Vintage Airplane - May 1979

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - May 1979

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STR IGHT ND LEVEL

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Communications can present problems with anyvolunteer group of leaders and their associates. Thesuccess or failure often ties itself directly to not themethod but possibly the time element involved. Timeis a factor that sometimes bestows apprehensionwithin a Division member requesting information orjust simply basic facts.With our Headquarters in Wis co nsin and ourBoard scattered throughout the United States, it wasoften felt we were not bringing effective and promptcommunications to those requesting specific information requiring prompt replies or facts . There is nosingle member of our Board nor member of our Division that can possibly answer correctly any and all requests presented . We do have available however, anexceptional group of volunteer members who dohave an enormous amount of expertise relative tovintage aircraft. Most of us have an area of specificknowledge that can be readily ta;:>ped and is availableto you.In order to alleviate some of th ese problems andbring our leadership closer to its memb ers , we havebegun to formulate several policy areas and have designated Board M embers and Advisors to direct thesespecific regions.For the past few years a committee has been work ing and formulating a permanent set of rules andstandards for judging aircraft in the Antique/ClassicDivision of the E International Fly-In and Convention. This basic judging system has been employedfor the past few years and justifies our thoughts that a

method of judging could be developed that was accurate and effective one that was fair in all respects toeach aircraft judged , and one that could standardizeE judging at all fly-ins. It has been our experienceto state that fewer complaints and queries have cometo our attention since the inauguration of our presentsystem. We are not claiming to be perfect ; however ,we feel we have arrived at the most practical and accurate system to date .

Not only have we set up the judging system, butwe have compiled guides for use by the restorer inregard to maintenance restoration and constructionstandards. Our intent is to have this system established for all E fly-ins and to extend an invitationfor all fly-ins to use our methods and standards. Available from E Headquarters is the VINTAGE AIRCRAFT COMPETITION JUDGING MANUAL , at a costof 1.00. Every restorer builder or exhibitor shouldhave a copy in his file for ref erence .

Board member Claude L Gray , Jr., has been appointed Chief Division Judge and he will welcomeyour inquiries regarding judging rules for either Antique and /or Classic aircraft or about maintenance,restoration or construction standards.

Is there an EAA Antique /Class ic Chapter in yourarea?Hav e you thought about forming one?Did you know that you need only five Division

members in good standing to form a chapter?Do you belong to a large E Chapter that has notonly homebuilt admirers but a sizeable group of An

tique and /or Classic buffs?Have you thought of forming an EAA Antique /

Classic Chapter within your E Chapter?

This new chapter policy area is being headed byDivision Advisor Ronald Fritz. After a preliminary informal discussion among those interested , get intouch with Ron for additional information and detailsthat will bring into your area a new group who willnot only promote our Division , but create interestamong the regular members .Plans are already underway to formulate a HALLOF FAME in our EAA Air Museum. Our Antique /Classic Division will be playing an important part byrecognizing those worthy persons in a permanentplace for all to pay tribute. s these recipients peakedtheir activities in the period of time that our Divisionrepresents it should be an extremely exciting ventureto envision and see the material being explored byMorton W. Lester. We will be advising you of progress in the HALL OF FAME as the material is compiledand placed on display.A policy co mmittee has been formed to researchthe possibility of establishing definite merchandisingareas specifically to promote and enhance the pr e-stige of our Antique /C lassic Division of EAA. You willbe reading more from I Kelch and Dick Wagner regarding this endeavor.Every Officer Director and Advisor is a volunteerdedicating his tim e and effort to serve the membership of our Division. Each one has specific duties torepr esent you , not only during the International Convention but on a daily basis . Your questions , co mments and suggestions are the basic reasons we existas your source of information to enhance and formulate the policies of our Division and to fulfill our purpose.

Write or ca ll us. Our names, addresses and phon enumber s ar e listed in th e front of Th e VINT GEA RPLANE


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EditorialtaffPublisherPaulH. Poberezny

(Chris Sorensen Photo)Ryan STA ow ned y Lou Ru o EditorDavidGustafson,Ph.D.

Associate Editors: H. Glenn Buffington, Edward D.Williams, Byron(Fred) FredericksenReadersa re encouragedto submit sto riesandphotog raph s. Associate Editorshipsare assignedto tho se writers who submit five or more articleswhich are published in THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE during the cu rrent year. Associates receive a bound volumeof THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE and a free one -year membership in the Division for their efforts. POLICY-Opinionsexpressed in articles are so lely those of the au thors. Responsibility for accuracy in reportingrestsentirelywith thecon tributor . Directors

PRESIDENT Claude L.Gray,Jr . AIKelch9635 SylviaAvenue 66W. 622 N.MadisonAvenueW. BRADTHOMAS,JR.301 DODSONMILLROAD Northridge ,CA91324 Cedarburg,WI 53092213/349:1338 414/377-5886HomePILOTMOUNTAIN ,NC27041919/368-2875 Home DaleA.Gu stafson MortonW.Lester919/368-2291 Office 7724 ShadyHillDrive P.O.Box3747Indianapolis, IN46274 Martinsville ,VA24112VICE PRESIDENT 317/293-4430 703/632-4839 'HomeJACKC. WINTHROP 703/638-8783 OfficeROUTE1,BOX111 RichardH.WagnerALLEN ,TX 75002 P.O.Box 181 ArthurR.Morgan

2141727-5649 Lyons,WI 53148 3744North51stBlvd .414/763-2017Home Milwaukee,WI 53216SECRETARY 414/763-9588Office 414 /442-3631M.C. "KELLY" VIETS7745W. 183RDST. JohnS. Copeland DanNeumandvisors9'JoanneDrive 1521BerneCircleW es tST ILWELL ,KS 66085 RobertE Kesel913/681-2303 Home 45SOakridgeDri veWestborough ,MA 01581 Minneapolis ,MN 55 421617/36 -7245 6121571-0893913/681-2622Office Rochester, NY14617Ronald Frit z JohnR. Turgyan7161342-3170Home1989 'Wilson,NW 1S30KuserRoadTREASURER 7161325-2000, Ext.C rand Rapids ,MI 495 04 Trenton ,NJ 08619 'E. E "BUCK" HILBERT 23250/23320 Office6161453-7525 6091585-2747P.O.BOX 145 StanGom o ll GeneMorris RobertA.Wh iteUNION, IL 60180 104290th Lan e, NE 27ChandelleDrive P.O. Box704815 /923 -4205 Minneapo lis,MN 55434 Hampshire, IL 60140 Ze l lwood,FL 327986121784-11 72 3121683-3199' 305 /88 -3180THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 0091-6943)is ownedexclusively by EAA Ant ique /Classic Division , Inc .,and is published monthly at HalesCorners,Wisconsin 53130. Second class Postage paid at HalesCorners Post Office , HalesCorners , Wisconsin 53130, and addi tional mailing offices . Membershiprates for EAAAntique /Classic Division , Inc ., are$14 .00 per 12monthperiod of which $10.00 is for thepublicat ion of THEVINTAGE AIRPLANE .Membership is open toallwhoare interested inaviat ion .

t i ~ V I ~ T A 7 ~ A I l ? V L A ~ ~OFFICIALMAGAZINEEAA ANTIQUE/CLASSICDIVISIONINC.

of THE EXPER IMENTALAIRCRAFTASSOCIATIONP_O . Box229, HalesCorners,WI53130Copyr igh tC 1979EM Antique/ClassicD ivision ,Inc .,AllRightsReserved.

MAY 1979 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 5'Th e Cover Fairchild 24 res tored by Ch rlie Day.

(Ph oto Provided by Charlie Day)

TABLE O CONTENTSStraightand Level by BradThomas . .. 21970Tourof SouthAmericaina1948Cruisair

by MichaelG.Emerson andWilliam T.Thompson 4VintageAlbum 14Borden ' sAeroplane PostersFromThe 1930'sb y Lionel Salisbury . 16SecondAnnual AeroncaFl y-InbyJimandDebbiePolles 18RadiatorsandWh ee ls forReplicaAi rcraftby NeilThomas . . 22Completed Antiqu e/ClassicAircraft . . . . 26Antique/ClassicAircraft UnderConstruction .. .._ ... .. _ 26Calendarof Events .... . 26LettersTo TheEditor 26

EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION MEMBERSHIPoNON-EAAMEMBER - $20.00. Includ es one year membership in the EAA Antique/Classic Division , 12monthly issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE; oneyear membership in the Experimental Ai rcraft Association and separatemembership ca rd s.SPORTAVIATIONmagazine notincluded.oEAA MEMBER - $14 .00. Includesoneyear membership in the EAA Antique/ClassicDivision, 12 monthly issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE ANDMEMBERSHIP CA RD .(A pplica ntmustbecurrentEAAmemberand mustgiveEAA membershipnumber. )

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By Michael C. Em ersonandWilliam T. Th ompson

(Photos Provided by the Authors

Pu rrrrrrr rr- rrr-rr-r- rrrr r-r rrrr .Sounds a little rough , doesn't it? Airplane engines always run rough when there 's

no place to put down. Outs ide our twenty-two year old Bellanca theAndes , glistening white in their winter wraps , reachedup toward us with icy fingers and we weaved our wayamong th e higher peaks, cruise-c limbing out of SanCarlos de Bariloche in south ern Argentina. We werecli cking away with our cam e ra s and exulting in th emagnific ence around us until thi s rud e slap back intoreality.We're not cl imbing anymore. Something ' swrong. Maybe a mag. Sure enough, switching to theleft mag brought on severe misfiring , whereas theright by itself seemed to improve matters . Scratchone mag .

Want to go back?It looks better up ahead if we can get aroundthose peaks.O.k .W e ll, this was not the bes t pi ece of geography tob e flying over on one ma g , but if the good on estayed good and if we could hold altitude Many apilot ha s gotten into situations where the ego

bruising question, how th e did you get yourse lf into thi s mess? suddenly springs up through th ecowling. For us this was definitely one of those times.

The chain of events leading to this particular messwas 11,000 miles long and eight months old, the firstl ink undoubtedly having been the purchase inCalifornia of N74492, a 1948 Bellanca 14-13-3, orCruisair Senior, whose long-range capability exciteddreams of faraway places to fly to. Eu rope by way ofthe North Atlantic? Too expensive for us. Wherethen? Why, South America , of course.

The final decision was made in March, and thenbegan three months of preparation aimed toward aJune 14 departure from Cape Kennedy, by no meanstoo much time, considering the amount of territory tobe covered and the scarcity of useful informationabout it. Flight planning was done using ONC charts ,the enroute low altitude package for Central andSouth America (for frequencies and restricted areas) ,th e International Flight Information Manual , Internationa I Notams and som e publi cations from the Air

The authors and their proud bird at the cape (Merritt Is-l an d, Fl o rida ) aft er a str enu o us but enj oy ab l e trip .M ichael Emerson on the right and Bi l l Thompso n on theleft .craft Owners and Pilots Association. General tour information was from such sources as the Pan AmGuide , National Geographic, etc. After laying out theroute (with alternates) and a rough timetable webought international liability insurance (mandatory inBrazil); assembled a survival kit and collection ofspare parts ; got passports, permits, and visas; andhad ourselves vaccinated and innoculated against allthe bad things there are shots for. Inasmuch as thiswa s to be a low budget adventure , we also acquiredcomplete camping gear.

492 was powered by a 150 hp Franklin with fixedmetal prop, and counting the auxiliary tank couldhold 54 5 gallons of 8087 enough for seven hoursat economy cruise. That's good insurance for flyingwhere weather information is infrequent and unreliabl e and airports are sometim es far between. Equipment included a full gyro panel, two 90 channeltransceivers, VOR, ADF, and an emergency locatorbeacon. The ADF was a new unit bought especiallyfor th e trip despite the chunk out of our budget, andit proved to be worth the investment , emphatically.Although there are qui te a few VO R ' s in SouthAmerica no w , some of th e mo re desolate areas arestill without them . And of cou rse ADF is nice to haveover water .4


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\> 197 TOUR OF

lout J.merlcaN A 1948 CRUISAIR

The Bellanca seemed ideal for what we had inmind and after a May annual appeared to be in topnotch condition. Layoffs from our aerospace jobs hadbroken the last ties by the time D-day arrived. As wetaxied onto the runway at Merritt Island airport thatJune morning, there was a feeling of complete freedom, almost as if we were birds ourselves. The Bellanca, loaded to the l imit, leaped into the sunrise,then headed down the coast to cross from West PalmBeach to the Bahamas.

That was the beginning of ten days of island hopping, all the way to Trinidad and the mainland ofSouth America. At 2300 rpm we were cruising in the120 s TAS and burning 7 to 7.5 gph. Take-off and

climb were adequate but not spectacular, averagingabout 800 feet ground roll and 600 fpm climboutwhen fully loaded at 2150 pounds. A controllableprop would have helped at both ends of the performance range, but we had chosen the fixed metalprop for economy and reliability. 8087 fuel being rarein the islands, we were burning 100130 Thoughmuch cheaper than in the USA, it was more heavilyleaded and almost immediately began to bother theFranklin , which is not rated for leaded fuel. Cylindercompression began to deteriorate and plug foulingwas frequent.

Flying the islands is familiar to many. We foundthem to be on the whole expensive and not toofriendly with a tendency to become more agreeableas one proceeds south. VFR navigation , needless tosay, is a cinch except for the 35 mile stretch fromGrand Turk to Puerto Rico when the clouds are lowand Hispanola cannot be seen. An ADF needle lockedon Ramey AFB Rbn is very consoling then. Otherwisethe only likely problems are numerous summertimethunderstorms and prevailing headwinds if one istraveling southeast.

A triple-tailed Bellanca with two guys campingnext to it in a wierd-Iooking pop-up tent is a thing ofcuriosity in these parts, we were beginning to findout. But that s not necessarily bad. At Piarco airportnear Port-of-Spain the refueling crew came over tolook and wound up having a party for us, includingsome of the local dishes and first-rate rum. Getting tomeet people like this on a person-to-person ratherthan a tourist to native level was one of the most rewarding aspects of the trip. It became a frequenthappening on the mainland.

This was reached the very next day as we madethe short hop across from Trinidad to a point nearthe Venezuela-Guyana border, plagued by extensiveareas of thunderstorm activity not mentioned by theweatherman. It was a muddy, mangrove-coveredcoastline, but it was South America. Things soon improved weatherwise, and so we elected not to make afuel stop at Georgetown - maybe a mistake, becausetwenty miles from our destination of Zanderij inSurinam an impassable wall of rain shut us off. Nothing else to do but test our bird s short field abilityby going into Zorg en Hoop s 7 foot strip of pavement, luckily in the clear, to wait out the weather. Noproblem except that following the contro ller s directions we wound up hub-deep in mud on the apron.Friendly hands helped us get out, and soon we werefive gallons richer in fuel and on our way to Zanderij.

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Another day 's flight over jungle that didn't look allthat scarey brought us to the equator and the southbank of the Amazon at about th e same time. There'san official entry point for Brazil there at Macapa. Ou rthree week stay in that amazing country got off to afine start, though a stumbling one, s we were sud-denly co nfronted with having to communi c te in Portuguese.

Actually, it was necessary to land again at Belemon the Amazon's south bank to go through so memore entry procedures and buy fuel. The 200 mil ecrossing turned out to be less fearful than expected,what with several farm strips on huge IIha Marajo ,that fills up much of the delta . After Belem , th ough ,such soothing sights were not to be had, only milesand miles of unbroken jungle. True , there were occasional small clearings with a few grass houses, but flying low and surveying them through binoculars, wenever saw a soul - an eerie fee ling to say the least.The glint of reflected sunlight could all too pften beseen among the trees. Fortunately we were soonwithin sight of the Atlantic, and the Franklin couldonce again be heard above the sound of ourheartbeats.

The next week was spent cruising down the coastand then inland in the part of Brazil generally refer-red to s the Dry Northeast. After rounding the easternmost reach of the continent near Natal - thejumping off point for Africa in the old days - we finally escaped from the persistent headwinds andwere able to make decent ground speeds for the firsttime on the trip. The combination of scenery and per-fect weather when we turned inland from Recifemade flying a pure pleasure . No one living in thatarea should be without an airplane, or maybe asailplane, s the thermal activity along the Rio SaoFrancisco was phenomenal.

A day and a half of flying and gliding brought usto the next objective, Brasi lia , right out in the middl eof nothin g . From th e air you c n 't help being im-pre ssed with the ambitiousness and in spi ration thatmust have gone into th e project , sti l l in completethough it is . Even here at the c pital we were able tocamp beside the plane, parked in the general aviationareaaway from th e jets.

After hours of hiking through the endless expanses of the city and a good night's rest it was tim eto move on toward the place we 'd most been waitingfor - Rio It didn ' t disappoint us, not from the veryfirst glimpse coming over the mountains at 9500 feetand suddenly seeing it all below us tucked in amongthe hills and bays. What a sight to behold And what

Bellanca N74492 camped on Vieques Island just east ofPuerto Rico. Author Bill Th ompson with the Crui sa ir . Th e majestic " Pitons " on the southwest end of 51 Lucia.We spent several enjoyable days on St . Lucia . Rented acar and drov e around th e island People we re very

fr i endly . Picture tak en on departure o n our way toTrinidad .

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Zona-en Hoop Field Suvinam. A little tight for the Bellan ca but we made it with inches to spare

Typica l small fishing boat harbor on the Amazon River atMa capa Brazil.

a thrill to descend then to sea level all on one long ,ear-popping final into Santos Dumont airport withSugarloaf right off the end of the runway across asmall stretch of water . Truly one of the unforgettablemoments .And the excitement didn t fade away, not forseven days. How can it in Rio? Even trivial things canstimulate the adrenalin. Like taking a bus ride with adriver who thinks he 's in the Nurburgring. Or providing target practice for VW's the moment you try tocross a street (beware of occasional sidewalk snipers,too). Moreover , prices are very reasonable. Two dollars is (was?) enough for a feast, and the public transportation is excellent and only cost a few cents. Wehated to leave the place, and yet the trip wasn't eve nto the halfway point. SoThe next stop was supposed to be Sao Paolo, onlya couple of hundred miles away. But it took threedays to get there - with the airplane, that is. Actuallywe overflew it within two hours after leaving Rio, butsomeone didn ' t keep their promise, and the weatherwent IFR shortly before ou r arrival. We radioed forclearance to the next large city, but that soon wentIFR , too . So, back to the coast, and down to 2000 feetto get below the cloud level. By then Sao Paolo wasVFR again, but that didn't do us any good since themountains we had to cross were obscured. Worseyet, the fuel supply was at the level where some kindof landing would soon be imminent.

Hmmm That beach looks good, and cars aredriving on i t.""O h, but there's an airport."

No matter if it had ruts fi l led with water. Kerplop

Well, everything turned out for the best, for wehad just splashed into a workers' union vacation resort. The dentist on duty there arranged overnightaccommodations free of charge, drove us to SaoPaolo the next day, and gave us a tour of the city.Thus when we finally did get the somewhat bespattered Bellanca th ere, it was just to buy fuel beforehea ding inland to Iguassu Falls.With perfect weather once again we sat back andwatched miles of green forests and farmland wateredby large rivers pass below us . After several hours agigantic plume of white appeared in the distancewhich looked like smoke, but was in fact the mistfrom Iguassu with its 3 separate cataracts , 75 milesaway. The falls were at their seasonal height , sendingspray several hundred feet above and bathing the Bellanca as we made two or three low passes . Next day,viewing the falls from the ground, we got bathed,too.


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At that point we left Brazil and filed advancenot ice and a fli ght plan to enter Argentina. A hasslew ith the Brazilian customs official who kept sendingus back and forth to town for various reasons left abit of a sour note o n departure. The taxi driver was afr iend of his.

Favorable winds helped coo l o ur tempers andrushed us toward Buenos Aires, which we madenon-stop, co min g into the main jetport, Ezeiza. Now,there's a place that can surely rival any in th e worldfor efficiency in handling arrivi n g foreign aircraft.O ne half hour was all it took to go through customs,and immigration, obtain a 30 day flying permit for theentire co untry, and get tied down and refue led. Adispatcher for Lufthansa, who spoke English, madereservatio ns at an inexpensive hote l for us, drove usto town, and reco mm eded a pl ace to eat beef. Suchbeef If we had our ow n personal SST we'd fly toBu enos Aires for dinner at least twice a week.

After five days of feasting and sightseeing we fi-gu red we 'd better get on over the Andes whil e west ill could and hopped on a bus to Ezeiza. Dutifullyfiling a flight plan and getting every thing all loaded inwe pressed the starter button only to find that ou rbird didn ' t want to fly. No amount of coaxing wouldpersuade the engine to stay lit, as compression wasnearly nil in three cylinders. What to do? Withoutgoing into details , we wound up getting essentially atop overhaul and were on our way again five dayslater and $500 poorer.

During that time we talked to se veral pilots aboutcrossing the Andes. Most of them turned a shade ortwo lighter when we mentioned going over the Mendoza pass, 12 ,500 feet high and flanked by a 20,000foot peak on one side and a 23,000 foot one on theother. Their tales quickly convinced us to lower ourambitions, and so all was back together we took offfor San Carlos de Bariloche , 800 miles southwest.

Don ' t ~ s s Bariloche: ' everyone had said; It's th eSwitzerland of South America. Wonderful, but howis it flying in Switzerland in the wintertime? That, wewere about to find out.

Fighting headwinds as high as fifty knots , we mad eit across Pampas and into th e mountains in two days,sett ing down into a typical forty knot wind atBariloche just ahead of a snow squall. This turnedinto freezing rain and ut ter mi sery, last in g two moredays. On the third mo rning th e clouds opened brieflyjust after dawn, and y,e zin ged ou t of there boundfo r Santiago de Chile, about 600 miles to the north.The clouds cleared nic ely ove r the mo untains, and wewere having a great tim e, rejoicing in our escape.That was when th e left mag quit.

Looking west up the mighty mazon at a manganese ore boat

Rippled s nd dunes stre tch nea rl y 4 miles along thenortheastern coast of Brazil near San uis

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pproachingRecife Bra z il known as the Venice of So uthAmerica.Th e religious mecca of Bom Jesus de Lapa on the RioSao Francisco. There w as a shrin e carved out of the rockformation near the riv er. We ca mped overnight on ourway inland to Brazilia.

Well, we didn t make Santiago. The right mag didget us through the mountains, though, and we putdown at Chillan. That's not an airport of entry, butthe police were sympathetic to our predicament.Everyone went out of their way to help us, especiallythe radio operators, one of whom invited us to dinner with his family while the other insisted that weuse his quarters that night. He slept on the floor inthe transmitter room .

With a new set of points from our spare parts kitwe were off again the next morning bound for Santiago, accompanied part way by a retired Chilean AirForce Colonel in his Piper Pacer. Aconcagua, thehighest mountain in the Americas, was almost immediately visible, beckoning us to the capital, whichwe reached in a couple of hours amid a flock ofHawker Hunters on practice runs . Excellent seafoodand superb wines helped fight off the winter chill forfour days of r & r before att empting the next hazardous stretch of flying - th e Atacama Desert.Because of thermal turbulence above the interior. we were advised to stay over the coast, which hasbeaches in some areas but is largely sheer 2,000 to3,000 foot cliffs dropping right into the pounding sea.Between La Serena and Arica on the northern borderwe saw very little sign of life other than a few minesand fishing villages and the city of Antofagasta, aconvenient fuel stop. There was a strong temperatureinversion along the whole route (and into Peru , too)with typical readings of 500at 2500 feet and 850 at 5000feet. Visibility at low altitudes in flat areas was frequently poor due to blowing sand.

At Arica we spent a couple of days getting prepared for traversing Peru. For foreign aircraft flying inPeru is the most restrictive of all the countries ofSouth America . You must have in your pos session before entering permission from Lima giving the namesof the airports you may land at and th e dates. VFRflights are controlled almost as closely as IFR, and HFequipment is desirabl e , sin ce man y of the VHFground transmitters are eith er too far away or tooscratchy for effective co mmunication s. If , in addition ,you are not all that handy with th e language, you canexp ect to have a few troubl es, as we did. Even so , th ecountry itself was so incredibly fa sc inating that it wasworth all the delays and irritati ons.

Except for Lima , which wa s ben eath th e usualwinter overcast of adv ec tion fog from th e Humboldtcurr ent , our flight over Peru was CAVU all th e way.Down below yO } co uld frequ ently see ruin s fromInca and pr e-Inca tim es som e o f th em sti l l be ingused as dw ellings . And , of course, th e snow-covered


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The grim task o top overhaul t the Ezezza Airport tBuenos Ai res Argentina. The authors Bill Thompson right and Mi cha el Emerson left and our mechanic Pedroin the middle. The high lead content o the fu els availablethroughout South Am erica apparently did in the Franklin150 valves.

Ca bl e ca r ca rrying to ur ists to the top o Sugarloaf.Copaca ban a Beach is in the upp er left o the picture .1

The auth or Mi cha el Emerson with view o the Federalbuildings HOLlse o Congress and new church. BraziliaBrazil.

Brazilia t night s viewed from popular rooftop restaurant.


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Final approach to Santos Dumont field at Rio de /anieroSugarloaf is the peak across th e bayThe magnificent roar o the wo rld s largest cataracts -Falls o Iguassu The plume in the pictures co uld be seen80 miles away

N7449 at San Carlos de Bariloche Airport with ice onthe runway and Mt Tronadon in the background

A beautiful view o San Carlos de Bariloche on pictures-que lake Nahvel Haupi Mt Tronadon pierces the hori-zo n.Typical view o inhospitable snow covered peaks Th echill factor doubles when you are over these peaks onone magneto


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peaks of the Andes were always off our right wingtip.Other than getting in and out, we had a great time inLi ma , fou r days of it. The main ai rport has everymodern facility , probably the best we landed at, butwe had heard talk of shakedowns for " protection "money there. So we parked next to some R F Vulcanbombers with all-night guards. No problems at allBy this time our supply of travelers checks wasnearing the end of the usable. Therefore, the planwas to get home as fast and as cheaply as possible ,hopefully within two weeks, making allowances forsome bad weather as we approached the tropics. Wedeparted Peru at Talara in haste, leaving a surprisedcustoms official, who had tried to collect the sameten dollar fee from us twice, standing at the windowof his office while we went to the plane for themoney . Enough is enough. Soon we were flyingover jungle once more, stopping at Guayaquil to re-fuel before going on toward Cali, a large city lyingbetween two mountain ranges in Colombia. VFRweather was the forecast, and four hours was our es-timate .

Somehow , four hours became eight days . TheFranklin had already begun to lose compression againand was really struggling to keep us going at 100 mphindicated. Added to this, the terrain below us gradually rose to meet the overcast above, and our ADFweather radar kept pointing toward thunderstormsright on our course to Cali. The only alternative wasto go back to the coast and either return toGuayaquil, which didn't intrigue us, or head forBuenaventura, Colombia's main Pacific seaport. Thatdidn't intrigue us either because we'd been told itwas a good place to stay out of, but we chose it asthe lesser evil. Unknown to us, the reason to avoid ithad been eliminated two months earlier with considerable bloodshed.Things were getting rather tense in the cockpit , asthe sky looked about to fall, the Buenaventurabeacon wouldn't come in, and the treetops seemedcloser every minute. From 1000 feet over jungle in therain ONC charts leave something to the imagination .Thank the Lord , or the Colombians , that Buenaven-tura is in a prominent spot . We sighted it just as thesky did begin to fall , plopping down half-blind intothe mud .

The next week was spent trying to get back out.Three cylinders were just about dead, and the enginewould do no more than cough raggedly on its re-maining good lungs. It was a time for soul searching.What's an airplane really worth, all considered? Theresult of many hours of painful debate was that wedismantl ed the Bellanca, put it on a truck to Cali , leftit at th e aeroclub there for future retrieval maybe,

ne of th e man y ca nyons branching outValley along the South ern Peruvian Coas t from the Inca

Plaza de Armar in Lima Peru. Th e Pres idential Palace isthe backd rop fo r th e sixteenth century fountain.

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and as soon as we could get permission to leave the


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Ruins of a pre-In ca culture at Cajamaquilla fifteen mi lesoutside of Lima Peru. Th e dismantl ed Bell anca on the edge of the jungle airstripat Buenaventura o lumbia. diving knife som e non-essentials and clothes bou ght us enough muscle po wer toload the Bellanca into a tru ck for s trip to Cali.

country hopped on a jet to Miami, much worn outand wanting more than anything else to get back tothe good ole USA.Part of the reason for hastening back home, itmust now be revealed, was that my good buddy Mikehad a fast approaching wedding date . Well, it s hardto lose two friends at once, so instead of going backto work I went back to Cali, taking along three goodcylinders and all the necessary parts and manuals .

We d gotten the wings and landing gear on beforeleaving Colombia, and so completing the reassembly ,putting the instruments and radio gear back in, andswapping the cylinders was really only a one man jobanyway, with an occasional assist when an extra pairof hands was needed. Ten days later the Bellanca wasready for a check flight. This revealed no problemsexcept that the trim had to be adjusted . The followingmorning 7449 and I were homeward bound.Depending on how the plane performed, theroute would be either up through Central America oracross the water in a more direct line . From Cali toPanama all went flawlessly , and so I decided to aimfor San Andres, a speck in the Caribbean 400 milesnorth. The friendly Canal Zone radar controllers provided vectors around some intense cells off the coast,and with good wishes from the FSS as they announced I was not leaving the range of VHF communications , I swung left to intercept the course , feltto make sure my life jacket was there, and beganpraying and also looking for ships. At 13,500 feet theprayers no longer seemed appropriate. Besides, theADF was beginning to pick up San Andres. A coupleof hours later the island itself came into view - rightwhere it was supposed to be .After that the water flying didn t seem so bad,even a long hop to Grand Cayman. There I was unable to get permission to fly the Giron corridor acrossCuba and had to take the long way around via Montego Bay and Great I nagua to Fort Lauderdale, arriving just in time to pay an eighteen dollar overtimecustoms fee . But at least the journey was over, and allthose who had left four months before on this SouthAmerican adventure were safely home again .Finally, this long-winded tale must be concludedwith a word of appreciation. A word of appreciationto N74492. Thoughout the trip she negotiated roughfields, soft fields, short fields, crosswinds, turbulence, and every kind of weather, carrying heavyloads with a sometimes sick engine - with poise andconfidence. Even after an insulting truck ride andhasty reassembly she winged her way across 2000miles of water without complaint.Truly a fine old bird.

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Vintage Airplane - May 1979

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Transcript of Vintage Airplane - May 1979