Vintage Airplane - Jun 2007

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jun 2007

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2/44

G OFF

RO ISON

PRESIDENT, VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

AirVenture's ype Club Experience

EAA

AirVenture Oshkosh is practi

cally right around the corner now,

and

it's shaping up to be another real win

ner of a show for 2007. I often wonder

just

how

many of our loyal members

who read this magazine every month

have yet to make it to Oshkosh for the

world's greatest aviation event. If you

are one

of

these individuals I really

must ask: "What are you waiting for?"

Each year

it

amazes me how this

event continues

to

attract so many

never-seen-before, beautifully restored

aircraft and a display of virtually every

flying gizmo known to man, all high

lighted by

many

new

and

interesting

aviation technologies.

One of the many activities around

the

VAA

area

during the

annual

EAA

convention is the very active and popu

lar type club aircraft parking/camping

area. This large group of very dedicated

individuals goes to great pains to re

store, maintain,

and

operate

many

dif

ferent vintage-specific aircraft types. As

you can imagine, throughout the often

lengthy restoration of these aircraft, re-

lationships are certain to be built with

the leadership and representatives of the

hancements or modifications for your

own flying machine. Each year at Osh

kosh we are able to highlight only a few

aircraft types. This year we are hosting

three specific groups:

.The

International

Stinson

Club

will be conducting a "mass arrival" on

Sunday, July 22, at 9:30

a.m

. with 50

vintage Stinsons.

•The Beechcraft owners are celebrat

ing the anniversaries of both the Beech

and the

Bonanza with a type club

group of more than 20 vintage Beech

craft aircraft.

• We are also hosting a group of

more

than

20

Pi

per Comanches to

round out the field of type club air

craft for the 2007 event.

The type club parking/camping area

always seems to be very popular, and

has proven to be successful and fulfill

ing for not only those of us who plan

and

implement

this initiative,

but

es

pecially for the members

and

enthusi

asts who take the opportunity to walk

among these aircraft and visit with their

proud owners. See for yourself the kind

of fun and camaraderie enjoyed by par

ticipating in this wonderful activity.

the main north-south pavement, Wit

tman Road), which

is

just north of

the

ultralight area of operations.

I have one other good-news item to

share with the membership this month.

During the spring board meeting, your

Vintage Aircraft Association board of di

rectors voted to further extend the eli

gible years of the Contemporary class of

vintage aircraft to those aircraft manufac

tured on or before December

31,

1970.

Now, I fully understand and recog

nize the fact that maybe not all of the

membership will embrace the news of

this enhancement of the Contempo

rary category, but I would remind every

body it wasn't all that long ago that we

heard the grumbling about all of those

postwar aircraft being parked

among

the antiques at Rockford. You remem

ber them-we call them "classics."

This initiative was actually

brought

to the Vintage boardroom by

EAA's Vin-

tage Aircraft Association judges as a

re-

sult of continuous contacts from the

owners of these aircraft who wish to not

only engage themselves in

the

Vintage

movement but also to have their air

craft judged at Oshkosh each year.

So,


3/44

N E

J

u

E

VOL

35

,

NO 6

2007

O TE NTS

I Fe

Straig

ht &

Level

AirVe

ntur

e's Type Club Experience

by Geoff Robison

2

News

4

Sun 'n Fun 2007

1 1 Just "Plane" Tommy

The story of the Thomas-Morse A

ir

craft Corpora tion

Part II j

by Al Kelch

6

The Poulton Family's Chief

Aeronca Il BC

by Budd

Da

visson

The

Bir

th of Taylorcraft

Creating a classic design

by Chester L Peek, Ph. D

28 Mystery Plane

Ex

tra

The Butler Manufacturing Co.

N

L-

13 biplane

by Wes ley Smith

33

Pass It to Buck

The very beginning of airworthiness

certi

fic

at

es, pilot certificates

by

Bu

ck Hilbert

36

Mystery Plane

by H.G. Frautschy

ST FF

EAA Publisher Tom Poberezny

D

ir

ector

of

EAA Pu

blicat

i

ons

Dav id Hipschman

Execut

ive Direc tor

/Edito

r

H.

G.

Frau tschy


4/44

Staggerwing

Museum

Adopts New Name

The board of trustees of the Stag

gerwing Museum

Foundation Inc.

has

changed the name

of its

museum

to the Beechcraft Heritage Museum.

The

new

name more accurately re

flects the

museum's commitment

to

preserving the rich history of Beech

craft

as

well as fostering aviation ed

ucation, said Michael

Greenblatt,

president

of

the

foundation

.

Beech Aircraft Company built their

first aircraft

in

1932,

and

that very

airplane

is

now the centerpiece of the

museum.

Officially designated the

Beechcraft Model 17R-l, this distinc

tively original and beautiful aircraft

design became affectionately

known

as

the

Staggerwing.

The foundation expanded in 1995

by adding the Twin Beech 18 Soci

ety division. The museum's footprint

was increased in 1997 by the dedica

tion of

the

Twin Beech 18 Hangar. On

display

is one

of

only

three existing

prewar examples of the Beechcraft

Model 18 Twin Beech.

In 2001, this facility was enlarged

and

rededicated

as the Alton E.

Chuck Cianchette Hangar. The Bo-

nanza/Baron Museum division

was

launched in 2003, with the first phase

Stinsons

in

Type

Club

Parking

In addition

to the

two

other

clubs

selected for

parking in the

Type

Club

parking

area , there will

again

be a

gaggle

of Stinsons to behold in this special area created

in the

Vintage Showplane parking

area. Type

Club parking

is just

south of the EAA

Volunteer Emergency Aircraft Repair shack

just

west of Wittman Road

,

the mai

n

north-south road

on

the convention grounds

.

60th anniversary of the Bonanza. All

Beechcraft

and

aviation enthusiasts

are invited to attend. Event informa

tion

is

available on its website at www

BeechcraftHeritageMuseum org

The Beechcraft Heritage Museum

is open to

the

general public and is

located

70 miles

southeast

of Nash

ville, Tennessee, at the Tullahoma

Re-

gional Airport

(THA).

EAA AirVenture Awards

Ceremonies to Change in

2007

In past years, all of

the

coveted

EAA

AirVenture Lindy aircraft awards (ex

Woods on Friday evening, July 27.

• Ultralight

awards-Saturday

eve

ning, July 28, during the annual Ul

tralight party at

the

Nature Center.

•

Homebuilt

aircraft

awards-Sat

urday evening, July 28,

at

a Honda

Motorcycles Forums Plaza location to

be determined.

• Seaplane aircraft awards--during

the annual

Watermelon Social dinner

on Saturday evening, July 28,

at

the

EAA Seaplane Base.

• Vintage aircraft awards-Satur

day

evening

(7-8

p.m.), July

28,

at

Theater in the Woods.

http:///reader/full/BeechcraftHeritageMuseum.orghttp:///reader/full/BeechcraftHeritageMuseum.org


5/44

tion Celebration at

www.AirVenture.

org. This year's special events and at

tractions, forums an

d workshops, ac

commodations, Os hkosh area travel

information,

and

more are all a few

clicks away.

Also check out our biweekly EAA

AvCasts,

www.EAA.orglpodcast,

for a

collection of audio presentations fea

turing aviation people, events and is

sues, and EAA AirVenture updates.

And

the

Winner Is Top

Gun

Paramount Pictures' blockbust

er

1986 movie Top

Gun

received

th

e

mos t votes in the Greatest Aviation

Movie of All Time po ll conducted on

the EAA AirVenture

we

bsi te from

Feb

ruary I -May

2.

The story of naval avi

ator Pete "Maverick" Mi tchell, played

by

EAAer

Tom Cruise, received 20.47

percent of the total votes cast. The

1949 film Twe lve O Clock Hi

gh

placed

second in

the

balloting with 17.4 per

cent, while

Memphis

Belle (1990) gar

nered 12.16 percent.

Other films in

the fi

n al poll

in-

cluded

Battle Britain

(1969), 11.78

percent;

Spirit

st

Louis

(1957)

and

The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), each

with

8.59 percent;

Those Magnificent

Men in Th

e

ir Flyin

g Machines (1965),

7.15 percent; The Flight the

Pho

enix

(1965), 5.18

percent; and The

High

and

th

e

Mi

ghty

(1954), 4.08 percent.

During EAA AirVenture Osh kosh

2007,

attendees can

wat

ch

Top

Gun,

which also stars Ke lly McGill is, Va l

Kilmer, Anthony Edwards,

and

Tom

Skerritt, on the large, o

utd

oor screen

at

the EAA

Fly-In Theater, presented

by Ford

Motor

Company and Eclipse

We were saddened to hear of the

deaths

of

Doug

and

Sharon 8eechel

of

Cotter

, Arkansas, on April

22.

Doug and Sharon perished in the

crash

of their

Murphy Moose as

they attempted to land at their home

airport next to the White

River

A

longtime

VAA member, Doug

was

active

in

both vintage

and

homebuilt aircraft circles

and en-

joyed flying his Moose and Aeronca

Champ. Always ready with a gleam

in his eye and an offer

of

something

cool to drink ,

he

and Sharon were

gracious hosts to the many guests

who stopped by the Moose at a

fly-

in . We

ll

miss them greatly.

charge

fo

r the theater, which is open

to

all AirVentu re guests. Each eve

ni ng's show begins at approximately

8:30

p.m

., with an in

trod

uct ion by

a celebrity presenter, followed

by

a

classic aviat

ion

fi

lm

at

ab

ou

t 9 p .m .,

shown on a projection screen

mea-

suring five stories high .

EAA th an ks everyon e wh o vo ted,

both in

th

e

in

it ial Greatest Aviation

Movie nomin

atio

ns and in the fina l

proposa l last year

during

her "Meet

th e Administ ra t

or

session at

EAA

Ai

rVe

ntu re.

EAA, whose Aeromedical

Advisory Council works continually

wi

th

the

FAA

to remove medical certi

fication barriers, has been highly sup

portive of th

is

effort.

Perio

d ic medica l exam i

nation

is of certain

value,

but no t many

sign ificant conditions

are

discov

ered

on

ro utine examinations on

pil o ts below age 40, said Co uncil

Cha

i

rman

Dr.

Jack Hastings. This

cha n ge wi ll

hopefu

ll y

allow the

Aerom ed ical Certification Division

to

d

evo

te grea t

er

time and atten

t ion t o

prob

lem aeromedica l cer

tificati ons and achieve the goal of

ti mely decisions."

FAA estimates that 175,000 fewer

fi

r

st class certifica

t es

and

90,000

fewer third-class certificates would be

renewed over 10 years, resulting in a

cost savings to airmen estimated

at

$85 million.

EAA

Urges

Aircraft Buyers

to

Make Sure

Autofuel

STCs

Are

Legit

EAA has learned

of

several recent

instances

where

aircraft sellers have

attemp ted to pass their aircraft off as

having

an

autofuel supp lementary

type certificate (STC)

without the

re

quired documentation.

EAA

and Peterson Aviation are the

on

ly organ

izations

that

have

issued

autofuel

STCs

and placards since the

program

began in the early 1980s.

EAA advises would-be aircraft buyers

to make sure any aircraft purported to

have an autofuel STC indeed has one.


6/44

The

Sun

'n Fun

Fly-In

is a great way to shake off the winter blahs and jumpstart the summer flying sea

son.

If you

'

re

a northerner li

ke

I am,

by

the time baseball season starts, you're more than ready to peel

off

a sweatshirt or two and fly

in

shirtsleeves. Sun 'n

Fun

is all about that attitude; fly in, relax, enjoy visiting

with your friends , and soak

in

a good dose

of

"Vitamin

Av

" vitamin Aviation, that is.

The

vintage aircraft area, overseen

by

the fi

ne

folks of

VAA

Chapter 1, was filled with a mix of familiar alu

minum and tube and fabric friends , as well as a basket full

of

one-of-a kind airplanes, including a rare

Travel

Air lOB and Saab 91 Saf

ir.

Tucked back the corner near the trees was

an

equally rare Bucker Bestmann ,

a pretty low-wing

Ge

rman training aircraft.

And

how about Dean Tilton who along with his friends Dusty

and

Todd

Rhode have not one but two

of

the rare Arrow Sport biplanes

Cap

off

the week with a fine picnic

on

the lawn

in

front of the

Vin

t

age

Aircraft Headquarters, and

you

have the makings

of

a great week to

start

the

2 7

fly-in season. Let's see both the people and airplanes we enjoyed seeing during Sun 'n Fun 2007.


7/44

Lew

lIakd s

Aeronca AC ChcInp has been neatly

restored

with His custom color

scheme.

Lew s Champ

took

home

the

top

Classic

hp

category

(0-100

hp)

award.

I

don't know of too many people who don t subconsciously hold their

breath each time

they

see this done

Thankfully, the

three professionals

performing

this John Mohr

in the

Stearman, Todd Green

(the

stuotman)

and

Roger Buis, Otto the helicopter's p i l o ~ perform this

act regularly,

and

are

exceptionally proficient The "Untied Team"

performed their

act during

the daily air

show.

RIGHT: Basically restored

by

Richard Blazer, Tullahoma,

Tennessee,

this Taylorcraft s

new

owner,

Dick

Lawrence

of

Pensacola,

Florida has been

busy

tweaking this 1946

model.

Dick's Taylorcraft was selected

as

one of the

top

category award

winners

at Sun

n

Fun.

Tom Ramsey, u l i e ~

Tennessee

lost

his

hangar

and sold

the

restored

Taylorcrafl

H G FR UTSCHY

The

Arrow

Sport biplane is one of the few open

-

cockpit airplanes built with

side-by-side

seating, and

few of this

make

remain.

But here

are two of them,

restored by

Dean

lilton

and his

wife

Christine (far

right).

From

left to r i g h ~ we have the owners of the

newest

Arrow Sport

restoration, NC9327, Todd, Willie

and Dusty

Rhode,

with the Rhode's

grandson

Kyle in

the

cockpit


8/44

The

pudgy litHe

Stinson

10

may be abit on

the rare

side, but irs

just

so cute

you can t

help stop

and watch as it taxis by. This example is owned by Julian

Thomas

o NiceviHe, Rorida.

Good thing

those

bullet holes

are

painted on

Chuck Story brought this nice post-war

Aeronca llAC Chief

mounted on apair of Edo

1400

floats.

H

G FRAUTSCHY PHOTOS

Chuck s rom

Haslett,

Michigan.


9/44

Left

Jeff

and Suzette

Deaton

n

he

proud

owners

of

this

outstanding customized 1954 BeedJcraft Bonanza.

Always

among

the top

airplanes

at

any

event in

which

it is shown, the Beech

won

the top

Classic

category

prize at

this year's Sun n

FIHI

Jeff

and Suzette brought their son Blake, age 5, along for his

first

camping Sun 'n fun adventure,

where

he channed

us

all.

BELOW One

of

the very rare airplanes on

display

duro

ing

this

year's

kick

off

to

the

fly-in

season was

this Czech-

buiH Bucker Bul8l Bestmann, owned and flown by Richard

Epton

of

Brooks, Georgia.

Winner of

the

Most

Unique

Clas

sic aircraft award,

we'll

have

feature story on this

1949

low

wing trainer in future issue of V'mtage Airplane.

Willie

Ropp,

now

95

years young,

(inset)

re

stored

this

1933

Travel Air

CW seaplane

nearly

two

de

cades

ago, and it's still going I

strong. Based at Brown's

Seaplane

Base in Winter

Haven,

Rorida, it was flown

during

the seaplane

fly-in

by

Willie's daughter Belle.

H G FRAUTSCHY PHOTOS


10/44

The

Grand

Champion

Antique

award was presented to Less

Whittlesley s

1939 Lockheed

12A

Electra

Jr,

which was also the Antique Grand Champion at last year s

AirVenture Oshkosh

2006.

RIGHT: Unless

you re

a

wor1d traveler

who s been

to

Europe, it's unlikely you ve ever actually seen the Saab

Safir 91, a

low-wing

trainer

built by

the automobile air

craft manufacturer. Lars

De

Jounge, who now

hails from

Vero

Beach,

Florida, has lovingly restored this example,

which was presented

with

an Outstanding in Type

award.

Lars

tells

us he

plans

on

bringing the airplane

to

EAA

AirVenture Oshkosh 2007.


11/44

Some folks think

the

Franklin 6A4-165-B3 engine was a

factory option

at the Aeronca factory

for

the

15AC

Sedan; it

was as

the

original STC was

issued to Maine Air

Service. It

certainly

adds just a litHe

more

oomph to the performance

of

this

fine 4-place airplane, as owner

Don

Wilson

can

attesl

Wilson's recent beautiful

restoration,

which features

seaplane

door conversions

and

the

very handy

STC'd fueling

steps supplied

by

Burl's Aircraft

Rebuild

of Chugiak, Alaska.

Burl

holds

the Type Certificate

for

the Sedan,

and

has been steadily adding to the

available

parts list

_ ........ for the Sedan.

H G FRAUTSCHY PHOTOS

RIGHT: William Sharpe from nearby

Tampa, Florida brought his 1962 Mooney

M20C over

to Sun nFun for a

day

or so.


12/44

Bill

Scott

of Springhill, Florida,

restored his

Stinson 108-3

with no

intentions of selling it but

the

new

owner,

Jim Gibson

from Polk City,

FL worked

on

him

for

several years

before

he finally

gave in_

.

.

.- I

- - -

. .

:

/

' - : : : - :

. ' ~

.........

, . ;. / 1-

.

~ ~

--r __

, , - - . . .

,

..

.

I ~

. i ,

' ~ t

, -;- : :

l ' \

I . lS

( - ' .

r · . ~

f

-

One of

tile

Inmdreds of

volunteers on hand to help put on tile

annual

spring

migration to Florida, Bill Wedlund

of Jacksonv ille,

Florida gives the stop signal to

Kennit

Sutton

of Naples,

Florida as

Kennit

taxis in

with his

turbine DeHavilland

Beaver

conversion.

Ron

Haynes

brought his lovely

Piper

Cub to Sun nFun from New Port Richey,

Florida.

Parked near the emergency

aircraft

repair

building

(that's

a

fork

lift

behind

the Cub), Ron s Cub looked

like

just the ticket

for

enjoying the Florida air

with

the

window

and door open.


13/44

nearty Model TA

hydro in

the

air

Note

the

tubula wing tip floats .

The story

o

the Thomas-Morse

Aircraft

Corporation

Part II

BY AL K ELCH

PHOTOS

FROM

THE

WILLIAM

T THOMAS, JR. COLLECTION VIA ROBERT G. ELLIOTT

Preface two-part story in

two

1960 issues

of

American Airman

ex

1982 The following three-part article on the Thomas

tensively researched by Frank Strand with a great deal oforigi

Morse Aircraft Corp. although extensively edited and further

nal contact with William Thomas Sr.

researched by

me

should be credited

to

Robert C Elliott of

Frank had permission

to

use all of

the

material he had gath

Daytona

Beach

Florida who sought out William T Thomas

ered to

put together one

more article specia

lly

tailored for

Vin

Ir. still living in Daytona Beach. Mr. Thomas generously

tage Airplane

magazine on the Tommy-Morse Scout of

World


14/44

An early Thomas tractor hydroplane

with single float

and wing

tip floats.

Riglrt-side

view of a 1916 hydroplane

two-place

Model B-3

Austro-Daimler

powered.

A much earlier

Thomas hydroplane

with a 90-hp Austro-Daimler engine.

The forward section of the hull had a

fabric cover to furnish protection from

the spray.


15/44

Two

Guns White Cap, chief of

the

Blackfoot Indians, with pilot Ralph

Brown.

W.T.

Thomas,

at

right.

The

In·

dian brought

the

whole

tribal

family to

witness

the

flight.

Once

off

the

water,

the

chief

let out awar whoop to let ev·

eryone know he

was

quite pleased.

The Brindley Street plant in Ithaca,

New York, about 1915

where

the T·2

and

D·2

tractor

planes were

built.

Thomas

was

due

to be

added

to

the

company.

This gentleman had no

relation

to the

founders of

the

com

pany

but

he was destined

to change

and influence the

company s direc

tion

substantially.

Mr.

B.

Douglas

Thomas became the chief

engineer

and

airplane designer.

He had an

ex

cellent

aircraft

background,

having

previously worked

as assistant air

craft deSigner for Vickers Ltd . and,

later Sopwith Aviation. Through sim

ilar circumstance he also worked for

Glenn

Curtiss

where he

assisted

in

designing

the

famous Curtiss Model J

tractor

and the

famous Jenny.

He

also

took part with Lt . Porte in designing

the

America

the

first multiple-engine


16/44

The

board

room group dis-

cussing aircraft business.

Left to right: Harold Bliss

B.D. Thomas

GeorgeAbel

Jerome

Freed

Mr. Morris

W.

T

Thomas Raymond

Ware. B.D. Thomas was

no

relation to W.T. Thomas.

Employees of the

Thomas

Brothers

Aeroplane

Co.

Ithaca New York Brindley

Street plant.

H might

be

Frank Burn-

side standing beside the


17/44

Side

profile of an

assem

bled

Thomas Aero Motor.

The hand

crank was

pre-

ferred to

swinging

the

prop

on a

geared ltwo-to

one

engine. Note

the

individual

cylinder primers

beside

spark plugs.

tion of two nose skids and

the 90-hp Austro-Daimler

engine. It

had

a top speed

of 83

mph

and could climb

3,800 feet

in

10 minutes,

carrying

a l,OOO-pound

load. The performance of

this machine added to the

prestige of the company s

having

hired

a new de

Signer, and resulted in an

order from the British Ad

miralty

for 24 Model T-2

airplanes, its first sizable

order.

Wit

h two pre v i 0 u s

One

of 15 Model SH-4 hydroplanes

built

by Thomas-Morse for the U.S. Navy in about 1916. It

moves from Hornell, New

York and Bath, New York

was

powered with a 149-hp Sturtevant engine.

the

brothers

looked for a new loca

signed

and built a 135-hp geared

commissioned in

the Royal Flying


18/44


19/44

t he postwar Super

Chief-but

theirs

is an lIBe. We're

not

sure it ever car

ried a name, but maybe we should

call

it the

Not-Quite-Super-Chief. It

came

out of the

factory in 1947 with a

C8S-8, which meant

no

provisions for

a starter.

Not

a normal one, anyway.

It

had

a McDowell starter,

which

was

a

combination of

ratcheted sprockets

and a lever that

worked

very much

like

the

pull starter on a lawn mower

with the cable

going

back to a

han

dle

in the

cockpit. By

the

time Danny

bought the airplane as a project in

Michigan,

the

starter

had long

since

disappeared. In fact,

everything

fire

wall-forward had disappeared. But

we're getting ahead

of

ourselves.

Danny

had

owned a number

of

airplanes in the past and,

in

fact, had

learned to

fly

while he

was still

in

high

school.

We had

aviation

on my mom's

side

of

the family,

he

says. My un

cle was

an

airframe and

powerplant

mechanic (A P)

and a

fUll

-time cor

porate pilot, and

he

encouraged me.

He progressed

through

a

number

of

airplanes, most of

them

some vari

ation of

the Piper PA-28 line, includ

ing an Arrow, although a

'63

C l72

did follow

him home one

day.

I met Donna

and

aviation be

came part of our life,

he

says, In

fact, we were married

in

a 421 Cessna

at five

thousand

feet over Anderson,

South

Carolina.

Danny didn't get into vintage air

planes until

four years ago

with

the

Chief. It was a form

of

therapy, because

he was on a crusade to lose weight.

I had let myself balloon up to 460


20/44

Danny Poulton holds open the

top

cowl

to

reveal

the

Continental C-SS installation.

It

appears Danny

has decided

not to trust his Chief mechanical fuel

gauges, which

are

known

to be troublesome,

and is using

an

old standby, the wire and cork float

gauge

so

common prior

to

World

War II.

In

keeping with

the

restrained

nature

of

Danny's

customized

Chief,

a

few nice

touches,

such

as

the

upholstered side panels and polished

control

wheel caps,

brighten up the

otherwise

original-looking cabin. Look closely

and

you can

see

the

The

tubular structure

of the landing

gear is covered with an aluminum fair

ing,

leading

to

a

nicely finished pair

of

replica fiberglass w lpants The small

cable

attached to the

trailing edge of

the landing gear is

a

safety cable.

It

was

originally installed

in

case of

a fail

ure of the originally installed phenolic

piston within

the

oleo

strut.

Later,

after

an

airworthiness directive

47-20-02)

and Aeronca Service Helps and Hints

No.

12

required

changing

the

pheno

lic part to

one

made

of

aluminum, the

need for the cable was negated, but

most owners keep

it,

just

in

case

monumental.

The

first was to lose

weight,

and

the second, to find a proj-

ect that fit his goals and skill levels.

I didn t look

long and actually

found

the

Chief on eBay.

t

belonged

to an

A&P

in

Michigan,

who

had

started to rebuild it and

then

decided

to put

i t

up for sale. I hadn t done

anything like this before, so I was re-

ally not sure

of what

I was doing,

but

I hooked

up

my trailer

and

headed

up


21/44

When we unloaded at

home,

Gene came over and

we spread

the entire

collec

tion of stuff

out to

see what

was missing

and what

kind

of work was going to be

needed. In general, the air

frame was actually in great

shape

because

the

A P

had already

started work

ing on it and had finished

the

major

compon ents.

The wings

were

more

or

less

complete

and fini shed,

and the work was beautiful.

About

all

th

ey ne eded were the leading

edges a

nd

to be covered.

The

fuselag

e

tubing had been

cleaned

and

painted, and most of

the

fu selage wood was usable, too . Part

of

th

e

airplane's

condition is prob

ably becau se it had only 400 hours

on it and had spent most of its life

stored

in

side

somewhere. We don't

have much of the airplane 's

histor

y,

but you

could

see by

looking

at the

wood

and

steel that

it

hadn't

been

left outside to rot like so

many

Chiefs

have been.

When we were done inventorying

it,

we

found a lot of missing or unus

able stuff that I

hadn

't noticed

when

picking

i t up

.

It had

no tail

whe

el or

win g struts,

and the

doors were

not

only the wrong doors,

but

were badly

crushed. There were

no

control yokes

and all of the

logos

were missing .

Same thing for all of

the

interior up

holstery

boards

. Plus, there was es

sentially no

thing

firewall-forward./I

It's still easy for most of those who

What s

in

a

Model

Number?

By

H

G

. Frautschy

The

differences

between the

l lBC

Chief and the l lCC Super Chief are

tough to spot, but in today s

sport

pilot market, one distinction can spell the

difference between flying one and just owning one.

Both

airplanes

are powered by the Continental C85-8 , and both came

equipped with the rather clever McDowell starter. The McDowell was vilified

by

some as being a cheap substitute for

an

electrical starter, but having had one

for years on my Super Chief, I d have to say it s one

of

the neatest inventions

added to the postwar lightplane. If treated with respect and used in the way the

manufacturer intended, it worked perfectly. It did have one design weakness

that could have been easily solved , but i t didn t last long enough

on

the market

to make it that far.

The

McDowell was activated using a cable with a ball, swaged

on

the end.

Because of the way the ball and cable were retained in the starter s pulley

sheave, the cable would fray and then break just below the ball, or an overly

enthusiastic pull

on

the starter cable would pull the ball right

off

the end. I f

Mc

Dowell had used a small fitting inside the sheeve to allow for a straight pull on

the cable (and

if

the cable had a ball and shank swaged fitting) , I m convinced

the McDowell would have been much more popular.

It allowed for a lightweight

starter

to be installed

on an

airplane intended

to be flown by casual travelers who were interested in ease

of

use and safety.

It allowed my wife and her instructor, both petite women , to independently fly

the airplane without requiring a flip of the prop by someone else. As long as

the engine was in good tune and one could reasonably expect the airplane to

start

when the impulse magneto fired, the McDowell was a great way to pul l

the prop through safely.

The 11BC and 11CC interiors were similar, with a slight edge going to the

l lCC for a few interior appointments added to enhance the automobile-like

feel to the cockpit. Hap Granier, the designer of the interior of all three postwar

Aeroncas, worked his magic

on

the Chiefs to give them a small sedan or coupe

feeling. Bedford whipcord upholstery and side panels, the zebrawood pattern

wood-gra in-printed instrument panel, and control wheels instead of control

sticks all contributed to that atmosphere.

Both the 11CC and 11BC featured a large dorsal fin, but the 11CC had a

different elevator/ stabilizer configuration. That fact is sometimes lost

on re-

storers and aircraft modifiers , who incorrectly (and illegally) put the earlier

11AC or l lBC stab/ elevator combination on an l lCC.

The

11CC has an aero

dynamically balanced elevator, designed to meet the hands-off gliding speed


22/44

BONNIE

KRATZ

e

Danny

Poulton s

Aeronca Chief

features a custom

color scheme

that is

reminiscent of

the

original

decoration composed

by

Hap Granier for

Aeronca s

4 12E

side-by-side

personal

airplane

where I ~ g O t ~ t ~ h ~ e ~ i i i i i i i i i i i

control yoke covers with

the

Aeronca logos,

the

ash

trays, the bezels, and the air box for

the cabin heat. I even found

the

pi

tot tube and

hand

brake on eBay.

If

I

would have

had

to physically search

for all

of

that stuff, I'd probably still

brakes

on the

air-

plane for anything, so they

work just fine.

Danny was planning on flying the

airplane a lot and added a venturi so

he could run

an

artificial

horizon

and

compartments

for it.


23/44

mimic the factory scheme, but

aren't

exact . I

should

also mention that I

had some help with

the fabric from

Larry and Phyllis Dalton, who helped

cover

the

airplane. This was

my

first

time, and they made it easy.

Since Danny had

no

engine, he

was starting from scratch in

that

area.

The original was a C8S-8,

but

with his

papaerwork he found a Supplemental

Type Certificate (STC) that

opened

interesting, new avenues.

There

was

part of an STC in

our

paperwork that would let me install a

-12 engine and

that

would allow me

to have an electric starter, which I re

ally wanted. The problem was that

the STC wasn't

complete.

Plus

the

-8 mount is

than the

12, so it's not

a plug-and

play

change,

and I

expected

some problems

getting the paper

work straightened

out

.

I called

the

At

lanta Flight Stan-

I

had two sons,

Dale and

lD,

and a wonderful

wife, and 1 didn't

want

to lose all

of

that just because

I bought a C8S-12

that

had been

'overhauled.' I

had

flown it for about

22

hours

when one cylinder lost a

lot of compression, so we pulled the

jug. When we got inside, we found

that the rod was just banging around

in

there and was loose

on

the crank.

When we split the case, we found the

crank was

badly

scored and a

lot of

metal had

gone

through

the

engine,

so I had to find another one.

The

second

engine was

freshly

overhauled by an FAA-certified

shop

in

2000,

after

a prop strike.

The guy I bought it from was

building a homebuilt and

was afraid

that the

engine was

going to sit too long before his

project was

completed

, so he sold it.

Everything checked out to be perfect,

and it has been humming along with

no problems since day one.

We flew the airplane for the first

time

July

I, 2006, and I

had

a local

pilot, Gary Dalton, do the test hop. I

don't mind telling you that I was ner

vous watching it.

When

I flew it for the

first time, I had only 10 hours

of

tail

wheel time I'd logged while getting my

tail wheel

endorsement.

I was a little

nervous then, too, but everything went

beautifully. When we flew it, it was al-

most exactly three years to the day that

we unloaded it from the trailer.

When I started, I guess I became

a little compulsive about working on

it. I'd eat in

the

hangar, work until 10

or

11 every night, and sometimes I'd

wake up in

the

middle of

the night

and

go

out and

work on it.

When

I'd

get home from church on Sunday, I'd

change

clothes

and

go out and

get


24/44

T h e ·

thof

Creating a classic design

Y

CHESTER

L

PEEK .

D

Could you, in three months time,

design and build a new light plane,

without

tools

or

factory, and with

very little money? Impossible, you

say But

that

is just what e.G. Tay-

lor

did in

the spring

of

1936

when

he introduced the legendary Taylor-

craft to the aviation

world.

Here s

the

story:

In

the last week

of December

1935, e.G. Taylor was confined to

his bed, ill

and completely

discour-

aged. Days before,

he and

Bill Piper

Hangar

at

Butler Pennsylvani

a

1936. Still

in use

today

.

had

signed a legal document

that

dissolved

their troubled partnership.

For Taylor's share

of the Taylor Cub company (which was in debt

more

than $90,000), he received approximately $5,000, to be

paid

out

in small installments over three years.

Byron Shinn knew Taylor well, both as a customer

and friend. In a 1991 letter, he describes Taylor's situa-

tion

and

subsequent

events.

Back in the 1930s, we had a small manufacturing com-

pany located

in one o

the hangars

on

the Butler, Pennsylva-

nia, airport, called The Shinn Devices Company. We made

aluminum wheels for aircraft, 4 bead diameter, 700X4 tire,

and at that time sold them to most

o

the light aircraft man-


25/44

TAYLORCRAFT

BY C. 6. TAYLOR

PlmBUR6H-BUTLER AIRPORT, BunER PA.

STABLE

FAST

A

NEW

LIGHT PLANE

ECONOMIC L

LOW PRICED

First Taylorcraft ad,

February

1936 Aero Digest

First Taylorcraft specifications.

Photo

is of a

model

.

during the

Depression,

you NEVER

left a job.

Yet these men,

deeply

loyal

to Taylor,

came

with him

TAYLORCRAFT Model A

' ATe pending.

B_

Span 36' (11 m.). Length

22'

(6.7 m.). Heicht 6'

8

(2.1 m.).

Wm,

area

169

fL>

(15.6

m,l). Power Ioodiaa 2IS

IbsJh.p.

(11.8 kcJh.o.) . WioJ

Ioadma'

5.8

1b

•

.JIt.'

(29.3

kc./""l).

Weicht empty

570 Ibs.

(259

kg.). U

falloa

d 4

20 Ibs.

(190 kc.) . Payload

181 lbo. (82 kc'l' Gr wei,ht m lbo. (449

kcr

Bant,.

I Ibs. (5 kg.

).

Fuel

10

gals.

~ L ~ , ; , , ~ L 1 1 t 1 , i L k

h.p.

~ ~ ~ " > a m ~ h . m ~ ~ 4 9

k.p.h.

).

. m.p.h.

(51.h.

.).

Sem


26/44

One

day

we came to

work

to

find trucks backed

up

to the hangar, and Taylor

hauling away all the

Taylorcraft parts,

Batch of Shinn

8: x 4

wheels

jigs,

and

fixtures.

started

the test flights . First he taxied

the

plane up and down the runway,

then flew

it

the length

of the

runway

just off

the

ground, then

made

flights

a

bit

higher, and finally made circuits.

The plane flew very well but would not

stall. The CAA required proper recovery

from a stall, so Taylor worked on the

horizontal tail surfaces so that a stall

could be induced, and the plane passed

the CAA tests.

Taylor was a design genius. The

CAA

had

just

released a new-design

wing

curve,

and

Taylor was the first, I

i believe, to use it. The wing curve was

faster and

had

a soft stall.

This was th e NACA 23012 airfoil.

z

Taylor

once

told the author that in

Fuselage structure

1935

he built

a set

of

wings

for

the

Cub using that

airfoil

but

Piper ve-

toed

the change. They were hanging

on

a wall

when the

Bradford factory

burned

in 1937.

Shinn says:

"I

started an advertising


27/44

C.G. Taylor and

a

Model

ATaylorcraft 1936.

ing

the

Taylorcraft

name

after sev

eral months.

Shinn continues: D. Bar Peat

was

always trying

to

promote

the

plane. On Sundays they would

put

on an air show

at

the Butler airport,

and 200

to 300 people would at-

tend. Some way he got

the

Taylor-

craft to lead

the

way

when

all

the

planes

taxied

by the

grandstand at

the Cleveland Air Races.

Meanwhile,

in

the

hangar

fac

tory,

the

prototype plane was be

ing rushed

to

completion, but

not fast enough to suit Taylor. He

' once told the author, I

was away


28/44

Test flight of

the

first Taylorcraft, May 1936.

1 r r ¥ ~ ~ : A 1 ~ ~ ~

: ) ; . ~

IT S A

- -=- ,.. /;=- =. --.- I

F.A.F.

BEA

UT

Y

51495 ·00

/ -

GRACEFULLY

.

,

CONTINENTAL

STREAMLINED

- -

..

:

... _,... ., .

MOTOR

C. G. TAYL O R • Pl t t sburqh ·BuUer

Airpor t

• Bu t l e r Penna .

April 1936 ad in

Aero Digest

.

cry from Taylor s boxy, square-cornered

E-2

Cub. With

side-by-side seating and wheel controls,

it

rivaled much

larger,

more expensive planes, such

as

the

Waco

and

Stinson. Weight had been kept to a

minimum; the

pro

totype

weighed

only 570

pounds. I t was much

faster

than the Cub. The first prospective

customers

who flew

the plane

verified the advertised cruising speed of 80

stock instead

o

money. And Piper quit buying

my

wheels

and switched to Hayes "

Happily, Taylor

and Shinn

soon

put their

legal dif

ferences behind

them

and

remained

good friends and

business associates for

many

years.

Shinn was not alone in his disappointment when the

unexpected move came. Scholter was out of a job. In


29/44

_ .

~ a ~ ~ ~

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new technologies

t

help

keep

you

moving, on or off the road.

Com ndShIff - allows

the driver

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change gears

manually,

or

keep

the

trBnsmission

automatic

and switch

from Normal to Sport mode to hold

gears

longer. That s

three

settings,

each selectable

on the fly

with

a

tap

LAND ROVER

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technologies

complete the

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30/44

EXTRA

The Butler Manufacturing Co. NL-I3 biplane

The

March 2007 Mystery Plane

is

the 1932 Butler

Manufacturing

Co. NL-13 biplane designed by Albin

Kasper Longren (sometimes simply

re

ferred to

as

the Longren NL-13).

A.K. Longren

had

a very

long

and

interesting aviation career. Born in a

log cabin near Clay Center, Kansas in

1882,

he

was the one

of

14

children

born

to Swedish

immigrant

home

stead farmers Charles

and

Emma Lon

gren. In 1901 he took a business course

from

the

International

Correspon

dence School

ICS),

which

he

followed

up with an ICS diploma in mechanical

engineering from 1907-1911.

Longren's

interest in aviation

be

gan with

his

observations of Henry

L.

Call in 1908. Call, originally a New

York

lawyer, author,

and

socialist, had

moved to Girard, Kansas

in

February of

1908 in order to construct a large

and

ungainly flying

machine

powered by

Y

W SL Y

SMITH

advertisements

(primarily in Aircraft

and Fly magazines,

published

by

Al

fred

W.

Lawson of 1920 Lawson Air

liner

fame) . The two-cylinder Call

was rated

at

45 hp

and

the four-cyl

inder engine was rated at 90 hp. Call

engines were among the first aircraft

engine to

be fitted

with

mufflers, an

individual muffler being

attached

to

the

exhaust port of each cylinder.

With

his

brother

E.J.

Longren

and

a mechanic named William Janeke,

Longren

constructed a

Curtiss-type

pusher biplane in Topeka, Kansas.

Be

gun in

the

summer of

1910, the To

peka I was not completed until the fall

of 1911. Fitted with a 60-hp Hall-Scott

A-2 a water-cooled

V-8,

the Topeka I

became

the

first successful aircraft to

be

completed in

the

state of

Kansas.

Longren

made

his first flight on Sep

tember

2, and on September 5, 1911

he made two

flights ;

the

first

flight

H. Young, renaming the Topeka I as

the

Dixie Flyer The words: Dixie Flyer

-

A.K.

Longren - Aviator were painted

on the

underside

of the Topeka I/Di

xie Flyer s monop

lane canard. Between

1911 and 1914, Longren gave 1,372

exhibition flights in Kansas, Texas,

Okl

ahoma,

Nebraska, and

Colorado

for the Young Aviation Co.

In 1912, Longren built a second Cur

tiss-type with a Hall-Scott

A-2.

This air

craft incorporated the improvements

Curtiss had made to his newer aircraft

during 1911-1912,

and in

due course,

the

mid-gap ailerons were

moved to

the trailing edges

of

the upper wing.

This aircraft was sold to Longren's

for

mer student and friend Phil Billard,

who

used it to give exhibition flights.

This aircraft, sometimes known

as the

Topeka

II, was presented to

the

Kansas

State Historical Society in 1938, where

it still exists

as

a display.


31/44

Billard, began

the

construction

of

his fourth aircraft, the Model

G.

The

Model G was a clean two-place tractor

biplane with a strong resemblance to a

Curtiss IN-4. In fact, it was powered by

a Curtiss OX-2

and

was

intended

for

sale to the warring European powers.

However,

only

two were sold: one

to

the

Kansas National Guard, the

other

being used for exhibition flights.

Late in

the year,

Longren built

a

small

tractor

biplane,

sometimes

re

ferred to

as the

Longren Bus. The con

struction featured a three-ply wooden

monocoque fuselage

and

was built for

William Burt of Okmulgee, Oklahoma.

A second machine was constructed for

Lester Miller of Dallas, Texas,

who

in

tended to use the aircraft for aerobatic

exhibitions. By late 1917, Longren had

moved on to another two-place design

known

as

the Model

H.

As

in the

case

of the earlier Longren Bus the Model H

used a

wooden

monocoque fuselage .

The Model H was powered by a Cur

tiss 90-hp

OX-5

engine; unfortunate

ly,

while

on

his way to Kansas City, Mis

souri, Longren suffered an engine fail

ure near Wakarusa, Kansas. The aircraft

was

destroyed in a crash, which proved

fatal to a cow

standing

in the field in

which Longren was forced down. He

was made to pay $100.00 in restitution

to the angry farmer. After

that

, interest

in the Model H faded away.

Late

in 1917,

Longren

became

involved

with Frederick

W.

Buck,

M.D., M.E. and applied for a posi

tion

as chief

engineer with

the Buck

Aircraft and Munitions Co.

of

Den

ver. To what extent Longren became

involved with

Dr.

Buck

is

unknown .

position

at

McCook

Field as an air

craft inspector.

The Great War

had

cost Longren's friend Phil Billard his

life, when

he

was killed in a flying

accident while

serving in

Issoudun,

France. Longren's

position

at

Mc

Cook had allowed him

the

opportu

nity to examine

every

domestic

and

foreign-built aircraft tes ted

there un

til

the time of

his

departure

in 1919.

On June 17, 1919,

Longren formed

the Longren Aircraft Corp. in Topeka,

Kansas, using a former woolen mill in

the

Oakland suburb as

the

site for

the

new

corporation.

The first aircraft

to

come out

of

the plant was the rebuilt

Model H, now resurrected as the H-2.

It

is

unclear as to how

the

H-2 differed

from

the

earlier Model H,

but

by mid

1920 Longren had gone in yet

another

direction with the construction of the

two-place Model D-2 - a small aircraft

powered by a three-cylinder

Y

con

figuration Lawrence Model B engine

of 35-60 hp.

Within

a year,

the

D-2

had evolved

to become

the Longren

Model

AK

Sport.

Described in the pages of Avia-

tion

and

Aerial Age Weekly

(Volume

11, Number 12. Sept.

29,1921,

pages

336-337;

and Volume 14, Num

ber 3. Sept. 26, 1921 , pages 55-56,

respectively)

the

two-place Longren

Sport

or

Fibr

e

Sport

was a sensational

design that incorporated the three-ply

laminated wooden monocoque

fuse

lage of the 1916

Longren

Bus and

the

1917 Model H, and a set of folding

biplane

wings to facilitate storage.

It

is unclear

as

to

how the fuselage

of

the

Sport may

have differed from ear

lier

Longren

monocoque

construc

tion techniques,

if

at all.

However, a 1925

Longren patent

describes the use

of diamond-shaped

wood

fibre shell (procured from

the

National

Fibre Co.)

being covered

with an additional two layers of wood

laminations on either side. The fu

selage was

made

in

upper and

lower

halves, using steam-pipe-heated con

crete male and female molds clamped

together using 6,000 pounds of pres

sure. The sections were

then

trimmed

and dried,

with

special provision for

humidity

control, before being joined


32/44

to a framework of grooved ash longe

rons

and

formers. The fuselage form

ers were made of three-ply materials;

engine-bearing formers

were made

of

a seven-ply material. The formers

were,

in turn attached to

the

fuse

lage shells with screws. Finally,

the fu

selage was

varnished

inside and out

with

Valspar varnish,

the

exterior re

ceiving a

coat of pigmented varnish

before a final clear coat.

Sold with both Lawrence Model L

2 three-cylinder

Y-style and

Anzani six

cylinder radial engines,

the

Longren

Fibr

e

Sport was flown

in

several nota

ble Midwestern aviation events during

the

early 1920s. During

the

American

Legion Air Meet

at

Kansas City (Octo

ber

31

- November

3,

1921),

the Sport

made 38 consecutive loops while being

flown by N.D. Trinler. Two Sports were

also flown

during

a special efficiency

race held at

Omaha

, Nebraska on No

vember 11. An AK Sport again flown

by Trinler, placed second, with a speed

of 77.91

mph when

flown over a 153

mile triangular course. Later that No

vember, two

AK Sports

were placed

at

the

disposal of the

Kansas City Star to

deliver newspapers from Kansas City

to Lawrence, Kansas in record time.

During a game between

the

Missouri

Tigers and the Kansasjayhawks, a tele

graph wired a play-by-play account of

the

football game to

the

Star

s

office.

The newspapers were then promptly

set, printed,

and

delivered via aircraft

to the

Lawrence

street

vendors

be

fore departing fans were even able

to

reach their homes.

After establishing a climb record for

Longren aircraft in 1922,

the

Longren

Photos of Longren Sports

and the

later NL-13 show

the

distinctive Lon

gren company logo painted on the side

of the fuselage,

and

perhaps a few words

need to be said about it . This consisted

of four capital

ilLs

joined at the top of

each letter. This formed a

crux gammata

or swastika,

although the

direction

the

letters pointed was counter-clock

wise, as opposed

the

symbol's use on

aircraft flown by

Nazi

Germany

in

which the bottom of the ilLs point in a

clockwise direction. Prior to its adoption

by the Nazi Party, this ancient symbol

was seen

as

far afield at the Southwest

ern United States, where it was a sacred

symbol of Native Americans, and in In

dia,

and

in Runic Europe. During The

Great

War,

the Indian head emblem of

Seaplane Pilots Association (SPA) 124

included a crux

gammata as

part of the

headdress worn by

the

Native Ameri

can chief an. In its time

and

place, it

was considered as a symbol of good

for

tune

and was in no way considered to

be

an

insult. In fact , after World War

I, Finland adopted a grayish-blue crux

gammata

inscribed within a white circle

as the national insignia for its aircraft.

In Longren's case, the

L

was inscribed

with

a second ilL and the rest

of

the

letters in Longren's surname. In addi

tion to

that

a circular logo and was

placed at the center of the emblem, to

which

a set

of

wings

and

a propeller

reached out to a point near the tips

of

the

ilLs. So,

as it turns out,

the

Lon

gren swastika was covered by

what

might roughly

be

considered a rux

immissa, or

crucifix. Longren

had no

connections to

fascist idealism.

The

company logo, which originated in the

original Longren Sport

and

the design

was

not

pursued further. Following the

collapse of his company, Longren was

hired by Willis Brown to become vice

president of production at the Spartan

Aircraft Co. in Tulsa. When Brown left

in 1929, Longren also moved

on

to be

come

a design

consultant

at

the

But

ler Manufacturing Co. at Kansas City.

Butler had planned to manufacture the

Butler Blackhawk biplane. However, the

company was unable to do this and all

manufacturing was halted in 1931.

At

this pOint, Longren made a deal to build

a new airplane -- the NL-13 .

Registered

as

X12538,

and

sporting

the

distinctive Longren fuselage logo,

the

NL-13 ( NL possibly standing for

New Longren ) fuselage was built

us

ing

a

new machine-forming

method

for heat-treated duralumin sheets. The

upper and lower fuselage halves of the

1932

NL-13 biplane were

joined

to

T-shaped longerons

and

riveted to

gether. Fuselage formers also made

of

liT

cross-section were riveted to

the

halves, creating a very strong duralu

min semi-monocoque fuselage.

Like

the

earlier Longren AK, the

NL-13

had twin

side-by-side seating. The powerplant of

the aircraft was a Martin 333 of 120 hp.

With the exception of

the

wing spars,

the NL-13 was of all-metal construction,

the wings being fabric covered.

The aircraft

was

first tested by George

Gay in August

of

1932. At that time,

Gay worked

for

the aeronautics branch

of the Civil Aeronautics Administra

tion CAA.)

The aircraft was found to

be slightly tail-heavy. This was cured

by a slight stabilizer

adjustment

. The

engine also suffered from a slight over


33/44

Flying, to me,

is

all

about

having fun . It's grass strips and old

friends and old airplanes.

he

folks

at U

understand my kind

of flying and my kind of airplanes. They provide

great

service,

at

very

good

rates

and

they know

me

as an individual, not

just

a policy number.

Darrell Jenkins

Dan-ell Jenkins

eber

Springs AR

• Private

pilot

single-engine

land and

sea

•

5 hours total

-

3

in

taildraggers

• Current aircraft

1948 Ercoupe

415-E


34/44

continued from

page

3

EAA Seeks

to Preserve Acc

es

s

to

Repair

Station

Servi

ces

EAA cautions that proposed aircraft

repair station certification regulations

could

harm

many small general avia-

tion shops and adversely affect air-

craft owners seeking

to

maintain

the

airworthiness of their aircraft.

The

FAA

estimates the cost for de-

veloping

and implementing

a

new

quality system called for by

the

pro-

posed regulations at $34,500

per

re-

pair station.

Many

small operations

cannot afford such an expense, and it

could force some to close their doors.

We fear

that

these requirements

would

ultimately result in

dimin-

ished availability of qualified and

experienced maintenance expertise,

especially for

the

vintage fleet, said

Earl Lawrence,

EAA

vice president of

industry

and

regulatory affairs. Air-

craft owners could be forced

to

use

maintenance facilities with less spe-

cialized experience on their aircraft

type, making it more difficult to com-

plete major repairs and changes

to

small aircraft, potentially impacting

safety

as

well.

EAA

also questions the feasibility

of requiring repair stations

to

main-

tain an approved capability list for

each make, series,

and

model of air-

craft it's permitted to work on . Many

small operators often inspect and

maintain virtually hundreds of air-

craft types, creating an

administra-

tive nightmare.

Young

Eagle 1 3

Million

Hails From New Mexico

\

Arlen

e

Martinez in

the right

seat

with

volunteer Young Eagles

pilot Paul

Ra

chel

s.

The

EAA

Young Eagles program, the world's most successful youth aviation

initiative ever, has registered the 1.3-millionth

Young

Eagle flown. She is Arlene

Martinez,

age 12,

of

Yuma

Arizona, who took her flight on March

17

at Somerton

Airport (54AZ)

in

a Cessna

170

piloted

by Paul

Rachels,

EAA

633950.

Rachels is

president and Young Eagles coordinator for Yuma EAA Chapter 590.

"Arlene

was

very enthusiastic," said Rachels,

who

has flown 123 Young Eagles.

"She definitely enjoyed the flight and would like to do it again."'

He

always gets a

kick out of how kids react to their special flights. "It's as incredible

an

experience

for me as it

is

for them,

and

I have 700 hours of flight time."

Steve Buss, EAA Young Eagles executive director, called it "another important

milestone" for the program, which this year marks its

15th

anniversary

year-the

birthday will

be

marked at AirVenture this year. "

It s

wonderful to recognize

Paul

and Arlene's flight, but

we

also applaud the outstanding continuing support

and

enthusiasm for Young Eagles by our members. We extend our congratulations to all

who have helped the program reach this unprecedented level of participation."


35/44

BY BUCK HILBERT

he very beginning of airworthiness

certificates

pilot

certificates

For

many

years I've talked

and

writ

"barnstormers" and promote some

ten

about

the beginnings

of

the Aero

order and safety

to their

flying. It

had

Club

of

America

(ACA), now known

one other side effect.

No

record at

as the

National Aeronautic

Associa

tempt

or

air show (or air meet, as

they

tion

(NAA). I've

explained how

this were called back

then)

could be staged

pioneer era

appointed

Orville Wright

without

the approval of the

Aero

as the chairman

of the Contest

&

Re- Club, which was affiliated with the

cords Board,

and how

a pilot registra

international

governing body

the

Fe-

tion program came

into

being.

deration Aeronautique Internationale

The World War I pilots returning

(FAI) . The contestant was required to

home were barnstorming and

other

be a

member of

the Aero Club,

which

wise doing their best to make a living then issued a certification to the pi

in aviation.

That led to attempts to

lot. Hence,

the

FAl"Sporting License"

register and somehow civilize these old-timers would show was signed by

rtifying Aircraft and Pilots

AIRWORTHINESS

CERTIFICATE

Orville Wright. It was a

requirement

of

the federal government. No federal

requirement for a

pilot's

certificate

would come

into

being

until the Air

Commerce

Act gave

that

authority

and

responsibility to the Department

of Commerce on May 20, 1926.

In all

of

the information I've read

on the

early days

of the

ACA, later

the

NAA,

there was never any men

tion of aircraft standards or airwor

thiness certificates. I never ques

tioned it, and as a matter of fact I

never gave it a thought.

Then along comes friend and Vin

tage

member "Mitch" Wohl from

Barrington, Illinois, and he

drops

two books on

my

desk. The first

one

I picked

up

was

titled

A Symbol

of

Safety This

book

was first

published

in

1923

and

tells all

about the

found

ing

of

the Underwriters Laboratories

(UL). Reprinted

in

1995, i t goes

into

great detail as

to

the history

of UL.

I

found it very interesting.


36/44

Loening monoplane Flying Yacht, 100

h.p.

Liberty engine, which made a world

record for aHitude, with three passengers and pilot, 19 500 feet.

lished in the 1923 book. Its entire

theme is Making the World Safe

for Technology.

What

a revelation,

both regarding

the organization

's

history

in general and its involve-

ment

in aviation.

The real beginnings were at the

1893 World's Fair

at

the Great White

City in Chicago. The Electricity

Building had frequent visits by the

fire

brigade in response

to the

new al-

ternating

current

electricity displays

catching

fire

and

causing problems. It

was

then

that William Henry Merrill

began his testing lab,

which proved

electricity

could

be a servant rather

than a master.

Our

only function

is

to

serve,

not

to profit. We are

doing

some-

thing for manufacturers, buyers,

and

property owners everywhere. e are

doing things for humanity, was a

direct quote

from

Merrill.

This

was

the beginning of the lab. The lab was

funded by corporations that wanted

their products tested,

as

well

as

by

the

insurance

und

erwriters themselves.

From 1893 through 1905, the bud-

get

expanded

from a mere

$3,000

to

more

than

$300,000. During that

The book goes into

great

detail

as to physical

standards for

airmen. There were

all sorts of

tests

for altitude

tolerance,

fatigue, and eyesight,

and

their

standards

specify annual physicals.

r A i L W ~ e e L


37/44

time, more than 7,500 reports were published,

the

lab

moved to larger quarters, it was chartered in Illinois, and

the landmark inspection

and

label service was established.

Within two years, UL inspectors were

at

work in 67 cit

ies.

UL

got

into

everything: electrical, fire prevention, fire

extinguishers, automobiles, oil

and

gasses,

and

transporta

tion as well. That's where we come in, airplanes.

When

the

first commercial airplane takes off here in the

USA in the '20s, UL registers airplanes, certifies pilots, and

issues the now rather quaint-sounding "Rules of the Air."

I'm getting ahead of

the

full story,

but

in a nutshell, the

National Aircraft Underwriters Association proposed and

requested UL become the custodian of the official register

of all aircraft pilots

(other

than

government

pilots)

and

take full charge of all details connected therewith.

UL undertook this branch of the work on July I, 1921.

The book goes into great detail as to physical stan-

dards for airmen. There were all sorts of tests for altitude

tolerance, fatigue, and eyesight, and their standards

specify annual physicals.

No wonder the early birds were considered supermen

The next step was to create a register of commercial

and

private aircraft. On May I, 1922, UL began a nationwide

inspection service in order to make it possible to issue cer

tificates of airworthiness for individual aircraft. The details

of the inspections

and

the people employed to conduct

all to order your copies today

ERO

CL SSIC

COLLECTOR SERIES

Vintage ires

New USA Production

Show off your pride and joy with a

fresh set of Vintage Rubber. These

newly minted tires

are

FAA-TSO'd

and speed rated to 120 MPH. Some

things are better left the way they

were, and in the 40's and 50's, these tires were perfectly in

tune to the exciting times in aviation.

Not only do these tires set your vintage plane apart from


38/44

BY H.G

.

FRAUTSCHY

T IS MONTH'S MYSTERY PLANE PHOTO IS A BIT OF A "MULLIGAN" FOR THOSE OF YOU

WHO HAVE ENJOYED L1GHTPLANES FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS.

STILL

, NOT MUCH IS

PUBLISHED ABOUT THIS RATHER ATTRACTIVE AMPHIBIAN .

Send your answer to

EAA

Vintage Airp

l

ane

P.O. Box

Yo

u

can

also send

your

response via e-mail. Send

3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Your answer needs your answer to

mysteryp lane@eaa

.o

rg Be

sure to include

to

be

in no

later

than

uly

15 for

inclusion in the

your name, city, and state

in

the body of your note, and

September 2007 issue of

Vintage Airplane put

I/(Month) Mystery Plane in the subject line.

nology

...

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


39/44

olph Dope

Here s a

little about the

March

Mystery Plane:

The

subject

Mystery

Plane

ap

pears to

be

the

Longren

NL-13 sin

2, X12538,

built in

1932 by Albin

K.

Longren

(1882-1950) in Kansas

City, Missouri. Longren had been a

design

consultant

for

Butler Manu

facturing Co. during the certifica

tion

of

the

Butler

Blackhawk

and

built the NL-13

in

the Butler facility

with help from

Butler

employees.

Butler had ceased production by

that time in the depths of the

Great

Depression. The

NL-13

had an

all

wing spars and the fabric wing cov

ering.

The

engine

was a

120-hp

Mar

tin 333 in v

e

rted inline with

four

cylinders. The X12538 was the

only

NL-13 built and was

not

successful

in

reaching

production,

although it

was

an

ea rly

example of formed

alu

minum aircraft

structures.

My information comes from Aero

files.com

and

from

Chuck

(Charles

E.)

Lebrecht s fine article entitled, A K

Longren

-

Pioneer Airman

o

the West

published in

Ame

ri

can Aviation Histori-

cal Society Journal Vol.26, No.4, Win

metal

airframe

except for wooden

ene

rs

and bulkheads, the

NL-13

fuselage

had a safety factor able to absorb

16 83g

ahead of the center of gravity (CG) and

11g aft of the CG.

This made

the fus

elage of

th

e NL-13

considerably stronger than

that

of

the

Stearman

YBT-3,

Boeing P-26A, Co n

solidated P-30, and Boeing

P-12B

, with

which it was compared, the

YBT-

3 having

a maximum g-Ioading potential of 109

both

fore

and aft of the CG. While the re

port recommended the possible adoption

of Longren s construction techniques, or

tion

that

he held

until

1939

when

he

moved to Torrance, California to

open

the Longren Aircraft Company.

While Longren bui lt no further air

craft, he became a successful

subcon

tractor of prefabricated components for

other aircraft manufacturers. After the

end of World War

II,

Longren sold his

company and

re

tired to

a 3,OOO-acre

ranch

at Adin, Ca lifornia, where he

passed away due to a heart condition on

Nov. 19, 1950, at age 68.

The defini tiv e Longren article was

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


40/44

The fo ll

owing

list o coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter o information only and does not consti

tute approval, sponsorship, involveme nt, contro l or direction

o

any event fly -in, sem inars, fly market etc.) listed.

To

submit an event send th e information

via

mail

to:

Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903

3086.

Or

e-mail the information

to:

v

[email protected].

Informat

ion

should

be

received four

months

prior

to the

event

date.

JUNE

S-

IO -

Union. IL-Poplar Grove Airport

Army Wings and Wheels. Info Vintage

Wings & Wheels Museum 815-547·3115

Tom Murray [email protected]

JUNE

14-17-S t . Louis, MO-Dauster Flying

Field Creve Coeur Airport

l

HO ). American

Waco Club Fly·ln. Info: Phil Coulson 269

624-6490

or

[email protected] www

americanwacoclub.com

JUNE

20-2l - -Lock Haven,

PA-William

T.

Piper Memorial Airport (LHV) Sentimental

Journey

Fly

-In. Family oriented fly-in

featuring antique and classic aircraft of

all makes and models. especially PIPERS

Seminars. vendors. food. camping. and

entertainment

daily. Come for the day

or the week Call

570-893-4200

or

748

5123 for more information .

j3cub@kcnet.

org www.sentimentaljourneyfly in.com

JUNE

2

4 Mt

Vernon Ohio-Wynkoop

Airport (6G4)

48th

Annual National

Waco Club Reunion. Check www

nationalwacoclub.com for more

information and contact information . Or

email/ call Andy Heins, 937

313 5931

[email protected]

JUNE

22-24 -G ardner, KA-Gardner Municipal

Airport, (K34) Greater KC VAA Chapter

16

Fly-in

Contact Kevin Pratt 816-985-3248

JUNE

2

3 -Z

anesville, OH-Riverside Airport

(OH36) EM Chapter 425 Pancake

Breakfast 8:00 AM till 2:00 PM All you can

eat pancakes, sausage and drink $5 .00 for

adults

$2.50

for children under six. Lun

ch

items served after 11:00PM Contact:

Chuck Bruckelmeyer (740)

454-7487

JUNE

30 -Chetek.

WI-The

Chetek WI (Y23)

9AM car show. craft fair and show. a

professional horse pull and a water ski

show. Plenty of food and drink available

throughout the day. For more info contact

OH and the people that buil t them. Camping,

motels. food all day. [email protected]

330823 1168 [email protected]

216 337-5643 http: www.oaaf/y in.com.

see www.barberaircraft.com for airport

diagrams. Breakfast served Sat & Sun 7AM

to 11AM

by

EM Chapter 82

ULY 14 -

Zanesville,

OH-Parr

Airport

(O

H36)

EM

Chapter 425 Pancake Breakfast

8:00

AM till 2:00 PM All you can eat pancakes,

sausage and drink $5.00 for adults

$2.50

for children under six . Lunch items

served after

11:00PM

Contact: Chuck

Bruckelmeyer (7

40)

454-7487

AUGUST

5-Queen City. MO-Applegate Airport

(15MO). 20th Annual

Watermelon

Fly-In

&

BBQ.

2pm 'til dark. Come and see grass roots

aviation at it's best. Info : 660-766-2644

AUGUST

S

Chetek,

WI -Southworth

Municipal

airport

(Y23) . BBQ Fly-In .

10:30am Warbird displays. antique and

unique airplanes, antique & collector car

displays, and raffles for airplane rides .

Procedes will be given

to

local charities.

Info: Chuck Harrison - Office 715-924

4501

. Cell

715-456-8415, fixdent@

chibardun.net;

Tim Knutson - Home

715-237-2477, Cell 651-308-2839.

n3nknut@citizens tel.net

AUGUST

17-1

9--McMinnville

, OR-25th

Annual West Coast Travel Air Reunion

Come Celebrate the Rebirth of the

Travel

Air. Expected to be the largest gathering

of Vintage Travel

Airs in

recent times. Held

in conjunction with the Northwest Antique

Airplane Club Event. Info: Bruce McElhoe

559-638-3746

AUGUST 18- -

Forest Lake,

MN-(25D)-Airport

Fly-in

and Open House lOam - 4pm. 24

hour gas and 24-hour grass : 3000-foot

31 / 13. Forest Lake Lions serve brats ,

to

3:00

pm. Rain date on Sunday, August.

26th Donations of $5.00 for adults and

$3.00

for children under 12 Contact Len

Jansen [email protected]

SEPTEMBER I -Marion. IN-Marion

Municipal

Airport

(MZZ). 17th Annual

Fly-In Cruise-In. 7:00am until 2:00pm .

This annual event features antique ,

classic . homebuilt. ultralight and

warbird aircraft as well as vintage cars ,

trucks, motorcycles, and tractors. An

all-you-can-eat Pancake Breakfast is

served . with all proceeds going

to

the

local Marion High School Marching

Band . www.FlylnCruiseln.comlnfo: Ray

Johnson

(765) 664-2588

or

rjohnson@

indy.rr.com

SEPTEMBER

I

-Zanesville,

OH-Riverside

Airport (O H36)

EM

Chapter 425 Pancake

Breakfast 8:00 AM till 2:00 PM All you

can

eat

pancakes, sausage and drink

$5.00 for adults $2 .50 for children under

six. Lunch items served after

11:00PM

Contact: Chuck Bruckelmeyer Phone:

(740)

Vintage Airplane - Jun 2007

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Transcript of Vintage Airplane - Jun 2007