Curtiss Reed

propeller, but today it has a new 275

hp

Jacobs R75-B2 from Radial Engines

Ltd.

in

Guthrie , Oklahoma,

with

a

constant-speed Hamilton Standard

propeller to maximize its power. And

tions to

it, but

in

the

sunset

silhou

ette, it's still a Waco."

Keep Her Flying

Now

that

Johnston's coupe

top

Waco has made its public debut at

Sun 'n Fun in Lakeland, Florida, 2006,

where it was awarded Reserve

Grand

Champion, what

will

be

the next

leg

of

its

journey

through

time?

Ben and Jeremy

Red

man are happy to

be

optimistic

about

the

answer to that

ques

tion

, since they get

very

attached

to these

airplanes

we

restore,

and the fun

thing

is,

with

Jerry, we don't

have to

worry

about

what

is

going

to hap

pen

to the

airplane.

We know

it's

going to

Just

imagine

being 4 years

old and

having the

privilege

of ordering

tion tag on the inside be loved and flown; it's

of

the

left wheelpant,

this

biplane brand

new

from th

e

factory

at

the

lower edge of

the transition cuff between

the

gear

leg

and

wheel pant, where the

owner

wanted it."

Modific

a

tion

s

One of the primary principles that

Rare Aircraft

advocates

in

its resto

rations

is remaining as

true to

the

aircraft's

original configura

tion

as

possible,

while

incorporating some

modern

features that facilitate

the

one

glance inside the cockpit reveals

an abundance of

modern

avion

ics, including a

Garmin

GPS/comm,

transponder, encoder, intercom, and

Shadin

fuel flow monitor. And lying

neatly in

place atop the new cream

colored leather seats are Hooker five

point harnesses.

The airframe

is

covered in Ceconite

102. The solid primer coat

contained

an ultraviolet blocker so a silver coat

got

a great

home.

And

he

loves sharing them

with people."

Wenger's answer corroborates the

brothers '

feelings

. "I want my air

planes to fly,"

he

said, and expressed

a bit

of

his

own

personal

philosophy

when he

added, "I intend

to

take real

good

care

of

it

and

take it to shows.

As time goes on, I have to figure out

where I

want my

airplanes, and that's

not easy to do. I

want

a big grass field,

where you can pick your own run


39/44

continued from page

29

to

taxi in the direction you wish.

But if

the wind

is blowing,

the

wa

ter rudders

might not have enough

force to turn the airplane from up

wind

to downwind. Then

you

use

the plow taxi. But

now

as

you

add

power to bring the nose up, shifting

the center of buoyancy aft so that

the

wind can help

in

pushing the

nos

e

of

the airplane

from

upwind

to downwind, you can no longer

see where you are going. Plus if you

stay in this attitude too long the en

gine

might quickly overheat. For

tunat

e

ly it's not

a

maneuver that

is used too frequently, nor for very

long when you do have need to use

it.

The last

type

of taxi is

the

step

taxi. In this

maneuver

you add full

power after raising

the water rud

ders . After

the

nose does its sec

ond rise you ease the stick forward

and

the airplane

comes up

on the

step of the float.

I f the

stick is too

far forward

the

airplane will start

to

porpoise-if

too

far back,

i t won't

get up

on the step.

Finding

the

"sweet spot" was

not

as difficult as I

thought

it

might

be,

and

I was soon

planing

along

on the step. What a

rush and a hoot.

That

is,

until

I had

to turn,

as one

might

have to in

a

confined-area

takeoff. Talk about pucker factor. . l

thought

I'd

have to

get

the

seat sur

gically

removed

from my posterior.

Turning during a step taxi requires a

not

thrilling, especially when you

end

up in

the Hudson

River's

cold

water, as

it

was

when

I

took

my

training in the middle of May. Oohn

had

warned

me.

The student gets

wet

before the instructor.) Beach

in g ,

ramping

,

docking,

mooring ,

and sailing were all new maneuvers

that

I

had to

learn . (The

only thing

that

helped

me

here

was

the

time

I've spent on the water in a kayak.

Very little help, I might add.)

Of

course, there's

the flying

to

learn as well. All the different types

of takeoffs and landings, includ

ing normal,

crosswind,

rough wa

ter, glassy water, confined area, and

landings

from

a

simulated

power

failure

filled

the syllabus.

I espe

cially liked being able to turn in

the midst of my

takeoff,

raising

one float to reduce the drag

and

get

in the air. I also enjoyed flying traf

fic

patterns that

were rarely

higher

than

500 feet above the water. But

through

all

this fun of

takeoffs

and

landings, one has

to

be ever vig

ilant in ensuring that

the

takeoff

and

landing area is free of water

traffic,

and their ensuing

wakes, as

well as any flotsam

and

jetsam, in

cluding swimmers who might im

pede your

progress.

Adding

the

airplane single-engine

sea rating to my certificate has cer

tainly been

one of

the most

enjoy

able

and

refreshing things I've done

in an airplane in a long, long

time

.

continued from page

see this project through to comple

tion. Thanks, guys But hey, there's

more

fun to

be

had

, as

the

annual

on

the

C-170 ran out

the other

day.

How did this happen? Two annu

als

at

the

same

vintage airplane - jul 2006

Documents