vintage airplane - nov 1988

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1988

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STR IGHT ND LEVEL

This month I would like to addressthe subject of jUdging aircraft at theEAA Oshkosh Convention. The sys-tem s well known to some but othershave little knowledge of how the judg-ing s actually accomplished . Alsosome people are not n favor of judgingand feel that aircraft should not be putinto competition with one another. Onthe other hand we have people whoare very active n pursuing awards fortheir aircraft. Therefore at the Con-vention you can choose whether youwould like your aircraft judged or not.You decide opon registration whenyou arrive at the Convention. Forexample we had approximately 817classics registered and only 214 own-ers chose to have their aircraft judged .Along the same line we had approxi-mately 132 antiques and only 66 own-ers chose to have their aircraft judged.We have two completely separateteams of judges n the Antique/Classicarea; one team for the classic aircraft

by Espie Butch Joyce

to all the people who judge at the Con-vention. t can be a hot and thanklessjob .The system used at the Conventionis what we call the point system. Eachjudge has a judging sheet and aguideline. This sheet has a checklist ofitems with points of value for eachitem. On one side of the sheet pointsare added to give a positive score . Onthe other side of the sheet are itemsthat are subtracted from the positivepoints. Contenders n differentcategories are evaluated by severaljudges to determine the winners. Thetotals are added and averaged. Thenthe airplanes with the highest pointsare given recognition n differentcategories. Top contenders for ReserveGrand Champion and Grand Championare generally reviewed by all judges sothe best possible choice can be made.By using this system we have elimi-nated personalities n choosing a win-ner.

aircraft has Phillips screws or slottedscrews . Also such details as stainlesssteel safety wire versus brass safetywire have been the determining factorn who might win an award. [ haveseen aircraft owners come to Oshkoshexpecting to win an award and be dis-appointed . They would go to thejudges to find out what the discrepen-

cies were and return the next four orfive years correcting one item beforeeach Convention eventually winningan award.The judging system s valuable nthat t has elevated the quality of resto-rations considerably over the pastyears. Restorations today are farsuperior to those of five to 1 yearsago.At the awards program all thejudges are introduced and the winnersn each category are called out. Thisprogram takes place the last Thursdaynight of the Convention each year atthe Theater n the Woods . This year


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ompiledby Mark Phelps

The Stearman open for business .NEW YORKER IN IC P R DISE

Nino Lama of Ithaca New Yorkpresident of the new Straight-TailCessna Club attended the EAA Chapter One Fly-in at Gilbert Field n Winterhaven Florida. Chapter PresidentRod Spanier greeted Nino and madesure he met all the folks he had beenreading about for years n SPORT AVI-ATION and THE VINTAGEAIRPLANE. Nino got busy with hiscamera and recorded the followingshots . He also invites interested partiesto join his Straight-Tail Cessna Club at28 Forest Acre Drive Ithaca NewYork 14850. Tel. 607/273 4184. Duesare )5.00 a year and there s a quarterly newsletter. He says that since theclub was formed he's averaging amember a day and currently has 110Doc Duff, Nino and Boeing Stearman. happy Cessna owners signed up .


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Lyle Flagg, Nino and the Corben Baby Ace.

Merle Lilly and his Emeraude.

Bill Doty, Jr., and fiancee indy Choate.Bill is a captain for Northwest Airlines.indy is a private pilot. e proposed in

the Vultee at 12,000 feet


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MEMBER S PROTE TS ...by Norm Petersen

Frank has owned and operated theSandwich Airport for 30 years, at one timehe had seven J-3 Cubs on the line at$7.50 per hour - wet He now has two J-3swhich he enjoys in retirement along withtwo sons who are also pilots. We lookforward to seeing '396 at EAA Oshkosh'89.

Brand new Antique/Classic memberFrank Ament (EAA 308832, AlC 12877),P.O. Box 66, Sandwich, IL 60548 sent inthe photos of his totally restored PiperJ-3 "Cub , NC92396, SIN 16858, on whichhe spent hundreds and hundreds of tender, loving hours" during the rebuild. Hewas even able to persuade Sensenich tobuild an original five-lamination woodprop for the J-3 Equipped with a Scott3200 tailwheel, the Cub is especially niceon rough sod.

Below: This very p retty 1946 Globe Swift,N78120, SIN 2120, is owned by Ed Davis(EAA 319926) of 1135 Lakeside Court,Naperville, IL 60565. Purchased in Tulsa,OK in 1987, the Swift has been completel yrefurbished with new glass, new Airtexinterior, ELT Narco Escort II and strobes.The aircraft was completely disassembled, stripped, primed and painted withImron. The colors are white with burgundy/grey stripes. The landing gearoverhaul included retractor/down lockactuator s and struts. Ed reports the Swifthas 1700 hours total time with 900 hours


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Planes & PeopleStewart Wescott and his 1952 D35 Bonanza

By volunteers of the ntique/ClassicPress CommitteeLarry O ttilio and Pamela Foard,Co-Chairmen

pleted. He lives right on an airport andcan taxi to his house. We are remindedof the sunny times in which the federalgovernment envisioned this situation

KXJ55s and a Northstar loran . Incidentally , Stewart reports no mid-continent gap with hi s Northstar whencrossing the U.S. from his home base


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y ) e n n i ~ a r k ~

Civil Flying 1919With the end of the war in Europe

the growth and development of civilaviation began for earnest in America.Though the most representative featureof the era was barnstorming and the airmail era, there were also efforts atcommercial passenger service.

One of these efforts was the establishment of a passenger service basedin Manhattan to ferry Wall Street brokers from Long Island . The service wasstarted by Lawrence Sperry and Howard Heinde l!. This service kept a smallfleet of seaplanes busy picking up patrons in the morning and landing themin Manhattan in time for the start ofthe business day.

The planes were also used to givejoy rides around the area. The following new spaper accounts give some ideaof the public reaction to the flightswhich were given from the ClifftonHotel at Patchogue , Long Island andEast Hampton , New York in the summer of 1919.The aircraft used was a Curtiss TypeF Flying Boat. The Sperry flying boatbecame one of the first to be adaptedto amphibious operation by the installation of a retractable landing gear in1915.The clippings below came from materials in the library that belonged toHoward Heindell who later developedthe Argonaut Pilgrim amphibian.

EAST HAMPTON, N. Y.,FRIDAY, JULY 18, 1919

EROPL NEHERE SUND Y

Everyone Will Have Opportunity to Fly

WILL LAND ON DAVIDS LAN

Sperrr Corp. SeDdin. Out FlriD' Howard Heindell, formerly production manar:er at Gard@n City, ofMachine to Demonltr.te Sal. the Curtirs Co. wall in town on Wecinesday of thi. week making arrangeand San. Flrln. ments fOT 8 landing place fot his fly-

SEE An Electrifying NoveltyCommencing FRIDAY, JULY 25th

T H E -THRILLS-SenSatiOnal/and a Physical BenefitSperry

ERO FLYING BO TTake-Off Daily-Beach Front-HOTEL CLIFFTONWill male revuJar Siahl-Sccini Trip' Over lid abolll Palc;hoaue Ba1.m aerial divcnUcmeol ia ofcrccf Ihe amUHmCllI lovini public at Ih. Domioal coet of$15.00 PER ROUND TRIP.
http:///reader/full/Demonltr.tehttp:///reader/full/Demonltr.te


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ing machine , which he is b r i n ~ i l l t .down frC'nl Southampton on S u n d 8 } ~He h a ~ with him Lieut. I:dward Frost,of the British Royal Flyinjr Corps.Lieut. Fro \t h u Rown planes iR Cnnad., Fnnre and E n ~ I R n d and Ilt thet i ~ of ~ i g n i n g of the armistic.was on the French front. Bofh ofthese pilots are coming to Eallt Hampton in the interests of th4 SperryFlyinll Cor loration, which believesthat the quickest. ,vay to Rcquaintthe ~ e o p l ( ' with flying is to give theman opportun ity to finrl Ollt how lalelind sat,e it They fly 8 Curtilll100 horllc power biplane, the same asis Uged by the U. S. Government.While at Southampton these twopilots carr :cd 214 personB Rnd t:\er j .

o ~ of them _WIIS jrreatly pleased withthe-sensation and excitement of thetrial. - Several ot the passeng('rllshewed ,their interest In flying by c;.oming to the fiel. daily for a rideth,ouj(-h the "ir . Irving Terry, proprietor of the Irving Houlle, has heeon.., p every day since the pilots hay ,lIeen in Southampton.

Howard Heinrlell has had seYellyesrII e x p e r i e n c tn the fl ying gamc:~ a18t n has bcen worked out with u e e c ~III ROl l thampton nnd EaRt H a mpton. Atfi('OuthllOlpton . al o ne . tho I ' Ipcrry avlll1('01'11 h a\ 'e tnken up nertrly 250 pass CIlJ:' 'rs. Jn lng Tp.rry . p r oprlE'tor ot thel rvln/:' 1 I 0 u ~ c l iked I t l0 \\ 'ell he went

IICVCTRI da ')'8 In lIucccslllon.T h ~ f 'nt erprtsc Is In e h a . . , ~ e or " ' II -, I am Rtot'rmcr. mana/: ' In director of1he ~ p e r r y Flying Corporat ion. aoll}lo\\'ard Helndell , formerly production,nanRl;'et of the Curtl l l l pl&nt at Gar.aen City

Letters T he E d i t o ~TAYLORCRAFTERDear Mark,

My apologies to you for taking solong to get a letter off to you. I enjoyedthe article on my Taylorcraft (Taylorcra ft smanship , June) very much. Ican' t te ll you what a thrill it was to seemy airplane on the cover. That was an

BUT IT HAD A BIG SINK . ..Dear Mr. Phelps,Reference is made on page 3 of theJune issue of THE VINT GEIRPL NE where in is fo und thelegend for your back cover picture ofthe Boe ing 80- B trimotor. I quote thisin part: "There was also a bathroom

mar classes. Even the leadin g aviationmagazines often pl ace more emphas ison slang and trade jargo n than on simpie, straightforward and prec ise Eng lish, [s there so me immutable lawwhich prevents us from be in g litera te?S ince rely,


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P SS1]n information exchange column with input from readers

by Buck Hilbert(EAA 21 , IC 5P.O. Box 145Union, IL 60180"Wow A 35-70 Porterfield'" Andthe person I said it to was looking allaround for a rifle , not an aeroplane.

This was his first exposure to the Porterfield Flyabout of the mid-1930s. Wewere at the Waco Fly-in at Hamilton ,Ohio and the year was either 1973 or'74 . This poor little machine was setting in a hangar looking just about asshabby as 30 years of neglect couldmake it. I was drawn to it as were afew other people and eventually BillHogan gave me the owner's phonenumber.I called the fella only to find outthere was no way he was going to sellit , especially to me I guess I came onkind of strong with my remarks as tohow could he do that to the poorairplane and if he left it that way muchlonger it'd be nothing but scrap ratherthan junk like it was now. I guess Iwoke him up though, because from the

records I see that he had the Hogansrecover it for him and then overhaulthe engine as well. This was all donein 1974, the Hogans flew the airplanea couple of hours and then put it backin the hangar again. With about 130hours total time on the airframe andalmost a zero-time engine SMOHAgain I was down at the Waco reunion-this time in 1982. In talking toBill I learned that the airplane was stillthere and still just setting." Again Icalled the man, and this time he wasno more happy to hear from me thanhe was the last time . "This was myfather's airplane, and I'm not about tosell it " Well again I took him to taskabout it just setting and deterioratingand insisted that he do something withit. He did He sold it to Dick Simpson,a friend of a friend who had grown upwith the Hogans and had known aboutthis airplane from the very first time it

E. E Buck Hilbert

landed at Hamilton. This was okaywith me. Even though I was disappointed that I didn't get the machine Iknew that Dick would really take careof it.Now the real attraction I had to thismachine is that I could remember whenI was a budding Iineboy at the old Elmhurst Airport outside Chicago. Thiswas a new airplane then . A racy-sportyperformance machine in comparison tothe Cubs, Taylorcrafts and Aeroncasof that day. This even had a round engine on it with 70 horsepower. t wouldrace along at 95 mph indicated Thatwas a flat 25 big ones better than youraverage Cub. Of course the stallspeed was also 20 mph faster, but itsure was a good cross-countryairplane I would add here, that someday I hoped I could handle one of thosehot little airplanes. Now here it is fiftyyears later and I have just come in fromthe hangar where one of these littlejewels is ensconced . I flew it home,here in Union, Illinois all the way fromBirmingham , Alabama.


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n interior shot of the Porterfield s cockpit.

RON spot. I didn ' t get there As I wasapproaching Hopkinsville , Kentuckyjust north of Fort Campbell, the LeBlond let me know t had had enoughfor the day. I looked at my watch,decided to humor the engine andlanded . I couldn t have picked a betterplace or better time. The people therewere super Absolutely SUPER Theygave me a courtesy car and offered meall kinds of help. I met one of our EAAtypes there. Wish I knew his name forsure, but Bill showed me his BellancaCruisair, and then offered to drive meinto town or help me anyway that hecould. When I found out that he hadbeen working all day after putting in afull night shift out at Fort Campbell ntheir simulator program, I suggested hego on home and get some sleep. Hepromised that if I was there the nextmorning and needed help he:d be morethan happy to assist.I drove into town , got a motel,called ~ i k Simpson and let him off

because I knew they had auto gas. Hereagain I was made as welcome as awarm rain n summer. Courtesy car, afriendly smile, and a pat on the backside, and after breakfast I was on myway again toward home . I had a dozenor more alternates picked out n casethe LeBlond acted up again, but Ithreatened to call home for a trailer ift did t again and firmly "told" thatengine t was replaceable with an 0290-0 if t didn ' t want to do the job .The bluff worked and t ran like a jewelthe rest of the way.A little light rain started about

Champaign, Illinois and persisted allthe way to Joliet , which was where Ihad planned my next Mogas fuel stop.A happy tailwind was pushing prettygood and the fuel gauge said there wasplenty of reserve so I continued on tothe Funny Farm . I landed with six anda half gallons still n the 17-gallontank .

I guess the reason I m telling all ofyou about this s because in my " Passit to Buck" column of last month , Iadvocated the YFR direct type of flying I have just completed. Well , maybeit wasn t all that direct, but t wasYFR , and t was all done about 1,200to I ,500 feet above ground level , andt was very scenic and without radios ,

loran, or federal assistance. I saw onlyONE airplane the entire way. (So muchfor our crowded skies.) And neverhad less than eight or ten miles visibility all the way home. I also have atremendous sense of personal accomplishment and a really nice lookingairplane in my hangar to bootA look at Juptner s Yol. 6 will tellyou all the technical detail about thelittle beast. You won t find thi s particular airplane listed though becauseit was dropped from the register, as Isaid, but t is serial number 190 manufactured May 19, 1936. Its OrangishRed with irridescent blue trim about asoriginal as you can get. It s perhapsthe world s lowest-time antique withless then 160 hours total time. Nodings & cracks in the cowling or metalwork , and although t isn ' t a supersanitary trophy winner, t s all originaland it s MINE


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Oshkosh Shots

With the 145 Warner fired up, Gene Chase prepares to taxi h is 1933 Davis D-1-W to theAntique/Classic area for the Parade of Flight on Tuesday afternoon. Passenger in frontcockpit is Lars Svarre of Nykobing (F), Denmark.


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...

Heading out for West Chester, PA are AlC members Tom & Eileen Macario in thei r 160hpKinner powered Starduster Too N14MM. Note uN" struts, Great Lakes type landing gearand hand-made aluminum wheelpants Look for Tom & Eileen next year in their newlyrestored PA-12, whose rebuild story has been featured in The VINTAGE AIRPLANE.


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to complete the last Phantom, serialnumber 3 1, from parts in stock in1941. Doug brought his airplane toEAA Oshkosh '88 and flew home toNevada with the Contemporary AgeChampion Trophy. The story of thisairplane includes facts about the men,the metal and the organization thatbuilt it.

Don Luscombe drove ambulances inParis duri ng World War I and cadgedairplane rides with French pilots in exchange for cigarettes . When he returned from Europe , he studied merchandising at Iowa State Universityand opened a small advertising agencyin Davenport. His taste for flying re

turned when he visited the local airportand he bought a crated, surplus Jennyfor 850 and learned to fly. The Jennyand even its replacement, a Swallow,were too drafty and cumbersome forLuscombe's taste . He yearned for atwo-seat airplane that he could easilytrundle out of the hangar by its tailwheel-and not have to gird him se lf inleather to fly.

Inspiration came in the form of aBelgian design known as the DemontyPonce let that first flew in 1924. It wasa cabin two-place that looked more likea fish than a bird, but its cabin kept theoccupants warm and unfettered by theslipstream. Contrary to popular opin-

ion of the time, the pilot was able tocontrol the little ship without the windin his face to guide him.

Luscombe was serious enough tobuild a cardboard mock-up of his idealairplane but needed more expert helpto build a prototype. He formed theCentral States Aero Company andhired a Dubuque, Iowa farmboy namedClayton Folkerts who showed a naturaltalent for turning cardboard conceptsinto nuts and bolts. Thus was born theMonocoupe , the airplane that broughtpersonal flight out of the age of theopen cockpit and allowed pilots todress in shirtsleeves rather than leatherarmor and goggles.A succession of engines, airframeimprovements, management changesand sales rollercoasters followed in theyears leading to the Great Depression.Late in 1932, sales trends looked particularly disastrous. Fewer than 35airplanes had been delivered over thecourse of the year and the out look for1933 was even more bleak. At thetime, the company was known as theMonocoupe Corporation and wasowned by Phil Ball. When he died inOctober 1933 after a series of heart attacks, Don Luscombe left the companyhe had started and moved into the oldButler Blackhawk factory in KansasCity with yet another fresh idea.The Monocoup e had been a tube andfabric airplane, like almost allairplanes of the day . Sheet aluminumwas used to form cowls, whee l pants,fairings and some wing leading edgesbut the structural construction ofchoice was a steel tube skeleton co-


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vered with grade-A co tton.Aluminum alloy was first producedwith an electrolytic process in 1885.The first published article on its use inaircraft appeared in light magazine in1910 . The German firm DurenerMetallwe rke developed the alloyknown as duralumin for use on derigi

bles and later on aircraft such as theJunkers transports. Pure aluminum isnext only to gold in maleability andwhen joined with copper and magnesium in varying combinations produces the ideal light , corros ion-resis-tant alloy. Aluminum used in themonococque format is called stressedskin construction because the sk in itself takes on some of the structuralload .

Monococque fuselages were introduced in 1912 with the French Deperduss in wood monoplane . Wood formers were wrapped with thin plywoodsheets. German transports built by Junkers had been using metal since 1915and aluminum since 9 I7 starting withthe J.4 .As ea rly as 1920 the British usedstressed-skin construction on the ShortSilver Streak but early alloys showeda tendency toward excessive corrosion ,especially when they came in contactwith salt water as in seaplane applications . Alloys containing zinc were particularly susceptible. Anodizing themetal with aluminum oxide was a wayto combat corrosion.

When Luscombe moved to KansasCity from Saint Louis, he brought hi schief engineer Ivan Driggs and A .K.Longren, a vigorous proponent ofmetal monococque fuselages . Longrenhad built a small monococque biplaneand developed a hydraulic stretch pressto form its aluminum panels . Previously , all curves had to be hammered

co upe 0-145 powered by the Warner145-hp Super Scarab engine . t hadan all-metal fuselage and aluminumspars and ribs. The 150-pound fuselage shell could support nine ton sof weight and the wings had strengthin excess of any government standard. To be practical for production,the de sig n relied heavily on Longre n 's stretch press and it soon becameclear th at th e machine wasn't up to thetask . Ultimately , Luscombe ' s Dutchmetalsmith, Nick Nordyke handformed th e panels on eac h Phantombuilt. He used a power ham mer to beatthe metal into shape but it took far toomuch time to produce eac h panel andNordyke ' s skill was irrep lacea ble . In

that sense th e Pbantom was failure. In stead of an inex pensive airplane builtby machines , it became a cos tly handmade work of craftsmanship .

Production woes weren't the onl ydrawback to the Phantom design . Theprototype was completed in May 1934and flown by company test pilot , Barton Stevenson. He reported th at th eairplane flew just fine but became asnarling tiger when its wheels came inco ntact with the ea rth . The cantileverlanding gear blended beautifully intothe sleek lines of the fuselage, but assymetrical compress ion of e ither shockabsorber almost guaranteed agroundloop . Simply go ing over abump could cause an irreversible

\ \m t ~ ~ f l O ? ~ t CO~ O O R J


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The compound curves of the fuselage were hand-formed y Nick Nordyke.

Phantom 272Y has a vin tage OF loop antenna mounted on the roof.


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swerve. Luscombe himself said, Youcould master the violin easier than thefancy footwork needed to avoidgroundlooping. Even after extensivemodification of the landing gear including the addition of a supplementalflying wires between the fuselage andeach gear leg, the Phantom was, andis, a handful on the ground.

n addition to the prototype, 272Y,seven airplanes were produced at theKansas City facility before January1935. n February the company movedlock, stock and barrel to Trenton, New

Jersey and the Mercer Airport. Luscombe lived in an old inn on the northend of the field. The building alsoserved as the company's offices. Hisworkers lived with him in the inn oron cots in the factory. Salaries oftenwent unpaid but the company providedgroceries from the meager cash flow .Life wasn't easy, but in the Depression-hardened 1930s, just having a jobwas more than most people couldclaim. The Mercer Airport was also thesite of Luscombe's fixed base operation that cared for a Staggerwing, twoStinsons and a Waco. The LuscombeAirplane Corporation reorganized asthe Luscombe Airplane DevelopmentCo.Most of 1935 was spent building

Phantoms and rebuilding those that hadrolled themselves up. One airplane thathad been damaged in a hard forcedlanding was the only one available fora demonstration flight when the wifeof a Dr. Tschudi from Switzerlandwalked in the door shopping for anairplane. Don promptly took her up fora demonstration flight and nosed thePhantom over on landing, flipping iton its back. Nevertheless, the womanwrote a check for $6,000 and took aPhantom home to Europe. Theairplane, HB-EXE, subsequentlytoured the couple throughout the continent as well as the Middle East.

1936 saw Luscombe produce abouta half dozen Phantoms and open itsSchool of Aeronautics. The Schoolwas originally introduced as an apprentice training program and later becamea division of the parent company .Work began on a simple-to-produce,two-place companion model of thePhantom and Frank Speckles won theLos Angeles based, Ruth ChattertonSportsman pilot trophy race with aPhantom.Stockholder Hal Hiramson bought aPhantom in 1937 and had it painted theshade of bronze that matched his favorite can of beer. If that leads to anyconclusions about his attitude andlifestyle, they are probably accurate.He cracked up his Phantom on his firstlanding after mistaking the brake handle for the trim actuator.The young Philadelphian becameenthralled with the company enough tobecome a director and took a personalinterest in aircraft sales, much to theconsternation of Luscombe. Hiramson's first customer was his brother-inlaw and he insisted on delivering theairplane to upstate New York personally. En route, he decided to see howhigh the Phantom would fly andblacked out somewhere above 20,000feet. He awoke in a screaming powerdive at over 300 mph. He managed topull out and force-land the airplane


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the apple in the eye of Don Luscombewas still a simple airplane. His energies were directed at the design of justsuch a craft. The Model 90 followedusing a flat-wrap metal constructiontechnique that wasn't as pretty as thePhantom's hand-formed compoundcurves, but much more practical. Withthe advent of the Continental 50-hp flatengine at a low price, the Model 8evolved from that design .In 1938, an Austrian industrialistnamed Leopold Klotz who had fled Hitler's Europe bought a large amount ofLuscombe stock and hired a productionmanager who alienated the work forceat the factory . When Luscombe wasunable to fire the man, he decided tosell out. In April 1939 he left the com

pany that bore his name. Luscombespent the rest of his life in Ambler,Pennsylvania and worked on a fourplace airplane that was eventuallyknown as the Colt , but never went intoproduction . He died in 1965.

Serial number 3 Phantom, Dougand Linda's airplane, was completedand test flown in 1941. The originalowners rarely flew the airplane andDoug writes that it traveled, from onegarage and accident site to another. Itwas returned to the factory in 1944after suffering extensive damage. Oneyear later it returned to service, fouryears after production with a little overI I hours per year registered on thetach. From 1947 to 1952, the airplanewent through three owners and a series

of minor accidents resulting in severalrepairs. In 1952, a Mr. Hayduckbought the Phantom and flew it for 58hours before wrecking it and rebuilding it again. His efforts to metalize thewings were thwarted by the FAA asthe molasses speed of the bureaucraticprocess worked in favor of historicpreservation.Two other owners intervened from

1965 to 1982 and a great deal of valu-able information was procured but little work was done . Yet another ownerthen trucked the airplane to Texaswhere six years of metalwork, engineoverhauling and wing fabric workbegan. In the course of these efforts ,some historical artifacts were literally,uncovered. Under the primer on the inside of the fuselage, several productiondirections signed D.L. were discovered. Also, a 1930s wrench was foundinside a wing fairing. It had generateddi-electric corrosion of the metal skinthat needed to be repaired.

At the 90-percent-complete stage,Doug and Linda bought the projectwhen the owner became disillusionedand discouraged. A friend of the pairhad spotted an ad in Trade-A-Plane.They finished the detail and riggingwork and in May 1988, accidently performed the first test flight while engaged in a high-speed taxi test. Thepair flew the airplane to its current baseat Chandler, Arizona where re-rigging,re-aligning and about 500 hours of additional detail work were completed.Repairs were also required on the engine, electrical system and control cables. Doug flew the airplane to EAAOshkosh '88 for fellow Luscombe lovers to admire and enjoy.

He says everything you read aboutdifficult ground handling is true, although he moved the tailwheel fromthe forward position on the fuselagethat was favored in later serial numbers, back to the rear of the tailconewhere it was on the prototype.Nevertheless, he finds this the ultimate


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TH UPS ND DOWNSOF J 2

y Gene Chase

John Hartman s J-2 Taylor Cub

Everyone who was at EAA Oshkosh88 remembers the great storm that hiton Thursday. Antique/Classic members who were near the Red Bam recallthe Taylor Cub that was uprooted andheavily damaged when it struck a telephone pole . Only heroic action by several volunteers and others saved theCub and other nearby airplanes fromfurther damage. In 1987 , Gene Chaseinterviewed John Hartman of Mack,

Volkswagen bus. The wind had blownthe Cub over on its back and so I hadto completely rebuild it.Q. (Where did you get it?)A. It was in Oklahoma City, the youngfellow there was going to college andhe didn t tie it down very good out atCole s Hole where Chester Peak andHarold Malloy live and the wind blewit over. Of course, I ve known the kidfor a long time and he d been after myVagabond and I finally traded him.Q. (Good)A. And then I restored it over, oh, tookme about three years to restore it.

Q. (Tell me about the instruments .)A. Well, four instruments.Q. (Are they original?)A. They re original, uh , the oil temperature and oil pressure s new, rebuiltbut everything else is the Cub instruments. As near as I know it s originaleverything.Q. (Good . What is the gas capacity?)A. Nine gallons.Q (That s that little round tank isn tit?)A. Little round tank, yes , bums threean hour. Gives you three hours at about58 mph. You don t go very far.


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Multiple tiedowns in this 1987 photo are an ironic detail

A. I t s 5,000 feet, Mack Mesa Airport,it s just 20 miles west of Grand Junction. It s just a dirt strip 2,600 feet longwith a bunch of antiques there . We vegot about 30 antiques on the field .People just come out and work on theirairplanes. I quit farming in 1980 and Ikept that 80 acres where the landingfield was. That s all I ve got now. Justkept the landing field and built a houseright there. So I live right on the field.Q. (Where is that from Grand Junc-tion ?)A It s 20 miles west toward Utah, justoff 1-70.Q (How many hours have you flownthe Cub?)A. I ve been putting on about 25 , 30hours for the last two years .Q. (Have you had any problems withthe Continental?)A. No, not a bit.

Q. (J II bet you need that high rpmthough to climb with it, don t you? Toget it up there ?)A. Oh yes , yes. The lowest pass thatwe can get out of there is 9,000 feetso we have to go at least 10 to get outof the valley there.Q (That s a f r piece for a 40 horseairplane .)A. Yes it is.Q (Do you use Marvel Mystery Oil?)A. In the oil and in the gas and I squirtit on the valve stems before each flight.

Q. (Good for you. Did this airplaneoriginally come with that size wheelnd tire?)

A. No, it came with airwheels and Icouldn t get any so I put an adapter onso I use 8.00 X 4s now . I huntedeverywhere for those airwheel tires.Q. (They re hard to find.)A. Oh, I would have loved to found apair. But very few people know that,know that and can tell. Course itdoesn t have any brakes.

Q (Have you flown it without the tail-wheel? Do you have any grass anyplace you c nfly it with just the skid?)A. No. Well our runway s gravel andno, I haven t. I ve got the little shoethat fit on the spring but I never havetried it.Q (How did you duplicate the artworkon the fin?)A. I took a picture of the data plate andhad it enlarged 30 times and then tooka razor blade and cut it out and gluedit on and marked it with a pencil andthen hand painted it freehand.Q (You did that yourself?)A. Well, the wife, I got her to do thepainting.Q. (Oh good, goodfor her. Yes it looksreal good. How did you determine thethree black stripes nd locate them andeverything? )

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The Cub suffered heavy aileron and rear spar damage of the left wing

A. Well, I got pictures of it when itwas fairly a new airplane and that swhat I went by. I ve got all the recordssince it was brand new. I don t knowif it s really authentic but it s from along time back .Q. (It sure looks authentic. Did youhave any problems getting it licensed?)A. No. Not a bit. The airworthinesscertificate was still good and my sonin-law is an AI.Q. (Oh, that helps.)A. And so I had to twist his arm andlet him fly it a little.Q. (Sure.)A. But he licenses it for me each year.Q. (Well good. What s your flyingbackground, fohn ?A. Well, I joined the Aviation Cadetsin 1943 but I got washed out before Igot my wings. I was taking basic atJohnson s Flying Service in Missoula,Montana. They washed out 63,000 oneday and sent us all to the infantry. ButI told them when they did that I wasstill going to have my license some dayand then when I got home I didn t getmy license until 58. Cause I boughta farm when I got home and I went tofarming but I got my private in 58 andmy commercial in 60 and I was spraying just a little bit and then I went tohauling crew to the gas wells in myspare time.Q. (What in?)A. In a 206, turbo 206, but I found outthat wasn t fun. I raised alfalfa seedand we had to spray it for onion thripand to get it to set seed. I just did myown .


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1987 photo of the 40 hp Continental

Q (Tell me about some of theairplanes you ve built, John.)A. Well I ve built a Woody Pusher, aSmith Miniplane, and I ve restoredfour T Crafts, a Vagabond, a Clipper,a Tripacer, how many others?Q (How d you have time to farm ?)A. This is in the winter. I restoreairplanes in the winter like the WoodyPusher took me two winters to buildand the Smith Miniplane took threewinters. And of course, I could rebuilda T Craft each winter after I got themothers rebu iI .Q (John, how much flying do you dothese days ?)

A. At 7:30 every morning I go. I kindof got a route down there in the valleyand I take off and it takes about 20minutes and I fly every morning . Lastyear I missed about six mornings thatI never went on account of weather orif I wasn t at home. But that s just oneof them things that if I didn t do it theneighbors would think I was sick orsomething.Q (What all do you look at during thatflight?)A Seems like everday I see somethingelse to look at. I go over , well I kindof got a route, I go over differentpeople's houses, wave at them. Onemorning I went about an hour early

and the Mack Postmistress , she wasstill in bed, and she thought Oh myGod, I m late for work. But I was anhour early because I had to go some-place . Some of the guys say that theycan set their watch by me.Q (Well that s interesting. Do youever stop nd give them a ride?)A. Oh, yes, I ve given them all rides .I tell them that I go by myself to meetme there at seven and all of them thatI go over they've come out and wentone day or another with me.

Q (They meet you at your strip.)A. Up at my strip and J then I takethem on the route.Q. (Is your strip marked on the section-als? )A. Yes, it s Mack Mesa Airport. It s20 miles west of Grand Junction, infact , we re right on the Grand JunctionILS . Of course they're 6,000 feetabove us when they go over. We re inthe procedure tum.Q (I see.)A. We were going to try to get a blacktop but our local taxes would cost ustoo much so we just graveled it and it spacked real tight, just like cement sowe don t ding any props. It's an allweather strip .Q (Do you ever fly on skis in thewinter?)A. Never have .Q (Could you if you wanted to ?)A. Well, we don t have much snowdown in the valley. Last year we hadfour inches once and it lasted two days .One winter we had two foot and itlasted all winter but that was kind ofunusual. We have lots of snow in the


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WEL OME NEW MEMBERSThe following is a partial listing o new members who have joined the EAA Antique/Classic Division (through September 8,1988). We are honored to welcome them into the organization whose members common interest is vintage aircraft. Succeedingissues o THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE will contain additional listings o new members.

Albright RobertStreetsboro Oh ioAllan JanLidingo SwedenAllenspach HeinzPlanken LichtensteinAment FrankSandwich IllinoisAnderson MichaelCedar Hill TexasArmbrust DouglasGreensburg PennsylvaniaBabaganian ArthurMichigan City IndianaBailey RobertShoreview MinnesotaBaird HenryTalbott TennesseeBaker JamesCo lorado Springs ColoradoBallantyne JohnNashville IllinoisBeaulieu RonaldFall River MassachusettsBegley PaulVictoria AustraliaBennett JohnArcata CaliforniaBinns JohnWalled Lake MichiganBlackner John

Brandt RogerSioux Falls South DakotaBreand AndreThiais FranceBrooks ElgerManton MichiganBrusilow MichaelAlbany New YorkBurnidge ScottElgin IllinoisButler Manley Jr.California City CaliforniaCalvert IanAlexandria VirginiaCalvo TonyAnchorage AlaskaCapps RonOklahoma City OklahomaCarothers RhondaFreemont CaliforniaCarr DonaldSaratoga CaliforniaCarvlho JosePorto Alegre BrazilCase JamesIndian River MichiganCheslack PatriciaAurora ColoradoCisre Reynes MiguelMallorea SpainClason Roy

Confer RonaldMorrison ColoradoConwell WilliamBurlingame CaliforniaCooley RobertMichigan City Ind ianaCornwell PaulLittleton ColoradoCraig GreerEI Paso TexasCudd DavidCharlotte North CarolinaDavideit DennisPlymouth MinnesotaDeVreis RobertJamaica New YorkDeYoung RogerTucson ArizonaDurr RobertEscondido CaliforniaEgbert FrankLos Altos CaliforniaEhrenstrom IngemarOsterskar SwedenElbel GeorgeCincinnati OhioElsing MylesCorona Del Mar CaliforniaElton RonaldPlatte City MissouriEsch Martha

Finan JamesIndialantic FloridaForrester JamesCarraopolis PennsylvaniaFrancis DanWappingers Fa lls New YorkFrench F LynnCrawford ColoradoFrysinger EarlPortland OregonGalway DavidPort Credit OntarioGambrell RobertColumbia South CarolinaGoranson RonaldBartlett IllinoisGreen Francis IIIFrankfort New YorkGygax LarryWaukesha WisconsinHansen HarryHam ilton TexasHaskell CurtDavison MichiganHatten TomSpokane WashingtonHayes LarryThousand Oaks CaliforniaHayes RobertMogadore OhioHeadley ThomasMadison Alabama


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MEMBERSHIPINFORMATIONEAAMembership in the ExperimentalAircraft Association , Inc. is $30.00for one year, including 12 issues ofSport Aviation. Junior Membership(under 19 years of age) is availableat $18.00 annually. Fam ily Membership is available for an additional$10.00 annually.

ANTIQUE/CLASSICSEAA Member - $18.00. Includesone year membership in EAA Antique-Classic Division, 12 monthlyissues of The Vintage Airplane andmembership card. Applicant mustbe a current EAA member and mustgive EAA membership number.Non-EAA Member - $28.00 . In-cludes one yea r membership in theEAA Antique-Classic Division, 12monthly issues of The Vintage Air-plane, one year membership in theEAA and separate membershipcards. Sport Aviat ion not ncluded.

lACMembership in the InternationalAerobatic Club, Inc. is $25.00 annually which includes 12 issues ofSport Aerobatics. All lAC membersare required to be members of EAA .WARBIRDSMembership in the Wa rbirds ofAmerica, Inc. is $25.00 pe r year,which includes a subscription toWarblrds. Warbird members arerequired to be members of EAA .

EAA EXPERIMENTEREAA membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for$28.00 per year (Sport Aviat ion notincluded). Current EAA membersmay receive EAA EXPERIMENTERfor $18.00 per year.

FOREIGN

Leo Opdycke, Editor Kenn Rust, EditorW. W.1 AERO (19001 919), and SKYWAYS 1 9201940):our two Journals, which contain: information on current projects historical research news of museums and airshow5 workshop notes technical drawings, data information on paint and color photographs aeroplanes, engines, parts for sale scale modelling material PLUS: your wants and disposals news of current publications of all kinds PLUS more .

Sample copies $4 each.Published by WORLD WAR 1 INC.

15 Cresce nl Koad . POllqllkcc psi e. NY 12601. USA (9 14 147 3 3679

Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet. ..25e per w ord , 20 wo rd minimum. Send your ad t oThe Vintage Trader , Wittman Ai rti eldOshkosh, WI 54903-2591.

AIRCRAFT:Cheste r's GOON, GEE BEE's, " BULLDOG,"MONOCOUPE " 110", Culver " Cadet", etc. Planscatalog $3.00, REFUNDABLE: Vern Clements, AIC 5989, 308 Palo Alto Drive, Caldwell , 10 82605.(112)

Complete J-3 ta il group - covered with StitsPoly-Fiber through silver - professional quality also PA-18 rudder and fin - must sell. Call 5071437-3534. (11-1)

1931 Heath Parasol - Model V, with Heath B-4engine. Spare Heath-Henderson engine. Restored ,ready for assembly. Also have very nice Continental A404, and complete set of Cub J3 serviceletters. Make offers. 312/742-2041, Illinois. (11-1)

PLANS:

ENGINES & ACCESSORIES:Bendix DR4N-2021 Dual magneto - New withDura-Blue harnesses. Save weight and a drive.Make offer (no collect). 214/248-4104. (11-2)

MISCELLANEOUS:Have We Got A Pa rt for You! 20 years accumulation of parts for all types of aircraft - antiques.classics , homebuilts , warbirds. Everything from thespinner to the tail wheel. Air Salvage of Arkansas,Rt. 1, Box 8020, Mena, AR 71953, phone 501 /3941022 or 501 /394-2342. (3-2/579111)CUSTOM EMBROIDERED PATCHES. Made tosuit your design, any size, shape, colors. Fivepatch minimum. Free random sample andbrochure. Hein Specialties, 4202P North Drake,Chicago, IL 606181113. (c2/89)AN OPEN COCKPIT VOX INTERCOM THATWORKS! - A two-squelch electronic systemguaranteed to eliminate open mics and STILL bevoice activated Interfaces with handheld comradios. Record and selfmuting music inputs. ATCoverride. All kits include assembled PC board. Upto 50 hrs. with 9VDC battery or power with 8 .32VDC. FIVE YEAR WARRANTY. Two place kit


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THE UILDING OFTHE


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by George A. Hardie, Jr

This high-wing cabin monoplanebore the name of an ea rly airplane designer. The photo is from the collectionfo the late Burton Kemp of Chicago,an early EAA member. The date andlocation are unknown . Answe rs will bepublished in the February, 1989 issueof THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE .Deadline for that issue is December 1 ,1988 .The Mystery Plane for August is aThomas seaplane . There seems to be aquestion as to which model seaplane it

hp engine drove it at a speed of 86 mphand permitted a climb of 3,600 feet in1 minutes with a full load .A photo of the 05 , a landplane, resembles the seaplane shown in theMystery photo . Quoting again from theYearbook article:

The government was now reo[

ganizing its small flying sec tions, andcame to the Thomas Aeroplane Company for machines . In August , 1916 atwo-seater training hydro-airplane wasready . . .Only one answer was received .Charley Hayes of Park Forest , Illinoiscorrectly identified the aircraft.


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vintage airplane - nov 1988

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