Vintage Airplane - Feb 1998

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Feb 1998

1/36


2/36

February 1998 Vol. 26 , No.2

CONTENTS

EDITORIALSTAFF

PublisherTom Pobe rezny

Editor -in-ChiefJack Cox

EditorHenry G . Frau tschy

Manog lng EditorGolda Cox

Art DirectorMike Drucks

Computer Graphic SpecialistsNancy Hanson Olivia L Phillip

Pierre Kotze

ASSOCiate EditorNorm Petersen

Staff PhotographersJim Kaepnick LeeAnn Abrams

Ken Lichtenberg

Advertising/Editorial Ass istantIsabelle W iske

EAAANTIQUE/ CLASSICDIVISION,INC.OFFICERS

President VICe -PresidentEspie 'Butch ' Joyce Gecrge Daubner

P.O. Box 35584 2448 Lough LoneGreensboro . NC 27425 Hortiord . WI53Cf27

910/393.Q344 414/673-5885Secretory Treasurer

Steve Nesse h a ~ e sHorTis2009 Highland Ave. 7215 East 46th St.

Albert Lea . MN 56007 Tuisa . OK 74145507/ 373-1674 918/622-8400

DIRECTORSJohn Berendt Gene Morris

7645 Echo Point Rd. 5936 S eve CourtCannon Falls. MN 55009 Roanoke . TX 76262

507/263-2414 817/491-9110Phil Coulson Robert C. ' Bob ' Brauer

28415 Springb rook Dr. 9345 S HoyneLawton . MI49065 Chicago . L 60620616/624-6490 312/779-2105

Joe Dickey John S. Copeland55 Oakey Av. 1A Deacon Street

Lawrenceburg . IN47025 Northborough , MA 01 532812/537-9354 508/393-4775

Dole A. Gustafson StonGomoiI7724 Shady Hill Dr. 104290th Lone, NE

Indianapolis . IN 46278 Minneapol is, MN55434317/293-4430 61 2/784-1172

Robert Ucktelg Jeannie Hili1708 Bay Oaks Dr. PO . Box 328

Albe rt Lea , MN 56007 Harvord, L 60033507/373-2922 815/943-7205

Dean RIchardson Robert D. ' Bob' Lumley6701 Colony Dr. 1265 South 124th st.

Madison. WI 53717 Brookfield. WI53005608/833- 1291 414/782-2633

S.H. ' Wes ' Schmid GeoIf Robison2359 Lefeber Avenue 1521 E. MacGregor Dr.Wauwatosa , WI 53213 New Haven . IN 46774

414/771-1545 219/493-4724

George York181 Sloboda Av.

Mansfield. OH 44906419/529-4378

DIRECTORSEMERITUSGene Chose EE ' Buck Hilbert

2159 Carlton Rd. P.O . Box 424Oshkosh. WI 54904 Union, lL60180

920/231-5002 815/923-4591

ADVISORSSieve Krog Roger Gomoll

1002 Heather In. 321-1/2 S BroadwayHartiord . WI53Cf27 Apt. 3414/966-7627 Rochester. MN 55904

507288-2810Dovtd Bennett403 Tanner Ct.

Roseville. CA 95678916-782-7025

1 S traight & Leve llEs pie But ch Joyce

2 C News

3 A eromail

4 3 On A Trimotor lPe nn Storr

6 The Pride Of Tatums /Davi d We lch

7 Dani sh Cubs /J0rge n Helme

10 Bald Eagle A viationlJ ohn G ae rtner

12 T ype C lub Notes lNo rm P eterso n

13 Stinson HW-7S IH .G. Frautsc hy

18 Ta ylorcraft BC-12D INo rm Peterson

2 1 WW I N ight Fl yin gIWa lt Kess ler

23 Pass t To Buck/Bu ck Hilb ert

24 W hat Our M ember s A reRestorin g/No rm Pete rsen

26 M yst ery Plane lH.G. F raut schy

29 Welcome New Members30 Membership Information/

CalendarPage 26

FRONT COVER ... The Stinson HW-75 was the early version of the Stinson 105 Voy-ager . This stunning eample was res tored ov e r a lOyear period by Tim Talen of the"Ragwo o d Refactory in Springfie ld. OR. Tim and his family were tickled to beawarded the Antique Bronze Age Champion trophy during EAA OSHKOSH '97 fortheir three -pla ce Stinson. EAAphoto by Ken Uchtenberg . shot with a Canon EOS-1nequipped with an 80 -200 mm lens. 1/250 sec. @ f9 on 100 ASA slide film. EAA WagAero Spart Trainer photo plane flown by EAAvolunteer pilot Ed Lachendro .

BACKCOVER.... A Sunny Day is the title of artis t Lee Budahl's oil and acrylic pain ting that garnered an Honorable Mention ribbon in the 1997 Spart Avia tion Art Competition . From an unusual perspe ctive we see the top wing of a Fokker Triplane be-fore ~ slashes downward to ruin the day of the unsuspecting pilot of a BritishSE-5A.For more information on this artwork. please see A/C News on page 2.

Copyright 1998 by the EAAAntique/Classic Division Inc. All rights reserved.VINTAGEAIRPlANE(ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EM Antique/Classic Division. Inc. of the ExperimentalAircraft Associationand is published monthlyat EM AviationCenter, 3000 Poberezny Rd., P O 80x 3086, Oshkosh, Wosconsi n 54903-3086.Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh, Wosconsin 54901 and at a d d ~ i o n a /mailingoffices. The membership rate for EM Antique/ClassicDivision,Inc. is $27.00 forCUfTent EM members for 12 month period of which $18.00is for the publication of VINTAGE AIRPLAN E Membelship s opento all who are interested inaviation.POSTMASTER:Send address changes to EM Antique/Classic Division,Inc., P O 80x 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. FOREIGN ANDAPOADDRESSES - Please allowat least two months fordeliveryof VINTAGEAIRPlANEto oreig1 and APO addresses via st.riace mail.ADVERTISING- Antique/Classic Division does not guarantee or endorse any product oftered through the advertising. We oWe constructivecriticismand WilIcome any report of infeliormerchandise obtained through 00 advertisingso that conective measures can be taken.EDITORIAlPOlICY: Readers are encouraged to s u b m ~stories and photographs. Policyopin ons expressed in articles are solely those of theauthors. R e s p o n s i b i l ~foraccuracy in eporting rests entirely the contributor.No rentmeralion is made.Ma terial should be sent to: d ~ o rVINTAGEAIRPlANE,P O . 80x 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Phone 92 1426 48The words EAA, UlTRAUGHT, flY WITH lHE ARST TEAM,SPORT AVIATION, FOR lHE lOVE OF flYING and the logos of EAA, EAAINTERNATIONAlCONVENTION, EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSICDIVISION, INTERNATIONAlAEROBATlC ClUB, WARBIRDS OFAMERICAare registered trademarks . lHE EAA SKY SHOPPEand logos of the EAAAVlATIONFOUNDATIONand EAAUlTRAUGHTCONVENTION aretrademarks of the above associations and their use by any person o her than the above association is strictlyp r o h i ~ e d


3/36

STRAIGHT . LEVELby ESPIE BUTCH JOYCE

I 's really funny the places that I endup writing this Straight Levelcolumn for VINTAGE AIRPLANE Thisone is being written while sitting on a737 that will be departing Louisville,Kentucky at about 6 :30 p .m . for Charlotte , North Carolina. Then a lift fromCharlotte to Greensboro will allow meto be home by (if all goes well) 11 :30p.m. That's not too bad considering Igot up this same day at 4:00 a.m. tomake my 6:30 departure for my day'srip to Louisville, KY, where I had a

lunch plus a four hour meeting with acompany. This is but an hour and a halfrip in my Beech Baron each way , buthe forecast of freezing rain and the ab

solute need to be at this meetingrequired me to go by airline. Please donot take this to mean I am upset withhe system of airline travel-after all,t 's an II hour drive each way I am

grateful to be able to leave home in themorning and return the same day. But itcertainly highlights the remarkable abilty we have to control our own schedule

using our own aircraft. The weatherdoes limit its utility just a bit, even withan instrument rating, but if the weatherforecast were not for freezing rain, Icould have cut my trip's time require

ment by over half.On this trip I carried a publication

hat included a short article written byEAA Founder and Chairman of theBoard, Paul Poberezny. In it, Paul spokeabout the inconveniences that we as piots and aircraft owners put up with in

order to own or fly aircraft. What Paulsaid is true, but as a long-time aviationbuff I had come to be accustomed to theinconveniences that I go through andhave expected these things as the norn1

I 've been in aviation a long timeand perhaps that's the secret. Many ofhese restrictions have been put on us

one at a time , I have not really stoodback and looked at what we have to go

through to get my aircraft into the system and fly it from here to there. Thankgoodness for those of you who can stillkeep your aircraft on a private airport.

While sitting at the gate in Louisville,I kept hearing different announcements, most of them dealing withweather related delays:

"Because of the weather at Chicago ,Illinois, we cannot depart this flight ontime; therefore we are trying to arrangea different flight for those of you whohave a connection ." Ninety-five percentof those flying into Chicago were affected . On a day like this, you llprobably see the same sign I saw onthe ticket counter: "This flight is overbooked; if you volunteer for a laterflight we will give you a round-tripticket (free of charge) to any point thatwe fly to , in the next year. Thanks ,but no thanks; I just want to get hometo the couch and fire . Even the pros areaffected - a UPS captain was waitingfor the same flight as me . He wasworried that he might not get on theflight because it was overbooked (hedid make it; I was pulling for him) .Once he got to Charlotte he had to startall over with his quest to get home. InChicago it is another madhouse of cancelled flights and people trying tomake connections.

You can see that weather or many

of the same factors that affect us canmake aviation travel an inconvenienceto all who try to fly through this vastocean of air. t is not only limited to pilots and aircraft owners, but being anaircraft owner or a pilot has its ownunique disadvantages and highlights.

As I write this, it is the second dayafter the 21 st of January, which is theequinox, and we now start gainingnearly an additional three minutes ofdaylight each day. I can hardly wait forthe Sun 'n Fun Fly-in in April. BeforeI talk to you about that event, I wouldlike to pass along some exciting newsabout EAA AirVenture '98. One of themajor themes this year at Oshkosh is a

cooperative effort between EAA , theEAA Antique /Classic Division and theNBAA. We will be recognizing the rolethat corporate aviation has played inthe history of aviation, by helping create the display of Antique, Classic andContemporary aircraft that representthe contributions they have played inbusiness aviation.

In our workshop tent, we also plan tohave several of the most talented metalworking individuals. Each day you cansee demonstrations of this skill, and theproper use of metalworking tools . Thiseffort is being headed up by your A /CDirector Steve Nesse . We will have additional information about this programin future issues of VINTAGE AIRPLANEShould you have any questions aboutthis metal working shop, contact Steveat 507 /373-1674 . EAA AirVenture '98is shaping up to be one of the greatestConventions we will ever have

The Antique /Classic 10nl campaignis still going great; the report that Ireceived just last week showed us to beon the posit ive side. Let ' s keep itgoing, and continue to recruit newmembers Your continued support ofthe Antique /Classic Division has madethis group one of the strongest groupsof the EAA. I again call on your support to ask new people to join up withus so they too can enjoy all of the

Antique / Classic benefits as well asyour great magazine .

This past January, we have had another hand propping accident. I canonly say that you and I need to do whatever is necessary to prevent theseaccidents from occurring in the futureWe all need to look after each other andprevent these reoccurring accidents.

Well, we have landed in Greensboro; we are late - it is now I I :30p.m I guess I'll need to walk out to theparking lot and beat the ice off of mytruck so I can go home. Let's all pull inthe same direction for the good of aviation . Remember we are bettertogether Join us and have it all

VINTAGE IRPL NE 1


4/36

A/CNEWScompiled by H G Frautschy

SUNNYD Y

Our back cover features another of the paintings which won an award in the annual EAA SportAviation Competition.Lee Budahl, the artist whoentered the painting wrote:

I have been teaching art for 30 years, and havebeen drawing for twice 30 years. Some of my earliest memoriesare of drawing picturesof airplanes...

'A Sunny Day' takes place in France, Spring1918; the last year of World War I A British SE5A flies over fields which have escapedbombardment and which are beginning to turngreen. For a precious moment or two the pilotlooks out at the ground beneath him. He does notsee the German Fokker DR. diving out of the suntoward him . In seconds the Fokker's pilot willrake the SE-5A with machine gun fire. TheFokker' s wings are red - this may be the Baron'splane. We watch this frozen moment of time fromsomewhere outsideboth cockpits; far from the SE5A , and a little above the Fokker. From ourviewpoint the red wing makes a dramatic, diagonal plunge into this sunny day, reminding us thatthe war is not yet over.

You can reach Lee at 300 N Country Club Rd.,Cullowhee, NC 28723.

ERONC SP R D

EAA and the Antique /Classic Divisionrecently commented on an ill-advised proposedAirworthinessDirective DocketNo. 97-CE-79-AD.Affecting American Champion Corporation 7, 8,and Series airplanes, it would require the owners o Aeronca 7 AC through the 7EC andBellanca's 7ACA, or the IIAC and IIBC (as wellas Champion aircraft models built before theacquisition of the line by Bellanca) to add multipleinspection holesin the bottom of the wings of theirairplanes, and a larger plate in the top surface ofthe wing near the spar/wing strut attact fitting. Thefollowing is a synopsis of EAA comments to theFAA regarding this proposed AD.

The stated purpose of this AD is to ensure thedetection of spar cracks that could result in an inflight wing failure. Therefore, for aircraft that havenever suffered wing damage, the inspection should

not e necessary. The result of the aircraft modifications proposed in the NPRM would result in a costlychange to the aircraft thatwould not preventthe typeof failures that have occurred and actually couldcause additional failuresdue to moisture damage.

The proposed AD does little to enhance an inspection. The proposed inspection plates leavejustbarely enough room to insert a mirror, and notenough to do any feeling for anomalies by touch.(The supposition that spar damage couldbe felt byfingers requires the damage be quite severe, i.e. aspar fracture due to wing contact with the ground.)These little curved holes are so small that it almostrequiresa borescope to see over and under the sparwhen looking through these holes.There are alsoaerodynamic concerns to be considered with theaddition of 22 inspectionholes in the bottom surface of the wings.

The holes proposed for the top of the wing arevery well located for inducing wing rot. They are2 FEBRUARY 998

centered over the juncture of the plywood doublers in the area of the wing strut attach point onthe spars. As currently constructed,the wing is aclosed structure with carefully controlled ventilation. The addition of the rectangularpanel on thetop of the wing, as proposed by this NPRM, willresult in moisture infiltration into the wing structure. When sitting outside, moisture, combinedwith the sun's heat creates an ideal fungi incubator. Mold and rot thrive in such a warm, moistatmosphere. The doublers will delaminate . Rotwill form unseen behind the doublers. The FAA isproposing to swap the problem of a unsubstantiated cracked spar problem with another realproblem. Why puncture the "umbrella" of the topcovering to let in water?

The inclusion of aircraft of the low poweredAeronca and 7 series and the Bellanca 7ACAcannot be sustained by using the statistical datapresented in the NPRM. The AD's statistics showsthat no series airplane has shown any sparproblems related to this type o damage. The"compression failure type of crack is the statedreason for the NPRM. But FAA statistics quotedin the NPRM show the low powered 7 series to becomparativelyfree of compression cracksas well.Of the eight accidents cited in the NPRM, sevenofthe eight are high powered models.

It may be appropriate to review the history ofthis wing design at this time. Thesame spar citedin the proposed AD is used in the Aeronca modelswhich type certificates are not presently owned byAmerican ChampionAircraft Company. These arethe prewar Chief , the Defender, the K-series, theCA65, and the L-3 wartime model. Theseall havethe same wood spardesign, and Iike their youngerrelatives , they have not, over a 60 year period ,shown any evidence of a structural spar problem.

This would seem to lend credence to the conclusion that only the higher weight, higher poweredaircraft which have been overstressed at somepoint in the past may have structural problems. Itis also true that thesehigher horsepower, highergross weight aircraft are being flown in much different ways than theorigina l wing design wasintended to handle, i.e., aerobatics flown by lessexperienced aerobatic pilots. During the recentpast, a new, higher strength, STC'd wing strut fitting for attac hing the strut to the spar has beencreated. The revised fitting was produced after thefailure of the wing strut fitting on a higher horsepower, higher gross weightDecathlon airplane.

The FAA cited an 8GCBC accident after initial inspection several years earlier as justificationfor the proposed AD. From the Type CertificateData Sheets one can see the vastly different loading conditions of the different aircraftcited in theproposed AD. The 8GC BC Scout has a grossweig ht o 2,540 lb . and a 180 HP engine. The8KCAB has a gross weight of 1800 lb. and an engine of 150 HP. The 7ECA has a gross weight of1,650 and a 150 HP engine, the 7AC has a grossweight of 1,120 and a 65 HP engine. To comparethese aircraft as hav ing similar loading on thespars is unreasonable. We also understand thereare differing opinions regardingthe exact natureof this wing failure between the investigatingparties. Before it can be used as justification for thisproposed AD, it seems appropriate to review theinvestigationof this particular failure.

Only three of the eight airplane failures cited

by the FAA were due to undetected and uninspected damage to the spar or improper wood slopewhich would be detectable under the present factory inspection holesif an inspection was properlyaccomplished leaving only two undetectable inspection accidents out of 5541 airplanes cited, plusthe 961 IIAC Chiefs covered... that's 6,502 planesand two out of that is a .0003075% failurerate. Ifwe are to make the FAA assumption that the failures are under reported, we can then increase thefailure rate. Whilewe don ' t agree that the failuresare not reported routinelyby mechanics, for thesake of argument, we'll assume the failures wereunder reportedby 300% in the field, requiring thefailure rate to be multiplied by 3 times. That givesa fai lure rate of .0009225%,still less than one tenthousandth of one percent of the fleet These statistics would indicate that there is no real problemthat requires the need for a mandatory AD on allaircraft. This information does indicate that theFAA and other aviation organizations such asEAA should better educate the owners of theseaircraft of the importance of a good annual inspection o the spars and a detailed , thoroughinspection of the wing spar prior to recoveringanaircraft, or specifically after a wing strike.

The FAA stated in the AD that "The FAA believes that many cracked/damagedspars are notreported because general aviation operators(operating in accordance with Part 9 of the FederalAviation Regulations [14 CFR part 91]) are not required to submit service difficulty reports." EAAdoes not agree with this statement. EAA believesthat most mechanics are safety conscious , andwhen they see something that they believe is a design or service problem they submit a reportbecause they care for the lives of the pilots who flythese aircraft. As you read the service difficulty re

ports, it impresses you with the small details thatget reported. A loose screw here, an enlarged fitting here... EAA does not believe that somethingas major as a wing spar with damage wouldgo under reported. The FAA has cast moral and ethicalclouds over the inspectors they license.

Every annual inspection of a wood spar aircraft should include a detailed inspection of thespar using the existing inspection holes. Thismethod has worked well for over 50 years. If thelighter airplaneshad a structural flaw related to theuse of wood spars, would it not be reasonable toexpect the problem to exist over the service life ofthe aircraft? The data collected over the past 31

years (the length of time used to collect the datacited in the NPRM) does not justify the inclusionof the Aeronca 7 and II series airplanes, nor theBellanca 7ACA. No data at all was submitted onthe series aircraft and they should not be included in any proposed action.The applicationofthis NPRM to the higher horsepower, higher grossweight aircraft should be carefully weighedagainst the possibility that the failures of the wingson these airplanes could be the result of anotherfailure mode involving the spar/wing strut fittings.

In conclusion, the proposed action of adding inspection holes on the top of the wing would causeaddition corrosionand moisture problems, offsettingany improved inspectionabilities and insufficientsupport is given for the need of any additional inspection requirements for any of the effectedaircraft. Thisproposed AD should be withdrawn.

We'll keep you posted on any further developments regarding this proposed AD.


5/36

PARKS HELP

Dear H.G.,I am writing a book about the early

days of Parks Air College, spanning fromits founding in 1927 though the mid1930's . I am interested in correspondingwith anyone who might allow me to pho-tocopy information they might have aboutParks. I'm looking for photographs , salesbrochure s, correspondence, anyone who

flew or worked on the Parks-built P-l P-2, P-2A , P-3, P-4 airplanes, informationon the 1929 Women 's Air Derby , Gardner Cup Race and Cord Cup Race, copiesof "Parks Air News," "Happy Landings ,""Skyward Ho" and "The Man Who TunesThe Plane." I would like to speak withany former students from that era as wellas any pilots or mechanics who visitedParks during that time. You may write orcall me collect at the following address:

John L. Lewis60 Robert Leather RdBethlehem , CT 06751203-266-5787

BUHL AlRSEDAN NOTES

DearH.G. ,I enjoyed the article on the Buhl on the

December issue. It's always good to learnmore about an antique airplane. However ,I question the identification of the person

VINTAGE

AeroMaiInamed as Walter Lees in the photos onpage 18. About "Cap" Wool son, I'm notsure. I enclose two copies of Walter Lees,both from the book Pioneer Pilot, editedby Lees' daughter Jo Cooper. The photo sare cons istent with others in the book .Lees was bald at an early age , and he hada Charlie Chaplin mustache.

You might be interested in the discussion of he Buh} Sport Airsedan that was at

Monmouth, IL airport for awhile in 1935.You will find a discussion on it in FlyingField, page 66. It had an engine that wasonce on the Spirit of St. Louis. No kidding

Best Regards,Jim HaynesBushnell , ILAlC 12099

Jim is right, and his nifty history of theMonmouth airport in "Flying Field" is agreat story. For more information on thebook, drop an SASE in th e mail to Jim at

Robin s Nest Co ., 21 Sunset Ln ., Bushn ell,IL 61422. Jim's suspicion is co nfirm ed inthis n ext note from none other than JohnUnderwood:

Yo,H.G.The two gents in front of the

Packard Buhl are Fred Brossy (left) and

-Continued on page -

The beautifully restored Fw Stieglitzbefore It was severely damaged

The sad remains of the St ieglitzin a Germany field

The talents of our members seems to have no end Jim Neu

man, Hobart, IN, Ale 23168) sent us this postcard regarding theFw-44 shown in Members Projects in the November '97 issue ofVintage Airplane :

~ ~ ~ }I TS SAD 'TO SEE CLASSICS e TO KITSBlIT ytIJR. CAPTION IS A LOSS, n r81-11/1/.165 A FUSE.LAGE. AIJD B I ~MAKE A S T I E . G U ' ~o r A STO:sSIOR AI }

So Norm replied:Sometimes I tink I should retireUnd schmoke cigars, und stoke der fire,Perhaps ve tink ve are so schmardtTo place der horse before der cart,Und name der plane vitoudt much tinkingDat Herr Newman would be tin king ,Mine veak brain vaves, like der steepleJias knocked for loop, like many people,Yah, das ist ein Steiglitz -for sureDer Stosser been ein FW-56 - so pure

Yah, ich been ein stupid DaneDas ist hard to live in pain

"Bitte Schoen"Norm Petersen

VINTAGE AIRPLANE3


6/36


7/36

Service was bought by another greataviation pioneer , Del Smith of Evergreen Helicopters, Penn joined the newendeavor, Evergreen International Airines . He became Chief Pilot and is now

Senior Vice President of Flight Operaions . The airline has grown over the

years as well, now boasting a fleet of 38

e t s , including DC-9s , B-727s, DC-8sand B-747s . And , of course , there s aFord Trimotor, now in her third generaion of service and restored flawlesslyo full operating condition.

As the Evergreen International Trimotor climbs gracefully away from itshome at Oregon s Troutdale Airport,he sun flashes brilliantly from the

windswept surface of the Co lumbiaRiver. Boaters and wind surfers on theriver, hearing the unmistakable roar ofradial engines, glance up to see the re

flected sunlight beamed back from thehuge span of the Ford s wing. Throughhe cockpit door, the plane s passengers ,

surrounded by leather, mahogany andglass, can see the shoulders of the twopilots, father and son, as they steer thecraft up the river. Penn Stohr and histwin children Josh and Liesel , now tenyears old, are establishing the third generation of Trimotor drivers just as thesilver airliner reaches her third generationof service .

Josh and Liesel are two of over

360,000 Young Eagles . Sponsored bythe nonprofit Experimental AircraftAssociation, Young Eag les is a projectdedicated to making the experience offlight available to as many young peo

pie , age 8 to 17, as possible, with a goalof one million youngsters by the end of2003. Penn Stohr is an EAA memberwhose life and experience make him anatural aviation role model. But beingan airline vice president is not a requirement. More information on the programcan be obtained by writing or calling

the Young Eagles Office , EAA A viation Foundation, P. O . Box 2683 ,Oshkosh , WI 54903-2683, telephone920 /426-4831.

The world of flying , having beentamed by aviation pioneers like PennStohr, Sr , was transformed from a riskyadventure into a service that helped tobuild a country. His son Penn is channeling that service into a multi-billiondollar industry that circles the globeevery hour of every day. Fleets ofwinged behemoths, each carrying more

technology than fictional spaceships,ply the skies across the oceans and continents of the planet. At the helms ofthese craft are professionals, trained foryears to become a functional part of thecomputers, pumps, video screens andthrusting engines . This is the latest period in the evolution of aviation , theworld that Penn is unveiling for hisYoung Eag les in the Ford s cockpit.

Just as the beginning and end of theirgrandfat her S aviation career were astark contrast between what was only

dreamed and what could actually bedone, so it will be again. As Liesel andJosh Stohr and thousands of their youngaviation pioneers move into the cockpits,simulators an d engineering laboratories,

aviation nears the end of its frrst century.What will Josh, Liesel and their comrades conjure up over the next quartercentury? Look back 25, then 50 years.Would you be so bold as to forecastwhat the future pioneers, the greatgrandchildren of Penn Stohr, Sr., willstrap on when they strut onto the tarmacof the future?

There are a few certainties worthmentioning. First, the generation in theseat has the stick in its hand. What we vedone with what we were given is exactly what our chi ldr en have to buildupon. Aviation, being such a youngendeavor, illustrates this principle sodramatically . Second, the legends leftby the successes of each generation establish challenges for the next. Records,

Douglas Smuln Shirley Mart in and Penn R Stohr Jr . pause In front o the Evergreen International Ford Trlmotor . especially flying records, were madeto be beaten. And finally, it is onlythrough preserving the thrill of aerialmastery and accomplishment that future generations will be persuaded totake up the challenge . But withoutthe opportunity to sample aviationfirst-hand through projects likeYoung Eagles, our next generationmay never feel that thrill.

As Josh sits at the controls of the65-year-old airliner , the Columbiawinds ahead to the east. Filling thewindscreen is the majestic, snowmantled bulk of Mount Hood . Thewild slopes are a swirl with white,just as they were when aviators werethe first humans to make the mountains seem small. Just as the effortsof today s aviation pros work tirelessly to keep this priceless silverartifact in the air, so they work tolaunch the careers of the next generation of her pilots.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5


8/36

over the years about taildraggers, but I hada pocket full of ratings and an attitude toboot. I am a CFI We know everythingandcan teach it too . What trouble can a small,low and slow airplane be?

Well , everythingyou've read about taildraggers is true.

I needed to top off the tanks and elected

THE PRIDE OF TATUMSby DAVID WEL H

I ve named my 1946 Cessna 140 "THE

PRIDE OF TATUMS." I had a fancy lettering job done that adorns each side justbehind the "D" window. It's red, white andblue with a few stars for effect.

An awful lot of times someone had comeup to me and asked if my name were Tatums.Often the person is a Tatums himself, or has afriend, a cousin, an in-law, a neighbor, etc. Iusually just answer nope. I can be prettyreticent, and Rebecca hates it when I am. Ijust want people to ask the right question andI'll open up and tell the whole story.

"How did you come by that name for yourairplane, Dave?"

I bought my Cessna in 1988. I had lookedat a few airplanes after figuring out my budget. For a reason I don't fully understand, Iwas pretty sure I wanted a Cessna 140 . Ilearned to fly in 1969 in an assortment ofrented 150s and I wanted something thatwould capture that nostalgia trip and more.

The 140s were a few years older than anything I had eve r flown and they weretaildraggers. I had never been in one, in fact Ihad never even looked closely at one, but Iwas pretty sure I wanted one. I sent for theowners manual even before I started seri

ously looking.I picked out an advertisement in AeroTrader and made the call. The seller soundedlike someone whom I could trust and we setup a meeting. We would get together at MidFlorida Airport in Eustis. He flew the airplanedown from Jacksonvilleand I drove up fromVenice . (If he was willing to fly the airplanethat far, it had to be in pretty good shape.)

I liked it when I saw it, although I couldn'ttell you why. It is white with red and bluestripes along the side and blue nose andwingtips. It flew well and we made a deal. Hewould take it home and annual it and we'dmeet the next week in St. Augustine.

I booked a one-way car rental and drovethe four hours. We agreed to exchange papersand money, and then drop off the seller at asmall grass strip just south of the JAX area.From there I'd solo in my first airplane forthe two hour trip home.

It is a taildragger. I had read lots of stories

.....DI....;.J _ - - -6 FEBRUARY 1998

1113081

to stop just a few miles south at KeystoneAirpark. One of the factors in my decisionwas the choice of six directions in which toland. Fortunately for me , the wind dictated

that I touch down far away from any eyes thatmay be watching. By the time I got to the gaspumps, I had had a lot of experience taxiingand making s turns.

When I got out, my knees were made ofrubber. My ankles and arms ached from allthe control movements I had been making,both on the ground and aloft. I had been inthe air less than 20 minutes.

I made it home and taught myself to fly ataildragger. (The mandatory sign-off had notyet been implemented.) I did it with hoursand hours of stop and go landings. First I didthem on a mile of concrete at Venice; thenwhen I felt confident, I went to Englewoodwhere we have about 2,500 feet of grass andenough trees to command your attention.

I got all my pictures developed, took themto work and started to brag. My co-workershave enough aeronautical sophistication todistinguisha light airplane from a blimp, butlike most everyone else, they are all PiperCubs," aren't they?

I work for the US Postal Serviceas a Letter Carrier. I deliver the mail for a living.What my co-workerswere able to point outto me, though, was that my new airplane was

painted just like a mail truck. It is white withred and blue stripes along the side. It was obDavid Welch and h is Cessna 14 0 , The Pride ofTatums . As a US Postal Se rvice Lette r Ca rrier ,Da ve had fun with his N number . Read the text forthe reasons behind the name of his airplane.

vious as the sunrise, but I had never seen it.Was that why I wanted this airplane?

The people at work are boat people. A fewof them asked if I was going to name it."No," I said, boat people name their boats.Airplane people don 't name their airplanes."These people watch too much TV. Probablythe only pilot they are able to name is Lindbergh . Just because he named his doesn'tmean all these Piper Cubs" have names.

Now I have two significant but as yet unconnected things rattling around in mysubconscious.First, it looks like a mail truck.Second, maybe it should have a name.

During a very dull meeting at work onemorning, I happened to be sitting by the Zip

Code book. My mind, unrelated to anythingon the conscious level, just wanted to know ifanyplace had the Zip Code of my N number,73087. Well, it was a small town in Oklahoma by the name of Tatums. It's mail cameout of Oklahoma City and I knew it waspretty small because one Zip covered it all.

I looked it up on a road map when I gothome and there it was. I went to a SectionalChart and it's a real small point about 20 milessouthwest of PaulsValley. Pauls Valley- isn'tthat where the Cessna 120/140 Association isholding its miliual convention this year (1989)?

At this point this is all just input going into

my brain; I haven't mashed the sort button yet.I had a problem with my airplane anddrove to the convention in Oklahoma. I tooka side trip to Tatums. It has no airport nearby.

on tinued on page 3J


9/36

CubAircraft Co Ltd.in Lundtofte, Denmark (Part Tw o)

-cont inued from the January 1998 i s sue -

via NORM PETERSEN

As stated last month, this story, which is presented in two parts, is extracted from thebook entitled 75 R TIL LANDS & I LUFTEN (75 Years on Land and In the Air),the 75-year history o f the auto and airplane firm o f Christian Bohnstedt-Petersen,Al S from 1911 to 1986. The book was written by noted author, JfJrgen Helm e of Espergaerde, Denmark. The translation/rom Danish to English was done by KnudThaarup EAA 280077) 0/Frederiksberg Copenhagen), Denmark. W e are indebtedto JfJrgen Helme/or permission to reprint this histori ca l account o/the Cub AircraftCo. Ltd.from lat e 1937 to April 9, 1940, when Germany occupied Denmark.

Oden . One day in August, Hedegaard flew

n the other side of the 0resund the Cub on floats from Sweden to Den(between Denmark and Sweden) mark, landing in the lake called Furesoen,

the subsidiary in Malmo , Autoropa Ltd. , where Bohnstedt-Petersen had a summerheld the Swedish Piper Cub Agency. Here cottage on Fureso road with direct accessthe former Swedish Air Force pilot, Eric to the lake. During the stay of the Cub onBjurhovd, was the leader of the company's floats over the next month, Prins , as wellaviation activities which were operated out as Svensson and the instructor of the Flyingof Bulltofta. Club Active, Lt. K. E. Simonsen, had the

Cub Aircraft Co. Ltd s Norwegian opportunity to fly the floatplane. Afterdealer was Wessel's Aviation Company Ltd wards, they declared unanimously that itat Fomebu Airport near Oslo. This company had been a great experience. However , therepresented Piper Cub only and had, by demand for land planes was much greater ,mid-1938, sold eight airplanesof this manu so when the American registered Cubfacture. The Norwegianaviation enterprise, (NC215 l 7, SIN 2371) was returned towhich simultaneously operated a flight Malmo, Sweden, the wheels replaced theschool, was a subsidiary of Witt & Wessel floats and the Cub was accepted on theAlS-the DKW importer for Norway. Swedish Aircraft Register as SE-AMP.

In the spring of 1938, Autoropa Ltd had At Autoropa Ltd in Bulltofte, Bohnstedtordered a Piper Cub hydroplane; i. e . -a 50 had an airplane of French origin. It was ahp J-3S Cub on Edo 54-1140 floats. The Caudron C 510 Phalene with room for fourpurpose was to look into the possibilities persons in a comfortable cabin. The airplaneof selling airplanes on floats to countries was registered SE-AGN and was flown bywith many lakes such as Finland and Swe- Lieutenant Eric Bjurhoved.

The old Rohrbach hangar at Kastrup Airport that was purchased by Bohnstedt-Petersen for 5 000 DanishKroner (very cheap) and rebuilt at his home esta te called Hegnsholt in 1938 .

The Swedish Crown Prince , his majesty Gustaf Adolfthe VI of Sweden, visits with Algot Thulin (holdinghis hat) o f Autoropa AB Malmo , Sweden , at an avia-tion gathering at the Bulltofta Airport near Malmo.

In the spring of 1939, Bohnstedt decidedto use the Caudron airplane himself andmade provis ions for transferring it toLundtofte and having it registered in Denmark as OY-DIU. The following summer,the Caudron was frequently used by Bohnstedt as a corporate aircraft with Prins aschief pilot as he had added the type to hispilot's rating card. During June, the planewas flown to the island of Fano a couple oftimes where the Bohnstedt-Petersen familyspent the holidays at the UT Hotel. In August, Prins flew the fami ly to Hollufg aard.During the stay on Fano, director Oeser ofDaimler-Benz , came in his Mercedes 540Kto visit. On this occasion, a speed contestbetween automobile and airplane tookplace . It showed that the 540K could easilykeep up with the Caudron.

The outbreak of World War II and theGerman occupation of Denmark (April 9,1940 caused an abrupt end of the Lundtofteenterprises' aviation activities, which hadpresented itself as a very promising opportunity by the end of the 1930s. The very lastdelivery before the occupation took placewas as late as April 3, 1940, when Lieu

tenant Jacobsenof the Free Military Servicein Norway took delivery ofLN-HAB, thelast airplane of an order of three of theentirely new t ype, the Piper J-4A CubCoupe with side-by-side seating.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7


10/36

Piper Cub Airplanes sold by Cub Aircraft Ltd. during the years 1937-40Date ofManufacture

DanishFactoryS/N

Type SIN Registered Customer

7-10-37 73 Taylor Cub J2C-40 339 OY-DUL Cub Aircraft Co. Ltd.5-28-38 80 Piper Cub J3C-40 1164 OY-DOM Sportsflyveklubben K benhaven5-28-38 81 Piper Cub J3C-40 1163 OY-DUM Magnus Christiansen , Aalborg

6-16-38 82 Piper Cub J2C-40 1158 SE-AGZ Aeroklubben, Malmo78-38 84 Piper Cub J2C-40 1161 OH-SNA OY S. & N., Helsingfors7-15-38 86 Piper Cub J2C-40 1162 OY-DEO O. Poulsen De Bademaker, Gent7-25-38 88 Piper Cub J2C-40 1155 OY-DAO Flyveklubben -Activ '

(anvendt af Luftwaffe u / krigen)8-10-38 89 Piper Cub J2C-40 1156 OY-DYN H_LM_ Jensen, Kastrup8-13-38 90 Piper Cub J2C-40 1160 OY-DUO Aage Heidemann, Aarhus8-24-38 91 Piper Cub J2C-40 1157 OH-SNB OY S. & N_ Helsingfors11-29-38 97 Piper Cub J2C-40 1316 OY-DEP Cub Aircraft Coo, Ltd.

Piper Cub J2C-40 1159 Burned and dismantled airplanesparts then rebuilt in 948 and 1949with serial numbers :S N 2475, OY ABTogS N 2491, OY FAB

Piper Cub J2C-40 1318Piper Cub J3C-40 1996Piper Cub J3C-50 2492

Piper Cub J3C-50 2503Piper Cub J3C-50 2505

2-14-39 102 Piper Cub J3C-50 2532 OY-DOR skandinavisk Motor Co. A/s Odense2-14-39 103 Piper Cub J3C-50 2533 OY-DUR C_ Bohnstedt-Petersen, Hegnsholt

Piper Cub J3C-50 5 2371 SE-AHP Autoropa, Maim", EX NC 215172-25-39 104 Piper Cub J3C-50 2534 OY-DYR Magnus Christiansen, Aalborg4-5-39 105 Piper Cub J2C-40 1317 OY-DIP Viggo Fehr & Co., Odense4-18-39 107 Piper Cub J3C-50 2480 OY-DYT Godsejer P. Darel, Dueholm4-24-39 108 Piper Cub J3C-40 1998 OY-DAT Cub Aircraft Co., Ltd.4-25-39 109 Piper Cub J3C-40 1995 OY-DIT Cub Aircraft Co . Ltd.5-8-39 112 Piper Cub J3C-50 2535 OY-DEs P. Perch & J 0stergaard Veivad5-12-39 113 Piper Cub J3C-50 2481 OY-DOT Skandinavisk Motor Co. A/ S, Odense

5-13-39 114 Piper Cub J3C-50 2482 SE-AIB Autoropa, Malmo5-26-39 117 Piper Cub J3C-50 2479 OY-DIS Kaptajn Viuff6-6-39 118 Piper Cub J3C-50 2485 OY-DUT Magnus Christiansen , Hobro7-1-39 122 Piper Cub J3C-50 2486 SE-AIC Per Hallin, Lund8-29-39 124 Piper Cub J2C-40 1319 OY-DUP J. Sejer Dybro, Siageise9-13-39 126 Piper Cub J3C -50 1997 SE-AIS Autoropa, Maim" (21.5.49: OY-AIS)9-13-39 127 Piper Cub J3C-50 2504 sE-AID Autoropa, Maim" (efter 45: OY-AID)9-30-39 128 Piper Cub J4AC-65 4-565 OY-DAV C. Bohnstedt-Petersen, Hegnsho lt1-23-40 130 Piper Cub J4AC-65 4-600 LN-FAR Den frie Militcertjen, Norge3-27-40 131 Piper Cub J4AC-65 4-568 LN-HAD Den frie Militcertjen, Norge4-3-40 133 Piper Cub J4AC-65 4-567 LN-HAB Den frie Militcertjen, Norge11 -17-48 297 Piper Cub J3F-50 2475 OY-ABT Bertil Kring, Risskov

Genopbygget efter krigen6-11-1957 391 Piper Cub J3C-50 2491 OY-FAB Genopb. eft./krigen EX ()'EHES B-P

Flyveklub.-totalhav .Piper Cub J4AC-65 4-566

Sabotaged and burned by theDanish underground to prevent useby Gennan Occupying Forces

Piper Cub J4AC-65 4-597Piper Cub J4AC-65 4-598Piper Cub J4AC-65 4-599

During the s ummer of 1938 , this U. S . registeredPiper J3C-SOS , NC21517 , S N 2371 , was flown on aset of Edo 54-1140 floats from a lake called Furesllenin Denmark . All the pilots who flew the Cub on floatsenjoyed it , but the decision was made to concentrateon land planes . The Cub was then allocated the registration SE-AHP in Sweden and put back on wheel s.The writ ing on the picture s a ys , "With Greetings , C. - \ 4Bohnstedt-Petersen. " (Ed itors Note: in June , 1994 ,while attending the Danish KZ Antique Fly -In atStaun ing , Denma rk, a gentleman told me that he hada set of Edo 1140 floats from 1938 that were still inthe original factory carton s I strongiy suspect theseare the very same floats pictured on NC21517 .)

8 FEBRUARY 1998


11/36

A representative set of pictures of Piper Cub airplanes built nd sold by the Cub Aircraft Ltd. in Denmark duringthe years 1937 to 1940 The country regist rations are OY-Denmark OH-Finland SE-Sweden nd LN-Norway.

SIN 339 SIN 25 4

SIN 1158 SIN 2479

SIN 1157 SIN 2535

SIN 2532 SIN 2481

SIN 248 SIN 4 568

VINT GE IRPl NE 9


12/36

ald Eagle Aviationome

For ll Types of ircraftArticle and photos by JOHN GAERTNER

Located only an hour s drive west of the Bob Buck s pet project is a Beech formed Jim Younkin aluminum enginenation s capital, you will find a workshop Staggerwing F-170 he acquired abo ut cow l Pictured here is a 160 hp Gnome rofull of interesting aircraft under construc two years ago after it was involved in a tary engine above its original, 1918 crate,tion. Bald Eagle Aviation is located on the rollover accident. The aircraft was origi the fin and rudder of the Nieuport, Anfarm of EAA member Bob Buck outside nally purcha se d from Beechcraft by the drew s Ryan M-l fuselage and Bob

of Lovettsville, V A and is operated by Ou Pont fami ly and then later so ld to the Buck s Staggerwing. The massive woodenaccomplished aircraft restorer, Andrew Bower s Battery Co. of Reading , PA. t spars resting on the sawhorses belong toKing . In side you will find one Stagger was utilized by the Bowers Co. for severa l Andrew s Ryan project.wing Beech, two Travel Airs, a Ryan years until WW II when it was pressed The newest project to take form in AnM-I , and a Nieuport 28 replica, all being into military service by the US Govern drew s shop is a Nie uport 28 replica thatworked on at one time. Andrew King has ment. Fo llo wing the war it was so ld as he and his father are building in partnerbeen a long-time antique aircraft builder sur plu s. Bob has been ca ref ull y going ship. Andrew has considerable experienceand restorer, growi ng up at Cole Palen s through the entire p lane, replacing all of with rotary engined aircraft and has alOld Rhinebeck Aerodrome, and havi ng the damaged compo nents and rebuildin g ways planned on buildin g a Nieuport.worked for the likes of Kermit W ee ks in the wings. t wi ll be powered by a 330 hp Recently a pristine 160 hp. Gnome rotaryFlorida and Ken Hyde in Virginia. Jacobs engine and will sport a beautifully became avai lable from Johrmy Thom son

In September of this year a TravelAir 4000, be longin g to AI Kelch of Jim Beville , Andrew King and Bob Buck pause from thei r rest orati on wor k for a moment near Bob sMequon, W I, ar ri ve d at Ba ld Eag le Staggerwing project.Aviation. AI had been working on thisproject for a number of years and askedAndrew to assist in comp leting it. Thewings were a lready nearly done, soAndrew has been spending hi s timeworki ng on the plane s fuse lage andsheet metal work This Travel Air 4000was previously owned by the Robertson Aircraft Corp . and operated as anairmail carrier. t is believed thatC harles Lindbergh flew this same

aircraft prior to his famous 1927transatlantic flight.Three yea rs ago thi s April Andrew

began a personal project, buildin g aRyan M I. Borrowing an original Ryanfuselage to go by Andrew was ab le toweld up his fuselage as well as anotherexample for his landlord Bob Buck .Working stea dil y on hi s project, thewings and tail feather components haveall been completed and Andrew isready to sandb last and paint the fuselage for final assembly. Andrew s Ryan

M-I wi ll be power ed by a Lycom ingR680 radial engine and painted in thelivery of the Pacific Air Transport Aircraft Co. when it is fmished .

1 FEBRUARY 1998


13/36

(Above and right) It s not quite as tight as the camera would lead you to believe,but there Is plenty going on In Bald Eagle s shop. These two shots detail Andrew sRyan M1 project , including the massive wing spars . Author John Gaertne r EAA sAir Adventure Museum Curator , is on the left.

o Ellington, FL. Andrew convinced hisfather that it was time they started on hisplanned Nieuport. Jim Beville, assistant inAndrew s shop, has been working onwelding up the necessary components andthe plane has begun to take shape. Oncecompleted it is Andrew s p lan to disp layand fly his newest creation at the Go ldenAge Air Museum in Grimes PA.

(Below) Jim Beville hold s up the rudder fo r theNieuport 24 replica be ing constructed by Andrew , Jimand Andrew s father , Bill. The pristine 16 hp Gnome ,stili in Its orig inal pack ing crate , is to the left.

(Below) AI Kelch is havingAndrew finish up the TravelAir 4 project he hasworked on for a number of

years. This particular TravelAir was owned by RobertsonAircraft in St. louis , and wasmost likely flown by CharlesLindbergh during h is time atRobertson before heading offacross the Atlantic.

VINTAG E AIRPLANE 11


14/36

Type Club

NOT Sby NORM PETERSEN

ompiled from various type club

Stinson Plane Talkpublished by the National Stinson ClubBill Debbie Snavely-editors941-465-6101

Parts Washer - A parts washer thatmakes the garage or hangar-boundrestoration easier.

The parts washer consists of a 2 112gallon plastic solvent tank and a13 x7 x3 built in parts-washing basin,a small parts dunking basket and a pumpstyle solvent from the container. Thereis even a 12 x7 molded in section ontop of the container for holding parts after they have been cleaned. t is shapedso solvent drains off the parts and runsback into the basin .

To use : simply remove a drain plug,lay it horizontal and the basin fills withsolvent. Next, spray the grungy partswith solvent, brush away the grime andleave them to dry. When finished, tipthe washer up to drain the solvent backinto the tank and replace the plug. Thisway the unit can be stored or transported when not in use.

Two biodegradable solvents areavailable through Finish Line; thestronger of the two is Citrus, it smellsgreat, but it's too strong for some rubberand plastic pieces. The other, EcoTech,has less cleaning power but is safe touse on many plastics. Both solvents caneither be used maximum strength ordiluted with water. Citrus and EcoTechare available in 16 oz. bottles for $8.95

and the parts washer retails for $29.95 .A test was run on a nasty, oily enginecleaning job. The Citrus was mixed asdirected : one pint to 2-1/4 gallons ofwater. After working on the solvent

2 FEBRUARY 1998

tank for more than three hours, the pileof parts was clean and grease free.When the solvent turns black, simplystand the parts washer back up anddrain the degreaser back into the tank.After the basin is clean, the parts washercan be tilted back horizontally to fill thebasin with fresher solution.

On particularly dirty parts, I used theEcoTech degreaser mixed 1: 1 with water.t worked well as advertised , and plastic

parts were unaffected by the solvent.Other First Line products: Castro

Super Clean another biodegradablesolvent. Mixed 1: 1 with water itworked about as well as EcoTech at thesame strength. t would burn if therewas a cut on the hands.

According to the Material Safety DataSheet (MSDS) supplied by the cleaners,both Citrus and EcoTech are not considered a hazard under normal operatingconditions, for both skin contact andinhalation. Goggles and gloves are theonly safety equipment recommended.

When used in strong enough solutions , the Finish Line degreasers willclean nearly anything. The cleaningpower is less than that of gasoline oracetone, but the Finish Line productsare much more user-friendly.

The parts washer and the solvents areavailable from: Eastwood Company,P.O . Box 3014, Malvern, PA 193550714.1-800/345-1178.

International Cessna 120/140AssociationBox 830092, Richardson, TX 75083-0092Joy Warren, editor, 1009 Port Rd, .White Lake, MI 48383

publications newsletters

A FAMILY TAlL. .. DRAGGER,THATISf

by John NielsenJanuary, 1980After 22 years of rebuilding and

restoration, my grandfather, Edward 1Chermack, showed me how to get intothe seat ofN4159N and buckle up. Thiswas my first flight in a small aircraft.With skis attached, we taxied onto hisprivate strip and took to the skies. t is aday I remember like yesterday. Thewinter sky was clear and bright. Freshsnow blanketed the ground and therewas not a ripple of wind or turbulence.Grandpa didn't fly that often, but whenhe did, I remember he did so with careand precision. His pride in his ability toown and pilot his own airplane at theage of 83 was his link to a more youthfullife. When he lost his medical, hestopped flying. Not that he lost theskills, but because it would be againstthe rules.

August, 1994I earned my private pilot endorse

ment. As I progressed through thetraining, grandpa and I often discussedthe joys of flying and learning something new with each flight. We lookedforward to the day we could hop in the140 and take a few laps around thepatch. I worked towards my tail wheelendorsement so he could once againfly the 140 while I was on board. Wewent to Oshkosh and picked up information on the 120/140 Club. He

continued to annual the airplane andrun the engine weekly even though itnever left the hangar.

Cont inuedwpage28-


15/36

TIM TALfN S STINSON NW7

by H.G. FRAUTSCHY

Tenacious would have to be usedto describe Antique /Classic memberTim Talen (A /C 1616) . His restoration ofa rare Stinson HW-75 tookhim over 10 years, a decade filledwith parts chasing and pinning downall the myriad details that seem tojump up and block the way as arestoration is done.

At first glance , the HW -75 looksjust like a Stinson 10 or lOA It ' s close,but that s not what it is The very

first model of the Voyager series, theHW -75 was quite a change for theStinson Company . Named the " I 05 "in promotional materials, s ince thatwas the speed it was supposed to at

tain in cruise flight, the HW -7 5 was abig departure for a company knownfor its larger, cabin class products .

Work started in 1938 on the project , and the design and layout for theairplane was not done in the Stinsonfactory . Bill Mara, now runningthings since Eddie Stinson's untimelypassing in January of 1932 , suggestedthe project , but the actual designwork was done at the University ofDetroit under the guidance of Lewis

E . Reisner, of Krieder-Reisner division of Fairchild Aircraft fame. Lewisworked with Prof. Peter Altman ofthe University, along with engin eerMaurice A. Mills on the project,

VINTAGE IRPL NE 3


16/36

which was wind tunnel tested at theschool. The new , still in the development stage 75 hp geared Lycomingengine was picked as the powerplant,but the engineers at Lycoming still hada lot of work ahead of them, and thelittlest Stinson's airframe development

quickly outpaced the engine s pro

gram. In the beginning , the failure ofthe Lycoming engine availability wouldput the HW-75 at a disadvantage. Bythe time early February of 1939 rolledaround , Stinson had to have a 50 hpLycoming installed just to keep the airframe testing program on track. Thelack of horsepower didn t seem tobother the airplane too much, and testpilot AI Schramm took it up for thefirst time on February 3,1939. A quicktakeoff in a little less than 500 feet was

follow ed by a test flight that was anon-event as far as surprises were concerned . It was a nice handling airplanewith no vices , and true to its design, itproved to be unspinnable when loadedwithin the proper C. G . range. A bighelp were the leading edge wing slotswhich helped maintain the HW-75 sroll control even when the wingwas stalled .

In those days , cert if ication programs moved ahead with amazingrapidity , and a month later, a decisionhad to be made regarding an engine forproduction . The geared Lycoming stillwasn t available (a pre-production engine would come apart o n a ModellOB in July of 1939 - it was back tothe workbench and drawing board forthe Lycoming folks) so the 7 hp Con-

One o f t he ea rly producti on HW-75s wit h a ca bin Waco an d a Stea rma n-Hamm ond in t he background.

tinental was picked as the powerplant.That decision must have stung at Lycoming, who had long enjoyed arelationship with Stinson since E .L.Cord had enjoyed a controlling interestin both companies since the productionof the Stinson Junior.

Still, the Continental made a betterairplane of the HW -75, now referred toin promotional material as the Model105 , a reference to the cruising speedof the airplane. Introduced at the 1939World's Fair as the Stinson 105, it soongained a legion of followers, many ofthem rather famous - Edgar Bergenand Char lie McCarthy had one (Edgargot the parachute, Charlie had an umbre ll a tucked under his wooden arm)and Major AI Williams bought one

painted in the same orange and withblue trim Grumman Gulfhawk colors .He dubbed the Stinson 105 GulfhawkJr. and used it to fly Gulf customersaround. Williams managed Gulf Oil sA vi a tion department , and flew theGrumman in air shows across the country. Roscoe Turner had one, and so didJimmy Stewart , who flew his home toLos Angeles from Kansas City in themiddle of winter. Howard Hughesbought one too. The early HW-75 scou ld be had for $2,995 , and later, as thedesign evolved into the model lOA powered with the 90 hp Franklin 4AC-199,it so ld for $3,355.

A final push was made to install therelative ly bug-free Lycoming GO-145C, but the more powerful Franklin had

The inter ior of Tim ' s 1939 St insonreflects the effort the people at Stinsonput into making the a irplane ha ve astrong ca r-like feel. The text details

the problems Tim had In matching thewrinkle finish on the compass fair ing ,just one example of the patience heexhibited while work ing for 1 years torestore this part icular a irplane.

14 FEBRUARY 1998


17/36

The bright work on this model can keep you busy polishing for days . Tim had to completely duplicate thecarb a ir Inlet grill. Stinson and the engineers at the University of DetroH paid cons iderable attention tos t ream lining the first small Stinson , as evidenced by the smooth contou rs of the tall fa iring (right ).

hit the nail on the head as far as the customers were concerned, and the Model

lOB died in the sales department, neverto be sold to the public . t really was acase being simply too l a te - the gearedLycoming had a lot of promise, but itjust couldn't compete when it wasfinally ready for the Stinson product.

Look closely at the humble littleHW-75, and you'll see a number ofcharacteristics from later models, including the Stinson L-5 Sentinel, andthe very popular Stinson 108 series of4-place airplanes. The little babyStinson even went to war, earning itsstripes as a stateside utility airplane.But its biggest contribution to the wareffort would come by way of the fledgling Civil Air Patrol. Well over half of

the missions flown by the C.A.P.were done in the "littlest" Stinsons,some of them even equipped with abomb rack Overall, 1,020 of theHW -7 5/Model 10 series were built,but less than 100 remain on the register. One of those now flying took awhile to get back in the air, but nowthat it is flying , just look at it

Tim Talen is one of the many talented people around the countrywho have taken on a project andstuck with it for years, unable to

turn their backs on it because theywe re enjoying themse lves too much.

T im has act ua ll y owned the StinsonHW-75, SIN 7131 for over 18 years.At t he now long gone Springfield,OR airport, the Stinson sat in ahangar, a project in waiting . In a neatarrangement, Tim wound up withthe airframe for the Stinson by finishing the restoration of a Cub , a netoutflow of zero dollars. The airframewas pretty complete, and the more Timlooked at it, he realized that he reallyliked the little Stinson, and couldn't seedoing anything less than a total restoration from the frame up . If it was bolted,glued or riveted, it came apart and wasrestored. Very early on in the process,it became obvious that this airplanewas the product of a company used tobuilding larger airplanes - the emptyweight from the factory is listed as 925lbs, with a gross weight of 1,580. Why?As Tim points out, Stinson stayedwith their big stuff , and so when theygot to this little light plane, I don'tthink they really knew how to build alight airplane . They really didn't havea lot of experience in that area .So itwas built stout, good and strong Stinson solid stuff I have found in lookingthrough the frame that the tabs that are

welded on this fuselage for attachingpoints were various items that are thesame size, shape , thickness and holediameter as in the Stinson SR-5 I'm fa-

miliar with."Inevitably the airplane grew heavy

with the addition of special trim andfairings, and even before it went intoproduction, you can see it went on adiet after the prototype was just tooheavy to carry a reasonable payload,particularly with three people. Happily,the aerodynamic features built into theairframe, including the flaps and leading edge slots, enhanced the handlingqualities of the airplane, and it was

able to exhibit excellent performanceconsidering its limited horsepower .The airframe is a true mix of old

and new methods of airplane construction. This particular HW -75 still

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5


18/36

had some areas faired with balsa woodunder the fabric , and the cantilever horizontal stabilizer and elevator are builtcompletely out of wood. The verticalfin is steel tube, s is the fuselage andthe ailerons and flaps . The wings arealso a combination of wood and aluminum, and while the tip bows did

have to be rebuilt, the spars were stillfine, and were used in the rebuilt wings.The fuselage is a cabinet maker's dream,with many stringers and window framepiecework that had to be rebuilt.

en Lichtenberg

As you can see in the photos, therewas enough bright work on the air-frame to keep the most diligent polisherbusy for days. A snazzy po lished aluminum fairing is in place over theexhaust stack, and each of the enginecooling air inlets is covered by a grill,as is the carburetor air inlet. The carb

air inlet posed a special problem, sincethe original was missing. t got to thepoint where Tim simply had to make adecision and get to work making a newone. He carved an original mold out of

balsa, then made a sand casting ofit and then cast a new inlet grill outof aluminum .

The electrical system is a bit oddto comprehend in this day and age.While it is one thing to have a handheld radio today that you can takehome and charge, with this Stinson,

since the A-75 Continental didn'thave a generator, the 6 volt batterysimply drained down to nothing,leaving you without lights , andwithout a fuel gauge reading,

since the fuel gauge systemis electric

The interior is also atribute to Tim's patienceand ingenuity . When he wasfaced with restoring theinstrument panel, a big

challenge was restoring theoriginal wrinkle finishpaint, which was a bluecolor. Try as he could, therejust was no match for thecolor in a wrinkle finish,but he was able to get a greatmatch of the blue in a lacquer. But there were a lotof questions in his mind before he attempted to repaintthe existing wrinkle finish,which was in good shape, butbadly faded. Would it melt theold paint and reduce the wrinkles to a flat mess? Or wouldthe new paint build up toomuch, and ruin the wrinklelook? Tim bit his lip and closedhis eyes as he lightly dusted acoat of blue lacquer over theold panel. t was okay No runs,no drips, and the wrinkles stilllooked like the face of one ofthose Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.

A few more very light , dustedon coats of color finished it off,and another check mark wasput in the completed column.

Even more wood work hadto be done on the interior , including the door and sidepanels , which all are finishedin clear varnish, just as thelater Stinson 108 StationWagon was done. It 's a veryclassy interior, and certainly

in keeping with the effortsof

the airplane manufacturers tomake their interiors as carlike" s possible .

We ' ve just begun to hint at


19/36

Tim Talen Springfield, OR and his 939 StinsonHW-75, winner of the Antique Bronze AgeChampion trophy at EAAOshkosh '97.

the amount of work and dedication ittakes to make a restoration like thispossible . Tim Talen and his friends,people like Murray Olson and Jane

Phillips, contributed to thefinal product, and Tim swife Marian has been a supporter of her husband spenchant for restoring oldairplanes during their married life, which includesliving and working in the oldSpringfield airport hanga r,which they bought andmoved to their property. Timand Marian s daughter ,Ariel, literally grew up withthe project, as anyone wholooks at his restoration photoalbum can see . Little Ariel isseen sitting in the bare bonesfuselage frame, and thenlater, she appears in an occasional photo helping outwhen needed, even i f i t s

just to provide a smile.This was certainly not the first pro

ject Tim has tackled, since he makeshis living now s a vintage airplane restorer. He s done three InterstateCadets, a Piper J-5 and a Fleet as well

s a Piper J-2. Just as the Stinson was a

sideline personal project, Tim has another rare airplane being restoreda General Skyfarer, another of thetwo-axis control airplanes built underlicense from Erco, Fred Wieck s company that held the patent rights forthe Ercoupe.

Tim s a history major, in fact hiscollege degree is a Masters in SocialScience History , which he earned afterreturning from Vietnam . But with fewjobs in his field available , he found hewas pretty good at fabric and sheetmetal work, and so he hung up his ownshingle after a while and has been at itever since. We re glad he did, for itmeans that a number of neat restorations will be seen coming from histalented shop. Are you ready for theSkyfarer? How about a PorterfieldCollegiate? Or the last Kari KeenCoupe in the U .S .? Whichever onegets done first, you ll want to be sure

and hunt it down at a fly-in. It s sure tobe a gem .

\ e end -

Stinson drawing above is from Airplanes of the World book.

ViNTAGE AIRPLANE 17


20/36

Jim Zangger's

by N ORM PETERSEN

Perhaps the familiar saying, "Like fa-ther, like son," would apply in the caseof this beautiful Taylorcraft BC-12D,NC94953, SIN 9353, which ran of f withthe Best Of Class award at Oshkosh '97for its owner and restorer, James "Jim"Zangger (EAA 476891, N 23221) ofCedar Rapids, IA. Let me explain.

Jim s father, Russell Zangger, ofLarchwood, Iowa, has run his ownairport and flying service for approximately 50 years - with always at leastone Taylorcraft on hand for instruction . Russell feels the Taylorcraft is abetter teacher than most other air-planes, and besides, it developsbetter pilots

Into this environment, a young JimZangger was born on July 18, 1949, atLarchwood, lA, in the far northwesterncorner of the state, and grew up withTaylorcrafts flying over the house on aneveryday basis. He began taking lessonsfrom his father at an early age and onhis 16th birthday, made his solo flightin a Taylorcraft BC-12D. At the time ,he had 64 hours in his logbook and twodays later, because the Lyon Countycourthouse was open, he obtained hisIowa Drivers License At the presenttime, Jim Zangger has over 17,000hours in his logbook and is a full timecorporate pilot for North AmericanRockwell at Cedar Rapids , IA.

In 1991, Jim had built a large garagewith the idea of rebuilding an airplanepreferably a Taylorcraft. His fatherknew of one that was sitting in a hangarnear Ellsworth, MN, about 25 milesfrom Larchwood. Rus se ll had taughtthe owner how to fly many years ago.In 1993, Jim and his father drove outto visit the owner and look at the Taylorcraft. The tires were flat, the fabricwas original (from 1946) on the wings

and fuselage and was cracking andThe classic lines of the BC 12D are accentuated bythe original paint job in black and red. The liftinghandle on the rear fuselage Is handy for moving theairplane on the ground 18 FEBRUARY 1998

starting to fall off the sides. The T -Crafthad failed the Annual Inspection in1972 and hadn t flown in 21 years. tneeded a great deal of work

The owner, a very pleasant gentleman named Emerson Huisman,

wasreluctant to sell the airplane which hehad owned for so many, many years,however, negotiations continued and

by 1994 a deal had been struck and Jimdismantled the BC-12D and hauled thepieces to his shop in Cedar Rapids.The fun began.

t was way back on August 17 1946

that01'

NC94953 made its first flightat the factory in Alliance, Ohio. t wassold into southeastern Minnesota toMelvin Truehouse at Spring Grove,


21/36

as per original, but the cost and availability puts it way out in left field.The end result using Ceconite isquite outstanding and the workmanship caught the judge s eye on thefirst pass. Jim obviou s ly knows howto do excellent fabric work.

The Continental A65-8 engine

had been topped at one time, but aclose inspection revealed it was timeto go through the engine and bring itup to proper limits. The crankshaftwas sent to Aircraft Specialtieswhere it was ground ten under andnew bearings were fitted . The cylinders cleaned up at 15 over , so theywere ground and then chrom ed backto standard size. New pistons , new

(Above) Jim ~ y sthe T-Craft over to the right in a rings new valves and all as sortedsharp turn, giving us a good look at the 3S-foot ' . . .long NACA 23 12 wing. C . G. Taylor 's design parts and pIeces were Installed to bnng

shows it s classic lines in fine style.

MN who managed to flip theT -Craft on its back when he hit abadger hole . The airplane was rebuilt by none other than BernardPietenpol of nearby CherryGrove, MN . During the next 40+years, the Taylorcraft residedalong the Minnesota-Iowa line,moving west until it landed atEllsworth, MN near the South

Dakota border, where Jim Zangger caught up with it. Whenpurchased in 1994, the logsshowed 1,312 hours on airframeand engine .

Off loaded and carefullymoved into Jim's shop, the Taylorcraft was taken down to bare

bones and inspected, one piece at atime . The fuselage was in remarkab leshape and required only sandblastingand corrosion proofing . The rest of themetal parts were also in fme shape withno welding required. The wings neededsome help in that the wood spars ha dto be varnished and one wing tip had tobe smoothed over where the mice hadbeen having lunch on the edges. Ot herthan that, it wa s pretty much clean upand get ready for covering.

Not only is Jim Zangger an experienced pilot, he is al so an A Pmechanic, which he earned at ParksCollege in Cahokia , just south of EastSt Louis, IL

While the instruments were sent outfor overhaul, the airplane was coveredwith Ceconite 102 and finished offwith Randolph butyrate dope . Jimwould have preferred Grade A cotton

the four -banger to near new condition .In addition , a new stainless steel exhaust system was installed. Sincecompletion, the A65 hasn t missed abeat and the Taylorcraft cruises alongat 95 mph with the metal prop turningat 2150 rpm .

The interior was completely redoneincluding a new headliner and replacement of all glass. The result is a verypleasant , original looking Taylorcraftcabin that moves you back to 1946 theinstant you sit in the seats.

To increase their knowledge of Taylorcraft airplanes, Jim and his wife,Cecelia, traveled to Dayton, Ohio, tovisit with Bob Taylor, son of C G. Taylor, designer of the Taylorcraft. Bobcarefully explained his extensive collection of memorabi lia and albums to

(Be low) The Iowa dele g at ion - Russell Zanggerand his wife, Dolly, Jim 's wife , Cecelia and JimZangger line up by the award -winn ing BC-12DTaylorcraft . This is a Taylorc raft fam ily from t he

The empennage of NC94953 is a perfect exampleof Jim Zangger's beautiful workmanship includinginspection covers and rudder trim tab. Tail wheel is asoft rubber Maule using con t rol springs in tension.

the Zanggers, which left them visiblyimpressed. In addition, they stopped atAlliance , OH, and visited with Forr estBarber, long-time Taylorcraft aficionado and expert on the marque. Allin all , it was quite a trip .

At Oshkosh '97 , the Zanggers werequite surprised at all the peop le who

Uke fat her, li k e so n. Russ e ll Zangger, a n inst ructor and T a ylo rcra ft boo ster fo r ove r 5 yearsproud ly stand s by his son, Jim, a p ilot wit h over

1 7 ,

hour s and a T a ylorc raft afic ionado an dres to rer with his aw ard winn ing BC 12D.

ViNTAGE AIRPLANE 19


22/36

(Above) Head on view of the T-Craft shows McCauley 74x45 metal prop and spinner and neat aluminumgrills on the two cowl openings. Note the clean design with absence of drag producing bumps and Inter

sect ions the reason the T-Craft Is so fast with only 65 horsepower.

admired the Taylorcraft during the con the entire crew w s on h nd for thevention and especially all the questions Monday night Awards Program at thethat were asked The pret ty black and Theater-in-the-woods. All of the sweat,red T -Craft was easy to spot in the mul toil, tears and efforts were worth it whentitude of airc raft and apparently there NC94953 was called out for the Best ofare many folks who have a soft spot in Class award in the Taylorcraft section.their he rt for the speedy little two- May we add our "Congratulations"placer. In the latter p rt of the week, to Jim and Cecelia Zangger for an outJim's parents, Russell and Dolly Zang standing job of restoration. We knowger, of Larchwood, lA, joined them and that C. G Taylor is smiling. .....

(Below) Jim Zangger pulls In close with the BC12D. You can clearly see the fuel gauge wire In front ofthe windshield Indicating a nearly full nose tank. Two additional wing tanks of six gallons each give atotal of 24 gallons for a range of nearly five hours.

20 FEBRUARY 1998

(Above) Nicely done landing gear features 6:00 X 6tires and Shinn mechanical brakes. The red wheelhubcaps are original with three Indented screwsholding them to the wheel, and you can appreciatethe clean work on the landing gear fairings.

(Above) Interior photo of Jim Zangger's BC-12Dreveals heel brakes on the pilot's side only, dualglove compartment doors on the Instrument paneland tr1m crank In the ceiling. Note originalShakespeare frictlorHock throttle with Caro Heatcontrol third knob to the left. The first knob left ofthe throttle Is the Fuel Shutoff control where theCarb Heat Is normally located This arrangementhas caused a number of accidents and requires ared Interference clamp to restr ict accidental usage.


23/36

,

I IJllINC.T T

I

\\- = \ \II \\II \ \I I \ \I I \ \I I \ \

Sight ines - \I I \

, .... , I \ \ .... I \ \,

,, , I I \ , , ...., , , .... I I \ \

...., , ...., ,

...., I I \ \ ,, , .... I I \ \, ,, , , , I \, ,, , I \ \ \

" , . . \ I........ \[ orizon ine] , , I \., \9 ' -- ---llz: b ~d @ i f i 3 W0: __ _ _ -- --

-- -

- - " , ,

!l ack during the Big War, night flying was dramatically increasedecause of several reasons . Practicallyall offensive air work had to be doneunder cover of darkness . Also, Zeppelinraids frn ced night airplane flying on alarger scale. Public opinion demandednight airplane patrols. Most seemed tothink that a few aircraft in the sky wouldstop the Zeppelins from carrying outtheir work of destruction.

The problems encountered were enormous. How was the pilot to see at night?How would he spot the other aircraft, orfly straight and level. How about landing at night and into the wind?

Most long distance bombing raids

by WALT KESSLER

were conducted at night and the antiaircraft guns firing at them were notvery effective. You can ' t hit what youdon t see. With few exceptions, mostraids were carried out after it got dark.Most airplanes could not be seen and itwas most difficult for search lights topick them up. Dirigibles could bepicked up with comparative ease .

One night, an Alli e d squadronstarted out with the intent of bombingthe Turkish-German positions . On arriving they were shocked to see the GermanAerodrome all lit up . The Allies tookadvantage of the situation and bombedthe hangars and others buildings.

When the Allied squadron returned to

their aerodrome, they were stunned tofind the Germans had bombed their facility! Both forces had planned surpriseraids on each other 's aerodromes, at thesame time. The amazing thing i s thatthey passed but didn't see each other.

In each case, officers in charge of theAerodrome lit up their own fields uponhearing airplane engines, thinking itwas their own aircraft returning fromthe raid. Lighting the aerodrome wasthe only way the returning aircraft wereable to land .

Back in those days, each machine wasfitted with an altimeter, an inclinometerfor indicating the airplane's inclinationand position lights showing the trans -

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2

\ \- -- - , , ,


24/36

verse position of the wings. Wing tip lights werecolored blue so as not to blind the pilot nor reveal his presence to the enemy. Instrumentpanels were also lighted blue. Some aircrafteven had a search light which was primarilyused for emergency landings.

Lighting the aerodromes was always a problem. Lights had to be used so as not to blind the

pilot upon landing . This method was used extensively but was dangerous and expensive.

Electric lights afforded the greatest efficiencyas they could be turned on and off very easily.When lit, some formed a wide arrow whichpointed into the wind . The pilots would land inthe wide part of the arrow heading for the point.He would know that he was also heading intothe wind .

The French had a unique way of landing atnight. Barring unfortunate contingencies , Frenchmachines were not permitted to land until the

got an ALL CLEAR signal from below . Whenarriving , the French aviator would circle aroundsending his own special letter by Morse code.

British squadrons used a different method.When a pilot approached an aerodrome andwished to descend, he would fire one o f theVery lights . The predetermined signal would beanswered from the ground. If the signals agreed,the pilot would know he was over his own fieldand landed accordingly. I f the signals did notagree, he would recognize from the color of thesignal the aerodrome he was over. All pilots hadto memorize the signals of adjacent aerodromes.

Night flying was dependent largely of theweather. It was broken down to several cate-gories , moonlit nights and otherwise . Whencondition s were good and the moon bright , observation could be taken easily up to a height of9,000 feet. Landing fields and aerodromes couldbe spotted at this height.

Some airplane searchlights, mounted on earlybiplanes , delivered 500 watts of power (about thesame as a handheld halogen searchlight youmight plug into your car cigarette lighter socket) .They were operated by "wind-wheels," wind-dli

ven generators that had no connection with theengine . They were used as signal lights and to aidin making a landing at night. Instruments used byaviators in night flying had the indicators and dials painted with luminous compounds whicheliminated the blinding glare offlash lamps.

With no moon, at 5,000 feet it is not possibleto see railways, roads or rivers . On moonlitnights , unlighted objects would not be seen withany certainty on the roads below.

Pilots destined for night flying duties were instructed to practice on the same machines with

which they were to fly at night. They were instructed to practice flying by instruments only,without using the horizon as a guide. Also, to

22 FEBRUARY 1998

g lid e slow ly and make small side slips andquick recoveries.

They were instructed to check the speed oftheir machine and identifying the speed with thesound o f the wires under certain conditions.Turning, using instruments alone and landingslowly were all part of their practice routine.

A patented device by the German architect,Edgar Honig, was quite unique. The HonigCircles consisted of two concentric circles orrings of incandescent lamps standing on edge afew feet above the ground. The smaller circlewas placed at a distance of several yards behindthe larger one, which stood back of the landingarea. The theory was that a circle appears as anellipse as soon as the eye ceases to be directlyopposite the center. To be used as a landing aid,two circles of light arranged as in Figure 1(page 21) must be perceived as two upright orslanting ellipses which either intersect each

other or have the smaller circle contained in thelarger until the eye of the pilot is directly in linewith the axis passing through the middle point ofthe two circles . This occurs when the pilot isfrom two to three feet above the ground,depending on the aircraft involved . The circlesstood about 3 feet above ground.

Figure 2 shows how the circles appear to apilot at a great height above the circles as heflies directly down the center axis of the circles.

As he heads downward and nears the ground,the rings begin to intersect as in Figure 3 . Theposition of the light-circles tells the pilot he hasapproached the ground but also that he is notlined up and had diverged from the direction ofthe middle axis. He must bank his machine tothe right in order to line up again.

All this time, he is still descending. When hesees the light signals as in Figure 4, he knowshe has approached the level of the ground. Whenthe circles are centered, as in Figure 5, he landsBelieve it or not, they used this method also forwater landings.

Electric lighting equipment on many Britishplanes were powered by dry storage batteries

with a life span of 4 1 / 2 hours. Weight wasabout 2 pounds.

Unfortunately , the life span of many aviatorsduring WW I was sholt. Training accidents andbeing shot at, and shot down, took its toll. Nightflying, still in its primitive state, only added to tothe dilemma.

Today, you depart for an evening moonlitflight without too much hassle. You dial in yourGPS or Loran, and your trusty bird takes youwhere you want to go . Remember those whowere before you the next time you watch your

moving map move . It wasn't always this easyThe night hasn ' t changed, but our knowledgeand equipment sure has

,_ ..... " -.. ..

II

. . -....... ,,

... - .....- -..... ....' . .I

' II II

," .'-.............. "Figure 2

.........I ...... fI - . .

. ,. I-,. ,, ... t,

, . I I II I

I II. '', , , '-'" ........ , , -

Figure 3

.........." -.,, -...- .........- ..

. " . - . ..... ,.. . '-. .'-.........

,"

Figure 4

..........." -.,,' -.,, . .'_.-. .: " '. .. .

. .. .. . . ........ . ." ,.. ..............

Figure 5


25/36

by E.E. Bu c k Hilbe rt

EM #21 le 5P.O. Box 424, Union IL 60180

Here's a little more history to fill in thecracks on my newest little Aeronca ,NC13000 :

I read your article on 13000. I sold13000 to Ted Kapsas and Martha Baird in1956. It was disassembled for rebuild. Iknew Martha from the '40s when she datedmy brother. I know Ted fro the early 1950'swhen I was working at Austintown airport .Ted and Martha were forming an air showact when they bought the C-3. The neededthe engine for a C-3 they already had. Theyalso had a Mey ers OTW and a [Fairchild]KR-22 . Ifmy memory i s correct, they gotthe OTW and KR-22 at the Linesville , PAairport . I thought the Fairchild had a Cirrusengine in it. I never heard ifthey got the airshow off the ground or not.

I li ved in Chardon , OH when I purch ased 13000 from someone in Angola ,IN. I t was disassembled at the time.Befor e I could rebuild it , a job change required a move, so I sold it. It was complete

at the time . I paid $125.00 for it and soldit for the same . WowHope this little bit of info will help .Bill TrimmCape Coral, FLEAA 908AJC24168

On Another Old Subje ct . ..I jus t got a call that pushed my curious

button. In the words of the King of Siam,It is a puzzlement " It goes like this:

When I was a line boy /apprentice mechanic at the Harbican Air College atElmhurst Airport here in Illinois backbefore the earth cooled, World War IIbroke. Restrictions on private flying immediately went into effect in a typical

PaSSitto

Buel


26/36

WHAT OUR MEMBERS RE RESTORINGy Norm Pe te r sen

Spotless new Scott tailwheel attached Here is John Ficklen standing by his handiwork-to new compression springs. one beautiful Champ.

Starting with a rather bent up AeroncaChamp, John Ficklen (EAA 512084 , I C25525) of St. George Island, FL, has put his bestefforts into the restoration o Aeronca 7 AC,NC84522, SIN 7AC-3221. After rebuilding theairframe and installing new spars in the wings,the entire aircraftwas readied for covering withthe Poly Fiber process. The final original colorso Champion Yellow and International Orangewere carefully done in Polytone finish . Finalassembly included all new bolts, nuts andscrews along withmany, many new parts.

The Continental A75-8 engine was majored

to new specs and new Slick mags and harnesswere bolted on. Once the engine was installedin the airframe, new stainless exhaust stacksand mufflers were installed and the necessaryhook-ups attached. To add the finishing touch,new cowlings along with a new woodSensenjch W70DK-42 prop was installed witha proper crush plate and spinner.

Under the tail, a brand new old stock) Scotttailwheel with a Made for Aeronca tag on itwas installed with a set of compression springsfor better directional control. The result is anAeronca Champ that looks for all the world

like a new airplane. Our congratulations toJohn Ficklen on a great rebuild job.

This is the "can be seen only at night " Champ that JohnFicklen had to start with. It looks suspiciously like it hasbeen on its back

24 FEBRU RY 998


27/36

Felix Quast's Funk B85-C on skisHere is a picture not often seen! Felix

Quast EAA308779,AlC 18555 of Winsted ,MN, and his son, Scott, are pictured withhis Funk B85 -C, N77740, SIN 370, mountedon a set of Federal A-1500 skis on an icefishing expedition. Felix says the Funk is "IIII - - ~ ~a dandy two-place skiplane with its 85 ~ ~ , ~ a : : : ;~ ~ ~ t . i : ~~Continental engine - complete with electric starter. Felix also flies a Cessna 170on Federal A-2500 skis.

David Carlson's Aeronca Super ChiefWith the C-85 ticking over, Dave Carlson (EAA

506518 , AlC 25093) of Hay Springs, NE, gets readyto go flying in his newly restored 1947 Aeronca II CCSuper Chief, NC4245E , SIN II CC-131. Purchased asa basket case in 1994 after it had resided in a garage

in California for 30 years, the Super Chief was restored in Ceconite and finished in Tennessee Red andDiana Cream, a very close match for one of the fac-

lIiiIj_rII tory color schemes. This is Dave's first experience inh ~ = ' : ' : ' ~ ; ; : : : = =~ ~ : : : : : : : ~ ~ ; . . . . . . ; . Jaircraft rebuilding and the results show remarkable

workmanship. Dave is now learning how to fly in thebird and reports 20 hours in the logbook to date. He can t wait to take his lovely wife,Phyllis , for a ride in the pretty two-seater. Congratulations on a beautiful piece of work .

Robert Sagers' G-18S Twin BeechThis photo of a very nice looking G 18S

TwinBeech,

N9604R, SIN8A-464, wassent in by owner, Robert Sagers (EAA

524974) of Toledo, WA. Powered with apair of P& W R-985 engines of 450 hp, theTwin Beech can cruise in the 200 mph rangewith room for the entire family and thensome. Built in 1959, the contemporary Gmodel is a dandy machine with 79 of themlisted on the current FAA register. Capt.Sagers is a 747-400 Captain for United Airlines when he is not flying the Beechcraft.

Golden Oldie-Don Macor's 1940Piper J-4A on floats

This 1963 photo of a Piper J-4A CubCoupe, N29097, mounted on a set ofEdo1320 floats was contributed by Don Macorof Duluth, MN. This J-4 was one of the firstseaplanes owned by the Forest Service atEly, MN. They donated it to the Ely PublicSchool System, who put it up for bids in1962. Don put in a bid of$1225 and got the

.......... - airplane. He recovered the J-4 and installeda C-85 engine, making it one of the best per

forming two-place seaplanes in the area.Don sold it into Canada and later , an outfitter by the name of Tony Massaro was flying

. . . it on wheels, looking for moo

Vintage Airplane - Feb 1998

Documents

Transcript of Vintage Airplane - Feb 1998