Vintage Airplane - Oct 2004

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Oct 2004

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2/36

VOL. 32, No. 10 2 4

CONTENTS

2

4

1

VAA

News

Reminiscing

with

Big Nick

Reprinted from Vintage Airplane

une

1974

by Nick Rezich

French Delicacy

The Morane Saulnier 230 of Tom Leaver

COVERS

RONT COVER It

could

be

argued

that

Tomas

Leaver's Morane Saulnier 230 is one of the rarest

airplanes

in the United

States,

since there is only

one

between

our shores. The

same

type airplane

as

used

to depict the

New

Monoplane

in the

1960's WW·I flick The Blue

Max

: the 230 is

flown

by Tom in

the

same

manner

in

which

it

was

built

originally-no brakes, and no

steerable tailwheel.

EAA photo by Jim Koepnick,

Cessna

210 photo

plane flown by Bruce Moore

.

BACK COVER Racing the Storm ,

an oil

painting by

artist Jerry

Anderson,

depicts an American Airways

Curtiss

Condor on

short

final to

a fictitious airport

in

rural

New

York,

circa

1932-34. The

captain

is

attempting to

land

just

ahead

of an

approaching

line

of

summer

thunderstorms,

as

a

farmer in his

Model

T

also rushing

to

beat the weather

,

slows

momentarily

to

watch

the aircraft pass overhead.

You can

reach Jerry at jandersonart@supernet.

com.

He resides

in Middletown

,

Pennsylvania.


3/36

G OFF

RO INSON

PRESIDENT VINTAGE ASSOCIATION

Exercising your right to

speak out

Having just returned

from EAA

AlrVenture Oshkosh 2004, I must say

my head

is

still in a bit of a spin. There

was just so

much

to see

and

do, it was

nearly overwhelming.

It continues

to amaze me

that so

many rare and beautiful vintage aircraft

make the trek to our event to show off

their wonderful machines from the past.

Did you see that gorgeous Jenny and

all those Howards? And

the

Type Club

Parking area was well represented with

large numbers of Cessna 195s, Stinsons,

and Helio Couriers.

The buzzword

at

EAA

AirVenture

2004 was weather.

Everyone

was

wondering how

long we

would

be

able to enjoy the sunny days

and

mild

temperatures, and

we

ended up having

one of

the

best weather years ever,

at

least in recent memory. I hope everyone

liked the layout of the Vintage Aircraft

Parking area.

As

most of you are aware,

for

many years the vintage parking area

played host to the

homebuilt

arrivals

who wanted to camp with their aircraft.

2004 was the first year

EM

was able to

provide

the

homebuilt campers

with

exemplary

display

of

our

attendees'

aircraft. This

committee

has

been

led

by its chairman, George Dauber

VAA

vice president), for

many

years,

and he

has

been

blessed

with

a

talented and

enthusiastic group of

co-chairs who

perform yeoman's duty

on

the flightline

each year. Thanks to

all

for your efforts

I would of course be remiss

in

failing

to mention all the other

EM

AirVenture

volunteers. This was a truly remarkable

year for our volunteer numbers,

as

I was

informed

that

we were blessed with

nearly 500

volunteers in

the

vintage

area alone. Again,

many thanks

to all

the

judges, the Manpower Committee,

participant's plaques, parking, volunteer

center, public relations, merchandising,

trams, past grand champions, interview

circle, Tall Pines Cafe,

security

and,

of course, our

VAA

staff.

You

are all

valuable to the operation of the vintage

area

during

EAA

AirVenture,

and

we

sincerely appreciate your efforts.

In last month's column, I mentioned

the

importance of

continuing

to wage

a unified front to battle additional

flight restrictions

in

an already overly

proposed rule being drafted to modify

this ADIZ to

make it

a

permanent,

heavily restricted area.

EM's

position

opposing this proposed modification

is

the right

one and

should be supported

by

all

the alphabet organizations

as well

as

our membership.

Earl Lawrence, EAA vice president

of industry

and

regulatory affairs, said

it best: "There

is

absolutely no need to

make this

ADIZ permanent.

It would

not

add

a

shred

of

extra

security for

this country, and would

only

further

discriminate against general aviation."

I

don't

care if you live

in

Spokane

or Little Rock, we all need to have our

voices heard

inside

the Beltway on

all issues that serve

to

further confuse

airspace

users. We

should

all voice

our opposition to this anticipated

notice

of

proposed rulemaking to our

congressional

representatives.

Gone

unchecked,

the

question will become

who gets the next ADIZ"?

You can

bet

elected officials like Mayor Daley

of

Chicago will be

watching

this one

closely with an "if

they

can have one,

why can't we?" attitude.


4/36

Ce:et'o·:r.\) 5 J.

~ 0 : ) 1

d

(,,'.12 0:0: Yr,Or ot P':'w reci r :C f--.1

EAA

Annual

Report

for

2 3 Online

Celebrating 50 Years o EAA

in the Centennial

Year

o Powered

Flight the annual report of

the

Experimental

Aircraft

Association for 2003, is available

at

www.eaa.org. The 16-page

report highlight's

EAA

activities,

accomplishments , and its

financial standing for its golden

anniversary year.

Tr

ibutes

In

the tributes to three of

our

friends who we lost earlier

this summer,

I failed

to add

a

paragraph honoring

the family

members

affected by their loss.

Darren

Banfie ld is

survived

by his mother, Susan, his sister,

TFRs Can Be Avoided

Using

EAA s

Flight Planner

This

year's election,

the

first

national

el

ection held since

9/11,

has

been marked by

a flurry

of

presidential temporary flight

restrictions

(TFRs),

both for

the

chief

executive

and

his challenger. These

TFRs

have been

known

to appear

on

short

notice,

and

are often ro l

ling

TFRs

as the candidates travel on

the

surface. As

is

noted at the end

of

the

TFRs, lilT

IS

RECOMMENDED

THAT ALL AIRCRAFT OPERATORS

CHECK NOTAMS

FREQUENTLY FOR

POSSIBLE REQU I

RED

CHANGES TO

THIS

TFR

PRIOR TO OPERATIONS

WITHIN THIS REGION.

Many of us fly aircraft that have

no or limited communications,

so checking

the

status

of the

airspace we intend to fly through

is

imperative. Using

the

EAA

Flight

Planner benefit

of

your

EAA membership can help you

avoid an

ominous

cal l from a

federa l agency. You

can

access the

EAA

Flight

Planner, powered by

AeroPlan n

er.com,

from the EAA or

VAA websites, www.eaa.orgorwww.

vintageaircraft.org. Click the Plan A

Flight

button on

the

left-hand

side

of the

page

and then,

after you log

in, click NOTAMs

on the menu bar

near

the top

of

the

page.

Friends of the Red

Barn

Sport

Pilot FAQs

Updated Regularly

Visitors to

the

EAA sport pilot

website

will find continuously

updated content,

including

new

frequently

asked questions (FAQs).

Organized in 12

subject areas, new

entries are based

on

calls to

the

Sport

Pilot

Hotline and e-mails

received

by

EAA Aviation

Information

Services.

If

you have an

SP/LSA

question,

check

the

SP/LSA FAQs at

www.sportpilot.org-your answer is

probably

waiting

there

for you.

EAA

Air

Academy

Announces 2 5 Dates

Registration is now available for

the full slate

of

sessions at the

EAA

Air Academy in

summer

2005.

Two sessions for ages 12-13,

EAA

Young Eagles Camp, will take place

on Jun e 29-July 3 and

July

6-10.

EAA

Basic Air Academy for ages 14

15 has three sessions

scheduled,

June 13-19; June 21-27; and

July

11-17. EAA Advanced Air Academy

sessions for ages 16-18 are

scheduled

for July 19-26 and July 30-August

8. For complete information, visit

www airacademy org

Restoring Smithsonian

Ercoupe

The Smithsonian

Institution's

Silver Hill (Paul

E.

Garber) facility

has the original

Ercoupe aircraft

in

its collection

and

is in the

process

http:///reader/full/AeroPlanner.comhttp:///reader/full/AeroPlanner.comhttp:///reader/full/AeroPlanner.comhttp://www.eaa.orgorwww/http:///reader/full/vintageaircraft.orghttp://www.sportpilot.org-your/http:///reader/full/www.airacademy.orghttp:///reader/full/AeroPlanner.comhttp://www.eaa.orgorwww/http:///reader/full/vintageaircraft.orghttp://www.sportpilot.org-your/http:///reader/full/www.airacademy.org


5/36

barometric pressure adjustment

only 25, 30, 35 )

knob

at

180

0

)

-Ignition Switch AC Type

-Tachometer (reading from

face,

top

It

also

needs

a Lear

radio

Model

to bottom: R.P.M., Hundreds, Mark

AMR-1

or

AMRL-1

(200-500 cps)

I,

BU.

AERO

U.S

.N.

, Serial 209-34,

receiver

and loop antenna.

manufacturer's

name was very

If

yo u know of anyone that has any

short, ended in CO ; 360

0

range

of these radios or instruments, please

starting vertically 5, 10, IS, 20

co

ntact William R. Bayne

via

e-mail at

then smaller 180

0

arc on right ercoguru@txercoupemuseum

1

Sport

Pilots

Take

light

On

September I, 2004,

the sport

pilotllight-sport aircraft

SP/LSA)

rule went

into

effect, and current certificated pilots with an

FAA

medical

certificate or valid driver's license began exercising sport pi lot privileges

in eligible homebuilt

and

production aircraft.

Among them was Roger Peterson

of

Sweeney, Texas. On September

I,

for

the

first

time in

17 years, he flew as

pilot

in command

of

his

Piper J-3 Cub. About

two

years ago, when

i t

looked like

sport pilot

was coming

in,

I bought a

1940

J-3 and have been

flying

with an

instructor since

then,

he

said. Last April it looked like [the final rule]

was

imminent,

so I started building a PA-l1 replica. I completed it this

April, so

now

I am legal in both of

them.

I really appreciate the effort

[EAA]

put in

to

bring this

thing

off.

Peterson, 66, grew

up

on

an

Iowa farm, started flying

in

1954, earned

The Rest of the

Story

Get

the

rest of

the EAA

Air

Venture Oshkosh 2004 story at www.

airventure org For

daily convention

news, click

on the

AirVenture

Today

newspaper links headlining the

AirVenture

homepage.

Who won the

EAA

Sweepstakes'

Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee? Find

out

by clicking on the Sweepstakes

and

Raffle Winners

link.

See

why Marv Melanson's Wag Aero

Cubby received the Outstanding

Homebuilt Seaplane Award. Or

check out Marc Stamsta's 1960

E8L

Falco, this year's Most Unique

Award

(Contemporary Category).

Photos of all the award-winning

aircraft

are

now

available

by

clicking

on

the 2004

Aircraft

Awards

link.

While you're visiting the

home page,

see

hundreds of

photos detailing all aspects of the

convention,

from

the

Warbirds

area to

the

Vette Seaplane

Base.

To

see

what

you missed at

EAA

AirVenture this

summer,

visit

www airventure 01g

http:///reader/full/airventure.orghttp://www.airventure.01g/http://www.airventure.01g/http://www.airventure.01g/http:///reader/full/airventure.orghttp://www.airventure.01g/


6/36

REMINISCING

WITH

IG

ICK

printed from Vintage

Airplane June

1974

The ow

a

rd

S

to

ry

Part O

ne

"It's a Wasp Monocoupe "

"No it's a aha?"

"Wow Look at

it

go

What

is

it?"

"It 's Benny Howard's new

Mulligan "

These

are

just some of

the

comments

you

would have heard

had

you been

in the

grandstands

on

opening

day of the 1935

National

Air Races at Cleveland, Ohio.

Benny

O. Howard had just won

by

Nick Rezich

of

Kansas City,

to

handle

the

chores. Harold was no newcomer

to

the Howard designs

as he had been

flying

the

"Ike," "Mike"

and

"Pete."

Harold qualified the Mulligan at

a speed of 247

mph,

which made

him a threat to the other qualifiers

and

a

potentia

l winner.

Before

the

Thompson

got

underway Harold

warmed up

by

winning the

Greve Trophy

in

Benny

Howard's

"Mike" ... making

it two

out

of three for Benny. Winning

the Thompson would give

him

a

second place

with

that

big

brute

and

played

a waiting

game

...

"who is going

to blow

his engine

firs t ;

Turner in

the

lead or

Witt

righ t

behind him

nibbling

on

his

flippers?"

He

throttled

back

just

enough to keep Roscoe in sight ...

and then it

happened.

Bang

Roscoe blows his engine

and

leaves

the race.

The

crowd

goes wild and

when

they

come

around

again the dean

of air show announcers past

and

present, Jack Storey, booms over


7/36

Mr Mulligan on the

day

o its first flight Few fairings had been applied at this point The exhaust system

visible

in

this

shot is different from what

appears

on laterphotographs o the

rac

er

PHOT

OS

COURTE

SY

D

ON

PRA

TI

between

Mulligan and the pylon

Harold goes on

to

win the coveted

Thompson

Trophy Race

and

it is

a clean sweep of the

Nationals

for

Benny Howard.

Benny

went to the Nationals

for

one

reason-to win as much

money as he could. The money

was to be used to open a factory

to

produce America s

fastest 300

h.p., four-place

cabin

monoplane.

Benny was already into

the

design

with Gordon Israel, the co-designer

and co-pilot of

the

Mulligan for

the

PH

OTOS COURTESY D

ON PR TI

Bendix win. Benny left Cleveland

with a

hat

full of money, but before

he

left, he called Chicago and said

member

Eddie Fisher, or EAA/IAC

building it. He

may

have picked up

go full bore

on the new airplane.

member

Harold Neumann , pilot

a few scraps of

the

wings or other

Before we

go

on

about the

of the Mulligan. He also states that

parts,

but

not

THE

Mulligan

...

or

Howards, I

would

like to clear

our

Harold was co-pilot

on

the victorious else there must have been TWO

engine here.

The December

1973

Bendix

flight-not so It was co

Mulligans because "Sludge" Doyle

issue

of

the

AOPA

Pilot carried an

designer Gordon Israel.

He

states that and Mike

Molberg

brought

back

article about Benny Howard's

DGAs. the

factory opened in 1937-not so

what

was left to bring back. I was

at

It was written

by

my good friend

It was 1936. (The Howard Aircraft

the

factory when they unloaded it

and popular

EAAer, Peter

Bowers

Corporation

was formed

in

1937.)

in front

of the engineering offices.


8/36

f and

Mr

Mulligan on the day of the first flight of the racer Noten J n

the lack of fairings nd paint.

Ewing, our first plant superintendent,

the

other day

and

he informed me

that his wife still has

the

flower pot

holder

made

from

the Mulligan.

Mrs. Molberg has hers also.

To

go a

bit further, I tried to buy the remains

at the time but couldn't-but during

the negotiations, I wound up with the

wings from Gordon Israel's "Redhead"

racer. I hope this clears

the

air once

and

for all about

the

Mulligan.

If

a

Mulligan emerges from the west coast,

it

will be a replica.

O.K,

'nuff said

Now, where was

I?

Oh yes, the first

Howard.

Benny

Howard was

flying

for

United Airlines at Muni (they

called the Chicago Municipal Airport

"Muni" in those days)

and

living at

the

Troy Lane

Apartments-known

as

the Troy Lane Hotel.

It was

located

at

63

rd

and

Troy on the south side

airplane when I first saw it assembled

was, "WOW " I t looked like

i t

was

doing 200 mph just sitting there. It

was painted with a metallic blue and

bronze and it sported a Wright J-6

7E2 in the nose.

I watched them make all the final

adjustments, etc., and made sure I

was

on hand for the first flight. I asked

Benny, "What are you calling this one?"

"The

'Flanigan,1II

was the answer.

. And that's what I have

been

calling it ever since.

When it came time to test fly

the

Flanigan,

Benny was

in his

usual

good form. Those of you

who

knew

Benny

will

remember

his

favorite

maneuver was a chandelle

on

take

off.

After completing his taxi tests,

he

came roaring down the old southwest

runway at Muni and

as he approached

the

old Standard

Oil

Company

0::

0..

Z

8

f)

UJ

0::

;:

o

u

f)

Now the

work of

getting

the

machine

certificated and finding

a place to build

i t

was underway.

Certification was handled by Gordon

Israel.

For the factory, Benny chose the

old Matty Laird factory located in the

Clearing industrial district. The address

was

5301 W.

6y

h

St

.

-just

two blocks

south

of Muni. Matty had used this

building to construct his last airplane,

the

Sesquiplane. The

factory

was

opened in 1936 with the same handful

of men who built the Flanigan.

All the money

Benny won at

the

1935 Nationals

was

put into the

certification

of Flanigan

and the

factory.

He

was still short of working

capital and needed more

money

to

get the operation off the ground. The

place to get the much-needed money

was

the

coming

1936 National Air

Races.

The now-famous

Mulligan


9/36

Howard, Benny s wife. So, I was

allowed

to

help "Sludge" Doyle.

My

first job was that

of pouring

oil along

the hangar floor so we could slide the

tailskid,

which

was built

into

the

tail,

to maneuver the ship in and out of

the hangar. We didn t use good oi l -

the

oil came from

Roger

Scheon s

gas station, which was immediately

across the

street from

the

hangar.

Oh

yes, I

had

to clean up the hangar

floor afterwards

Being

on

hand during the

test

flights was breath

taking.

Every

flight was an air show. On

one

flight,

Benny took off from the north/south

runway, which was

the

shortest

at

Muni-around

4,500

feet long,

holding it

down

going

south

toward

the Texaco hangar. When he got to

the

ramp,

he

pulled it

up

into

the

famous Benny Howard chandelle and

I swear it was a 60-degree climb That

climb

continued

that

way to about

12

or

14 thousand feet. I

had

never

seen an airplane climb like

that

from

take-off. He

ran many altitude

tests

because

that

was his

secret-altitude

.

The low-level tests were something

else these you had to see and hear

to believe. The harmonics between

the

prop

and

exhaust sounded

like

the present

day

jets-it

was

more

like

a purr

than

roar. I will never forget

that sound or sight. A

day

didn t pass

that

I did not bug "Sludge," Gordon

or

Benny for a ride during the testing.

But with the tanks in the back there

was no way. Time was

short

and every

flight was

of importance. Benny

said

he would fly everybody in it after

the races. I lived for that day ... which

never came.

'

The final shakedown flight was

from Chicago to New York We gassed

and oiled

Mulligan to

race

weight,

Mike and Benny strapped themselves

into the

seats,

the

engine

barked

to

life and

they

were off. As

they

taxied

out

for take-off, I was wondering how

it would get off and if he would pull

his chandelle on take-off.

Well, the take-off was no different

than

the others as far as getting off

This is Maxine Mike Howard leaving

the

Chicago

hospital enroute

to

Palm

Springs, California, for recuperation

and rest (following the

Mr.

Mulligan

accident) . hat is Gordon Israel

with

her.

The other lady, I think, is

the hostess from Palm Springs. Note

that Mike is flying a TWA DC-2 ...

husband Benny flew for United I took

this photo at Muni.

This is the Flanigan after it went through the factory

This is the original Howard DGA-8, the Flanigan. The

picture was taken the evening of the first test flight.

certification. The photo was taken by me at Muni ...The ship

was

later sold to

Mexico

along

with

two others. Notice the only

changes from

original

to

licensed

airplane are a new fin and


10/36

and climb were concerned,

however, Benny did

leave off

the chandelle.

It

was less than

3 hours

when

Benny called and

said he had made it in just under

2

Vz hours with no problems.

(That's about 630 nautical miles,

with

a

ground

speed averaging

252 knots -Editor)

Again, everyone was jubilant ..all

but one, that

is. "Sludge" looked like

he had the weight of the world

on

his

shoulders. "Sludge" was clutching a

notice in his

hand that

read, "Tests

indicate propeller should be restricted

to

500 or 550

h.p.,

I

don't

recall

which.

This really disturbed

"Sludge."

He

knew

he had

over

800 horses jumping up and down

under

that

Mulligan cowl. There

was

no

other propeller

available

nor was there any money if one

were available.

Yet,

he knew he

couldn't turn Benny

and

Mike

loose with that prop. Many frantic

phone calls

were

made, and

still

no

prop.

Race

time was around

the

corner and a decision had to be

made.

As

I remember

it,

someone at

Smith said

it

was

O.K.

I

don't

know

who made

the

final decision

to

fly

the race with the Smith propeller,

but

I do know who accepted

the

responsibility

when

that

prop

failed

over

New Mexico while

Benny and Mike were leading the

Bendix by a huge margin.

When

the Mulligan was

destroyed in the ensuing crash,

Roy

"Sludge" Doyle crashed right along

This is the economy model with the

225 Jake and Curtiss-Reed prop, no

wheel

pants and

the cheap

paint

job.

Photo taken by

an

unknown

to

me)

photographer when the ship was on

the west coast

for

the

March 1937 Pan

Pacific Air Show at Los

Angeles.

I

have

a photo ofBenny and Mike sitting

with the airplane at the show.

NI K

REZI H

with them.

When

"Sludge" was

notified of

the

crash, he knew

what

The

same ship after being

returned

to

the factory for new deluxe paint

job

and

new

gas

tanks.

The

photo

was taken

by

me at the Chicago

factory

. . . we were

swinging the

compass at

the time.

OU RTE

SY

NI K

REZI H

Howard DGA-8 powered by a 32

never have let Benny

go

and that

the

factory would still be open if

it were

not

for that accident.

The accident really did upset

the apple cart

for Benny.

The

factory

was

open with

a few

orders for the new

DGA,

but it

needed

the money Benny had

hoped to win at the 1936 Nationals.

With Benny and

Mike

in the hospital,

the factory

more

or less

went into

receivership before it formally opened.

I

think

you know

what

I am trying

to say... Benny was broke Now add

the hospital bills to the already broke

Howard Aircraft and you have a grim

situation.

You

would

think that

would be

enough

problems for

Benny-but there

were

others

that

were

much worse. Mike's

legs

were

not

healing

properly

and

this worried Benny more than the

factory. Benny recovered first and

Mike came along later, after several

operations. She was

and

still

is

the

most beautiful, considerate

woman in the world. When she and

Benny healed and came by the factory,

she was dressed in the sharpest pair of

slacks I have seen. She stopped

and

talked with everyone in the shop .

and she always had

the

big smile

one never forgets.

Let

me

tell you a story

about

Mike

and

Ben. They were going

through

the

factory

and

stopped

to talk with me while Iwas putting

the final

sanding on a

yellow

Howard.

I don't

know

if I was

showing off or just super thrilled

with

our

chat,

but

while they


11/36

enshrinement of Ben O. Howard

into the Pioneers of Aviation OX-

5 Hall of Fame.)

Benny hired only super

craftsmen.

You

had to be the best

in the industry or you didn't work

for Howard. After working for Blue Bird,

American Airlines, Stinson Aircraft and

others, I can truthfully say that when

a Howard

was

delivered it

was

the best

built airplane in the world.

Some of

the

original super

men were: The late Mike Babco,

welder

supreme.

He

came

from

Matty

Laird's. Mike

also

made jigs.

The woodworking

department

was

headed up by

the

late Eric Pearson. He and his

Swedes could lay plywood like it

was molded plastiC. The original

assembly was

handled

by three

men

from

Stinson-Earl

Ewing,

the

late Mike Molberg,

and

"Lefty" Huff.

"Lefty" didn t last

long

as

he

did

most

of his work

with

his mouth

instead of his hands. As it turned out,

Earl Ewing,

now

retired

and

living

in

Pennsylvania,

was

named shop

superintendent.

Mike Molberg was

put in

charge of all assembly. The

sheet metal department was headed

CAA

DGA-8. Note

the

lower gear and

right

handdoor. This

airplane

was loaded

with

radio gear for CAA work. The

pilot

got lost

over

Kansas City and cracked it

up

when it had only a

few

hours

on

it.

Ship was

rebuilt by

Howard.

This

is

a deluxe

9

with controllable

prop

2 doors

and deluxe paint. The

Stinson

in the

background was a trade

in for

a Howard.

The

photo was taken

by me at

the

Chicago Fly away

factory

area

.

..

during test flight phase.

up

by

the

dean of

tin

benders, Eskic

HallqUist, who also came from Matty

Laird's. He was a gutter man in Chicago

and would

come

out

to Matty s to

make cowling on contract. The

finishing department was run by

an old airmail mechanic, "Red"

Gross from Chicago. Inspection

was

the

job "Skippy" Butler nailed

down. The interiors were by Frank

Kubac, aluminum welding by the

super welder, Robert Babb of

St.

Louis

(and now a bartender in Chicago). This

guy put heliarc to shame. The plant

master mechanic and in charge of the

fittings and machine shop was

Roy

"Sludge" Doyle. The engineering

department

consisted

of

Gordon

Israel as

chief and

Ted

Linnert

.

Later came Dr. Walter Brownell,

Dr. Niebersauer,

Gordon

Israel

again and, finally,

Bill

Peerfield.

Flight

test

was handled by Ben

O. Howard, Walt Brownell, Fred

Novinger, Gordon Israel, Walter

Daiber

and

Tony Mackowicz. Tony

was

the

spin expert. He ran all the

early spin tests. Walter Brownell ran

the spin tests

on the

first seaplane.

He is the chief pilo t for Morton Salt,

flying a JetStar today. Tony Mackowicz

is

living

in

retirement

in

Chicago,

Ted

Linnert is with

ALPA

in Washington,

D.C.,

and

Gordon Israel is in California

working as a consultant.

Sales were handled by "Slim" Freitag

and Benny's brother, Sam Howard. The

last I knew of Sam, he was living in

Coral Gables, Florida, and producing

the world famous Aquatic Productions.

"Slim" is still living in DeKalb, Illinois.

I may be misspelling some names

here . . . please forgive me as I am

going back 38 years and I

couldn t

spell then


12/36


13/36


14/36

Tom Leaver, who was

born

in

Sonoma, California, yet spent

much of his life in England, doesn t

strike you as someone who

would

enter

aviation at the extreme edge

of the logic curve: his first airplane,

the Morane, has neither a tail wheel

nor brakes and includes some

of

the most archaic systems outside of

a

turn

of the century locomotive.

Plus, even

though

he left California

early and has spent

most

of his

adult life overseas working in the oil

industry, the mystique of

Sonoma

and its old airplanes left its mark.

I

soloed

when

I was 16 years old

and

got my pilot

certificate before

I

had my

driver's license. My

dad

was a career Air Force officer and

mad keen

on

flying. I was always

out at

the base

with him and

met a lot

of great

people through

it. Even though I

hadn t

flown for

a long time and had flown nothing

even remotely resembling this, it

immediately

caught

my fancy. Tony

gave me

the

history of

the

type

and

this particular airplane-that it had

been

the

late Patrick Lindsay's first

airplane in his very unique

and

rare

collection. A

challenging

day VFR

airplane: perfect "

Tony and his

company

are world

famous for the

restoration

work

they

have done on a wide range

of extremely unusual airplanes,

especially those

from

World War

I

the 1920s, '30s, and World War

II

Often these airplanes wind up

in the movies,

as

Bianchi

is

a ready

source for these aerial movie stars.

Patrick Lindsay

was a

world

renowned airplane collector who

at various times had a wide

number

Tom eaver

actually in

production

for

quite

a

long time,

1930 to 1948

to

be

exact. Just

over

a thousand were

built primarily for

the

French air

force and Navy, but a number were

sold to foreign governments as


15/36

MIK T IN K PHOTOS

for me, he found

the

wood was in

excellent

condition and

needed

only

light sanding and

another

coat of

varnish.

However, it's

easy to see why so many of

them

didn't survive. During the war the

Germans wrecked

quite

a number

of

them

because of

the

lack of

brakes

and

a strong propensity to

ground loop."

chewed up the strut,

which could

have

been a big deal if we

hadn' t been able to

find a replacement. The

struts are extremely

un ique

nd

have

internal aluminum ribs

reinforcing

them,

flush

riveted to

the

surface,

and

tapering at

both

ends of the strut. It still

took

two years to re-cover

the

wing

and

get her back

into the

air."

Up to and during World War

II,

the

airplane's primary mission

was advanced training, especially

aerobatics. Besides performing

liaison duties, it was also stationed

with front-line fighter units (French,

then

German) for aerobatic practice.

The Morane

230

was also

the

first

aircraft

used

by

the

Patrouille

de

France from

1931

to 1935, then

replaced by the more

powerful

Morane 225.

The airplane has a

fully

inverted fuel

and

oil

system, and

this

specific machine

was

used

by English aerobatic champion

Manx Kelly to win the 1969 Esso

Tiger Challenge in England. I t does

have its peculiarities, however.

For one thing, when inverted you

are actually

pulling

the stick back

to neutral, rather than pushing

it forward, as with

most

other

aircraft. I t flies fine

inverted,

and

most competitors in the airplane

routinely spun it inverted.

liThe

control pressures

are

Zenith

type carburetor. The engine

is one

reason Tom bases

the

airplane

in Winter Haven, Florida.

Besides the

obvious weather

advantages-spending

so

much

time

in

England makes you aware

of

sunshine-I

have

the

airplane in

Winter Haven because that's where

Andy Salter lives. Andy overhauled

the

engine when he

worked

for

Tony Bianchi. He then moved over

here and

now

works for Kermit

Weeks. Since he knows

the

engine

and airframe better than anyone else

and loves the airplane

as

much

as

I

do, we agreed

to

leave

the

airplane

there for him to look after."

Tom

had

little or no

tailwheel

time when he bought the airplane,

but since he had flown very little

in more

than

15 years,

to

a certain

extent he was starting over anyway.

I started training in a CAP 10 and

then on to an SVA Stampe. When Tony

thought I was ready, I started flying

the Morane with

Jonathon

Whaley,

an incredibly experienced display and

ex-RNAF pilot. Jonathon brought a

certain amount of military

diSCipline

into my flying, which I thought was

really good

and

benefited greatly

from. A lot of the training focused on

landing and the flight characteristics

near the stall. She will drop a wing

and only

rudder will lift it, which

then puts you off your heading-in to

wind landing configuration, setting

you up

for

a ground loop The other

part of the training focused on

ground handling, especially avoiding

ground loops in an aircraft without


16/36

bottle located

beneath

the pilot

seat.

I t can be pressurized by

attaching

a

handle to

a

fitting

on

the

right side

of

the fuselage and

manually recharging the bottle.

Don t go there: it

would

take

forever to get to

the

30 hectopascals

(atmospheres) that the bottle needs

to

turn

the

engine. Instead, I use a

high-pressure

industrial

air bottle

through a Schrader valve to charge

the internal bottle. The airplane was

never designed to recharge itself./I

According to Tom,

starting

the

Morane is

something

of a one

armed wallpaper hanging drill:

Once

you

have charged the

internal

bottle

to 30 hectopascals,

throttle

1 inch open, open the

air valve on your right (engine is

turning

with appropriate hissing

sounds) and crank

the

starter mag,

also on your right, until

the

engine

fires or you run

out of

air.

If the

engine fires, quickly shut

off

the air valve to conserve air,

adjust the

throttle to 800 rpm,

turn the primer suction

to charge,

push the primer cylinder down

into the closed position, and lock

the suction/charge valve into the

neutral position.

If

the

engine didn t start, repeat

the entire

air charge and primer

sequence per

the

above again

Tom swears that

once you get

maneuvering at away airfields like

Sun n Fun and in my hangar, I use a

dolly to wheel her around.

liThe

trim

is set via a large lever

on your right that looks like a

flap

handle. You

select

the

takeoff

position

out of

three detents. When

you

move that

handle

, you re

moving the ent i re

horizontal stabilizer./I

The

lack

of brakes

and

the

tailskid (this is

a real taildragger)

throw

a

long

shadow

over

everything done

on

the

ground. You

can t

so much as

crack

the throttle

a little

without

thinking

of

the consequences

of


17/36

When

landing on the grass

at

Sun

'n Fun, on my first day

the

wind was

just

picking

up to 5

or

7

knots

from the southeast such that

just before

the

aircraft

stopped rolling, it

made a gentle

rotation of the engine, but

as

soon

as

the power

is

up,

you

have lots

of

rudder

and elevator authority. Of

course, initially you have

no forward visibility at all,

butthe tail lifts quickly with

forward stick enabling a

somewhat improved view.

The airplane weighs over

1,800 pounds empty, so

even

with

the

big prop and

engine

it doesn't

accelerate like a shot. Fortunately, it

doesn 't have to be going very fast

to fly. You

bring the tail

up

right

away to allow her to accelerate

better, and at 50 mph it floats

off

the

ground.

You hold

it

in ground effect for just

a

second

or

two, then

let

it climb.

With just

me aboard, it'll climb at

1,500 fpm.

t

gross, about

2,300

pounds

, that drops

to

in appearance.

So

I

had

Tony

paint


18/36

EAAAirVenture

Text

nd

Photos

by

H G Frautschy

This year s EAA AirVenture Oshkosh was chock-full of neat things to

do

nd great planes nd

people

to

visit. Sit back

nd

enjoy a sampling of

wh t

we saw this

year


19/36

2004

The

2005 VAA Board of

Directors, officers, and

directors

emeritus (L-R):

Dale

Gustafson, Dave

Clark, Bob Lumley,

Steve

Krog, Ron Fritz,

Jeannie

Hill, Steve

Binder,

Jack

Copeland, Butch Joyce

(kneeling), Geoff Robison,

Dave Bennett, Steve Nesse,

Bob Brauer, Charlie

Harris,

John

Berendt,

Gene Morris,

Phil Coulson.

George

a u b n e l ~

Roger

Gomoll,

Gene

Chase and Buck Hilbert

are

missing

from

this picture.

Fifteen-year-old Theo Prins

of

Port


20/36

The winner of the Grand Champion Classic Lindy was Boyd "Butch"

Walsh's beautiful Stinson 108-2. Here he shows Charlie a few of

the details on the neatly finished Stinson.

the guard: newly elected VAA President Geoff

Robison pauses

for

a photo with former president Butch

Joyce.

Butch

has stepped down after more than 6 years of service as president of


21/36

This

year's

Antique jud

ges

: (

L-R

) C

ha

s Be

ll

,

Don

Co

leman, Dale Gustafson, Ken

Morris, Gene

Morri

s,

Bill Halver

so

n,

Je

rr

y

Brown, Phil

Co ulson,

Da

ve C

lark

,

Mike

Hoa

g,

Mike

Shaver,

Densel Williams, John Pipkin, Xen Motsinger

This year's Co temp

orary

judges: (s tanding L-R) A

rt

Anderson,

Dan Knutson,

Ja

y

Gavender, Dick

Knutson, Jess Krall

(Kneeling

L-R)

Tim

Popp, Li

z Popp, Jeff Ande

rson

, John Good loe


22/36

Club

Fly-In with

VAA s

Flight Line Operations

crew,

and more than

36 Stinson 108s were

Books chats a

The VAA s Tall

Pines

Cafe was

up

and running

four

days

VAA

Treasurer

Charlie

Harris

conducts a

The

Stinson

Club

series

of

taped interviews with a variety

coordinated a

Type

ofmembers during the convention.

He s shown

here

with Sandy and

Kent Blankenburg and their beautiful

Luscombe Sedan, which they flew from

member while

Vintage Airplane

contributing editor

Budd

Davisson talks about his latest book, Cobalt Blue, with

another

VAA

member

who stopped by the Vintage Airplane

tent.

Throughout

the

week

various

contributing

authors

and

the editor of the magazine staffed the tent, available

to

answer members questions and listen to their suggestions.

VAA volunteers Alden Frautschy a Dave Clark get

another batch

of

pancakes ready for those eating t the

cafe. Thousands ofmeals were served during the week. The

volunteers

would especially

like

to

thank Steve Nesse, Clair

Dahl, Craig Baumgardner, and Tom Hildebrand for

the

many hours of

work

they put into making

the

Tall Pines

Cafe a

success.

before the start

of

the convention, serving meals to many

members who arrived

early.

On Friday and Saturday meals

were served all

day.

Starting Sunday, only breakfast was

served.

On

Sunday morning Thayer Syme (holding his

son,

Gryftin) and his

wife,

Anne, stopped

for

breakfast after

watching Eric Presten land Frank Schilling s Curtiss

Jenny

on

the

grass of

the

lightplane

runway.


23/36


24/36

In

the

past four articles I have

been

talking about hazardous

attitudes. Hazardous

attitudes

exist

in all of us pilots. They are referred

to

as hazardous because if allowed

to

go unchecked, they certainly act

to

either

start

the

forging of

the

accident

chain

or

to

reinforce that

chain in

such

a way

that

the

chain

might

become impossible

to

break.

I f that doesn't create

a hazard

to

our

flying, what does?

There

are

three

steps in

dealing

with

hazardous

attitudes.

The first

step

is

to recognize

the

fact

that

you

have

the attitude in the

first place.

It isn't always easy to

do

that. In the

previous article I spoke of one pilot

who was

unable to

recognize

that

fact. I know

that many

of us can

tend

towards

denial, especially

when

it

comes

to

admitting

to

ourselves that

some

of

these attitudes might

be

harbored

within our

otherwise safe

flying

habits.

However, it

doesn't

take too much

honest

insight to

recognize

and admit to

oneself that

they are present.

DOUG STEW RT

Anti authority

attitude. If

we

have a personality

that does things

with

impuls

ivit

y

reminding ourse lves

that not

so

fast can keep us from increasing the

depth of the yoghurt

as

it

attempts

to

rise above

our

eyeballs. For some,

reminding oneself I

can make

a

difference, will keep you

flying

when the attitude of

res ign tion

wants to

take over and turn

you

into a

passenger rather

than the

pilot in command.

The

last

step in the

process

is to

apply

the antidotes that

we have

For every hazardous

ttitude there is

an

antidote

learned will

counter

our

hazardous

attitudes. But

herein

lies

the rub.

I t

has

been my

experience

that the

nature

of each

attitude is

such

that

one

can get into

one

heck

of

an

argument with

oneself. And some of

being a

control

freak.

Is there any

greater manifestation

of being the

master of one's destiny than being a

pilot

at

the controls of an airplane?

Face it; type A personalities

make

good pilots. But it

is

just this type

of personality

that has

a

very

difficult time accepting direction

from someone else.

I hate

to

say it,

and

I might very

well get a lot of mail

on this one,

but my experience

is such that

the

vast majority of

E

pilots fall

into

this category. I t comes with the

turf. Can

any of

us

who

fly vintage

airplanes

not admit that

we

have

a

love affair

not only

with old

airplanes,

but

with a time in flying

when the regulations

that

govern

our flying were far fewer?

To

many

of the pilots

who

learned

to fly in

a

less regulated era, the need

to

show

bi-annual

recurrency

is

an

insult

to

their pride and dignity, and their

vocal scorn of such regulatory

restriction

is vociferous.

For

those who

like

to build their own

airplanes,

is

the

fact

that

we

have


25/36

rules were made for all of us, goes

completely counter to what got us

to the attitude in

the

first place. I

know that for me, as an old hippie

who

was raised to ques tion

authority

and who has spent much of my life

working to change those things, I

thought

unjust, or restrictive, or

just plain dumb, it is very difficult,

though not impossible I am happy

to report, to accept

that the

rules

we

r

made for ll of us

I f

we

were to take an

honest

look at the regulations, we would

find that many of them have come

about as a result of pilots killing or

maiming themselves.

If

pilots didn't

keep

flying into

the ground as a

result of low-level

maneuvering,

I

really

doubt

that we

would

have

minimum safe altitude rules.

We

certainly can't

have

traffic

cops

hovering

in

the

sky

guarding

and

directing

busy airspace

intersections,

so rules governing

rights-of-way were created

to

keep

us from falling

out

of the sky as a

result of the types of fender benders

we

expect

to happen at a traffic

circle in a busy city street system.

When

I

look

at the regulations

in this light it becomes much easier

for

me

to

accept

the

rules

and

regulations. So when the old hippie

part of me says to myself: leave

that transponder

turned

off,

do

you want them to know that you're

flirting with their airspace? I can

self-respond:

hey,

you dummy,

a lot of those aircraft sharing

the

airspace

with you

have

traffic

detection systems

that are

only

helpful if your transponder is

turned

on. Do you

want

to get hit by some

big,

embedded

aluminum, flown

by some other dummy,

who isn't

looking out the window? And that

response then triggers

the antidote

to

the anti-authority attitude (the

rules are made for all of us)

and

I

quickly turn the transponder on.

The

anti-authority hazardous

attitude exists in many of us

pilots. It is somewhat insidious in

that it also can lead to our

being

scornful of the whole concept of

hazardous

attitudes.

It

certainly

can be an attitude that prevents us

from recognizing or accepting the

other

attitudes,

and one

that will

join the evil twin argument against

accepting any and all antidotes.

So I urge all of you to take a

deep, soulful look within yourself.

Be

honest

with

yourself.

I f

you

recognize some of

the

hazardous

attitudes lurking there, start a

proactive program to recognize

when

those attitudes might

put

you,

and

all

the

rest of us

sharing

the sky with you, at risk. Learn

the

appropriate antidote to the attitude,

and then apply

that

antidote. I

am

confident that

this

will definitely

help

you,

as

it has

been helping

me, in making the journey

from

being

just a

good

pilot, to being a

great pilot. .......


26/36

--

BY H.G. FRAUTSCHY

JULY S MYSTERY ANSWER

.:. .

/ _

(

_

..

L

- ' - - - ~ v r ~

.... , ; : - ~ = ~ , ; - , ,

ARTHUR

BERRY COLLECTION,

VIA

TERRY

BOWDEN

was publ i shed

in AV I

ATION

magazine in 1929.

The c o m p n y

was

one

of

many

This reference

is

ac

tu

ally in error as it

shows a

photo

of a model KN-3. A third

reference

to

the Knoll Aircraft Corp. as

published on the

Internet is

found on

the Wichita Photos website,

where

a


27/36

pilot's cockpit location. The

KN-3

has

an 'open' cockpit aft of the passenger

cabin. Note

the

KN-3 has

two side

windows, versus

the

three windows of

the

KN l.

The following timeline

is

compiled

from

various references,

some

unconfirmed:

December 30,

1928:

Knoll KN-1

makes successful first flight.

February 1929: Prototype Knoll

KN

1 destroyed in crash.

May 29

,

1929:

Knoll

KN-3

demonstrated at Gardner

Air Race,

Parks Airfield, East

St.

Louis, Illinois.

1930: Knoll Aircraft Corp.

files

bankruptcy, assets sold

to

Yellow Air

Cab Company.

The

Knoll

airplanes were never

certified. I

Terry Bowden, Moody, Texas

The following note from a relative of

Felix

Knoll

is

published on the Aerofiles

website:

(My grandfather) returned from a

short vacation and saw that the crew had

painted the popular cartoon Felix the Cat

on the

door-the

port side

had

doors,

the starboard side had only painted

doors (also with Felix the Cat).

He

was

very upset, but the cats stayed on the

plane. Three KN-1s were sold to Mexico,

and rumors have

it

that there are two

alongside the road in a terrible state of

decay south of

Rosa

Beach. Colors were

blue

for

the fuselage and orange for the

wings and horizontal stabilizer. Most all

of the

KN-1

documents that remained

are in the Smithsonian, donated by his

eldest son (my uncle).

I

T IS MONTH'S MYSTERY PLANE

COMES

TO

US

FROM

THE COLLECTION

OF

EDWARD BEATTY, RUSKIN, FLORIDA.

Send

your

answer to EAA Vintage Airplane

P.O. Box

3086, Oshkosh,

WI 54903-3086.

Your

answer needs to be

in

no

later

than

November 10

for inclusion

in

the

Jan

uary 2005 issue

of

Vintage

Airplane.

You

can

also

send your

response via e-mail.

Don't

forget, we've got a

new

e-mail address for

you

to use when

sending in your

response. Send

your

answer to mysteryplane@eaa org Be sure to include

your

name plus

your

city

and

state

in the

body

of your note and

put (Month) Mystery

Plane/l

in the

subject line .

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


28/36

Lachlan

Wishart Alphington

Australia

Roy G. Manuell .Itirapima Brazil

Patrick Bohan Calgary AB

Canada

Samuel Longiaru Kamloops BC Canada

Roman Mitura Kanata ON

Canada

Marc Pfister Thorndale ON Canada

james

P Leonard Eagle River AK

Donald Lynn Love Searcy AR

Robert L Gear Paradise Valley

AZ

Charles C. Harmon Scottsdale AZ

Louis Bernt Hudgin Gilbert

AZ

Terry j Menees . . . Apache junction

AZ

james A. Turrell Flagstaff AZ

Gary M. Brunton Carmichael CA

Edward Burnett Venetura CA

Thomas

W. Goodwin Lancaster CA

john

B.

Marushak

. . .Cerritos CA

Russell J. Nichols Wilton CA

Marshell

A.

Rief. Escalon CA

Craig Ryan . . . . Corona Del Mar CA

Tom Aniello Littleton CO

Bill Coyle Kiowa CO

David C. Dooley Erie CO

Rene L Minjares . Littleton CO

John

D.

Newell . . Denver CO

Charles

T. Schumacher

Boulder CO

Peter Stobbelaar. Ce

ntennial

CO

Stan c Wawrzyni ak Erie CO

Don Binns .

Ft

Myers FL

Lothar Boeck South West Ranches FL

Michael Braham Port Charlotte FL

Stephen Malin . Pompano Beach FL

james

P Raub . . Winter Haven FL

Steve Berg . Midway GA

ja mes W Dewberry Savannah GA

Francis A. Hayes Dawsonville GA

Geoffrey Tinsley . . . Turin GA

Matthew Schild berg . . . . Greenfield IA

Alan Reber .

Indianapolis

IN

Mark Warren . . Coatesville IN

Stanley Wogoman Elkhart IN

Daniel

H. Cammack

Dodge City KS

James B. Clark Chapman KS

john Grissinger Roeland Park KS

Bruce G. Papon

Hardtner

KS

james Glasgow . . . Frankfort KY

Jonathan

jenning

s

Union

KY

john A. Mahanna . Radcliff KY

Robert Davis . South Egremont MA

Stephen

Manchester Raynham

MA

John Estevez White Plains MD

Joseph A. Keefner Riva MD

john W Benson . Tecumseh Ml

Michael Chase

Walkervilleq MI

james

D. Fase

Rockford MI

Joseph

Mendyk . Grand Ledge MI

Terry A.

Michmerhuizen

Gobles MI

James Phillips Hickory Corners MI

Dale W Snook Mancelona MI

Nancy Walters Royal Oak MI

jonathan G. Blais St. Paul MN

Glenn

W Bowen Eden Prairie MN

Loren

F

Chantland

Burnsville MN

Dennis L Fuhrman . . Fergus Falls MN

Dale Haag .West St Paul MN

Tom Joynt .

White

Bear Lake MN

Philip Rud . . . Clara City MN

Norman

L Williams Two Harbors MN

Victor Henrikson . . Troy MO

Michael W Mulford Kirksville MO

Butch Pennewell

Monroe

City MO

Scott P Tidd

Pleasent Hill MO

Frank Garletts jackson MS

Frank M. Ingels . Starkville MS

Michael G. Shallbetter Bay St Louis MS

William P McCart Hamilton MT

jerry

Kemp . COVington OH

Brian Kittleson CinCinnati OH

jeffrey D.

Smith

New Concord OH

jason Scott Woodside . Cincinnati OH

Christopher

Greenlee Piedmont OK

Terry Lee Toole Shawne e OK

Mark Baxter . Corvallis OR

Eric Baxter Philomath OR

Gregory L

Guy Independ

ence OR

Kirk

Groenendaal

. Erie PA

John S. Lindsay . . Freeport PA

Mark

K.

Gim Barrington

RI

William R. Martin . Greenville

SC

David Richardson Brandon SD

Alan Anderson . . Lexington TN

Charles

V.

Collins Memphis TN

James

Rawlinson

Golden

Knoxville TN

David R. Higgins Burns TN

john P Sandiford . . MemphiS TN

Roy F Smith . . Tullahoma TN

Allen Boger . . Argyle TX

Paul D. Brose . Celina TX

Trent J. Corcia . . . Dyess TX

Vance Duffy Fort Worth TX

David

Duncan

. Roscoe TX

Michael Elliott. . Kerrville TX

Kevin R. Miller Frisco TX

Alan Victor

Nekhom

Mckinney TX

jan L

Schuermans

Plano TX

David M.

Smither

. . Aubrey TX

Scot Warren . Shady Shores TX

Brooks Yeilding Spicewood TX

Roy Hugie Wellsville UT

John Lake Park City UT

Garry Reid . . . . Chantilly VA

Robert Brooke Lake Stevens

WA

Clayton D. Fuehrer Yakima

WA

Edward D. LeDuc Wenatchee

WA


29/36

E.E. BUCK

HIL ERT

E

has

Swallow!

T

e

phone

call leaves

me

stunned The

Swallow mail

plane

EAA has

been working

on

for

the

past several years is

ready to be test-flown. The call was to

ask me to

come

up to

Oshkosh and

test-fly the airplane.

Once, like 28-plus years

ago-egad,

a lifetime

ago-I

was

the

highest-time

Swallow mail plane pilot alive.

It's history now,

but in

1968 two antiquer friends

and myself

discovered

this

old 1926

biplane

hanging

from

the

ceiling

of

a commercial trucking

garage

on

Chicago's

near

north

side. I t had

been

there since 1933,

but I'm

getting ahead of myself.

The man

wouldn't

sell

it to us even though we

offeredhimthetremendous

sum of a thousand dollars.

After several

months went

by and the pot sweetened,

he still wouldn't budge.

Finally, after

almost

two

years, with his building at risk because

I

had to pay

back

the

friends we

had

touched for the $3,500 in small bills.

It is now

1972.

By this time, I

was

up to my

ears. I'd taken on the

presidency

of

the new

EAA Antique

and

Classic Division, and that coupled

with

my

flying

reserve

on United

Airlines DC-8s left precious little time

for airplane restorations.

We stored the airplane, in pieces,

along with the two engines and some

transportation section.

I

got involved

in

this restoration

and that led to my discovery that I had

a Swallow in storage.

What

was a Swallow? Well, we're

back to where I started.

The Swallow was

the

first airplane

to begin contract airmail service

in

1926

when

the

Post

Office

let

contracts to private operators to

feed airmail into the mainline they


30/36

HOMEBUILDER WORKSHOP

SCHEDULE

Oct.

16 17 Corona, C

TAKE SOME OF THE EXPERIMENTING

OUT

OF HOMEBUILDING

HANDS-ON

(LA Area)

• Sheet Metal Basics • Fabric Covering

• Composite Construction

• Electrical Systems and

Av

ionics

Oct. 22 24 Lakeland, FL

• RV Assembly

(Sun 'n Fun

Campus)

Nov . 5-7

Griffin, G

• TI We lding

(Atlanta Area)

to become United Airlines.

Now yo

u know why the Swallow

suddenly became

an important

part of

the

United

Airlines 50th

anniversary

proceedings. And yours truly was right

in

the

middle of it al

l.

I

had the

football, so I was elected

to carry it.

Since very little had

been

done to

res tore our Swallow, I was taken off

flight duty

and

given the assignment to

get it done in time to re-enact the first

flight

of

Varney Airlines at the exact

time, over

the

same route, etc.

That's another long story we won t

re late here. I t

was

one

crisis

after

another,

and

we came within an eyelash

of failure when we lost our only Wright

J-4 Whirlwind engine three days before

we were to

fly

the mail.

So here we were again. The United

Airlines

Historica

l

Foundation had

underwritten the restoration of

EAA's

Swa llow,

and

it had

been

put

into

the

airmail configuration

and

livery

of one of those firs t Varney Airplanes.

The restoration,

under

the prodding

and pu

shing

of Paul Poberezny

and

through the efforts of

EAA

restoration

staff members, was now complete. The

time

had

come

for the test flights and

the

FAA-designated fly-off time.

I got the job.

Back

in 76,

our

test-f l ight

program

was much

the

same as far

as

restrictions and time

allotment

went.

Fifteen

ho

u

rs

in a deSignated

practice area, expl

oration

of

the

flight

enve

lope, CG parameters, numerous

landings, and the

usual air work like

sta ll

s,

slow flight,

max

and

minimum

speeds, and

whatever. We

were


31/36

on we had it made

this one flies just like mine did .

EAA s Swallow

came

with the

And fly it

did I stayed

in the

220

Continental.

Again, there

pattern

overhead

Oshkosh

for a

is a story

here.

The

engine

was

little more than

30

minutes.

Then

donated by one of our United

it was back to the

barn

to check

Airlines

Foundation

members

, for

obvious engine

oil leaks

and

retired captain Clay Lacy,

and

was

any

other

problems that

might

built up by the son of

a

retired

need

attention.

United engineering test pilot who

There were none None,

mind

specializes in engine overhau

l.

This

you.

It was a real

tribute to

the

project, much like the first

one,

boys

who did the work. Th

e

has been a United family affair.

engine

was running

fine-no

oil

Take a look at the pictures

of

loss, no temperature

problems,

the finished Swallow. It

is

a beauty.

no

t

hing

to do

but

get in some

They didn't look that good in 1926,

more time.

I

put almost

five

that's

for

sure. The luxury of an electrical

system, radio, and a reliable engine were

lacking, but this one has it

all.

My

EM

ground crew

and

builders,

Gary Buettner

and

Colin Hildebrandt,

hovering

over me like fathers over a

new baby, briefed me

on

what, where,

and

how

. Gary

gave me

a

cockpit

checkout,

and

explained he'd kick my

butt

if I

did

anything to hurt his

airplane, and the time had come.

Two blades and the engine started A

call to Oshkosh tower for taxi clearance

and

there was

no

turning back.

Ru n -up was

normal,

controls

checked, gas on , altimeter

and

trim set,

I'm out of excuses.

Cleared for takeoff, slight crosswind,

open the throttle

and

it was just like 28

years ago.

Ground

run less than a hundred

feet

acceleration

and climb like

a

skyrocket. Stiff ailerons, good

rudder

control. Am I really in 2004?

Can't

be;

hours on it in

the

next two days with

frequent

back-to

-

the-barn trips

for

inspections

and

more fuel.

I explored

the

entire envelope and,

if I could as easily erase the years

and

say I was back in '76, I wouldn't be the

unhappiest guy in the world for sure.

I f

this story

interests you, I'll

have

more to

tell about

the

trials

and

tribulations

of that

'76

event;

meanwhile,

EAA

has a

Sw

a

llow,

and it's

over to you. ........

W. VI

••

.

~ ~

hese are

thefirst

tools you need

to buy when you c o v r your

ai

rplane. Anyone who has used them

ERO

CL SSIC

COLLECTOR SERJES

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tune to the excitin g tim es in aviation.

No t only do these ti res set your vintage plane apart f rom


32/36

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AIRCRAFT

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Char les W. Harris

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33/36

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Cl

ass

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r

10 words

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ve

rt

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10

is

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g

date fo

r

the Ma

rch

issue

).

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i

sing in

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Rates cover

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payme nt

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Inc

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, complete address , type of

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and

expiratio

n date . Make

checks

payable to EM . Address

advertising correspondence

to

EM Publicat

ions

Classified Ad Manager, PO. Box 3

086

,

Oshkosh

, WI 54903-3086

BABBITT

BEARING SERVICE

- rod

Warner

engines. Two 165s, one fresh

bearings, main bearings , bushings,

O.H., one low time on Fairchild 24

master

rods, valves,

piston

rings. mount with all

accessories.

Also

Call us Toll Free 1-800-233-6934,

He lton Lark and Aeronca C-3 project.

e-mail ramremfg@aol com Website

Find

my name

and

address

in

the

www.ramengine

co m VIN TAGE

Officers and Directors listing and call

ENGINE MACHINE WORKS, N. 604

evenings. E. E. "Buck" Hilbert.

FREYA ST., SPOKANE, WA 99202

Flying wires available. 1994 pricing.

Airplane T-Shirts

Visit

www.flyingwires.com

or call

150 Different Airplanes Available 800-517 -9278.

WE PROBABLY

HAVE

YOUR

AIRPLANE

For Sale

-

1939 Spartan Executive,

www.airpianetshirts.com

3500TT, 10 SMOH. 214-354-6418.

1-800-645-7739

LOCKHEED

12A

PARTS WANTED

THERE'S JUST NOTHING LIKE IT -

Looking for parts, memorabilia,

ON THE WEB

articles,

photos of

anything related

www.aviation-giftshop.com

to 12A for restoration project. E-mail:

A Website with the

Pi

lot in Mind whittlesey4@cox net

or 940-285

(and

those who love airplanes) 1155

I

Th e following lis t of

co

min

g events is

furnished to our readers as a matter of

informa tion only and do

es

not consti-

tute approval, sponso rship, invol

ve

ment

co

ntrol or dir

ec

tion of any eve

nt

fl y-

in,

seminars, fly

mark

et, etc.) lis ted . To

r

: · ~ s i i ~ ~ - - - J MH


34/36

Robert

rist

Chicago,

IL

_ Private pilot since 1988

_ 55 hours

flying time

_ Waco

owner since

a

Vintage Airplane - Oct 2004

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Transcript of Vintage Airplane - Oct 2004