DECEMBER 2011

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3 News

5 The Waco Model ‘C’ Classy custom Cabins by Sparky Barnes Sargent

12 Going Home Again At age 12, I harbored aspirations of fl ying fast, like my heroes, the Mercury astronauts . . . by Philip Handleman

16 My First Airplane by Lee Hurry

18 Chapter Locator

20 Light Plane Heritage Remember the Avro Avian? by Bob Whittier

28 The Vintage Mechanic Tail Wheel Installations by Robert G. Lock

32 The Vintage Instructor Short-Field Operations Part 2 by Steve Krog, CFI

34 Mystery Plane by H.G. Frautschy

37 Classifi eds

38 A Little Smooth Air by Michelle Souder

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1

A I R P L A N E DECEMBER

C O N T E N T S

S T A F FEAA Publisher Rod HightowerDirector of EAA Publications J. Mac McClellanExecutive Editor Mary JonesExecutive Director/Editor H.G. FrautschyProduction/Special Projects Kathleen WitmanPhotography Jim KoepnickCopy Editor Colleen Walsh

Publication Advertising:Manager/Domestic, Sue AndersonTel: 920-426-6127 Email: sanderson@eaa.orgFax: 920-426-4828

Senior Business Relations Mgr, Trevor JanzTel: 920-426-6809 Email: tjanz@eaa.org

Manager/European-Asian, Willi TackePhone: +49(0)1716980871 Email: willi@fl ying-pages.comFax: +49(0)8841 / 496012

Classifi ed Advertising Coordinator, Jo Ann Cody SimonsTel: 920-426-6169 Email: classads@eaa.org

C O V E R S

Vol. 39, No. 12 2011

FRONT COVER: In the days before World War II, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and its predecessor, the Department of Commerce, Aeronautics Branch, had a stable of air-craft to be used by inspectors in the fi eld. This 1939 Waco AGC-8 was one of those airplanes. You can enjoy the story of its history and restoration in Sparky Barnes Sargent’s article start-ing on page 5. EAA photo by EAA’s chief photographer, Jim Koepnick.BACK COVER: With a nod to longtime EAA editorial contributor Bob Whittier, who reminded us of this cover, we bring you the seasonally appropriate cover artwork by Stewart Rouse of the December 1933 issue of Model Airplane News, featuring a Christmastime message stamped in the snow to greet the pilot of the “New Heath Parasol.”

5

For missing or replacement magazines, orany other membership-related questions, please call EAA Member Services at 800- JOIN-EAA (564-6322).

20

28

2 DECEMBER 2011

and the entire staff of the EAA

On behalf of the offi cers, directors, and the staff of the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association, we wish each of you peace, joy, and prosperity during the holiday season and throughout the new year, with

many days of safe, enjoyable fl ying!

Merry Christmas! • Happy Holidays! • Happy New Year!

Paul PobereznyRod HightowerGeoff Robison

George DaubnerDan KnutsonSteve Nesse

Steve BenderDave Bennett Bob Brauer

Jerry BrownGene ChaseDave Clark

Jack CopelandPhil Coulson

Ron Fritz Dale GustafsonCharlie HarrisBuck Hilbert

Jeannie HillButch JoyceSteve KrogBob Lumley

Gene MorrisWes Schmid

John TurgyanH.G. Frautschy

Theresa Books

VAA NEWS

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3

Tom Poberezny Inducted IntoSan Diego Hall of Fame

Congratulations to EAA Chairman Emeritus Tom Poberezny, who was inducted into the San Diego Inter-national Air & Space Hall of Fame on November 5. Tom was honored for his leadership of EAA, his 25-year air show career, and the creation of EAA’s Young Eagles program. Other inductees included Apollo astronaut Walt Cunningham, Voyager pilot Dick Rutan, the U.S. Navy TOPGUN school, and World War II pilot Jerry Coleman, perhaps better known as a second baseman for the New York Yankees in the 1950s and a Hall of Fame baseball broadcaster. Paul Po-berezny had been inducted into the same hall of fame in 1996.

EAA Mourns Death of Longtime Aircraft Technician

EAA staff members are mourn-ing the loss of co-worker Ted Mos-

man, whose expertise in aircraft maintenance kept EAA’s B-17 and Ford Tri-Motor fl ying on tour for the past 20 years. Mosman died on October 20 after a battle with cancer. He was 57.

M o s m a n , a n I o w a n a t i v e , joined EAA in 1980 when the or-ganization’s headquarters were in the Milwaukee area, then made the move to Oshkosh with EAA in the early 1980s. He was an in-tegral part of EAA’s B-17 and Tri-Motor restorations and worked on

every aircraft owned by the orga-nization. He also assisted air show performers and others who han-gared aircraft at the Kermit Weeks Flight Research Center during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. “When-ever we needed something done on the B-17 when it was on the road, Ted was right there; he was a natural mechanic,” EAA Founder Paul Poberezny said. “He’d always go along on the test flight after-ward and listen to make sure ev-erything was right.”

John Underwood Inducted Into VAA Hall of FameDuring ceremo-

nies held the eve-ning of October 27, 2011, noted author and aviation history enthusiast John Under wood was inducted into the Vintage Aircraft As-sociation’s Hall of Fame. Other induct-ees included Jack McCornack of Cave

Junction, Oregon (Ultralight Hall of Fame), the late Tony LeVier of La Canada, California (International Aerobatic Club Hall of Fame), the late David B. Lindsay Jr. of Sarasota, Florida (Warbirds of America Hall of Fame), and Ed Fisher of Gilbert, South Carolina (Homebuilders Hall of Fame).

“Each of these fi ve individuals has made a unique contribution to the world of fl ight that has benefi ted all of us,” said Rod Hightower, EAA president and CEO. “These inductees serve as an example for everyone involved in fl ying and represent the best that recreational aviation has to offer. We recognize their commitment and passion for fl ying and are honored to welcome them into the EAA Sport Aviation Hall of Fame.”

We’ll have more on Underwood’s lifetime in aviation in the Jan-uary issue of Vintage Airplane.

Geoff Robison, John Underwood, and Rod Hightower.

SH

ARPS

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OTE

R IM

AGIN

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4 DECEMBER 2011

More Information on Bellanca N6561N

As is often the case with our vin-tage aircraft, there’s much more to the story of an aircraft featured in our pages than meets the eye. Such is the case of Bellanca Cruisemaster N6561N, and in the caption accom-panying the photo of the airplane published in the October issue, we should have filled in a few more blanks. Prior to being acquired by its current owner, Ron Hansen, it was owned by Al Pontious and Jere Calef.

After being damaged when the left main gear leg collapsed on landing at the Columbia, California, airport during the annual Bellanca fly-in, the airplane was declared to be a to-tal loss by an insurance company. It was disassembled and placed in stor-age pending its disposition. The most likely outcome was that the airplane would be sold for parts.

Pontious, who has owned, main-tained, and restored Bellancas for many years and who is a well-known expert on Bellanca aircraft, did not want to see another Bellanca del-egated to the parts bin, so he and Calef purchased the pieces, brought them home to Mojave, and began the repair/restoration. In addition to the damage caused by the gear col-lapse, there was significant damage infl icted when the aircraft was disas-sembled and transported to the stor-age facility. After a little more than a year’s worth of effort, N6561N again took to the skies in the condi-tion shown in the October issue. Mr. Hansen subsequently purchased the aircraft from the partners, who were glad to see another Bellanca cruising the skies.

VAA DuesPer Section VI., Dues, of the VAA’s

bylaws, the VAA board of directors has voted to set the yearly dues of the association at $42 per year, effec-tive March 1, 2012.

Louie Andrew HonoredWith Henry Kimberly Leadership Award

Longtime Fond du Lac, Wiscon-

sin, attorney Louie Andrew was

awarded the Henry Kimberly Spirit

of Leadership Award for his volun-

teer efforts on behalf of EAA and

the community during the Sport Avi-

ation Hall of Fame banquet Octo-

ber 27 at the EAA Aviation Center

in Oshkosh. As part of the award,

named for renowned Oshkosh busi-

ness leader and EAA suppor ter

Henry Kimberly, Andrew received a

$1,000 prize to designate toward any of EAA’s programs.

Andrew’s advice, knowledge of the community and region, and

passion for fl ight contribute to his effectiveness in his role as in-

terim chairman of EAA’s board of directors. He also serves as

chairman of EAA’s executive committee and a director for the In-

ternational Aerobatic Club.

He began fl ying at the Fond du Lac airport at age 14, soloed on

his 16th birthday, and obtained his private pilot certifi cate at age

17. Andrew, who holds single- and multi-engine land and instru-

ment ratings, fl ies a Piper Aztec and an Aeronca Super Chief that

are based at Fond du Lac County Airport.

Andrew, a University of Notre Dame and Marquette University

Law School graduate, has been a practicing attorney in Fond du

Lac for 45 years, specializing in corporate and real estate law. He

also owns and operates Guaranty Service Group Inc., which oper-

ates seven title insurance offi ces and provides services to lend-

ers in the state of Wisconsin and six other Midwestern states.

Andrew and his wife, Sue, live in Fond du Lac and are parents of

fi ve children.

Louie Andrew

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

Atrio of grand old Waco C-8 Cabin models gleamed mag-nifi cently under the summer sun at EAA AirVenture 2010, just as the vintage field be-

gan thoroughly drying out from re-cord rainfalls. Like the sunshine, these luxury custom Cabin Wacos were a welcome sight. Fewer than 30 of these biplanes were manufac-tured, and it’s estimated that about half exist today, with less than a handful in fl yable condition.

Of the threesome, Bob and Barb Perkins’ Waco AGC-8 (N20908) was manufactured in 1939 under ATC

664. The “A” denotes its 300-hp Ja-cobs L-6 engine. Jim Clark’s Waco (NC61KS) rolled off the production line in 1939 as an AGC-8, but was soon converted to a model EGC-8. The “E” denotes the 320-hp (super-charged to 350-hp) Wright R760-E2. Bill McCormick’s Waco (NC2279) was originally manufactured under ATC 665 as an EGC-8. Waco’s “C” Model was spry yet gentle, and pi-lots still appreciate it for its quick takeoffs and slow landings, in addi-tion to its other fi ne qualities. Let’s take a closer look at the septuage-narian Wright-powered EGC-8.

The Luxury EGC-8 Cabin ModelWaco produced seven EGC-8s.

The EGC-8 had seating for five, with an overall wingspan of 34 feet, 9 inches (lower wingspan of 24 feet 4 inches) and a length of 27 feet 4 inches from nose to tail. It towered 8 feet, 7-1/2 inches tall and had a 108-inch-wide gear tread. The EGC-8 weighed 2,447 pounds empty, had a payload of 563 pounds, and had a gross weight of 3,800 pounds.

Its mighty Wright turned a Ham-ilton Standard controllable pro-peller, and with 95 gallons of fuel

Waco Model “C”

Classy Custom Cabins

BY SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

The

JIM KOEPNICK

6 DECEMBER 2011

available, it burned 18 gph while enjoying a cruising speed of 147 mph (up to 159 mph at optimum altitude) and a range of 713 miles (with 15 percent reserve). The stan-dard color for the “C” Model’s hand-rubbed, lustrous finish was Gunmetal Gray, but customers could also choose from the optional Waco Vermilion (which added 33 pounds to the empty weight), Insig-nia Blue (which added 7 pounds), or Silver.

A company brochure touted the Waco Model “C” as representing the fi nest in air travel, since its “re-fi ned streamlining was responsible for faster airspeed, and a lengthened fuselage with an effi cient fl ap design provided better control at slow land-ing speeds.” Designed for pilot and passenger comfort alike, this model featured elegant interiors that could also accommodate a variety of cargo, since the biplane was “…of-fered with a freighter interior and may also be equipped as an aerial ambulance. When so equipped, the stretcher is concealed when not in use and the usual passenger interior remains unimpaired.”

One especially interesting fea-ture were the split flaps: “At any time prior to landing if unexpected obstructions appear, the throttle may be opened fully and the fl aps

NC2279’s instrument panel.

A peek inside NC2279’s exquisitely detailed cabin.

NC2279 is fi nished in Henry King’s signature paint scheme.

A company brochure about the Waco Model “C” Cabin models. SPARKY BARNES SARGENT PHOTOS

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7

will close themselves automatically and slowly without further loss of altitude and without effort on the pilot’s part. When the emergency has passed the pilot may close the fl ap control valve until ready to use it again.”

With fresh air supplied to the cabin (from intakes in the wings), ashtrays for those who smoked, and a comfortable back seat where passengers could relax into “aerial naps,” the Model “C” was designed to please. Special design consider-ation was also given to mechanics who would maintain these flying machines: “It is a delightful experi-ence for a mechanic to study this WACO and see the care that has been taken to make the entire air-plane readily accessible for service attention with a minimum of time and effort.”

Speaking of maintenance and more, each of the EGC-8s that fl ew in to AirVenture (NC2279 and NC61KS) were recently restored to virtually authentic configurations and have their own bit of notewor-thy history to share.

The ‘King’ WacoNC2279, a 1938 Waco EGC-8, is

owned and flown by Bill McCor-mick of Clarkston, Michigan. It was restored by Rare Aircraft Ltd. of Faribault, Minnesota, and received the Bronze Age (1937-1941) Out-standing Closed Cockpit Biplane—Small Plaque during AirVenture. No doubt its original owner, Henry King, were he alive today, would be quite proud that the biplane is not only an award winner, but that it looks just like it did when he owned it.

Henry King was a movie director, and perhaps best known by avia-tion enthusiasts for Twelve O’Clock High and A Yank in the RAF. Born in January 1886, he fi rst started di-recting movies three years before earning his pilot’s license in 1918. He built an impressive career as he continued directing for nearly half a century and was one of the top directors in Hollywood during the

1920s and ’30s. His achievements included directing more than 100 movies, receiving the first Golden Globe Award in 1944, and being one of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Throughout his career, he re-mained an avid aviator, and a sportsman pilot—his personalized private aircraft insignia appears in The Amateur Air Pilots Register as early as 1934. In September 1938, King took delivery of NC2279 (s/n 5064). It was the fourth of five Wacos he owned. Each one was fi nished in his signature color scheme—vermilion with black and gold trim. Notably, his passion for flying led him to become one of the founding fathers of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) during World War II. King served as the deputy com-mander of the CAP Coastal Patrol Base in Brownsville, Texas.

King owned NC2279 until 1940, when he traded it in. Waco then sold the biplane to Eastern Coal Corporation of Bluefi eld, West Vir-ginia. The government bought it in 1942, and three years later, it landed in the hands of a citizen in San Di-ego, California—at that time, its reg-istration number had been changed to NC50610. This Waco flew from owner to owner through the years, but then languished from the early 1960s for several decades. Eventu-ally it wound up in Vancouver, Brit-ish Columbia, as a project. In 2004, Bill McCormick of Clarkston, Michi-gan, purchased it. The airframe had a total time of 3,115:45 hours, and McCormick decided to have it dis-assembled and trucked to Rare Air-craft for reassembly. That’s when it became apparent that the old bi-plane needed a substantial amount of work, and an 18-month restora-tion ensued. Jeremy Redman of Rare Aircraft explains:

“The airplane came to us covered and painted, and we started getting ready to put stuff together, when we saw corrosion on the fuselage. We started punch testing a couple of tubes and found a rotten cluster. And then we were inspecting the wings and found a couple of cracked spars. Also, there was rot back in the stabilizer ,and we thought, ‘Man, we have to do something here!’ Bill agreed, and it essentially turned into darn near a full restoration. We built four new wings; interestingly, one upper wing assembly on this custom Cabin Waco consumes more labor than the entire wing set on a UPF-7. We also rebuilt the tail feathers. There were some compression fail-ures where the steel fittings bolted on to the stabilizer and the airframe, and this model has a cantilever sta-bilizer, so it’s very important that the integrity of the wood is good.”

Additionally, Rare Aircraft re-paired the fuselage and engine mount, rebuilt the ailerons, re-placed fairings and leading edges, and fabricated new wing flaps. While they were at it, they also fab-ricated a new aluminum bulkhead

“It’s one thing to have

an antiqueairplane that is

beautiful to look at, but an an-tique airplane

that fl ies as friendly as this airplane—it’s a

real joy!”—Jim Clark

8 DECEMBER 2011

for the panel and a stainless fire-wall. They restored the cowling and dishpan, rebuilt the landing gear, re-bushed the tail wheel support assembly, and fabricated new fuel and oil tanks. To facilitate flying and communicating in today’s air-space, a VHF transceiver, transpon-der, encoder, intercom, and Whelen strobe system were installed.

While the airframe work was transpiring, the engine was being overhauled as well. “Mike Connor overhauled the Wright R760-E2 en-gine,” says Jeremy, declaring, “He’s the Wright guru. I dare say, I don’t know if there’s anybody out there who could do a Wright as well as he could.”

In the interest of safe ground maneuvering, Cleveland wheels

and brakes were installed. “We did a conversion on this one, and did articulating toe brake pedals and removed the original pedals,” de-scribes Jeremy, “and it really trans-forms the handling of the airplane. If you just put a toe brake pedal on top of the rudder pedal, when you have full left rudder in, it’s like you can’t push the brake pedal. It gets really precarious, and in these big heavy taildraggers like this, you need some brake when you’re on the last part of the roll out, because your control surfaces aren’t going to overtake the mass of the airplane if it starts to divert.

“The owner, Bill, has a dog that jumps up on the hat shelf and goes with him when he flies this,” Jer-emy says with a smile, adding, “he’s a business executive, so you might say that the biplane is doing the same thing in 2010 that it did in 1938—transporting executives. Bill has always had airplanes, and he’s active with his local EAA chapter.”

The ‘CAA’ WacoJim Clark of Chapman, Kansas,

flew NC61KS (s/n 5072), his 1939 Waco EGC-8, to AirVenture this summer. He arrived in good com-pany, with his grandson Brody Clark, who is already a veteran Air-Venture attendee at age 12, and young friend Patrick McElligott, who is a mentor in their local EAA Chapter 1364’s Wing Nuts youth program. They taxied in to the Vin-tage area, drawing admirers even before they tied down and set up their camping tent. This black and

The instrument panel in NC61KS.

The original Switlik parachute seats were modifi ed so they now have a roomy pocket for stowing items.

SPA

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PHO

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JIM KOEPNICK

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

orange Cabin Waco is unmistak-able, with its large Civil Aeronau-tics Authority (CAA) logo carefully painted on the broad fuselage. Jim also flew the biplane to the AAA/APM Fly-in in Blakesburg, Iowa, where it received the Sweepstakes Classic (1936 to 1941) award.

“Three or four years ago, I started looking for a Cabin Waco,” says Jim with a smile, “because I wanted a big fl ying SUV that could carry all my stuff! So I started go-ing all over the country look-ing and could not find one that I wanted to buy or restore. This air-plane was located only 15 miles from my home, and its longtime owner, EAA member Chuck Hall, was a friend of mine. I bought it in September 2007, and even though it hadn’t fl own for about 18 years, it had been stored properly.”

Jim became intrigued by the his-tory of his “new” Waco, and his re-search revealed that NC61KS was one of eight model AGC-8s that were originally ordered by the CAA. His Waco’s fi rst bill of sale was from Waco Aircraft to the CAA and was dated August 17, 1939. Registered as NC-61, it was delivered to the Air Safety Board and was based in Gar-den City, Long Island, New York. Just a few years later, the CAA or-dered an engine change.

“The CAA had all those Wacos converted to the supercharged 350-hp Wright R760-E2 and changed the model number from AGC-8 to EGC-8. The aircraft records show that a CAA Repair and Alteration Form dated June 18, 1941, was

completed by the Spartan School of Aeronautics, and it listed the ‘removal of Jacobs L6MB and in-stallation of Wright R760E-2 as per form 337.’ Then in December 1945, NC-61 was declared surplus and had registration number NC69607 when it was released [from govern-ment service in the mid 1940s]. Af-ter Chuck bought the airplane in 1970, he got the registration num-ber back as close as he could to NC-61, by adding ‘KS’ for Kansas.”

Before Raven Aero Service could begin restoring NC61KS, it sent a couple of its technicians to go over it and get it ready for a short

ferry fl ight from Manhattan to its shop in Junction City. “The en-gine had been pickled properly, so we could bring that back to life,” recounts Jim, “but the brake lines were corroded into solid rods—so we ran new brake lines and had the master cylinders rebuilt. I learned through the National Waco Club online forum that the Cleveland wheels and brakes for the late-model Cessna 310 also fi t a 1939 Cabin Waco EGC-8. So I ordered a set, and we jacked the airplane up and bolted the brakes on—without having to make a single modifi cation. I’m a member

Jim Clark brought some good company with him to AirVenture—his grand-son, Brody, and Brody’s young friend, Patrick.

Jeremy Redman of Rare Aircraft Ltd. demonstrates NC2279’s split fl ap.

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10 DECEMBER 2011

of both the National Waco Club and the American Waco Club, and both are great groups. Na-tional has a very active [online] forum, with a tremendous wealth of knowledge.”

The ferry flight took only 40 minutes—and Jim made sure that Chuck was in the right seat. The restoration started in November 2007, and was completed in July 2010. The biplane, covered and finished with Superflite, was bril-liant in its CAA black and orange livery—a far cry from its previous pale green and red scheme—and the pleasing scent of new leather permeated the spacious cabin. Once again, Chuck was in the right seat when Jim made the fi rst fl ight after restoration.

Just a few modifications were made during the restoration—the first being the new wheels and brakes. Another change involved relocating the oil cooler to solve an overheating problem. “The origi-nal oil cooler was behind the dish pan and almost against the fire-wall,” explains Jim, “so airfl ow was nonexistent. I became acquainted with Addison Pemberton—a great guy and aircraft restorer—and I no-

ticed when I was at his hangar in Spokane that he hung the coolers underneath all his aircraft. So he sent me some pictures and helped us out. We reformed the cooler and belly-hung it—and it has just worked excellently!”

Additionally, and similarly to NC2279, Jim’s Waco received new navigation and communication equipment. “We went with Becker in-panel radios, transponder, and comm,” shares Jim, “and I do have weather on a Garmin 496, but it’s covered by the original ‘coffee grinder crank’ radio face.”

It takes a discerning eye to ob-serve several unique features of NC61KS. Perhaps the most obvi-ous is the second rear door. Less obvious is the fact that the doors have a jettison lever—and yes, that feature is still functional. An “Emergency - Do Not Touch” sign warns the rear-seat passengers not to turn the handle. A cursory glance at the pilot and passenger seat backs reveals deep, wide pock-ets for stowing items—a clever use of space made available when the original Switlik parachute seats were modified. Also, the small baggage compartment aft of the

“...interestingly,

one upper wing

assembly on this

custom Cabin

Waco consumes

more labor than

the entire wing

set on a

UPF-7.”

—Jeremy Redman

NC61KS in the Vintage area at EAA AirVenture 2010.

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

rear seat was neatly converted to Waco’s freighter configuration for extra cargo space. One more item is the original wood rack for holding emergency flares, which is mounted inside the fuselage, in the cargo area. Jim doesn’t have the actual fl ares, but he dummied the location on the side of the fu-selage by using inspection rings and fabric patches.

One significant challenge that Jim encountered was locating the proper CAA emblem for the fu-selage. “In 1939, the CAA used a five-point compass rose with their name in it, and wings and a shie ld that had the Wright F lyer on i t . But in 1940 they were under the Department of Commerce, so they changed the emblem to an office building and a shock of wheat. We researched extensively, but didn’t f ind a complete photo of the 1939 em-blem. We had a picture of the CAA airplanes in a hangar, so we went by that as much as possi-ble. Also, the CAA did not use the color trim around the windows, so the fuselage stripe was posi-tioned higher than on the other Cabin Wacos.”

Flying the EGC-8Jim has about 700 hours’ tail-

wheel time, and fl ies a Piper Pacer and Cub regularly. He was pleas-antly surprised by the EGC-8’s gentle fl ying characteristics—with one exception. “On takeoff, I let it come off the ground about 60 mph, then climb out at 80 mph for the fi rst 100 feet. Then I go to 90 mph and get a nice climb rate out of it. Cruise climb is about 100 mph, and I get about 500 fpm climb at that. I don’t push it; I watch the cylinder head temps closely. She cruises about 130 mph. Then on downwind and base, I fl y about 100 mph, and I don’t cross the fence under 80 mph—below that is a danger zone, because when you start fl aring with those big flaps down, you lose 20 mph and she’s on the runway; there is no fl oat. I think you’d better have the runway made when you de-ploy the fl aps,” he says and laughs heartily, then adds, “but when you’re on final, and you’re sure you’re high and fast, you’re just right—drop those flaps and wow, you hit the numbers! But this is not a challenging airplane in my opinion. In fact, I wouldn’t put an

EGC-8 driver in my Pacer and ex-pect him to do okay. This is just a big, friendly, predictable, nice-handling biplane, so I’m thrilled with my choice. She is just a sweet-heart to fl y. It’s one thing to have an antique airplane that is beauti-ful to look at, but an antique air-plane that flies as friendly as this airplane—it’s a real joy!”

Smiling as he reflects about these classy custom Cabins, he shares, “the C-8s have gotten more attention from the restora-tion crowd lately. They fly great, land easy, and with the gear ‘down and welded,’ they’re not nearly as complex as the antique retract-ables—and they’re strong enough to handle bumpy grass strips with nary a shrug.”

So with a tip o’ the hat to history, it’s rather pleasant to imagine the nostalgic reactions that Henry King and the CAA pilots who fl ew NC-61 might have, if they ambled through the vintage field. They’d likely de-clare in quite the surprised tone, “Hey, I recognize that Waco! I can’t believe it’s still flying!” To which the owners might nod affi rmatively and respond, “Want to take her up around the patch?”

JIM KOEPNICK

12 DECEMBER 2011

A prominent man of let-ters famously wrote, “You can’t go home again.” The proposition has been debated ever

since. Some interpret the familiar maxim to mean we are unable to repeat a cherished experience be-cause reunions, anniversaries, homecomings, and the like sim-ply lack the spontaneity that capti-vated us initially.

But I’m not so sure that the magic and wonder of fi rst encoun-ters are necessarily out of our grasp

for the remainder of our lives. Somehow it seems we ought to be able to reach back and capture past felicity. And even if impassable bar-riers block our way physically, who is so presumptuous to assert that re-kindling moments of endearment in the surroundings we currently inhabit constitutes a bridge too far?

It was an early spring day in 1963. The breaking dawn bared a dew-moistened landscape under a clarion sky. Seizing the fortuity, my parents granted my longstanding wish for an airplane ride. That brisk

morning they drove me to a grass airstrip nestled in an outlying sub-urb of Cleveland.

The fi eld was strewn with airwor-thy Piper Cubs, the classic all-yellow J-3 models with feisty four-cylinder, 65-hp engines. High-time Cubs, identifiable by their oil-splattered fuselages, were for sale at the bar-gain price of $600. Less-worn Cubs, whose fabric retained the factory-fresh mustardy sheen, were offered for the princely sum of a $1,000.

The telltale smell of butyrate dope and burnt fuel, the sweet

Going Home AgainAt age 12, I harbored aspirations of fl ying high and fast,

like my heroes, the Mercury astronauts…

BY PHILIP HANDLEMAN

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

aroma unique to airports, wafted in the air. Every once in a while, one of the high-wing taildraggers taxied into position, and when the engine revved up from a gentle putt-putt to a high-pitched raspy buzz, the plane sped down the emerald car-pet of freshly sprouted grass and rose skyward. The transition from ground to air manifested what seemed to be the singular response to an irresistible summons. Like the gazelles that run wild on the vast stretches of the Serengeti, the ma-chines were evidently drawn into the domain that beckoned their occupants with expectations of re-lease from earthly burdens.

At age 12, I harbored aspirations of fl ying high and fast, like my he-roes, the Mercury astronauts, whose

forays into the new frontier had begun just two years earlier. Cape Canaveral was their portal to the heavens, but for at least a couple of the original seven space travel-ers, the genesis of their remarkable journeys was a small airfield near their childhood homes. My nascent aerial odyssey began similarly, at the charming, if unadorned, Cha-grin Falls Airport.

The grass was green, the sky was blue, and every direction I turned there were agile yellow ships ready to sail on voyages of discovery. The airport’s verdant landscape and tinny hangars evoked the perfect aura for my maiden flight. Every-one on the fi eld, from the mechan-ics in grease-stained coveralls to my uniformed instructor pilot, ap-

peared to be devoid of the conceits and affectations I had experienced elsewhere. Instead, they projected a sense of high purpose, a desire to do something grand—not for material reward, but for the satisfaction that came from the doing itself. And as such, these otherwise common men were, in my eyes, noblemen.

The miracle of the Piper Cub was that it made the sky accessible to whoever had a desire to flirt with the clouds. In a way, the remark-able airplane’s evolution started in 1911 when an adolescent named Clarence Gilbert Taylor saw Cal-braith Perry Rodgers amble by in a garishly decorated Wright B biplane dubbed the Vin Fiz. The fl imsy and mishap-prone crate was participat-ing in a flight contest to cross the country in fewer than 30 days.

From that day forward, the teen-ager later known as C.G. Taylor was intent on building his own planes. By 1927, he was designing lightplanes with his brother Gor-don in their hometown of Roches-ter, New York. The fi rst design was a two-place, high-wing confi guration called the Chummy because of its snug side-by-side seating.

In 1929, city development offi-cials and private investors lured the brothers to Bradford, Pennsylvania, where they formed Taylor Broth-ers Aircraft Co. Among their fi nan-cial backers was William T. Piper, a member of a local farm family. Mr. Piper had served in the Army dur-ing World War I, and subsequently earned a mechanical engineering degree from Harvard. He had in-terests in oil and real estate, but no background in aviation.

The brothers’ timing could hardly have been worse. The stock mar-ket crashed that autumn, signaling the onset of the Great Depression. In 1931, overhead costs in the face of declining sales made bankruptcy unavoidable. The only buyer for the assets was Mr. Piper, who paid $761 to become the sole owner. He short-ened the company name to Taylor Aircraft Company.

14 DECEMBER 2011

Hopes for the struggling business rode on C.G. Taylor’s latest design, the E-2. This was a refi nement of prior designs that sought to appeal to fl y-ing schools as a light and economical tandem-seat trainer. The E-2 was for-mally named the Cub, and the mod-els that rolled out of the factory had the name emblazoned on the fi n.

Confl icting accounts continue to muddle the story of how the name “Cub” was adopted and who con-ceived it. It is certainly true that success has a thousand fathers, for there were at least several com-pany employees, an advertising executive, and an airport manager who claimed paternity. Regard-less of its provenance, the name took on legendary status. It even-tually encompassed not just the more than 30,000 single-engine lightplanes of similar configura-tion built by Taylor/Piper in suc-ceeding years, but virtually every plane subsequently produced that bore a resemblance to the Taylor design. Cub became synonymous with lightplanes, as Lear did with corporate jets.

The little plane was dreadfully un-derpowered, but that changed when Continental Motors developed the A-40 four-cylinder, horizontally op-posed engine. This light 37-hp en-gine had been the missing link, and once incorporated into the Cub it changed the company’s fortunes and the course of history. To be sure, early problems plagued the new engine, but once the wrinkles were ironed out, the airplane sold like hotcakes.

In 1933, a newly graduated engi-neer from Rutgers University showed up looking for work. Walter Corey Ja-mouneau was originally hired as an unpaid engineer, and was the only person on the factory fl oor with a col-lege degree. He proved to be a jack-of-all-trades, excelling at manufacturing, sales, and design. Four months after starting with no salary, he was being paid $15 a week. With Mr. Piper’s en-couragement, he significantly rede-signed the Taylor E-2.

Because of the extensive changes, a new model designation was required.

The company decided on J-2, which many believe was a way for the cor-porate executives to recognize the young engineer, whose surname be-gan with the letter J. More likely, the company simply stuck with its exist-ing designation system, which had already reached the letter H. Propo-nents of this theory believe the com-pany skipped over the letter I to avoid confusing it with the number 1.

The J-2 received certification on February 14, 1936, and was marketed as the New Cub. However, not all had been going smoothly in the executive echelon. Mr. Taylor couldn’t stand to see his design tinkered with. More-over, he fundamentally disagreed with Mr. Piper over the business plan, which called for selling a higher vol-ume of planes at lower prices. The discord reached an impasse, and Mr. Taylor left the company in December 1935. He moved to Alliance, Ohio, where he made highly regarded side-by-side two-seaters under the Taylor-craft banner.

The Bradford factory had served the company well, but it was rife with fire hazards. It erupted into fl ames late on March 16, 1937, and was left a smoldering hulk. Luckily, no one was injured, and 15 airplanes were moved to safety.

By summer, operations and person-nel began moving to an abandoned 100,000-square-foot silk mill in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, 85 miles from Bradford. Roads, rail lines, and the

Susquehanna River made the Lock Haven plant readily accessible by con-ventional means. Importantly, the city had offered to construct a 2,000-foot hard-surface runway as an incen-tive for the company’s relocation.

Despite the company’s many challenges, Mr. Jamouneau was charged with further improving the Cub. He replaced the tailskid with a tail wheel, fl ight instruments were

added to the panel, a higher grade of steel tubing was used to accom-modate larger engines, and seat cushions were installed for in-creased comfort. This variant of the Cub was designated the J-3.

The fi rst of these iconic models was rolled out in the autumn of 1937. It sported what became the familiar all-yellow paint scheme highlighted by black stripes along the sides of the fuselage, as well as the teddy bear emblem on the fin. As Carroll V. Glines points out in his superb history of the Cub, the shade of yellow bright-ened after World War II, when butyrate dope instead of nitrate

was used for fi nishing. In November that same year, the

company opted to change its name to avoid confusion with C.G. Tay-lor’s new fi rm. William Piper had la-bored to make ends meet through the hard times, even foregoing a salary for part of the troubled decade. It was only logical that the company’s name should be Piper Aircraft Corporation.

By the end of 1940, with war clouds on the horizon, Cubs were churned out of the expanded Lock Haven factory at a rate of 125 a week. During the global confl ict, Piper Cubs played meaningful roles, notably as Army liaison airplanes with the des-ignation L-4. Among various duties, they served as aerial ambulances, ar-tillery spotters, and VIP transports. Moreover, Piper boasted that four of every fi ve U.S. military pilots during the war had received their introduc-tory fl ight instruction in the compa-ny’s airplanes.

After the war, surplus Cubs fl ooded the market. Also, tricycle-gear de-signs were catching on as the pre-

Regardless of its provenance, the name took on legendary

status.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

ferred configuration. Production of the ubiquitous Cub ceased in 1947, though a considerably beefed-up look-alike, known as the PA-18 Super Cub, was introduced in 1949 for util-ity-type operations.

The Cub had had an amazing run. Records indicate that 22,206 civil vari-ants and 8,197 military variants were built. The most numerous model was the J-3 with a total of 9,782 com-pleted. The Cub was unquestionably the Model T of the air.

In the hopeful aftermath of World War II, Mr. Piper penned an autobi-ographical book that talked up the business of general aviation. America was back to work and at peace. The future seemed limitless.

The book’s concluding paragraph embodied that optimistic outlook as Mr. Piper laid out his deep con-victions about lightplane fl ying and the people who do it. He stated, “A healthy personal plane industry is of great material and social value to the United States. The private pilot serves as one of the most effective instru-ments of goodwill.” Amen.

The Cub that would provide my ride had taxied up. I shook hands with the pilot, M.R. Smith, and bid a temporary adieu to my parents. It must have been a special day for them, too, a culmination of sorts.

My mother grew up on the pe-riphery of the Cleveland Municipal Airport (now Hopkins International) during the golden age of fl ight. She scaled the fence Labor Day week-ends throughout the 1930s and beheld the National Air Races, argu-ably the greatest aviation spectacles of all time. She later went to work as a ticket agent at that very airport and met my father there shortly after World War II, as he re-acclimated to civilian life following three years in the Army Air Forces as a desk-bound sergeant at a couple of air bases. The two of them knew that extraordinary things can happen at airports.

I buckled into the back seat of N98029. Without fanfare, Mr. Smith switched on the Cub’s engine. He hollered to me over the cacophony to cup, not grip, the control stick

with my right hand, motioning as he spoke, and to place my feet over the rudder pedals. I would follow his in-puts on the controls.

Through the Cub’s side window, I caught a glimpse of Mom and Dad. I waved, but my attention quickly shifted back to the airplane. The Cub taxied far more bumpily than I had imagined. This was it, though, the nonpareil event, the lissome ship about to lift its eager passenger on its high-spread wings into its ex-alted realm.

We taxied a long way to be able to take off into the wind. The wad-dling S-turns across the fi eld enabled a slow-motion survey of the whole airstrip, a chance to absorb the scene from the privileged vantage point re-served only for those in an airplane’s cockpit. I was in sync with the re-splendent and invigorating gateway to my dreams. This was the most magical place in the world.

The noise was louder inside the Cub than out as we clattered down that rough-hewn runway, throttle full open. Before I knew it, we were air-borne and climbing. We leveled off soon because it didn’t make sense to go high during a 15-minute orienta-tion fl ight.

The hum of the engine subsided as the rush of air became aurally domi-nant. The horizon defi ned our rela-tionship to the globe, which wended beneath us at a crawl. We were one with the sky, like a vessel floating on gentle ocean currents, more skiff than speedboat.

My nervousness was more than balanced by the sense of adventure. Mr. Smith turned his head to check on me. He saw a 12-year-old trans-fi xed by the sight-picture and beam-ing with joy.

With a steady hand, Mr. Smith per-formed gentle turns left and right. He told me to coordinate stick and rud-der, to feel the airplane. Yes, it was ru-dimentary, the fi rst building block of airmanship, but I was fl ying.

The world wasn’t so big anymore; it could be tamed. I was, briefl y, the master of my fate, an individualist empowered to exercise a newfound

independence and ride the wind in whatever direction my heart deemed desi rable. I had discovered the dream of fl ight, which is the dream that any-thing is possible.

The quaint airport where I was initiated into the milieu of fl iers has long since given way to the vagaries of real estate development. Where once Piper Cubs gathered momen-tum in dashes for the sky, homes now predominate in the archetypical grid work of late-20th century American subdivisions. According to a database search, the faithful airplane, good old N98029, was eventually stricken from the federal registry, its assorted parts perhaps languishing forgotten and forlorn in someone’s barn, awaiting either the brusque consignment of the junkman or the affectionate reju-venation of the restorer.

Notwithstanding the Cub’s re-ported disposition, the fl ight in that unassuming ship lives on where it matters most. In the precious minutes that I sailed on its mustard wings, the kingdom of the sky was revealed and it touched my soul. So, no mat-ter what airplane has been handy since, I feel that I have gone home again and still do each time I rum-ble down a grass strip, raise the tail wheel, ease back on the stick, and re-enter the Cub’s rarefi ed and everlast-ing domain.

Further ReadingPiper Cubs by Peter M. Bowers. TAB

Books, 1993.Mr. Piper and His Cubs by Devon

Francis. Iowa State University Press, 1973.

Those Legendary Piper Cubs: Their Role in War and Peace by Car-roll V. Glines. Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2005.

Piper: A Legend Aloft by Edward H. Phillips. Flying Books Interna-tional, 1993.

Private Flying: Today and Tomorrow by William T. Piper. Pitman Pub-lishing Company, 1949.

The Piper Cub Story by James M. Triggs. TAB Books, 1978.

16 DECEMBER 2011

Toward the end of World War II, in 1944, a limited amount of civilian flying resumed after being mostly

banned since the beginning of the war for the United States. With no civilian airplane production authorized, we were using the old prewar Cubs and Aeroncas with 50- and 65-hp Frank-lins, Lycomings, and Continentals—many of them from the now defunct Civilian Pilot Training (CPT) program. With a disability pension from the Air Corps, I was back home in Minnesota, and with those extra funds, and by swapping a few of my guns, I was able to make a deal to get my private cer-tificate from a local instructor/A&P mechanic in his personal J-3 Cub. By then I had progressed from crutches to a cane, which we were able to stash in the Cub.

Later we heard about a fellow over at Rochester, Minnesota, who had an old Cub for sale. He was fl ight test-ing his freshly constructed Pieten-pol, and he needed the money. My fl ying buddy and I looked the Cub over. It was flying and in license, a 1937 Piper J-2 with the little 40-horse Continental. Since this engine had only a single mag, it actually only made 37 hp; the later models with dual mags put out 40 hp.

The owner wouldn’t budge on his $200 asking price, but after hag-gling a bit he finally offered to in-clude another plane he had in his hangar. This was a dismantled but complete and virtually identical 1936 Taylor Cub, which needed a total rebuild. That clinched the deal, as we knew we could profi tably part it out. I won the coin toss to fl y the in-license Cub home to Mankato, with my partner driving back. Then we returned with a trailer to haul the other one home. We sold the fuselage and engine, which ended up being modifi ed into a snow ma-chine; this was fairly common in those days before snowmobiles.

I reworked the complete empen-nage into the J-3 confi guration, and along with the wing struts, I used them on a Piper L-4, which I was building up for our Civil Air Patrol squadron. The wings ended up with Norm Sten, which were to be used with a fl oat-equipped fuselage he had acquired. He never did get that proj-ect completed, and the wings ended up in Dick Christianson’s hangar behind the hangars of Arden Mag-nuson’s Tailwind and Dick Harden’s Cessna 140 at Flying Cloud Airport in St. Paul, Minnesota. These were all EAA Chapter 25 members. Dick

always said he was going to use them on an original-design ultralight, but he never did.

The early J-2s had tailskids, but since Rochester now had a surfaced runway, the airplane had been con-verted to a tailwheel. Mankato was still sod, so to do a full-throttle run-up to ensure the single mag was okay, the trick was to get one wheel behind a lump of grass. That held the airplane briefly before the airplane launched you on your takeoff roll in this no-brakes machine.

When taxiing, one watched the wind and approached the gas pump from the downwind side, cutting the mag at the appropriate spot; it is kind of like learning to “sail” a floatplane. Maybe that’s why I got my float rat-ing with only one hour of instruction. It differed a bit from the later Cubs in that the throttle was a metal-rod af-fair and the stabilizer trim consisted of a cotton rope around a pulley (yes, sometimes it, too, slipped, just like J-3s). The panel was Vee’d in, and it had the minimum required instruments: a tachometer, a nonsensitive altime-ter, oil pressure gauge, and an oil tem-perature gauge, but it didn’t have any cabin heat, no carb heat, and it didn’t have a compass. It did have a 9-gal-lon fuel tank. The rudder had no aero-

My First AirplaneBY LEE HURRY

VAA 1473, MEMBER SINCE 1974

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

dynamic counter-balance, so it was quicker to move, and overcontrolling was common until one got used to it. It handled like a 65-hp Cub with two aboard when you were flying it solo, and like a brick when you were fl ying with another person aboard. It cruised around at about 60 mph.

When I took off from Rochester I lost my bearings (remember, no compass) and went north instead of west. Since I had planned to go IFR (I Follow Roads) back to Mankato, and the highway wasn’t where it was sup-posed to be, after 10 minutes into the fl ight I concluded I must be lost. Ac-cordingly I checked the horizon and headed for the nearest water tower, which wasn’t much lower than I was. With the town identifi ed and located on my chart (that’s what we called the road maps), I turned 90 degrees onto the approximate course, which took me right over a turkey farm!

At that time there were a lot of these in southern Minnesota, and we had all been warned to stay away from them, since the birds would run away from the overhead ship and pile up in a fence corner and suffo-cate. A couple 0f area pilots lost law-suits over this! I hauled my bird up into a turn as steep as I dared, so the farmer couldn’t get a good look at the big numbers under my wing. It ap-parently was a successful maneuver, because I didn’t stall out and never got arrested. I even managed to fi nd the correct highway (it was the only one going into the sun, i.e., west).

It was a fun little plane. We usu-ally fl ew it solo using less than 3 gal-lons per hour. We didn’t like the fact that it was built without carb heat. I think the carb bolted to the oil sump like a Lycoming and assume that the hot oil was supposed to prevent carb ice. At any rate, we modifi ed a carb heat system from a 65 Continental, wrapping a pair of stacks as a muff, and thinking we now were better equipped, we were happier.

Forced landings were not uncom-mon, and we were trained to pick appropriate fields; making actual landings on the occasional farm fi eld was expected. Many years later my

1936 Fairchild 24 with Ranger power had the same omission, but its en-gine took carb air from inside the cowl, which was previously heated by the cylinders. Since the seller had confessed that there were forced landings in its history, one of my fi rst (of many) alterations was to devise and install a carb air system, which did provide the legal required air temp rise. I even got it STC’d.

We flew that little Cub all over

Minnesota to fl y-ins, fl ight breakfasts, etc. With two aboard, it was pretty “loggy” on climb, but there was a row of metal grain storage bins near the airport, so we would go back and forth over them, using the heat lift till we got a couple hundred feet of altitude to go fl ying around the area. Glider pilots can appreciate this.

In cooler weather it would even carry three—myself, my wife, and our baby daughter. We would fl y out to Marshall to visit family friends. The J-2 had four straight stacks, no muffl er, and no cabin heat, and even with only 37 horses, with the unmuf-fl ed Continental, it got pretty noisy. To this day my daughter complains that is why she has hearing problems (so do I). Fortunately this ship had the optional side window kit. J-2s were built as an open parasol mono-plane with only a windshield. The top of the rear fuselage met the wing trailing edge and had a vertical ta-pered front edge behind the back seat to streamline it. In later years it was common to modify J-2s into J-3s by cutting off the short brakeless axles, replacing them with J-3 units.

Further required changes included

revising the rudder/fin configura-tion, the cabin windows, and bird-cage, and bolting on a J-3 nose with the 65 Continental engine. The re-sult was a slightly lighter airframe with a lower gross weight, but it made a better-performing legal J-3, similar to ’46 J-3s that were modifi ed into PA-11 models with the -11 nose, with the substitution of a 90-hp en-gine and the addition of a wing tank.

After awhile the slow 60-mph cruise speed got to us, so we decided to get something faster, like a J-3! We found a wind-twisted fuselage for $35 and a crashed ’46 fuselage with papers. We made one airplane out of the two and in about a year ended up with a ’46 metal spar J-3 with an electrical sys-tem, a 65 Continental, and a metal prop. It indicated a solid 85-plus mph, until I had the Maxwell prop shop check the prop, and Mr. Maxwell re-pitched it fl atter as it was supposed to be; then it would barely make 80!

We sold the J-2 to a fellow at Fair-mont who subsequently made a hard (very hard) landing and broke the two lower longerons at the tail-wheel-mount bolt. Since most planes were tied down instead of hangared and were taildraggers, the snow and rain that found their way inside the fuse-lage fl owed downhill to the back end and rusted the tubes. Some new tub-ing welded in made it like-new again. I well remember having to dig snow out of the rear of the L-4s, which weren’t sealed off behind the back seat like J-3 Cubs are. That is, after we had dug the plane itself out of the snow drifts! Cubs were fun on skis. We’d land on the lakes by the ice fi sh-ermen. I even managed to get stuck in the snow at Le Sueur, Minnesota, when the wind blew me sideways and the skis cut in. My buddy had to get out and push, and I circled back to pick him up on the roll (slide?).

Our continuing search for more speed next led us to a pristine han-gar queen ’46 Super Cruiser with its big 100-hp Lycoming engine, but that was my third or fourth, so I bet-ter quit. Flying holds for us so many great adventures, and then so many wonderful memories!

I was able to make a deal toget my private certifi cate

from a local instructor/A&P mechanic in his personal J-3 Cub.

18 DECEMBER 2011

CALIFORNIAHayward, CA, VIN 29Meeting: 2nd Thurs., 6:00 p.m.Hayward Airport (HWD)See website for hangar info.Gary Oberti, PresidentPhone: 510-357-8600E-mail: gary@oberti.comWebsite: www.vaa29.org

CALIFORNIASacramento, CA, VIN 25Meeting: 2nd Sat., 9:00 a.m.See chapter website for location.Robert Opdahl, PresidentPhone: 530-273-7348E-mail: bopdahl@sbcglobal.netWebsite: www.vaa25.eaachapter.org

CAROLINAS, VIRGINIAWalnut Cove, NC, VIN 3Meeting: Contact PresidentSusan Dusenbury, PresidentPhone: 336-591-3931E-mail: sr6sue@aol.comWebsite: www.VAA3.org

FLORIDALakeland, FL, VIN 1Meeting: Contact PresidentBobby Capozzi, PresidentPhone: 352-475-9736E-mail: mx180a@aol.comWebsite: www.FSAACA.com

ILLINOISLansing, IL, VIN 26Meeting: Contact PresidentPeter Bayer, PresidentPhone: 630-922-3387E-mail: c180bayer@comcast.net

INDIANAAuburn, IN, VIN 37Meeting: 4th Thurs., 7:00 p.m.DeKalb County Airport (kGWB)Hangar A—VAA 37 ClubhouseDrew Hoffman, PresidentPhone: 260-515-3525E-mail: drewhoffman@vaa37.orgWebsite: www.VAA37.org

KANSASOverland Park, KS, VIN 16Meeting: 2nd Fri., 7:30 p.m.CAF Hangar,New Century Airport (K34)Kevin Pratt, PresidentPhone: 913-541-1149E-mail: kpratt@vaa16.comWebsite: www.VAA16.com

LOUISIANANew Iberia, LA, VIN 30Meeting: 1st Sun., 9:00 a.m.LeMaire Memorial Airport (2R1)Hangar 4Roland Denison, PresidentPhone: 337-365-3047E-mail: vaa30@cox.net

MINNESOTAAlbert Lea, MN, VIN 13Meeting: 4th Thurs., 7:00 p.m.Albert Lea Airport FBO (AEL)Steve Nesse, PresidentPhone: 507-373-1674

Vintage Chapter LocatorVisit the VAA chapter nearest you and get to know some great old-airplane enthusiasts! You don’t need

to be a pilot to join in the fun—just have a love of the great airplanes of yesteryear.

TM

Chapter 3, Roxboro, North Carolina Fly-In

Chapter 16, Overland Park, Kansas

NEW HAMPSHIRENorth Hampton, NH, VIN 15Meeting: 2nd Sat., 11:00 a.m.Hampton Airfi eld (7B3)Robert Drake, PresidentPhone: 603-942-9242E-mail: fl yer172h@comcast.net

OHIODelaware, OH, VIN 27Meeting: 3rd Sat., 9:00 a.m.Delaware Municipal Airport (DLZ)Terminal BuildingWoody McIntire, PresidentPhone: 740-362-7228E-mail: wjmcintire@cs.comWebsite: www.EAAdlz.org

OHIOZanesville, OH, VIN 22Meeting: 2nd Fri.; 6:30 p.m.Perry County Airport (I86)John Morozowsky, PresidentPhone: 740-453-6889

OKLAHOMATulsa, OK, VIN 10Meeting: 4th Thurs., 7:00 PMHardesty South Regional LibraryNo meetings in July, Nov. & Dec.Joe Champagne, PresidentPhone: 918-257-4688Email: geeimjoe@yahoo.com

TEXASSpring, TX, VIN 2Meeting: 4th Sun., 2:00 PMDavid Wayne Hooks Airport (KDWH)Fred Ramin, PresidentPhone: 281-255-4430Email: fredramin@sbcglobal.net

WISCONSINBrookfi eld, WI, VIN 11Meeting: 1st Mon., 7:30 PMCapitol Drive Airport Offi ceDonald Hyra, PresidentPhone: 262-251-1778Email: phs1@ww.rr.com

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Want to Start a VAA Chapter?It’s easy to star t a VAA

chapter. All you need to get star ted is fi ve vintage enthusiasts. Then contact the EAA Chapter Offi ce at 920-426-6867 or chapters@eaa.org to obtain an EAA Chapter Star ter Kit. EAA has tools to help you get in touch with all your local Vintage members, and they’ll walk you through the process of star ting a new chapter.

Chapter 25, Sacramento, California, GeeBee Racer

Chapter 25, Sacramento, California, at Alta Sierra.

Chapter 29, Hayward, California and Young Eagles in January 2011.

20 DECEMBER 2011

Today’s typical aviation enthusiast has en-countered the name Avro many times in the course of his reading. Literature on World War I aviation makes frequent mention of

the Avro 504 general-purpose and training biplane, and literature on World War II has much to say about the Avro Lancaster, Lancastrian, and Lincoln four-en-gine bombers used by the RAF.

After World War II there were the Avro York and Tu-dor airliners, and the Vulcan military jet.

But mention an Avro model called the Avian today and more often than not you’ll get a “What’s that?” response. Only an occasional antique airplane enthu-siast will show a glimmer of recognition, but it would be more realistic to say that his face will probably light up as much as yours does upon encountering a good friend!

In its time the Avro Avian two-seat, open-cockpit training and sport biplane was quite well-known and played an interesting role in British civil aviation ac-tivities. Because more of them were built, more re-stored antique examples exist today, and more plans for model airplanes of the type have been published, though the very similar-appearing de Havilland Gipsy Moth today is much better known. Nevertheless, the Avro Avian deserves to be remembered.

The name “Avro” was derived from the name of an

Light Plane Heritagepublished in EAA Experimenter January 1993

Editor’s Note: The Light Plane Heritage series in EAA’s Experimenter magazine often touched on aircraft and concepts related to vintage aircraft and their history. Since many of our members have not had the opportunity to read this se-ries, we plan on publishing those LPH articles that would be of interest to VAA members. Enjoy!—HGF

REMEMBER THE AVRO AVIAN?BY BOB WHITTIER

EAA 1235

Above: A Cirrus-engined Avro Avian taking off. Note ripples in the thin plywood covering on the fuse-lage side. The letter G on the rudder stands for Great Britain and is the outcome of security-con-scious European bureaucrats insisting on plaster-ing nationality identifi cations all over airplanes.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

English aviation pioneer, Alliott Ver-don Roe. The name of the eventu-ally large and famous fi rm, which he founded, was A.V. Roe & Co. Ltd., and Avro was the obvious contrac-tion. As time went on and his aero-nautical accomplishments mounted, Roe was knighted, so his name in lit-erature on aviation history appears as Sir Alliott Verdon Roe.

While still a young man, Roe was an officer in the British Merchant Marine and had ample opportu-nity to observe and marvel at the graceful soaring of the albatrosses, which followed the ship on which he served. The more he watched them, the more his interest in hu-man flight grew. He obtained and eagerly read the literature on air-craft design and construction, which was becoming increasingly available in the fi rst decade of this century.

Roe’s steadily growing knowledge of the principles of mechanical fl ight led him to enter a rubber-powered model airplane in a contest held in March of 1907 by the prominent Daily Mail newspaper of London. A ca-nard (tail-fi rst) biplane of 8-foot wingspan, it managed to fl y the then-creditable distance of a little more than 100 feet. That was good enough to win the fi rst prize of 75 pounds sterling.

Roe used this money to construct a full-size, man-carrying airplane patterned after that model. Unable to afford the high price of a real aero engine, he rented a French-built Antoinette engine and installed it in this creation. In July of 1908 he managed to make a fl ight of sorts at the aerodrome, which by then existed inside the circuit of the famous Brooklands auto race track in Surrey to the south of London.

A score of years later the Royal Aero Club appointed a committee to decide once and for all who offi cially made the fi rst powered airplane fl ight in Britain. They decided that the uncertain skips and hops that char-acterized the Roe machine’s performance could not be considered as proper sustained and controlled fl ight, so he lost out on that great honor.

Most of the early European aviation pioneers were men of means, which Roe defi nitely was not. His un-derfi nanced messing about with fl ying machines did not make him particularly welcome at the elite Brook-lands’ drome, so he transferred his activities to some open space at a place called Lea Marshes. In July of 1909 he did manage to win fame as the fi rst person in his country to fl y an all-British aircraft.

The machine he built was what we today might call a “contraption.” While generally called a triplane, its triple-tail surfaces were so large as to look more like

wings rather than stabilizers, and so we’re tempted to call it a “sextuplane.” It was powered by a J.A.P. mo-torcycle engine delivering a pathetic 9 hp. The en-gine’s name is derived from the initials of its maker, J.A. Prestwich.

To fl y with such feeble power, Roe went to extremes to save weight, and even covered the wings with com-mon brown paper. He was an intelligent and persistent man, and in 1913 demonstrated his well-designed and able model 504 biplane to British military offi cials. It was a fairly large but light and capable aircraft that was docile and easy to fl y. Orders were soon coming in to the Roe establishment.

The 504 was used for many purposes, including com-munications, reconnaissance, light bombing, and even as a fi ghter. More than 7,000 of them were built between 1913 and 1931, and a variety of engines were fi tted.

This vast production effort taught the Avro people much about aircraft design and mass production. A.V. Roe was different from many high-ranking aircraft in-dustry executives in that he retained a keen interest in small, economical airplanes suitable for training and sport fl ying. He had his people design and enter various small planes in the lightplane trials held at the southern England town of Lympne (pronounced “Limm”) from 1923 onward.

Early Lympne competitions were for very light air-planes powered by fuel-stingy little engines of from 750 to 1100 cc displacement. Nobody was manufacturing real aircraft engines of such small size, so various mo-torcycle engine conversions were used instead. A motor-cycle able to reach 80 mph on a suitable track or open road actually spends most of its service life doing 30 to 40 mph on average roads, so it is seldom highly stressed. But to get even very light aircraft off the ground and up to cruising altitude, the motorcycle engines used at

The young A.V. Roe displays his prize-winning rubber-powered model of 8-foot wingspan.

Lympne had to be run at full throt-tle most of the time.

So it worked out that many an otherwise well-engineered light-plane entered in these contests turned out to be little more than an excellent forced-landing trainer. By 1926 officials came to realize that although low fuel consump-tion might be highly desirable in theory, in practice the small en-gines that were available were sim-ply not able to serve dependably in the noses of lightplanes.

After much discussion, contest offi cials decided that for the 1926 meeting, the rules should state that any engine weigh-ing less than 170 pounds complete could be used. They realized that while they might use more fuel, larger engines running at conservative rotational speeds would be a lot more reliable. By that time government-subsidized fl ying clubs aimed at creating a base for fu-ture military air power were growing in number, and what they needed above all else was engine reliability.

Shortly after World War I the Avro Company de-signed and built a simple single-seat biplane intended for sport and touring use—“touring” being the British term equivalent to our “cross-country fl ying.” Called the Avro Baby, the prototype was powered by a 1910 four-cylinder, water-cooled Green engine of 35 hp, which had been overhauled for use in this ship be-cause no better small engine of good reliability was then available. Along with this engine, Avro obtained production plans and anticipated building more of these engines if the demand should arise. But that never happened.

Although the Baby fl ew well, there was a problem. Anyone able to afford a new single-seater would soon

wish he had spent just a little more for a two-seater, so he could introduce his friends to the great adven-ture of fl ying. You can attach a sidecar to a motorcycle, but if anyone has ever attached one to an airplane, we have certainly never heard about it!

So Avro contrived a two-seater version of the Baby. Two people sat one behind the other in an elongated open cockpit. But the extra weight and drag was more than a 35-hp engine could handle acceptably well.

Work with the Baby and the low-powered Lympne entries, however, gave the Avro design team a good background in lightplane design. When rules for the 1926 competition were announced, a new and good small airplane engine had fi nally appeared on the mar-ket. It was the five-cylinder, radial, air-cooled Arm-strong-Siddeley Genet, which produced a useful 60 hp and fell within the 170-pound weight limit.

The contest rules were too involved to describe here, but had the effect of forcing designers to use much mathematical calculation and ingenuity to come up with aircraft having a chance to win. To keep weight to a very minimum, some Lympne designs had each and

22 DECEMBER 2011

Alliott Verdon Roe, born April 26, 1877, died January 4, 1958.

An Avro 504 of World War I vintage in fl ight.

The two-seat version of the Avro Baby, circa 1920.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

every part so thoroughly engineered to save all possible weight that the resulting planes would obviously be too expensive to manufacture. Some entries even appeared with two sets of wings, a small set for the speed events and a large set for climbing and altitude events. A few were even convertible from monoplanes to biplanes.

Now obviously, while enabling certain planes to score well in various Lympne events, these extra wings would add unacceptably to the cost and complication of everyday airplane ownership and use. That is a good example of the pitfalls that can lurk in competition rules supposedly drawn up to produce whatever results sponsors might have in mind.

The 1926 rules called for two-seaters able to carry a minimum load of 340 pounds for occupants and fuel. So, a designer could elect to use a very small en-gine having a modest fuel supply or a larger engine requiring more fuel tankage but also able to carry a larger load, or anything in between. Avro’s chief engi-neer, Roy Chadwick, felt that the new 60-hp Genet was clearly the wisest choice for reliability, realistic touring baggage allowance, and reserve power for coping with turbulent air.

The airplane he conceived to go with this engine was engineered to be light in weight, but this goal was to be achieved by wise overall design rather than ex-pensive ounce-saving tricks in the many small parts involved. While not what one would call a sleek air-plane, the design he worked out did have a light and airy look about it. This was in notable contrast to some British airplanes, which looked as heavy and graceful as a threshing machine.

It was given the lilting and easily remembered name of Avro Avian. We can appreciate the engineering skill that went into its design by noting that while the empty weight was 695 pounds, weight with a full load aboard was 1,600 pounds. Wingspan was 32 feet, and the bi-plane confi guration gave a total wing area of 295 square feet. This large area in turn gave the quite low wing-loading of 5.3 pounds per square foot to help the ship to score well in the takeoff and obstruction-clearing tests.

But luck plays a large part in every competition.

The new Avian did not deliver at Lympne for a couple of madden-ingly trivial reasons. The weight-saving welded aluminum gas tank sprang a leak that could not be re-paired in the fi eld at Lympne, and so required the plane to be flown with a reduced fuel supply. Then, the aluminum magneto drive shaft failed, and as it could not be re-placed in time, this put the Avian out of competition. A stronger steel shaft would have weighed but a few ounces more. These are good examples of the kind of bugs that

have to be worked out of every new airplane. But all of Avro’s effort did leave them with what was

basically a good new airplane design, and they eventually got something worthwhile out of it. The fuselage was of simple fl at-sided, all-wood construction with spruce lon-gerons and cross-members tied together with a covering of three-layer plywood. This did away with the numer-ous, fussy, and expensive truss wires, turnbuckles, and fi t-tings typical of earlier wood fuselage framing.

Because Avro hoped the Avian would go into pro-duction, a construction and assembly method was worked out to keep labor costs to a minimum while still not getting themselves involved with the great ex-pense of heavy mass-production machinery. The fuse-lage was put together from right, left, top, and bottom subassemblies. A fi fth subassembly formed the cockpit fl oor and control system mounting base.

Fuselages of this basic type have been much used in Europe for both amateur and factory-built airplanes. The work can be done with ordinary hand tools and common woodworking machines. A disadvantage is poor occupant protection in serious crashes, for they tend to shatter and splinter rather than bend and ab-sorb energy like metal structures.

The Avian’s fuselage was fl at-sided, but the radial-type Genet engine had a more or less round shape. Fuel and oil tanks were thus shaped to fit on top of and onto each side of the front of the fuselage, and the conical form of the side tanks did a simple but effective job of fairing the engine’s roundness into the fl at sur-faces of the fuselage. This also put the tanks into good view for ease of inspection.

The Avian followed 504 and Baby practice, in that it had no vertical tail fi n but only a balanced rudder. This was perhaps done for weight and cost savings. In the years we have been reading books on airplane design, not once have we found a useful discussion of the pros and cons of rudder-only tail design. Many early planes used this design, too. From what we can put together from the few brief mentions we have encountered, it appears that rudder-only tails offer light, quick, and powerful re-sponse, which is good for aerobatic and fi ghting aircraft.

The Genet-engined Avian built for the 1926 Lympne lightplane competition.

24 DECEMBER 2011

But these qualities also appear to make keeping a steady course in long cross-country flights an at-tention-demanding and therefore tiring proposition. Wing dihedral and vertical tail work together to pro-vide whatever directional stability a particular plane might or might not have.

Visualize a plane fl ying in turbulent air, and suppose that a gust comes toward the plane from the right. Di-hedral on that side thus tries to raise the right wing, so, of course, the left one goes down and the plane then wants to turn to the left. But the same gust also presses on the right side of the vertical tail and pushes the tail to the left. That, of course, will tend to turn the nose to the right, thus countering the plane’s turning to the left.

A plane with rudder only must wait for the pilot to sense what is happening to the plane and then feed corrective pressure into the controls.

A vertical fin of any useful size will, on the other hand, come into automatic and immediate action to do the same thing. As soon as Avro Avians begin to

make long-distance fl ights, tails were quickly changed to the fi n-and-rudder confi guration. With the passage of time, wind tunnel testing and mathematical analy-sis gave designers tools for calculating the interaction between dihedral and vertical fi n while a new plane is still on the drawing board.

When evaluating any particular airplane, we have to try to put ourselves into its designer’s circumstances. Avro wanted large wing area for the Lympne Avian but at the same time very much wanted the plane to be as slight as reasonably possible. Obviously no plane docile enough for training use and powered with a 60-hp engine could go fast enough to make the drag of biplane wings a serious matter. But the very effi cient bracing trusswork possible with the biplane confi gura-tion would permit them to design wings of large area but light weight.

Spruce used by European airplane builders had to come to them from the very distant Pacifi c Northwest. Although the Avian’s upper and lower wings would re-

Note carefully the stub wing on this Avian III of 1928. Wheels moved aft as wings were folded to compensate for aft shift of center of gravity. Thin wing air foil prompted use of thicker auto fuel tank mounted in center section.

This is a Whittelsey Avian manufactured in 1929 at Bridgeport, Connecticut. American models did not have the wing-folding feature, so straight landing gear shock struts passed through holes built into wings. Handley Page automatic slots are clearly seen on top wing.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

quire a total of eight spars, compared to the four required for a pair of monoplane wings, each one could be made from raw stock of modest and therefore easily obtained and economical dimensions. So again the biplane confi g-uration made sense. Although homely looking to mod-ern eyes, the squared-off wingtips of the original Avian also made production sense, since they avoided the need to make special tip rubs and four wingtip bows. And it was considered that on so slow a plane, their aerody-namic dirtiness would not be a serious drawback.

The reason only a small amount of stagger was used between upper and lower wings had to do with the fact that one of the contest rules required each entrant to pass through a dummy garage door for storage. Wings of small monoplanes could quickly be made detachable, but that’s not so easy to do with biplane wings because of their struts and tie rods. So obviously the new Avian would have to have folding wings. Very little stagger could be used for the sake of keeping top and bottom wing root pivot pins in line with one an-other. But the small amount of stagger that was used did have the effect of keeping the tips of the lower wings from touching ground when folded back and also keeping them clear of the horizontal tail surfaces.

To help compensate for the loss of lift caused by air being compressed slightly between upper and lower wings, plenty of gap, or separation, was used. As the Avian was not a particularly large plane, the somewhat high mounting of the upper wing also facilitated entry and exit from the front cockpit.

Lindbergh’s memorable flight from New York to

Top left - wings were made to easily fold back for storage; dashed line indicates folded position. Lower left - note generous gap between lower and upper wings. Upper right - easily built subassemblies went together to form fuselage. Lower right - dotted line shows aft movement of landing wheels that took place automatically as the wings were folded.

26 DECEMBER 2011

Paris in 1927 boosted aviation enthusiasm in Europe as much as it did in America. By early 1928 Avro had upgraded the Avian to make it less of a contest entry and more of a general-purpose ship. The Genet engine was replaced with the 80-hp, four-inline Cirrus en-gine. Wingspan was reduced from 32 to 28 feet, which brought wing area down to 244 square feet to increase wing loading and reduce skittishness on windy days.

Some Avians were fitted with Handley Page auto-matic slots on the leading edges of their upper wings. At high angles of attack they would pop open, maintain smooth airfl ow over a substantial proportion of the top sides of the upper wings, and thus get away from the often vicious and crash-causing stall characteristics of many planes of the 1920s. A lot of engineering and test fl ying went into designing slots of this type to get them to open at the right time. During more severe maneu-vers, the slot on one wing would pop open while the one on the opposite wing remained closed. The result-ing unbalance could give a pilot a bad time. So most of these installations were fi tted with slot-locking devices for use when deliberate aerobatic fl ight was planned.

Some Handley Page slot installations made use of track-and-roller arrangements, while others used paral-lelogram-linkage arrangements. The fi xed slots seen on a few American light aircraft of the 1940s were simpler and cheaper to manufacture and were used to main-tain even airfl ow over aileron top surfaces or to cure vicious tip-stall tendencies.

The new Avian strongly resembled the de Havil-land Gipsy Moth, but it was not a copy. Remember, it originated as a Lympne contest entry. There were other British light biplanes that closely resembled the Moth and Avian. And it’s easy to fi nd look-alikes in books on American airplanes. The Moth-Avian look-alike situation is probably the outcome of various designers thinking about how best to design a light training bi-plane to use the Cirrus engine.

Where the improved Avian had nicely rounded wing-

tips, the Moth had World War I style raked tips. These had been shown to be aerodynamically poor, but had the practical advantage of putting as much aileron area as far out on the wings as possible. So strong roll control could be had even though there were only two ailerons. Mounting them on the lower wings simplifi ed connect-ing them to the cockpit controls in folding-wing planes.

The Moth had the familiar de Havilland kidney-shaped tail surface outlines. The Avian had a triangu-lar-shaped vertical tail with rounded rudder top, and rectangular horizontal surfaces. Because the leading and trailing edges were parallel to one another, all ribs were alike—probably another production economy.

An Avro employee devised an improved wing-folding system. An accompanying photo shows an Avian with its right wings folded. The stub wings, which sprouted from the bottom of the fuselage, were of triangular shape. Rear landing gear struts were attached to rear spars outboard from the root fittings. The resulting geometry caused the wheels to move aft as the wings were folded, so the plane’s tail end would not then be so objectionably heavy to lift for handling when on the ground. At the same time, the fuselage nose was lowered enough to afford much better access to the en-gine’s exposed overhead valve mechanism.

Although less numerous than the de Havilland Moths, Avians were well-known and often seen in England. Many were shipped abroad and were thus common in such places as Canada and Australia. In 1929 Avians were built under license in America by the Whittelsey Manufacturing Company at Bridgeport, Connecticut, but this company soon folded under the growing impact of the Depression, which followed the stock market crash in October of that year.

Studying old airplanes is both fun and educational. We gain a new respect for the intelligence and clever-ness of old-time designers. And now, get your leather jacket, helmet, and goggles out of the closet, because next month we’re going fl ying in an Avro Avian!

Top left - aircraft have used both stationary and automatic-opening wing slots. Note track and rollers in the au-tomatic installation here. Lower left, careful design and testing goes into tailoring sot action to suit a particular plane’s needs. Above right - Airfl ow at high angle of attack without and with slots.

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28 DECEMBER 2011

In the beginning of civil avia-tion in the United States, most aircraft were equipped with a tailskid, with no brakes on

the main landing gear. That was an adequate arrangement for the airports of the era, because there were no hard surfaces on which to take off and land. In 1927, me-chanical brakes, which worked in-dividually from the cockpit, were beginning to appear when the

Guggenheim Safe Aircraft Compe-tition was announced that same year. A requirement of the compe-tition was called “stick” and “un-stick.” The “stick” portion required that an aircraft approach to land over a 50-foot obstacle and stop in the shortest distance possible. This required brakes to be installed, and most were mechanically operated by a cable from the cockpit. The tailskid was still in wide use at the

time, and there was no need to change to a tail wheel.

A side-view sketch from the Aircraft Yearbook of the Command-Aire 5C3 showing a typical tailskid is shown in Illustration 1. This type of aircraft was entered in the Safe Aircraft Compe-tition and scored the highest of any stock-configured ship. It was flown by J. Carroll Cone and featured me-chanical brakes installed at the fac-tory in Little Rock, Arkansas.

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

Tail Wheel Installations

THE Vintage Mechanic

ILLUSTRATION 1

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29

In this aircraft the tailskid was sim-ply a steel leaf spring, hardened by heat-treating and attached to a cross member of the aft fuselage. On the end of the skid a “shoe” was attached that had a rib welded fore and aft through the middle to aid in keeping the aircraft in the desired direction on the runway. This arrangement was widely used until hard-surface run-

ways began to appear, thus making the tailskid useless. Some types of wheel arrangements had to be adapted in place of the “shoe” arrangement. Enter the tail wheel, which comes in many sizes and shapes.

Illustrations 2 and 3 are extracted from a 1946 Air Associates aviation supply catalog. Number 19 shows an array of tail wheel installations for light

aircraft of the day, from Aeronca to Taylorcraft. The most popular was the steerable and full-swivel tail wheels, which required a steering arm that was attached to the rudderpost. Illustration 3 shows three typical steering arms for light aircraft. I’m sure you’ll wish for the 1946 prices for these parts. Some arms were made of aluminum, and some were made of cast steel.

ILLUSTRATION 2 (above)

ILLUSTRATION 3 (left)

30 DECEMBER 2011

With the evolution of tail wheels there became a need for brakes. The fi rst systems were of the mechanical drum type, similar to the automo-tive brakes of the era. Hydraulic sys-tems were later used to actuate the shoes into contact with the wheel drums. Illustration 4 shows typical wheels and brakes of the era.

Perhaps one of the most popu-lar steerable tail wheels is the Scott 3200 pneumatic steerable and full-swivel assembly. These units were installed by the Cessna factory on 180 and 185 models and are large enough to carry the heavier tail loads on higher gross-weight ships. In the early days of the Civil Aero-nautics Administration (CAA), tail wheel installations could be eas-ily field-approved, and many kits were sold that would fi t particular aircraft. The pneumatic Scott 3200 and 3400 tail wheels are very rug-ged and reliable. Cessna used the model 3200 on its L-19 Bird Dog, which operated in and out of some very rough airstrips.

When adapting a tail wheel to an aircraft, care must be taken to en-sure that the installation is done in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations. This is particu-

larly true with this tail wheel. In Illustration 5, the steering

arm (8) mounts to the fork (11), and when the assem-bly is attached to the spring, the steering arm must be parallel to the ground when the aircraft is loaded. If it is not parallel, poor steering and an unwanted shimmy will result. Illustration 4 is a diagram show-ing proper mounting of the tail wheel to the airplane’s spring.

Beside the Scott a n d M a u l e p n e u -matic ta i l wheels , o t h e r t y p e s w e r e adapted for use on certain aircraft that either had a tailskid or a very early wheel i n s t a l l a t i o n . Ta i l whee l s f rom such production aircraft as the Cessna UC-78, Boeing Stearman PT-13/-17, Ryan PT-22, Fairchild PT-19, and other types with sim-

ilar gross weights were adapted. That’s been done for a number of years with FAA fi eld approval.

For any steerable tail wheel, it must follow the rudder movement in a positive motion. To check for this, raise the aft fuselage and place it on a stand so the tail wheel clears the fl oor. Streamline the rudder by moving the rudder pedals to the neutral position in the cockpit, and then check for rudder neutral po-sition in line with the vertical fin. The tail wheel should be tracking straight; if not, adjust it. Move the rudder left and right and observe if the tail wheel follows. Since the tail wheel is attached to the rudder via a pair of chains and springs, they can be adjusted to increase tension on the steering horns on the tail wheel. Tension just needs to be snug; don’t over- or undertension. When the rudder is at full left or right travel, apply some side pressure against the tail wheel in the opposite direction; there should be resistance to move-

ILLUSTRATION 4

ILLUSTRATION 5

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31

ment because of spring pressure. Some aircraft use cables or an adjustable push-pull

rod for steering. The check is the same to make sure the tail wheel follows the rudder’s movement.

Tail wheels are made from solid rubber or are pneu-matic. Because there is a certain amount of “give” to it, the pneumatic assembly is more forgiving on rough sur-faces. However, if air pressure is allowed to get too low, the tire can spin on the wheel, shearing off the inner tube valve stem. Maintaining proper pressure is a must when it comes to the pneumatic tail wheel. Illustration 6 shows the early restoration stage of my Command-Aire 5C3. The tail wheel installation was made using a Scott 3200 assembly as found on the Cessna L-19 Bird Dog.

Steering should always be accomplished by using a rudder arm attached to the lower portion of the rudder. Never attach steering cables to the rudder horns. Most tail wheels incorporate springs, so the sensitivity of steering can be adjusted. The more pull on the springs, the more sensitive the steering as the pilot moves the rudder pedals. Steering should be adjusted to be posi-tive but not overpowering. With the Scott system, this adjustment is easy.

The Scott 3200 tail wheel should be installed in ac-cordance with data supplied by the factory. The angle at which the assembly is mounted to the leaf spring is

critical to good performance. The Scott installation on my Command-Aire is shown in detail in Illustration 7. It is extremely important that, with the aircraft at gross weight, the tail wheel assembly is mounted so the steer-ing arm is parallel to the ground.

Modifi cation of the tail wheel assembly requires a FAA Form 337 asa fi eld approval of a major alteration. Owners and restorers need to pay close attention to the tail wheel to make sure it is installed and operates correctly. If it doesn’t work properly, the results can be catastrophic.

ILLUSTRATION 6

ILLUSTRATION 7

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32 DECEMBER 2011

In part 1 on our series con-cerning short-field landings, we discussed two methods for making safe short-field land-

ings. Now let’s add one more factor to the equation and look at making a short-field landing—over a 50-foot obstacle!

Unless you fl y from a private strip with obstacles at one or both ends, you may not have even attempted a short-fi eld landing over a 50-foot obstacle since your sport, private, or commercial checkride eons ago. Can you recall the last time you ac-tually tried one?

The short-field obstacle land-ing is not diffi cult, but it does take some practice to perform this land-ing safely and skillfully. Practic-ing these landings and increasing your proficiency may be the dif-ference between a safe uneventful landing and a bent and broken air-plane when attempting a landing at someone’s private strip someday. How many times have you read an NTSB accident report stating that while flying in VMC, the pilot at-tempted to land on a friend’s private airstrip? After realizing the landing was too long, the pilot attempted to “plant” the airplane and apply heavy brake action, only to find himself or herself upside down! I’ve read a number of these accident re-ports over the years, and with re-gard as to how and why it happens, it doesn’t seem to make any differ-ence in the amount of flight time the pilot has accumulated.

When either teaching this landing or asking for it to be demonstrated during a fl ight review, I’ve identifi ed three common weaknesses:

•Inability to judge height.•Inability to establish and/or

maintain airspeed.•Lack of familiarity with the air-

plane (i.e., comfort level).

Inability to Judge HeightAll pilots—young or old, expe-

rienced or inexperienced—look to the sky as soon as stepping out-doors. We learned early in our training how to identify types of clouds and weather associated with each. We also learned, with a little practice, to generally judge cloud heights. How many times have you walked from your car or truck in your workplace parking lot, looked up, and mumbled, “This would be a good day to fl y!”

Why is it then that when looking up we can judge cloud bases within a few feet, but when asked to demon-strate a 50-foot obstacle landing, we have no clue as to what 50 feet looks like when looking downward toward the approach end of the runway?

Over the years of my acquired experience providing primary fl ight instruction, I’ve developed a method for teaching 50-foot obsta-cle short-fi eld landings.

After a brief prefl ight discussion describing the procedures for mak-ing this type of landing, we’ll go out and put these procedures into prac-tice. I’ll fi rst have the student dem-onstrate what he or she believes to be the correct way for making this landing. Without fail, we will cross the runway threshold (where our simulated 50-foot obstacle is lo-cated) and be anywhere from 250 to 500 feet above the runway. As we initiate a go-around, I’ll ask the stu-dent to call out our altitude. Let’s say, for the sake of example, the

BY Steve Krog, CFI

THE Vintage Instructor

Short-Field Operations, Part 2

How many

times have you

read an NTSB

accident report

stating that

while fl ying

in VMC, the

pilot attempted

to land on a

friend’s private

airstrip?

student calls out 1,450 feet.While climbing out and flying

the pattern, I’ll ask what the field elevation is at our airport, and the response is always 1,070 feet. Now add 50 feet and what do you get? Unless the student is quite young and is still attending school where math is no longer taught, the an-swer will be 1,120 feet. That is the altitude we need to clear then. Now add an additional 50 feet to that amount for instrument lag, 1,170 feet, and that is the altitude to strive toward on the next approach.

Additionally, for the next three or four landings, I will verbally call out our altitude above the obsta-cle as we descend on base and fi-nal legs. This method seems to help the student better grasp how high he or she is at any given point. You might try this method yourself if you haven’t practiced an obstacle landing in a while.

Inability to Establish and/or Maintain Airspeed

Up to this point most student pi-lots, as well as established pilots, have developed a skill level for es-tablishing correct airspeeds for the approach and landing in their par-ticular airplane. For the sake of dis-cussion, let’s say the airplane we’re fl ying uses the following speeds: 80 mph after reducing power on down-wind, 70 mph on base leg, 65 mph after turning fi nal, and 60 mph on short fi nal. If a student, or seasoned pilot, understands and practices “attitude fl ying,” these speeds will be common on every approach to land without ever having to look at the airspeed indicator.

However, throw in the 50-foot obstacle, and airspeed control wildly fl uctuates. If it appears to the pilot that we’re too high, oftentimes the nose is pitched downward and our airspeed is reading 90 mph and increasing. The obstacle is cleared, but now it will take 2,500 feet of runway to get on the ground and stopped—1,500 feet more than we allowed for this maneuver. Or, if it appears that we’re too low, the nose

is pitched upward and some power is added. More often than not, the power added is enough to easily clear the obstacle, but we’re hov-ering dangerously close to either a stall or, at the very least, a rapid descent to the runway. In this sce-nario the power is then chopped, the obstacle is cleared, the landing is very short, but the airplane may not be usable again without fi rst re-pairing the landing gear.

The more correct method is to stabilize the approach speed and rate of descent. Then after turning final, pick an aim point 300-500 feet beyond the approach end of the runway. Continue the stabi-lized approach and add or reduce power as needed to compensate for the effect of the wind. Once you can see that the 50-foot obstacle can be cleared, slowly reduce power, which will slightly increase the rate of descent. Level off and begin your flare. While doing so, simultane-ously reduce your power to idle. Upon touching down, continue to hold the yoke or control stick in the full aft position and gently ap-ply even brake action. A few more practice landings, and you’ll soon have the short-fi eld obstacle land-ing safely and skillfully mastered.

Lack of Familiarity With Your Airplane (i.e., Comfort Level)

When first practicing obsta-cle landings, one of the fears that students express is getting the air-speed too slow and approaching a near stall. It’s a common fear, but it can easily be overcome by getting more familiar with the airplane be-ing fl own.

In part 1 of Short-Field Opera-tions, I suggested several exercises that a pilot might do to develop a confi dent, safe feel for the airplane being fl own. First, at a safe altitude, align your aircraft with a road (our simulated runway). Reduce the power to idle while maintaining the desired constant airspeed that you should normally use on final approach to land. Burn the nose at-titude image fi rmly in your brain so

that you never need to look at your airspeed. Try this maneuver several times. The trim system can be a pi-lot’s best friend, sometimes espe-cially when landing. Use it to help stabilize the desired attitude.

Next, do the same exercise over the road, but this time experiment by first adding and then reducing power. How much can you slow your rate of descent down when adding 200 rpm while still main-taining a constant airspeed plus 5 mph? This maneuver is especially good for developing the skills needed to make consistently safe short-fi eld obstacle landings.

Judging altitude, controlling air-speed, and knowing your airplane are essential to being able to per-form short-field obstacle landings safely. The next time you decide to go fl ying for fun and pleasure, chal-lenge yourself and try the exercises I’ve mentioned.

With a little practice, you’ll be able to turn onto final, maintain a constant airspeed, and be in full control of your rate of descent. If needed, a forward slip can be estab-lished for a couple of seconds dissi-pating the remaining altitude, then aligning the airplane with the cen-terline, establishing the flare, and smoothly touching down while re-ducing whatever power remains.

Most of the classic airplanes we fly today need little more than 500-800 feet to land. Allowing for obstacle clearance, a distance of 1,000-1,200 feet is about average for an obstacle landing with little or no help from the wind.

Take the ChallengeA pilot striving to be a better,

more skilled pilot becomes a safer pilot. And isn’t that a goal for all of us who enjoy general-aviation plea-sure fl ying?

Next time you decide to make a pleasure flight after work or on Saturday morning, challenge yourself and try a couple of simu-lated obstacle landings. They are both skill-enhancing as well as self-satisfying!

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33

34 DECEMBER 2011

Our September Mystery Plane came to us from W. Duffy Thompson of

Lakeland, Florida. It was of for-eign manufacture, but the photo was taken on the East Coast of the United States. Here’s our fi rst an-swer, from Wes Smith of Spring-fi eld, Illinois:

What an interesting photo of one of my favorites—the Aeroplanes Hanriot et Cie HD.1 (“HD” standing for “Hanriot Dupont.” The manu-facturer being Rene Hanriot, a pre-World War I Darracq racecar driver, pilot and aircraft builder, and the designer, Pierre Dupont). I strongly suspect that the Vintage Air-plane HD.1 is the imported aircraft that Charles Nungesser used on his 1924-25 American tour (see below). I fi rst heard of the HD.1 way back in late 1968, when I bought a copy of Kenneth Munson’s book Fighters 1914-18. Three years later I got a copy of Willy Coppens’ autobiography Flying in Flan-ders, and in 1972, Jack Bruce’s Warplanes of the First World War: Fighters, Volume 5 was published. That had to do until

Dr. Davilla and Arthur Soltan wrote French Aircraft of the First World War. Jack Bruce did Windsock Datafi le No. 12: Hanriot HD.1 in 1988, and Gregory Alegi did another on the HD.1/2 (Datafi le No. 92) in 2002. I would be remiss if I also didn’t mention Jon Guttman’s Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1, published just a few years ago.

Aside from Belgium, the United States, and Italy (where 831

Send your answer to EAA, Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Your answer needs to be in no later than January 10 for inclusion in the March 2012 issue of Vintage Airplane.

You can also send your re-sponse via e-mail. Send your answer to mysteryplane@eaa.org. Be sure to include your name plus your city and state in the body of your note and put “(Month) Mys-tery Plane” in the subject line.

This month’s Mystery Plane comes to us courtesy of Wes Smith.It is of North American origin.

MYSTERY PLANEby H.G. FRAUTSCHY

S E P T E M B E R ’ S M Y S T E RY A N S W E R

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 35

HD.1s were built under license by Societa Nieuport-Macchi, during the war, and 70 were delivered in 1919, Hanriot built only 100 HD.1s), it was also used by Paraguay (3), and Swit-zerland (16), through the ’20s. In addition to the 26 HD.2s purchased by the U.S. Navy, the HD.2 fl oatplane (hydravion) variant was also used by the French aviation maritime (30) and was fl own off turret-launching platforms from the Cour-bet class battleship Paris. This was accomplished by LV Gui-erre off Toulon on 26 October 1918. The same thing was done by the U.S. Navy, which fl ew them off turret platforms fi tted to the battleship USS Texas (BB-35) at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the spring of 1919 (also the cruiser USS Mississippi). The first American turret-launched flight took place in a Sopwith F.1 Camel fl own by the legendary U.S. Navy World War I ace David S. Ingalls; fl ying off the No. 2 turret platform of the USS Texas on 10 March 1919. Of course, the British Royal Naval Air Service was the fi rst to use this method of launching aircraft at sea. During World War I, the U.S. Navy HD.2s were fl own from Dunkerque Naval Air Station as escort fi ghters for Donnet-Denhaut fl ying boats. Postwar, the HD.2s were used as armed fi ghter trainers. The fl oats were removed, and experiments were conducted with skids (French), hydrovanes, and fl oatation bags.

According to French Aircraft of the First World War (p 275), after the undercarriages were fi tted to l’aviation mari-time HD.2s, heavier tail skids were also retrofi tted, and the rud-ders were modifi ed à la the HD.1. On HD.2s, a 130 hp Clerget 9b replaced the 110-120 hp Le Rhone 9Jb of the HD.1 (Italian machines list the hp at 10 hp less than the French). Postwar, the French Hanriots replaced the Clerget with a 130 hp Salmson radial. French HD.2s fi tted with undercarriages may have been designated as the HD.2C. Italian-built HD.1s had a slightly shorter span set of wings and a slightly greater height. The lower power of Le Rhones on Italian HD.1s contributed to a lower performance. When fi tted with the original larger rudder of the HD.2 fl oatplane, the length of the landplane went from 5.85 meters to 5.94 meters. The span remained the same at 8.7 me-ters, but the height of the HD.2 landplane was slightly increased to 2.59 meters (2.94 meters for the HD.1 and 2.5 meters for the Nieuport-Macchi-built airframes). The wing area of the HD.2 was slightly increased to 18.9 square meters over 18.2 square meters for the HD.1 (17.5 square meters for Italian HD.1s). The speed of the HD.2 landplane was 180 km/hour, roughly compa-rable to the 186 km/hour maximum of French HD.1s, and 183 km/hour for Italian airframes. The empty weight of the HD.2 was 410 kilograms (400 kilograms French, 410 kilograms Ital-ian). The loaded weight was signifi cantly higher at 710 kilo-grams, an increase of 105 kilograms more than French HD.1s, and 110 kilograms heavier than Italian HD.1s. Float-equipped HD.2s were naturally longer and higher (7.0 meters and 3.10 meters, respectively) and were heavier (425 kilograms empty, 723 kilograms loaded). Curiously, the wing area was less at 18.2 square meters. The speed was approximately the same at 182 km/hour. The ceiling was about 1,000 meters less than the HD.1, being 4,800 meters (the HD.2 landplane was only 5,000 meters), but the climb to 2,000 meters was about the same at 6 minutes 30 seconds (6 minutes 3 seconds for French HD.1s and 6 minutes 40 seconds for Italian). Range of the HD.2 avion and

hydravion was 300 kilometers, while the HD.1 had an endur-ance of 2.5 hours (cruise speeds unknown).

Page 98 of Lucien Morareau’s Les Aeronefs de l’Aviation Maritime 1910-1942 has a photo of an HD.2 landplane (ter-restre) of l’ecole de chasse de Frejuis, taken at St. Raphel in 1926, which has a modified vertical fin and rudder (or an HD.1 replacement). Page 22 of Bruce’s Windsock has a photo of Francis Lombardi’s Italian HD.1, fi tted with a Fiat A.50 ra-dial (I-PASO). It was fl own as late as 1944. The caption goes on to state that the design evolved into the CANSA (Costruzi-oni Aeronautiche Novaresi S.A.) FL.5 (later, C.5) trainer. There is an HD.1 in the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon. It was flown to England from Belgium by Richard Shuttleworth in 1937 and was fully restored by Marvin Hand in the United States. Several other HD.1s survive. Two examples exist in the United States, one at the National Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola, Florida. Other HD.1s survive in Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, and Ecuador.

Nungesser’s HD.1 was brought to the United States in 1924 and was registered as N5934. He fl ew it in the 1925 fi lm The Sky Raider. In 1927 it was fl own in Wings by James Granger (Nungesser had since disappeared during his trans-Atlantic fl ight attempt). It was used again in Hell’s Angels in 1930. In 1951 it was rediscovered by Ed Maloney at Clover Field, Santa Monica, California, where it had been stored. Currently, it re-sides at the Planes of Fame Museum and is painted with Nun-

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36 DECEMBER 2011

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 37

gesser’s distinctive “skull, candles and coffi n” personal insignia, which it wore during his display tour—and was used during his days as a pilot in World War I. The serial number of this aircraft is not known, but it is interesting that the per-sonal insignia has yet to be applied to the aircraft as depicted in the Vintage Air-plane photo.

United States Navy and Marine Corps Fighters 1918-1962 (Paul R. Matt and Bruce Robertson. Harleyford Pub.) and Peter M. Bowers’ United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911 (Put-nam) have additional photos of U.S. Navy Hanriot Duponts.

Gregory Alegi’s Windsock Datafilehas a highly interesting photo of an HD.1 (I-EBBO) taking off from the uncompleted CNA hangar at Rome’s Littorio airport in 1928. It is shown just outside the han-gar, already fl ying, taking off from a ramp that runs back into the hangar! According to Alegi, the pilot, Giangiacomo Chiesi, often liked to carry a gun in his Hanriot—in order to shoot ducks while fl ying. As as-tonishing as this seems, this practice was not unique. Hubert Latham et. al. did the same thing long before World War I.

An excerpt from the letter sent by Tom Lymburn, of Princeton, Minne-sota, adds:

Although comparing favorably with the Sopwith Pup for maneuverability, the HD.1 was not ordered in quantity by the French Aviation Militaire. It was under-gunned with only one Vickers, so it did not have the hitting power of the Spad XIII. Powered by Le Rhone or Clerget ro-tary engines, the HD.1 had a top speed of 115 mph and a ceiling of more than 20,000 feet. If it had been capable of car-rying two Vickers guns without the weight penalty, it probably would have been built in greater numbers.

And a wonderful surprise from member Eric Pinion of Hialeah Gar-dens, Florida:

I guess I am a bit late to reply, but I have a good excuse: I was busy building an airplane that looks just like this one!

The picture is of a Hanriot HD.1, a WWI single-seat fi ghter that would have been built in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, by Hanriot or by Nieuport-Macchi in Italy. The D in the HD designation stands for

Dupont, the last name of the designing en-gineer that contributed to the rebirth of the company from 1916. Bibliography refers to 1,200 of them built with many fi nding their way after the war into civilian use in Europe, North America, and South Amer-ica; only six genuine survive today.

A number of HD.2 versions were built for the French and U.S. Navy primarily as hydroplanes, but they were often ret-rofitted to wheels; their engine, a Cler-get 130 hp rotary instead of a Le Rhone 9J of 110 hp, a different machine gun arrangement, and different cowling face were the main external difference between the HD.1 and HD.2; unfortu-nately, the Mystery Plane picture does not show these details. For instance the Hanriot preserved at Planes of Fame in Chino, California, is a HD.2 model.

Other correct answers were received from Wayne Muxlow, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Jim Gevay, Circle Pines, Minnesota; Roger Baker, Carlsbad, Cal-ifornia; and Renald Fortier, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, who reminded us that another photo and a brief his-tory of the HD-2 for use by the Navy is shown on the website www.NavSource.org/archives/01/57k3.htm.

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38 DECEMBER 2011

“Precious and few are the moments we two can share . . . .” Those words from a popular song on

the charts in 1972 pretty much sum up my fl ying this time of year.

The days are short now. No steal-ing a quick fl ight before dark on the way home anymore. Night fl ight is cold and carries the threat of deer on the runway. That’s a chance meeting I prefer to avoid.

For the next few months I am left with weekends for flying, and pray that the weather is good. Our part of the east has had a frustrating amount of marginal weather for little air-planes this year…except on week-days when I’m at work. Of course.

I suppose I can be called a wimp on occasion. The much-loved airplane that has my name on the registration

weighs around 900 pounds. Its short, fat wings seem to locate all the un-stable air easily. At this point in my life I fl y for fun. I can opt out of gusty or marginal VFR days if I choose. Be-sides, the airplane is 62 years old. It deserves to be flown with respect, not needlessly thrashed.

On the silver-lining side, how-ever, early winter does provide more chances to ride some still air. When the windsock is motionless, and the clouds are not moving, it’s just got to be good.

Like young animals that become playful in cool temperatures, the airplane responds readily when it breathes in the denser air. You can almost hear it say, “Let’s go!” The sluggish summer performance is abated for a few months.

In the rare gift of no-wind con-

ditions, plane and pilot blend to-gether as if one entity in flight. Each control input is true. The air-craft response is honest. No com-pensation is needed to counter the unseen weather forces. At last—just pure, unadulterated flight—and for a few moments the feeling of total satisfaction.

Winter will bring its unpleasant-ness soon enough. Cold, wet misery will show its snowy face and pre-vent time aloft—again. For now I will dress warmly. I will revel in the fi ery pinks and oranges on my wing struts as they shine in the sunset. I will marvel at the long shadows as I watch the farmland pass beneath me. I will take in the peacefulness and let it soothe my soul.

I will oh-so enjoy the smooth air.

A Little Smooth Airby S. Michelle Souder

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 39V E H I C L E P U R C H A S E P L A N

Performance Nonparallel“Whether I’m performing a loop above thousands at an air show, or driving up the coast at sunset…I love the adrenalin rush I get when I fly my helicopter…and when I drive my Ford Mustang. It’s an unmatched feeling I would highly recommend.”

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40 DECEMBER 2011

Socks for ChildrenBiplanes are depicted on a brown background inspiring young people to lift their feet off the ground.

2-4 yrs 52663328270833-7 yrs 5266332828083

7-10 yrs 5266332829083

Blue-Adult size 9-11 5266140703061 Black-Adult size 9-11 5266140703093Blue-Adult size 10-13 5266140704061 Black-Adult size 10-13 5266140704093

Grey-Adult size 9-11 5266140703091 Lavender-Adult size 9-11 5266140703070Grey -Adult size 10-13 5266140704091 Lavender -Adult size 10-13 5266140704070

Socks for AdultsComfortable socks depicting aviation

will keep your feet warm and aviation dressed right down to your feet. See

sizes and color choice below.

Wooden PuzzlesThree delightfully designed puzzles to build with the family for an enjoyable, fun activity. Can be decorated with paint, stickers or any imaginative idea that strikes you. For ages fi ve and up, instructions included.Bi-Plane 5260377300000Triplane 5260377500000Spirit of St Louis 5260377000000

$4.99 ea*

$4.99*

$10.99*

www.shopeaa.com/vaaTelephone Orders: 800-843-3612

From US and Canada (All Others Call 920-426-5912)*Shipping and handling NOT included. Major credit cards accepted.

WI residents add 5% sales tax.

Winter Fleece Set for Children

This hat, scarf,and mitten set is the

softest winter wear your child can have to

keep warm whileenjoying the outdoors.

Black color is perfectfor wearing with any

colored coat. Sized foryouths 2 to 5 years of age.

B-15A Bomber JacketWarm khaki color jacket with a removable faux fur collar.Med 5265697303082 XL 5265697305082Large 5265697304082 2X 5265697306082

Flight CapFleece lined with VAA logo.Sm Sage 5265341502053Md Sage 5265341503053Lg Sage 5265341504053

Sm Brown 5265341502084Md Brown 5265341503084Lg Brown 5265341504084

MA1 Flight JacketWith Vintage logo on front, this jacket is warm and comfortable during the winter season. The sage green color is attractive and practical for the many activities of a seriously-fun aviator!Med 5263622300000 Large 5263622400000XL 52636225000002X 5263622600000

Silk Aviator’s ScarfWrap around your neck the comfort of silk with the historic look of aviation. Off -white scarf is screened with the VAA logo.One size 5266138900000

Aviator GogglesBeautifully crafted British style goggles protect your eyes when fl ying in those vintage open air cockpits. Also handy for many fun winter and summer activities.Adjustable 5266155000000

$42.95*

$29.95*

$19.99*

$5.95*

$57.99*

$36.95*