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EDITORIAL STAFF
Pu b l isher
November1996 Vol. 24,No. 11
ONTENTS
Straight &Level/
Es
pi
e"Butch"Joyce
lC
News/H.G.Frautschy
3 Aeromail
4 TheAAAFly-In/
H.G.
Frautschy
andPaulPoberezny
6
The
Marion Fly-In /C ruise-In/
Ra yJohn so n
8 VintageAircraft Markings/
H.G
.Frautschy
10 Mys
te r
yPlane/H.G.Frautschy
12 TypeClubNotes/NormPetersen
13
ommandin
gPresence/
H.G. Frautschy
17 WicksPiperColt/
NormPeter
se
n
21 Helpsand Hints/BradHindall
22
What
Our
Member
s
AreRestoring/NormPetersen
24 Pass
I t
ToBuckl
E.E."Buck"Hilbert
26
WelcomeNewMembers/
alendar
27
VintageTrader/
Membership
Information
Page4
Tom
Poberezny
Editor
-
in
-
Chief
JackCox
Editor
Henry
G.
Frautschy
Manag
i
ng
Ed i
tor
GoldaCox
ArtDirector
MikeDrucks
Compute
r
Graphic
Specialis
ts
Olivia
L.
Phillip
JenniferLarsen
MaryPremeau
AssociateEditor
NormPetersen
FeatureWriter
DennisParks
StaffPhotographers
Jim
Koepn ic k M ik eStein
eke
CarlSchuppel KenLichtenburg
Advertising
/
Editorial
Assi
stant
Isabelle
Wiske
EM
ANTIQUE
/CLASSIC DIVISION ,INC,
OFFICERS
President
Vice-President
Espie'Butch 'Joyce GeorgeDaubner
P.O.Box35584 2448LoughLane
Greensboro,NC27425
Hart1ord,WI 53027
910/393-0344 414/6735885
Secretary
Treasurer
SteveNesse
E.E.'Buck'Hilbert
2009Highland
Ave
. P.O.Box424
AlbertLea,MN56007 Union,
IL
60180
507/373-1674 815/923-4591
DIRECTORS
John
Berencff
RobertC."Bob' Braue r
7645EchoPointRd. 9345S Hoyne
CannonFalls,MN
55009
Chicaw,
IL 60620
507/263-2414 312/ 792105
Phil Coulson
JohnS.Cope land
28415
Springbrook
Dr.
283Williamsbur8Ct .
Lawton,
MI49065
Shrewsbury,MA 1545
616/624-6490 508/8427867
Charles
Harris
StanGomoll
7215East
46thSt.
1042
90thLane,
NE
Tulsa,OK 74145
Minneoolis,MN
55434
918/622-8400
61
/784-1172
DaleA.Gustafson
JeannieHill
7724
Shady
HillDr.
P.O.Box328
Indianapolis,
IN 46278
Harvard,IL 60033
317/293-4430
815/943-7205
Robert
l i c k t e i
Robert
D.
'Bob' Lumley
1708Boy
Oaks
r.
1265 South124th
St.
Albert
Lea,
MN
56007
Brookfield.
WI 53005
507/373-2922
414/7822633
Dean
Richardson
Geoff
Rob
is
on
P
age
13
Page17
FRONTCOVER
Oneofthe
creations
thethetalentedaero-engineer
AlbertVoellmecke.
asbuilt
by
the
ArkansasAircraft
wast
heCommand
Aire
3C
-3.
This example.restored
by Tom
Brown.Unity.WI
andownedby
Art
Know
les.Jacksonboro.TX wasbr
ought
toEM
Oshkosh
'96,
EM photoby
JimKoepnick,
sho
twitha
Canon
EOS-ln
equipped
with
an
----' 80-200mmlens. 1/250sec@tll on 100ASAslidefilm. Cessna
210photo
planeflown
by
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STRAIGHT LEVEL
t is hard to believe it is November already . The leaves
are just beautiful here
in
the foothills
of
North Carolina this
year, but if you haven't seen them by now, it is too late as
the wind and rain we are now having is taking its toll by
stripping the trees . This does , however, give people who are
looking for something to do the job of gathering up those
leaves and disposing of them. Each year I have the fun of
disposing
of
about two dump truck loads.
r
am writing this just before going to the airport to fly my
Baron to Oshkosh for the fall Board meeting. I was looking
at the weather last night and thinking back on how many
trips
r
have made to Oshkosh for meetings. t seems that the
best I can recall is this will be my 89th trip for a board
meeting. Brad
Thomas, past
president of your
Antique/Classic Division who passed away this past year,
and Morton Lester, an EAA Foundation Board member and
past Antique/Classic Director, both live in the same general
area I do and
in
the past we'd trade
off
rides when going to
these meetings. The trips we made together were often an
adventure in themselves. I could spend a lot
of
time telling
you some war stories about them
There are
a
number
of Board
members
who have
volunteered more trips than I have by virtue
of
their long
time service to the board. I have enjoyed, and continue to
by Espie Butch Joyce
some areas of the country, but it certainly is not coming to a
halt. After Thanksgiving, as advertised
in
your VINTAGE
AIRPLANE, there is the Vintage Weekend held at the
Ocean
Reef
Club located
just
north of Key Largo, Florida.
They will have some
of
the most beautiful vintage wooden
boats and vintage autos you've ever seen on di splay, and last
year was the second time for vintage airplanes. The Ocean
Reef has its
own private airport,
managed by
Antique/Classic member and Swift
owner
Denny Moore.
Denny
is
responsible,
in
a large part, for the vintage aircraft
owners being invited for this fun weekend.
If
you want a
weekend of fun , sun, great seafood and fellowship, this is
the place to be. Norma and I will be there again this year;
come and join us. If you're interested, you need to give
them a call as soon as possible, since the normal deadline for
an RSVP has passed - perhaps they can still accommodate
you. Call Marcy Kilby, 305/367-5874 for more information.
You may wish to review the ad on page 29
in
last month s
Vintage Airplane before you call.
Also in December, the First Flight Society and the Man
Will Never Fly Society will meet
at
Kitty Hawk, North
Carolina December 16-17, to honor the anniversary of the
Wright brothers ' first flight on December 7 , 1903. As you
might have already concluded, the First Flight Society is the
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A C N WS
compiled
by
H.
G
Fraut
schy
12 140 FUEL CAPS
In the September issue
of
the Interna
tional Cessna
1201140
Association
s
newsletter, Neal Wright
of
Sunnyvale, CA
wrote a lengthy article detailing the haz
ards
of
using a Cessna "half vented fuel
cap on those Cessna
1201140
' s that require
the fully vented type of cap.
The
fully
vented cap used on the 120 and 140 is not
interchangeable with the cap meant for use
on the 140A and later model Cessnas. We
can ' t go into all the details here, but
if
you
are using that s tyle cap on a 120 or 140
(it's
OK
on the later models), which is eas
ily identified by a silicone tank vent valve
built into the section
of
the cap that ex
tends into the tank, you are at risk to have
a
fu
el starvation incident, should the valve
stick and prevent air from entering the tank
as fuel
is
burned off.
This
is
an excellent example illustrating
why
it is
such a good idea to belong to the
type club for your airplane
.
Why go
it
alone? Take advantage
of
the collective
knowledge
of
people who have been there
and
done that To
join
,
contact
Bill
Rhoades , the editor
of
the International
Cessna 1201140 Association' s new sletter
at Box
830092
,
Richardson,
TX 75083-
0092 or call 6 2 /652 2221. His E-mail is
pilotl40
@AOL.com.
If
you'd
like to buy
a back issue
of
the September newsletter,
call
Be
Be Owen at 407/595 9562.
TYPE CLUB LIST
Once again, we will publish a list of the
Type Clubs
who
have contacted
us
over
fered
in
a fund raising raffle sponsored by
the Don Luscombe Aviation Historica
l
Foundation
(DLAHF).
The drawing for
the raffle was held during the Copperstate
EAA Regional Fly-In
in
Mesa, AZ on Oc
tober 12, 1996. Sanford, who owns a Lus
combe, purchased his tickets several
months
earlier
in a
effort
to
add
his sup
port to the work done by the DLAHF.
This was the fourth time the raffle has
been held, and a fifth Luscombe 8E will be
raffled
off
in 1997,
and
as in
years past
,
there
is
a limit of 2,800 tickets that will be
sold. Tickets for the 1997
drawing
are
now
available
at $40 each or 3 for $ I 00 .
Proceeds from the raffles have funded the
preservation
of
the Luscombe Type Cer
tificate and the production of needed parts.
Other prize winners
in
the
drawing
were:
Thomas Brennan, Oil City,
PA
- a GPS
receiver
W.F. Surgi , Rockville, MD - an ICOM
hand held transceiver
William Loomis
,
Chattadoy
,
WA
- a
$400 parts credit from the DLAHF
Charles Harrison
and
Orlo Ellison -
Luscombe Comprehensive Maintenance
Manuals
Kent Wilson and
Mr. Hard -
Coffee
table book The Luscombe by Saletri
Anthony Kulikowski, James Klover-
strom, Robert Fowler, Dennis Feltin - Vi
sions
of
Luscombe book by Jim Zazas
The Foundation produces
FAA
I
PMA s
parts using many of the original tools pur
chased with the funds generated from the
chased four tickets
to
benefit
the
Swift
Foundation.
A
big contributor
to this
year
' s raffle was Dr. Mike McCutcheon,
who was able to donate half of his invest
ment,
in
addition
to
half
of the cost of
completing Swift N80570 so
it could be
offered in the drawing. Mark hasn't im
mediately accepted the Swift, since he cur
rently has three. He and his accountant are
checking how it might be possible to do
nate the
Swift
back to the Swift Founda
tion, so that
next
year
there could
be
a
drawing for two Swifts, one stock and the
other modified. We'
ll
keep you posted.
Our congratulations to both the DLAHF
and
Swift Foundation for
their
proactive
approach to dealing with the problems fac
ing the production
of
replacement parts for
their respective aircraft, and their work to
preserve
the
heritage
to
these
two
great
Classic aircraft.
S
WEDI
SH SPIRIT OF
ST
LOUIS
lC Secretary Steve Nesse recently re
ceived
a
letter from Pierre Hollander of
Prastgardsvagen 8, S-74637 Balstra Swe
den, phone 46 0 171-59355 . Pierre
is
pro
ceeding with the construction
of
a Spirit of
St. Louis replica, with the wing ready for
covering, along
with all the control sur
faces. All the steel is
welded,
including
the fuselage and landing gear.
He
has the
control system ready, as well as an engine
and propeller, and he even has a working
Earth Inductor
Compass
. Right now, he
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VINTAGE
AeroMail
MORE FRANKLIN DISCUSSION
Mr. K C Ostronik,
This is in response to your letter in the
September Vintage Airplane. I can't help
you with
any
info
on
the Lycoming-to
Franklin cylinder mod, but as a Stinson
108
owner
I
sure
know
your problems
with
Franklin parts availability. A few years
ago, I had some success with an
outfit
called Carl Baker Co. in Van Nuys, CA at
least for my Franklin 6 A4-150-B3. I'm
not sure if they have parts for your model,
but
alot of Franklin parts are common
among several models. The address is :
Carl Baker Co.
209280 Osborne St
Canoga Park, CA 91304
8181786-3120
Are you aware that PZL in Poland, who
owns the Franklin type certificates, is now
producing the 6A-350, a 220 hp model that
I think was a growth of your model before
Franklin was sold. Perhaps you could get a
one time approval for the Seabee
without
too much problem. It might be worth the
research. As a Franklin owner I was con
tacted by the U.S. distributor for the PZL
Franklin, who happens to be located
near
me. PZL has no plans to support my en
KIDS, DON'T TRY THIS
AT HOME . . .
Dear Sir,
I have just finished reading Amazing
Float Recovery by David Mathison in
Vintage Airplane of August 1996 and it re
called
an experiment
I
made during the
'50s.
I had read about a pilot who crashed af
ter a failure in the elevator controls, who
tried to land using only the trim tab.
My friend Todd
Crow
owned
a
Lus
combe
8-F and
we talked about how to
solve such a problem.
We used his
Luscombe
and I set the
trim in full nose up position and started the
takeoff
roll. As soon as the wheels were
off
the ground, I took my hands and feet
off
the controls. The nose started to rise and as
soon as the nose reached a good climb an
gie I retarded the throttle to keep the nose
from rising too far.
Then in a climbing and mushing attinlde
we climbed to traffic altitude, reduced
throttle and pushed the left door open par
tially open. The plane heeled over in a left
turn and at the proper time we closed the
door
and opened the right
door
to roll out
level on the crosswind leg.
For the turn to downwind , we repeated
the use
of
the doors, and again on the turn
to base and final , while using throttle to
control altitude. On final , I set up a mush
from Kaunas University of Technology run
by A. Ziliukas has proposed an idea to re
build A Gustaitis aeroplane ANBO-41.
This aeroplane would be useful not only in
Lithuania during aviation festivals, but
helping
keep the memory of General A.
Gustaitis it would be possible to fly around
the Earth and
visit
the fairest Lithuanian
colonies. This would be an extension
of
A
Gustaitis' idea to fly around not only Eu
rope , but the World . This wouldn't be
so
me record
flight ,
but
reminding
the
younger generation about the
name of
Lithuania. This idea was approved by the
Kaunas Department of Lithuanian Culture
Foundation , Aviation Museum,
Hauna
s
Aviation Plant
,
Aviation museums
have
done much
of
the
work preparing
draft
s
(drawings?) of the aeroplane. With the
help of sponsors we will solve the ques
tions of material. But we do have a prob
lem
with an
engine, without
which we
can't
even talk about the rebuilding of an
aeroplane.
That's
why we appeal to you with a re
quest for advice. We have heard that there
are such engines.
If
you have information
or
know where we could get it,
we'd
like to
obtain an Bristol Pegasus .X I part I.M3
1000-1 100 .
Please contact:
prof. A Ziliukas
Kestucio 27
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vlS l fS fH
August 3
by Paul Poberezny
ly In
eptember 2
1996
and H.G. Frautschy
One of
the point
s
of attr
a
ction
on Antique Airfield
are the
AAA
s
hangars housing
their ex
t
en
sive
collect
ion
of
Antiqu
e ai rplanes.
(Above) AAA Founder and President Robert
L. Taylor and EAA
Founder and
President
Paul
Poberezny
after Paul s
arrival
via
his
Harley Davidson.
In response to an invitation extended
by Brent
Taylor
, Executive Director of
the Antique Airplane Association, EAA
founder and chairman
of
the board, Paul
Poberezny and many of the Directors of
the EAA Antique/Classic Division trav
e led to
AAA
s
Antique
Airfield in
Blakesburg, IA over the
Labor
Day
weekend for the annua l AAA/APM In
vitational Fly-In.
The AAAlAPM fly- in br
in
gs together
a variety
of
AAA members who are v
in
tage airp lane enthusiasts and th
eir
air
planes for an extended weekend of shar
ing o ld
airpla
ne
experie
n
ces
and
discussing relevant issue
s
Brent invited
the folks from the EAA to enjoy the fly
in and partake
in
a
di
scussion regarding
maintenance
concerns that effect An
tique, Classic and other older aircraft.
In
1996, EAA and AAA have had a series
of discussions regarding these issues, in-
cluding how to
present
our collective
views to the FAA.
The
meeting, held in o ne of the Air
Power Museum
s
hangars, was attended
by a large number of attendees, and was
opened by Bob Taylor, who founded the
AAA in 1953 and serves as its president,
had a few opening remarks before intro
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
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(Above
and right)
Brent
Taylor
,
Executive
Director
of
the
AAA ,
speaks
t o
the crowd
about
the
mainte-
nance
is
sues
that are confronting the pilot/owners of
older
airplane
s. EAA
and
AAA have
had
a continuing
series
of discussions regarding these issues, includ
i
ng
how
to
present our collective views to the FAA as
a group.
ducing
Paul Poberezny to
the
as-
sembled crowd.
Paul made some remarks to his
fellow aviators regarding the issues
we all face including an FAA that
has become too politically
moti-
vated,
and efforts
being made to
keep the costs down
of
maintaining
a personal airplane. Paul and Bob
then retired to Bob 's office where
he and Paul reminisced for a couple
of hours about the past successes of
their respective organizations.
Brent Taylor chaired the meet
ing held in one
of
the APM hangars
with
discussions centered around
many
maintenance
issues. IC
Treasurer E.E.
Buck
Hilbert ad
dressed the
group
concerning the
items that have been included in the
ongoing ARAC meetings.
Attending
the Fly-In
were
IC
Directors Gene
Chase and his wife
Dorothy Bob Brauer Phil Coulson
and his wife Ruth Da le Gustafson
and Secretary Steve Nesse.
Of
course there were plenty of
other
things
to do during the laid
back event including visiting with
fellow pi lots of antiques and check
ing out the Air Power Museum the
AAA's collection ofrare antiques
that include
the
one and only
re-
main ing General Aristocrat an al
most complete collection
of
Aeron
cas and the sole remaining Welch
OW-So
The museum alone
is rea
son enough
to
visit
the field
even
outside
of
the Fly- In dates .
It wasn t all work and no play -
after
al l, the
AAA and
EAA Ale Division are dedicated to keeping the an -
t iques flying , and informing those who enjoy them.
The
Wallace
Touroplane (above) of Bill Jowetts made
an
appearance. This Meyers
OTW (below, left),
regis
tered to Dale Benskin, Marshalltown, IA was present,
as well as
the
Hisso
powered
Travel Air (below) flown
by owner Dennis Trone. Over 200
antiques
,
classics
and homebuilts
(and their pilots ) descended
on An-
tique
Airfield
for
the AAA National
Fly-In.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
8/36
The
Sixth
Annual Marion,IN
Fly-In/Cruise-In
by R
ay
L John so
n
(Above) Roy Foxwor
thy and his
Johnson
A Charity
fly in
might be
just
the
Rocket
flew
up
from
Columbus,
IN.
ticket for
some
local good
will
The pilot
of
th
is Stins o
V-77 ,
George
Moc
k, le
people
who
were
so in
cl ined to hop
up
in
si
d
and take
a l
ook
a t
th
e
big
cabin
a irplane fro
the
40's .
The idea for the Fly-in /
Cruise-In
started in June
of
1991. Our daughter was
in
the Marion High School Marching Band,
and they were in need of a major fund
raiser. There 's a lot of interest in antique
and
classic automobiles
in our area,
per
haps encouraged by the fact that a movie
legend,
the perfect
tough guy, actor
sixth annual
event.
The weather, thank
fu
ll
y was perfect, and we had 175 aircraft
of all types and 225 vintage vehicles, with
the cars and planes parked amongst one an
o
th
er for the general public to enjoy. All of
the registered participants received a dash
plaque. Between the the genera l pub lic
and the pilots who flew in with their pas
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
9/36
Pam Workman zipped
over from
Zanesville, OH
with this custom
7EC Champ restored
by
her husband Paul.
Walter Best s
S t e a rman
certainly had
the crowd in
terested in
f ront
of the
h a n g a r s
He
s
from In
dianapolis.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
10/36
Antique/Classic
Aircraft
Markings
by H.G. Frautschy
You' re in the home stretch
in
your restora
ti
on pro
j
ec
t, rea
ll
y makin g head way and about to fi nish the
painting, when you rea
li
ze yo u haven ' t dec ided h
ow
you' re go ing to layout the reg istration numbers. How
big do they need to be? Where do th ey go? What do
th e regs say? You'd have to look at Subpart C - Na
ti
onali ty a nd Reg ist ra
ti
on Marks under 45.22 Exhi
bition, antique, and other a ircraft: Spec ial rul
es for
the de ta il s. Fo r the part that co nce rns mos t of us, it
reads:
(b) A sma
ll
U.S. -registered aircraft bui lt
at
least 30
years ago or a U.S.-registered aircraft for which an ex
per i
men
ta l cert if icate h
as
been i
ssued
und e r
1.19 1 d) or 21. 19 1 g) fo r operation as an exhibition
aircraft
or
as a n amateur-built aircraft and which has
the same exte
rn
al configura
ti
on as an aircraft built a t
least 30 years ago may be operated without
di
splaying
marks in accordance with 45.21 and 45.23 through
45.33 if:
( I) It displays in accordance w
it
h 45.2 1 (c)
marks at least 2 inches high on each side o f the
fu
se
lage or ve rtica l ta il surface co nsisting of the Roman
capita l le
tt
er N foll owed by:
12 inch
numbers
such as these are not required unle
ss
you plan
to
f ly
(i)
The U.S. reg istra
ti
on num ber of the air-
through an ADIZ or DEWIZ,
as well
as in a
foreign country.
Even then,
you
can
mark your aircraft with temporary registration markings
if
you
' re
plan
craft;
or
nin
g on making that international trip , or you plan on
transiting coas
ta l
( ii ) T he sy
mb
ol appropr iate to the airwo r
airspace. Adhesiv
e
tape that
will
not blow
off
is
all
that is requi
red
fo
r
you
r
thiness certificate o f th e a ircraft ( C , standard; R ,
te
mporary markings.
By
the way,
although
the
ICAO
standards
call
ou
t f
or
res tri cted; L , limited; or X , ex perim enta l) fo l
12
numbe
rs, t
he
U.S.
and
Canada have a
gentleman
's agr
eement
that
al
lowe d b y th e U.S. reg istration numbe r of the aircraft ;
lows their aircraft to
enter
the U.S. with 6 letters and wing markings, wh ile
and
Canada will
allow
aircraft at least 30 years old to enter
with
2 numbers.
(2)
It di sp l
ays
no
ot
h
er
mark that beg ins
Even if you 're using a custom color scheme on you r restoration , you can use
with the letter N anywhere o n the aircraft, unless it
the mark
ings
appropriate to
when
your airplane was built. In this
Champ
's
is the sa me mark that is di splayed under parag raph
case , a
vertica
l stack of 2 letters and numbers on
the
rudder wou ld be a
c-
cept able. Check
with
your type c lub
fo
r
the
t y
pe and
size of
the
mark i
ngs
(b)( I)
of
this section .
used on your
aircraft
when it
wa
s
first
built.
It goes on to ex
pl
ain what is needed if yo u wish to
fl
y your 30-year-old or old
er
airpl ane in an ADIZ o r
DEWI Z, as we ll as in a foreign co untry. (A lth ough
th e ICAO standards ca ll out for 1
2
numbers, th e U.S.
and Canada have a ge ntleman
's
agreement that a
l-
lows
th
eir aircraft to e nter the U.S . with 6 letters an d
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
11/36
Barney Petersen's Fokker D.VII replica is able to use these small N numbers un
der the horizontal tail since it is a replica of
an
aircraft built more than
30
years
ago and how ). In fact, the markings do not have to feature this much contrast.
Antiques with
marking such as
this are able to be
marked as such
under authoriza
tion of FAR 45.22
(b) 1) (i and iiI.
Since
aircraft
such as this are
exempted from
comp
lying
with
FAR 45.21, the
registration can
have ornamenta
tion , and
it
can
also have little
contrast with the
background.
on this issue for 2 years with the FAA, and the AAA
was making their opinion known to the FAA as well.
Still, even after all these years, we sti
ll
routinely
receive
ca lls sta tin g
tha
t my loca l FAA in
spector
says I have to have
2
numbers. Here's the straight
skinny on
that - you
need
12 numbers only if you
plan to fly through an ADIZ or DEWIZ, as well as in
a foreign country. Even then, you can mark your air
craft with
temporary
12 regi
s
tration markings if
you're planning
on
making that internationa l trip, or
you plan on transiting coastal airspace. Adhesive tape
that will not
blow
off is all that is required for
your
temporary markings. Fo r aircraft over
30
years of
age,
that's
the
only
tim
e
2
numb
er s
are
required.
One other note - while you do have to put the reg
istration marks on the fuselage or vertical tail surface
(usually on the rudder or vertical fin) yo u don't have
to put the
large wing numbers
on. If
your airplane
was delivered with them, and you want to be authen
tic, you certainly will want to do it, but you
don't
have
to as far as the FAA
is
concerned.
Take
a look at the
photos
included in this article
for some explanation. Now one of the first things you
may notice is that a many of the
older
antiques have
registration
markings
that have more than the letter
N included. In those instances, you can use for jus
tification an FAA memo, number
N8 I
30.61, dated
2/3 /90
and penned by Dana D. Lakeman, who was
the Acting Manager, Aircraft Manufacturing Division,
Aircraft Certification Service. It reads
in
part:
An
antique aircraft
or replica of an antique air
craft described
in
FAR
45.22 (b)
may display
the
symbols appropriate to the airworthiness certificate
of
the aircraft as part of the nationality and registration
marks under the aircraft as part of the nationality and
reg istration marks under the regulation. The capital
letter N followed by either a
C ,
(standard);
R ,
(restricted); L , (limited); or X , (experimental) fol
lowed by the U.S. registration numbe r of the aircraft.
When these marks are included with the nationality
and registration marks they add to the authenticity of
antique and amateur-built copies of antique aircraft.
However,
if
these symbo ls are added to the nationality
and reg istrat ion marks displayed on the aircraft, they
do not become part
of the official aircraft registration
numbers.
Now I realize that this
is
exactly as spelled out pre
viously
in the regulations, but there was apparently
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
12/36
copter procurement
at
that
time was Col. Keith Wilson
and hi s
had
~ r r ~ ~ = = = = i i i i i i 1 r ~ ~ ~ = =
by H C
rautschy
The
August
Mystery Plane was a
helicopter
and
it was well
known
to many
you particularly
to
someone
who 1 had hoped
would write in - James Ricklefs, a long-time le Division member.
James was one
of
the principles ill the company that bui lt the twill
rotor helo ill the photo. Here s his Ilote:
LANDGRAF HELICOPTER
COMPANY
A Short History Compiled by James S
Ricklefs, AlC 964
Fred
Landgraf
started in 1941 to de
velop
the experimental Model H-2 heli
copter which was a single-place proof of
concept design, built of wood and powered
with an 85 hp Pobjoy English engine. At
that time Fred was working at Douglas' EI
Segundo plant as a landing
gear
and hy
draulics group leader. He quit Douglas
in 1943 to work on the helicopter full
time at home . r joined Fred in 1944 as
his vice president, and also invested some
money
in
the com
pany. We looked
around and found
an
abandoned gaso
line filling station at 8024 S Western Ave.
in
Los Angeles, and with the backing of 55
stockholders and six shop men , we started
the machine on November 17 , 1944 when
one of the wooden hubs let go in forward
flight. He suffered a broken jaw and other
IIlJunes.
Landgraf
then set about designing a
metal rotor hub which was done in the In
dustrial Plastics
Corporation
building at
1440 West I 66th St., Gardena, CA. In the
spring
of
1945 the Army awarded Landgraf
a $50,000 contract for the development of
a rigid rotor blade system to be used on the
H-2 .The head
of Army heli
Landgraf sold forei gn manufacturing rights
to Firth Helicopters Ltd., London, England
for $100 ,000. This
gave
Landgraf th e
money to purchase 13 acres
of
land adja
cent to
the
Central Airport and build
an
80'by 108' brick office and shop building
at
13440 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles ,
CA.
Fred and I tried
hard to get one
of
the
large aircraft compa
nies in the area to con
tinue the project, as we
ran low on money. We
conferences with
Robert
E. Gross
of
Lockheed and many
others
,
but nothing
jelled. The English com
pany
was
also having money and
production troubles as can be seen in
the attached memo written by Landgraf for
the stockholders. (The letter to the share
holders details the concerns Landgraf had
about the overweight aircraft built by Firth
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
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The November Mystery plane comes
to us
from
the EAA archives. It s a ro
bust looking
biplane with an
interest
ing wing bracing arrangement and
we
await your answers. Replies must be
received
no
later
than December 26 ,
1996
to
be included in
the
February is-
sue
of
Vintage Airplane.
did anything with them as I recal
l.
Mag
ill died July 1986 in Texas at about age
76 after promoting two or three one-man
helicopters.
The Landgraf
company
was dis-
solved in 1952 after selling the land and
building to Robert Schultz. I continued
to rent from
Schultz
until 1955. Fred
died July 12, 1973 in San Diego after a
heart attack. Fred and I kept in touch
through the years.
In
early
luly
1973 he
sent me a long letter helping me with a
weight and balance problem I was hav
ing on the 1916 Spad VII airplane I was
restoring
in
my shop.
n d g r f
H 2
This Mys tery Plane was submitted b y
H
oward
l ung,
Mo
n
terey Park,
CA. Be
sides his des ign work on th e Lusco mbe 8
se ries, Howard was also par t of th e team
working on the Landgraf H 2. In hi s note
that he sent with the photos, he wrot
e:
. .
. e all
(6)
were
fe
llow engineers hired by
Douglas Aircraft-Northrop Division
in
El
Segundo CA.
Fred
Landgrafwas
our
group leader in the landing gear and hy
draulics section. On the side,
Landgraf
was designing a helicopter. e all were
interested and volunteered to work on this
project after hours doing
mostly
shop
work.
The H-2 was powered by an
85
hp Pob
joy
engine, and featured a pair
of
16
ft. in
termeshing, synchronized rotors, with the
helicopter 's attitude controlled by ailerons
built into the trailing edge
of
each rotor. It
had automatic collective pitch control.
(Increasing power resulted in increased
collective
pitch.)
There
was an override
for that system to
fine
tune the collec
tive pitch contro l, and to provide control
during autorotation.
The cockpit controls consisted of a sin
gle control stick and throttle. A later de
sign evolution of the H-2 tested a yaw sys
tem actuated by rudder peda ls in the
cockpit which extended spoi lers at the end
of each rotor blade. By adding drag to the
rotor disc on one side, an increased torque
load was applied to that rotor,
and
yaw
during hovering flight was possibl
e.
With
out the
added
control,
when
the H-2 was
brought into a hover, it would then weath
ercock into the wind.
The retractable
l
anding gear
had long
stroke oleos bu
il
t to soak up the impact
of
a power off
vertical
landing.
Landgraf
was
working
on
the
design of a pair of
larger helos based on the same configura
tion, but no one was interested
in
fronting
the money to put the design into existence
or production. Other correct answers were
recieved from Charley Hayes, New Lenox,
IL; Vi Smith, Uxbridge, Midd lesex, Eng
land; Lennart lohnsson, Eldsberga, Swe
den
Doug
Rounds,
Zebu
lon, GA; Ralph
Norte
ll
, Spokane, WA and Tim Wood, St.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
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ypeClub
NOTES
y
orm Peter
n
Compiled from various type club
publications
&
newsletters
Twin Beech Association Inc., Fountain
Valley C 714-964-4864
From the Beech Eagle Flyer, Sept. '96
" Perrone Leathers Tri-Gear 18 was a
big hit at Oshkosh.
If
we were
to
give an
award for extreme patience in restoring a
Twin Beech, certainly Bill Perrone, Senior
and Junior, would be the recipients. They
have had more frustrations than
anyone
of
us could stand, tim e after tim e they ran
into problems with
no
sol utions in hand.
They continued
to
pour money into their
flying , leather
di
splay airplane and never
gave
up
hop
e.
Their last anguish was that
they were upside down money wise in the
airplane. I assured them that they were
not
- th e proof came at
Oshkosh
as
hordes
of people came to
look
at the
prominently displayed airplane. More
than once, check books were pulled out
with offers to the Perrones to name their
price.
One person,
who shall remain
anonymous, wanted
to
be first
in
line and
said
he
would make whatever offer
it
took
to
buy
th
e airplane. Bill and Billy, smiled
proudly as they declined all offers. Billy
ran into a problem when servicing
the
nose gear hydraulic snubber cy linder.
Each time he did so, the right pilot 's mas
ter cylinder went soft. Any ideas? Billy
act ive bunch of ant ique and classic devo
t
ees
in and around the state of Oregon .
The president is Hal Skinner (541-746
3387) and the editor is Tom Bede ll (541
929-5598) with the address
of
the
club
li sted
as
P. O. Box
613, Creswell
,
OR
97426 . Annual due s
are
$10. The
October issue has an interesting member
profile on Don Harrell (EAA 53378)
of
P.
O. Box 205, Brownsville, CA 95919, writ
ten by Carol Skilmer.
"Don was born in Indiana in 1927 on a
farm
near
Monument
City that
is now
under water due to a flood control project.
He has lived in Brownsville, California,
for 12 years and after 17 moves during
hi
s
military career. he says
he
expects to die
there. Although it seems to him he has
only been
married a few
years,
Lucille
reminded him it has been 18 . Must be
wonderful years.
Do
n spent 23 years in the Air Force
sta rting as an aviation cadet but the war
ended. With a B.S. and an ROT C com
mission,
he
went back
to
flight school and
was a full-time pilot for 19 years. Service
as an officer was much more enjoyable.
"Solo
in
g in 1943
in
a brand new Piper
1 5
out of an Indiana cornfield, it was not
until 1945 that Don got his pilot's license.
He now holds commercial, s ingle & multi
Starduster Too.
I has heard that Don had done some
instructing outside the U.S. and thought it
would make interesting reading. First was
ferrying C-119s and setting up a school for
the Indian Air Force.
The
next year he
was a tactical helicopter instructor for the
Venezuelan Air Force. Then came two
years
as an
instructor
/
advisor
with the
Columbian
Air Force where he was the
only English speaking person in town
Shortly after Don a
nd
Lucille were mar
ried, the Shah of Iran advertised on the
Q.T. for single engine jet pilots and heli
copter pilots. Figuring
hi
s life expectancy
was better in the helicopter business, he
persuaded Lucille
to
give it a go.
" But then th e Shah lost his
job
and so
did Don. Says Don, "Getting out is a story
in
itself. Ross Perot is one of my heroes."
All this was followed by a stay in the Fiji
Islands.
"
Don
is
somewhat of an expert
on
Cessna 170s, having owned 14. Three
were
totally rebuilt
and
restored
to
absolute new condition. The only factory
jigs easi ly available to enab le a perfect
rebuild are
in
Porterville, California. The
cost of living there in a motorhome for
four to six weeks increases the cost
of
a
170 to $45,000-$50,000 and nobody wants
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Commanding
Presence
A Newly Restored OX-5 Powered 3C3
Highlights the Work of Pioneer Aero-Engineer Albert Voellmecke
by H.C. Frautschy
Albert
Voellmecke came to the
United
States from Germany during the economic
aftermath of World War I He'd been work
ing for
the
previous 12 years at the Ernst
Heinkel Airplane Works in
Wamemuende,
Germany
, but the
opportunities
in
German
aviation of the 1920' s were not what he de
sired.
In
the States,
aviation seemed
to be
ready
to burst
upon the
scene. Plenty of
Iightplane
work was
being
done in
Ger
many, under the restrictions of the Versailles
Treaty, but that didn ' t satisfy the ambitious
engineer. Incorporated
in
1926
, the
Arkansas Airplane Company
of
Little Rock,
AR was licensed
to
produce
the Heinkel
HD-40 , a mailplane the company intended t
to sell in the very active market of 1927. .
Part
of
the deal saw a very capable German
engineer come
to work for
the Arkansas
"
timl.
Voellmecke put the radiator for the OX-5
in
By 1927, Voellmecke was working in
the
nose of
the Command-A ire ,
giving
an
Little
Rock .
Appointed
the
company's
unobstructed view forward , and lessening
Chief
Engineer, he set about
laying
out a
the drag of the entire unit hanging out in the
new biplane that looked rather conventional.
breeze. Nothing comes free in aerodynam
I t was
one
of many from
that era
built to
ics , and this radiator placement was no ex
take advantage of the many surplus Curtiss
OX-5 engines still stockpiled in the U.S.
ception. It looked great, but airflow through
I f you
were standing
on the grass at an
it was
less
than it
would
be
if
it
were
airport in 1928 taking a look
over
your
mounted elsewhere. When the larger 150 hp
shoulder , its design didn't strike you as
Hisso engine was installed in a later model ,
something radically new, but a closer inves
the added heat generated exceeded the radia
tigation
after it had
been parked
and
shut
tor's
capacity, and
it
had to be moved to be
down revealed a well designed and thought
low the cowl, forward of the landing gear.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
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(Above) The
stabilizer of
the
Command-
Aire is adjustable form the cockpit. The
large
cuto
ut
for
the
stab
il
izer brace is
necessary since the entire structure for
t he stabi
li
zer is moved
when
a tr im
change is made.
A brass f uel cap and t
he
TASCO fue l
Below) The
only
instruments are
mounted at
the
forward end of
the
bath-
tub style cockpit, with
a
large crash pad
mounte
d
in
the front.
On
the
left is the
tachometer
and
water temperature
,
and
on the right is
the
height
indicator and
oil pressure
. A Johnson
airspeed indi
-
cator is mounted on
the r
ight
N
strut
, an
a
small
sw i
ng
down
compass is
i
ns
t alled
in
front of the
rear
seat
, to the left
of
the
aft crash
pad.
They hadn
't
learned about
shoulder harnesses back then.
ing of a few economists and businessmen.
Money was being spent, and the market
seemed limitless.
Priced at $3,350,
the
Command-Aire 3C3-T was deemed a good
ship, and at least 30
of
them were pro
duced, and another half-dozen or so exam
dress
of
Albert Voellmecke himself, then
living in Silver Spring, MD, Joe visited him
with a photo of the restored biplane in his
hand. Over a drink of cognac, when Araldi
casually menti oned that
he'd
like to build .a
replica
of
the Little Rocket, Albert made it
possible by supplying a set
of
drawings and
lending technical support to the building of
what he referred to as "Little Rocket No. 2."
First flown in 1990, it can be seen on display
at the Sun 'n Fun Foundation's Museum, on
Lakeland-Linder airport
in
Lakeland. Albert
Voellmecke passed away in June 5, 1994,
after having relived a past glory with the
flights of the new Little Rocket. Joe is now
restoring a 5C3 Command-Aire, a project he
readily admits had gotten under his skin.
The airplane has a soul," he remarked re
cently.
Noted antique airplane collector Andy
Anderson had a Command-Air 3C3 T in his
collection, and in 1976, he advertised the
basket
case
project in Trade-A-Plane.
None
of
the aircraft forward
of
the firewall
was included, but a set
of
wings good only
for patterns was there, along with a complete
fuselage, tail surfaces and landing gear. It
was stamped on the data plate as a C T
model, making it a bit rarer than a straight
3C3.
This particular 3C3 was built
in
March
of 1929 and sold a few months later on June
7 , 1929 to the Curtiss Wright Flying Club
in Kansas City, headquartered at the Presi
dent Hotel. Walter Briggs was the pilot who
picked it up and signed the papers for a bill
of
sale that had $3,421.95 as the list price,
and a 25% discount gave the final price as
$2,584. That figure included 44 gallons
of
gasoline at $13.20 (that's .30 a gallon) and
$6.26 for 5 gallons of oil (they must have
carried one gallon home, because the engine
only holds four gallons).
Delta Airlines Captain Art Knowles knew
what the ad
in
the yellow paper meant. He'd
been keeping an eye open for a Command
Aire project ever since seeing one
in
the pile
of
parts and pieces he helped antiquer John
Thurmon move to the now defunct Justin
Time airport near Dallas-Ft. Worth back in
the mid-1970's. Art also lived on the air
http:///reader/full/3,421.95http:///reader/full/3,421.958/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
17/36
To regulate the engine temperature the
cowl shutters open and shut. This set of
s
hutters
were handmade by Tom. The
radiator itself was made over a decade
ago by Forres t
Lovely.
With the OX 5
Tom
says the radiator i n
the nose
is
quite suffic
i
ent.
A
later model
with
the
Hisso
engine installed needed
more ra -
diator
area
so it
was
moved
to below
the cowling
in front
of the
landing gear.
pilot who also had a 3C3 he was restoring,
and between the two of them they amassed a
collection of photographs,
brochures,
and
other
information.
Fifteen years ago,
Art
asked Forrest Lovely to build up a pair
of
ra
diators, one for his airplane and the other for
the
Command-
Aire
owned by
his
friend
John Thurmon. That airplane is now owned
and flown by Dennis Trone.
The prop was also purchased early on in
the
restoration
,
carved by
Ole
Fahlin and
carefully stored until it was needed.
The
engine was
of
course , a problem.
Tom Hegy
had one in
Wisconsin,
and
Art
picked
up the parts
and pieces
of
a
couple
more OX s so that a complete engine could
be built up out of the collection. The only
thing he has not been able to locate
is
one of
the original Phylix fire extinguisher sys
tems installed by Command-Aire . Actuated
TX area. After completion, the wings were
carefully stored,
waiting
for the rest of the
project to catch up.
After that, another slowdown
in
the pro
ject was
created
when the
Justin Time
air
port was closed by Ross Perot and his sons,
who bought up a large tract
of
land to build
the Alliance Airport. To ensure its longevity,
the Perot's bought up much of the surround
ing property, precluding any additional de
velopment. The little residential airport was
in
that category, and everybody on it hadt to
l
ooking
back on it , he
says
it was the best
bus iness deal h
e s ever enga
ge d in. More
than that , he said it was the best friendship
deal he ever made. As soon as he saw how
Tom delved into the project and got on
it
im
mediately, Art knew the best thing he could
do to help
Tom
was to pay the bills and let
Tom do his thing.
And do his
thing
was wh a t Tom does
best. A
ll
of the sheet metal
in
the airplane is
flat wrap , with no
compound
curves in any
of it, save for the
spinner
cap, and all of it
was created by
Tom
in his shop. A master
ful restorer, he hand bu ilt the shutters
mounted in front
of
the radiator in the nose
cowl. Even the co w l hold down latches
were
built by Tom , using an original from
Dennis Trone s airplane as a guide.
The project also was aided by two of his
relatives.
Tom s
father Ed Brown was on
hand for those two-man operations, such as
the rigging of the airplane. With 4-1/2 de
grees of incidence
in
each wing, it cruises at
65 mph, and it flies as though it has a couple
of notches of flaps out at all times. The final
touche s, creating the painted
logo
on the
fuselage , were done by
Tom s
sister Donna
Seckler, who lives in the Minneapolis area.
A talented artist, she s done a few portraits
of the airplanes built by
Tom
, and she ll be
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
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Leonard has a reputation as one of the best
abrasive blasters in the area , and under
stands the difficulties presented to aircraft
restorers who need the
job
done quickly and
right, so that it can be driven home and im
mediately primed and painted. Tom says he
can work through an entire fuselage in about
2 1
2
hours, finding
any
flaws that are
no
ticeable with the naked eye, and he works as
fast as people can hand him the parts. Get
ting there
early
in the
morning meant
it
could be back in Tom's shop getting a coat
ofTenaco
epoxy paint and primer that same
afternoon. Obtained from Viking Paint in
Minneapolis, Tom swears by the stuff - in
expensive, it
is
as hard as nails and sticks to
steel well.
As a
side note,
all
of
the steel
tubing used in the Command-A ire is 4130,
not 1020 that was prevalent at
the time
it
was built.
All covering is with Ceconite and an STC'd
dope finish, with the wood fairing strips at
tached in place per the original with rib lacing
cord. As you can see
in
the photos, no addi
tional do-dads were added
to
the airplane (save
for a compass mounted on a small swing down
panel), and it
is
very original, leading one to
believe that the advertising numbers used for
empty weight were rather optimistic. 1410 Ibs
was listed in
promotional materials
as the
empty weight (early on, an article
in
Aero Di
gest gave it as
1275
Ibs. ). This airplane came
Art let
Tom
just zip along on the project
with minimal influence . The last time
he
saw
it
before it was completed and flying, it
was unpainted and still in pieces all over the
hangar. The
engine was scattered
all
over
the northern U.S., still being prepared for as
sembly. Later that year , while at home at
the ranch
,
Art
answered
the
ringing tele
phone, hearing what sounded like a thrash
ing machine on the other
end of
the line.
Hi, Art, said the cheerful voice on the
phone.
Art
knew then that the OX-5 was as
sembled
and
running in
the
airframe,
and
that the end
of
the project was in sight.
I don't have to be there for
the
first
flight," he told Tom. When you've got it
done
and
happy with it, get it in the air.
That's
exactly what he did, and it
wasn't
un
til three days before EAA Oshkosh
'96
that
Art got to see the completed airplane. One
of the nice things about restoring this partic
ular
Command-Aire
was the fact that
Tom
was able to have the Milwaukee FSDO do a
conformity inspection on the airplane, rather
than needing a visit from the Minneapolis
FAA engineering office, which would have
taken more time. Why?
This palticular airplane was issued an air
worthiness
certificate
on an annual basis,
until 1953. With an original of the last cer
tificate, all that was required to put the air
plane
back in the air was a conformity in
spection. That saved quite
a
bit of time
vane type indicator was often bought and in
stalled by the pilot.
When the appointed time came, Art ar
rived over Tom's grass strip in north central
Wisconsin in
his
Cessna 180. The Com
mand-Aire looked pretty
good
sitting in
front of the
hangar
as he
circled
above.
When he taxied up and got a close up look,
he said he was
speechless
- the
completed
airplane was simply beyond his comprehen
sion, it was so pretty to look at. The weather
didn't
cooperate for three days, but finally
it
relented enough to allow the pair to fly the
Command-Aire to the Convention. The trip
down to Oshkosh wasn't without its thrills.
During the early portion of the flight af
ter it had been running for a hour or so, the
OX-5 hiccupped a couple
of
times, as it had
done once or twice before. Investigating the
problem before they departed didn ' t tum up
anything out of the ordinary, but over the
Wisconsin River, the OX-5 decided to stop
running for a few
seconds.
Art
thought
it
was all over, since whatever
you're
over is
where you're going to land in an antique bi
plane like the Command-Aire. Thankfully ,
it
picked back
up again.
Tom
had a deter
mined look on his face and pointed the air
plane ahead, looking for a strip that he knew
of, one that was not on the map.
They
landed at the duster
strip
used by
Tom Hegy, who had supplied the basic en
gine a few years before. The two Toms and
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
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8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
20/36
Highly detailed and immaculate eng
i
ne compartment of
the
Piper Colt
reveals
ded
i
cation to or
iginali
ty
. Individual
primer
lines
to each cylin
der ar
e visible
as
well as new
Slick magnetos and shielded harne
ss.
Often referred to as a sleeper
in
the con
temporary class, and probably one
of
the
best
aircraft for the
money
on the
used
market, the Piper PA-22-1 08 Colt comes
from good lineage. It s a sister to the Piper
Tri-Pacer and a first cousin to all the other
short-wing Pipers.
With
Cessna making large inroads on
the training market in the late 1950 s with
their Model 150, Piper decided to bring out
a bare bones trainer that was low in
cost
and economical to operate. The result was
the PA-22-1 08 Colt that a number
of
flight
schools put on the line and
many
pilots
earned their wings in this two-p lace , tri
geared airplane. In addition, the Colt was
certified on Federal skis (three required)
for the
cold weather crowd
and Edo 88
1650 floats for the wet-foot crowd.
With the assembly line cranking up to
produce
Colt
s in 1960,
Piper
went
on
to
build approximately
1850
of
this mode l
during the next three years.
Of
this num
ber, the current FAA register lists 1023 as
survivors some thirty plus years later. In
addition , a number of Colts have found
there way overseas and are serving their
owners
well. The main features
of
the
Colt
, even though the
airframe
is nearly
Right)
Beauti ful ly re
done
interior
includes
f lat black finish
on
in
strument
panel all over-
hauled or new instru
ments
and original
herringbone fabric on
seats.
Note trim handle
on
overhead panel.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
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Looking up at Bill Weder as
he brings the Colt in
close,
we get a good look at the
overall
caliber
of workman
ship exhibited by the
Wicks
employees.
Th i s is one
sweet flying airplane
dismantled and hauled back to Wicks Air
craft facility
in
Highland, IL. This was to
be the very first
experience
with a fabric
airplane for the Wicks employees and they
eagerly looked
forward to the
new chal
lenge
.
Before
the airplane was
taken
apart, they were able to start the 1 8 hp Ly
coming engine and
l
isten
to it run
Granted, it only had 1209 hours, however,
the 32 years of little use and long periods
of idle storage had taken its toll , so it was
(Left) Ed Faiss, on
the
left,
holds
the
record flight document
from
the
NAA earned by N4247Z on its flight from Highland,
IL,
to
Kitty
Hawk
, NC. On
the right
is
pilot
Bill
Weder
(with
the big smile) and in between is
the
Grand
Champion
award won at
the
Short Wing Piper Club gathering. To this
collection, we have now added the 96 Contemporary
Reserve Grand
Champion
Lindy.
(Below) Near head-on view
shows
the short, thick (USA 35B
airfoil)
wings
that do a remarkable job of lifting 1650 Ibs. at
gross
weight. The two fuel
caps
are visible on top of
the
wings, each tank holding 18 gallons. Jury
struts from
the
wing struts to
the wing
spars
are
not
used on the short
winged
Pipers.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
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Left)
High over
Wittman
Airfield at EAA
Convention t i
me,
the pretty Colt is in-
deed
a
sharp
looking
airplane
with
it
s
original paint scheme in Daytona
White
and
Phoe
nix
Tan.
looks like new
The
original
instrument
panel was to
tally redone and finished
off
in the original
flat black finish. All new or freshly ove r
hauled instruments were installed including
radios ,
transponder,
etc. to
where
the
air
plane
is
now
certified for IFR flight.
The
original lettering on the instrument panel
was precisely duplicated by Moody Aero
Graphics.
The
interior
fabrics on the
seats, walls
and door , were carefully matched
by
the
husband /wife team of Jerome and Nancy
Hediger of the Wicks group, who did a fan
tastic job of duplicating the factory interior
on the Colt. The fabrics were all treated to
meet the FAA fire retardant code before in
stallation .
The
finished
interior
is a
thing
of beauty and makes one feel like
it's
1960
all
over
again
when
you
enter
the
airplane
and sit in the comfortable seats.
One item
that raised
a few eyebrows
happened when
the
search began
for an
original chrome plated ash tray that mounts
on the
glareshield
above the
instrument
panel.
A
phone call
to
Univair (Aurora,
CO) revealed they had only one left - and it
was
an
original Piper ash tray. Almost
afraid to ask the price, they swallowed hard
and said
, " How
much?
" The answer was,
Two dollars
and
sixty cents " (This was
attracted
to the airplane.
The wing
struts
were carefully
punch tested and
found to
be corrosion free. They were
oiled inter
nally, painted on the
outside and
installed
on the airplane.
When
the 0-235 Lycoming
was
dis
mantled,
it
was discovered the crankshaft
had a
crack
in it, so it
was
replaced with a
certified shaft. The camshaft also
showed
signs of wear so it was replaced. In addi
tion
,
four new
cylinders from Lycoming
were installed along with a set of new Slick
Below) The rounded w ingtips and
rounded
ta i l
feathers are all part of
the
design detail found
in
Piper
products
fo
r
many
yea rs.
Both
wi
ng t
ip strobe
light
s
and
left w i
ng land
i
ng
light
are
visi
ble
in
this overhead shot.
A visit
to
the
Short Winged Piper Club
Fall
Fly-In
gave
an inkling
into the future
when the restored Piper Colt ran off with
Grand Championship Award at the fly-in.
Before long, plans were
made
to
attempt
a
record flight
in
December from Highland,
IL
,
to
Kitty
Hawk, NC. On December 16,
1995, with everything fine tuned, the Colt
made the flight to Kitty Hawk
in
eight hours,
two minutes and 24 seconds of flying time,
setting a new record of96.64 miles per hour,
for its official weight class.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
23/36
H LPS
nd
by rad Hinda
ll
le
14860
-Occasionally the nozzle of pwnp sprayers
of degreasers and other cleaners will clog.
Trying
to
unplug
it
with a pin usually does not
work. Put an air nozzle with high pressure 90-
100
psi) against the outside orifice. This nearly
always removes the obstruction.
-During a restoration or repair of older air
craft, it
sometimes
becomes necessary to
remove studs, bolts or machine screws that
have broken off in a part. "Easy Outs" can
occasionally do
the
job but a little trick
is to
use
a left-hand drill bit
to
drill the hole for the easy
out. This in itself will sometimes break the
offending fastener loose.
-A large nut, bolt, pipe or piece of tubing is
often difficult to rotate without scratching it
with wrench marks. Or possibly there
is
insuf
ficient clearance to even get a wrench on
it.
A
solution can often be found
by
tightly fastening
a hose clamp around the piece and using slip
HANGAR HINTS
-To hold a large pan gasket in place dur
ing assembly, tie fine sewing thread through
a few
holes
on the pan
and gasket. The
thread is too small to interfere with the seal
formed by the gasket after installation, or
you can snip and pull it out before tighten
ing the bolts or nuts.
-An ordinary deck of playing cards can
be used as a sanding block for irregular or
grooved surfaces. Placed on edge, the cards
will conform to the contour of the surface to
be sanded and the
sandpaper
can then be
folded around them.
-Running wires through rubber grommets
in firewalls and other sheet metal areas can
be made easier with less wear on the wires
and grommets by inserting a short piece of
metal tubing of the appropriate size through
the grommet. The wires are then
passed
them with a bright Day-Glo color and then
coating with clear lacquer or enamel.
-
Wire
buffing wheels
will last much
longer if occasionally turned
around and
allowed to rotate in the opposite direction.
-Various size magnets make great hold
ers for media blasting and painting small
steel parts.
An old refrigerator compressor, after the
Freon as been properly removed, makes a
good vacuum pump
with
some tubing
, a
gauge and valve properly installed.
-When checking clearances with a feeler
gauge, it is
sometimes
difficult to get the
proper "feel" to know exactly what the spac
ing is. To check the clearance, use the go/no
go method. If the setting
is
to be 0.
15
, use
the .015 and .016 leaves of the gauge. If
.015 fits but .016 does not, rest assured you
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
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WHAT
OUR. MEMBERS
ARE
RESTORING
y Norm
Petersen
John
Gardner s 194 Porterfield CP-65
This very original looking 1940 Porterfield
CP-65 Collegiate, NC27224 , SIN 721, is the
pride and joy of John Gardner (EAA 520119) of
Edmond, OK. Totally restored by the previous
owner, Wallace Black of Chickasha, OK, from
1982 to 1984, the tandem two-placer sports a
Continental C-85-8F in the nose which makes
for some very lively performance according to
John, who soloed an Aeronca Champ in 1945.
The Porterfield is faster in cruise, he says,
And
is a real
delight
to fly
. The colors
are
original silver wings and horizontal tail with a
red fuselage .
There are presently
27 CP-65
Porterfields remaining on the U.S. register.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
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Ernie Kittne
r
s
1956
Bell 47G-2
These photos of
a completely
restored
Bell 470-2 heli
copter, N2807B, S N 1495, were sent in by owner, Ernie Kit
tner EAA 531071) of Honesdale, PA, who rebuilt the pretty
machine over the past six years.
It
is used for scenic tours, air
photos, student training and various special occasions. Ernie
has been active in aviation for 52 years and has been a very
busy CFI (fixed wing and helicopter) for the past 45 years with
over 27,000 hours in his logbook He started flying in 1944 in
a Standard Biplane and presently has a 235 Apache, a Cessna
Aerobat
150 hp, a
Cessna
150 and the Bell 470-2. We are
pleased
to
announce that Ernie ' s lifelong dedication to aviation
has not gone unnoticed as he is a recent recipient of the Charles
Taylor
A ward from
FAA
. Congratulations, Ernie, and many
more years of cherished flying experiences.
Ph il Chandler s Champion
E
C on floats
This photo of a pristine 1959 Champion 7EC, C-FWTZ, S N 7EC-629,
mounted on a set of PK-1500 floats , was submitted by owner, I'hil Chan
dler
EAA
517317) ,
of
Sudbury , Ontario,
Canada.
The
pretty
paint
scheme of overall yellow with red trim is most becoming and is set off by
the silver floats. Power
is
supplied by a Continental
0-200
engine of 100
hp swinging a McCauley seaplane propeller. Note the landing light in the
left wing leading edge and the aux. seaplane fins on the stabilizer. Phil
says the Champ is a great two-place floatplane, especially with full electric
systems and all the "goodies". His area in Canada is heavily populated
with floatplanes because of the many fine lakes available - a virtual sea
planer's paradise.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
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PASSdb
UCK
by E.E . Bu
ck
Hilbert
EAA 21 Ale 5
P.O
.
Box
424, Union,
IL
60180
Here's more
about
Harry L. Fento n 's
dad, Han), D , with more on hi s adventure
some trip in the middle
of winter
with an
Aeronca C-3 Master.
Dear Buck,
"Thanks for inquiring about my dad and
his Aeronca C-3. The attac
h
ed photos,
though
somewhat
worse for the
wear
, de
picts the typical view of an airp lane flown
from a pasture during the immediate post
war 1940s.
In
cidentally, the bam and farm
are still owned by my fami ly, and
can be
seen
on U. S. 20
between
Rockford
and
Belvidere, Illinois.
"
During
the summer
of
1945 he
pur
chased his little C-3 NC 15290, SIN A620,
and flew it
home
to the family farm
near
Rockford, Illinoi
s
An open pole shed next
to the barn was
commandeered
to house
the little plane , and the
adjacent pasture
was used as his airfield. The
bam
was situ
ated on the highest hill
in
the country , and
everything sloped away steeply from that
point, so takeoffs were downhill , and land
ings were uphill. A beacon was affixed to
the top
of
the silo so that dad could find his
way home at night.
The picture of the plane with my dad is
the
condition
in which he
purchased
it
origina
lly. Dad had the
mechanic at the
airport
in
South Beloit
, Illinois , a fellow
named Smitty, repaint the airplane from its
overall yellow co lor to a medium
blu
e
In
this
shot,
which features Harry
D. (right)
and
his
father Harry
in front
of the
C-3.
The single leg landing gear of the Master replaced the tripod landing gear of the
earlier C-3 and C-2, and the narrower profile of the streamline tires helped remove a
bit of the built-in headwind of
the
C-3 's design.
performance
of
the C-3.
"With only a couple
of
hours
of
time in
the C-3, dad dec
id
ed to fl y to Miami from
Rockford to participate
in
the Gu
lf
Air
Tour
of 1946
.
His mechanic prompt
ly
gro
und
ed
the
plane
up
on
l
ea
rning of my
dad's
intent ions and fina lly re l
ented
on ly
when my dad
, under
much objection
,
of
white on a southerly heading.
T
he destination for that day was Pur
due University Airport and his first landing
on
a
cement runway, which resulted
in
breaking the tail skid offofthe C-3. The
next
day
was
spent dodging
bad
weather
wh
il e
work
ing his
way through
In
diana.
Landings were made at Shank, Bush and
had menaced the trip from the outset fi plane in the pasture and began to filter out
Belvidere Airport. Dick's fami ly has re
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
27/36
nally closed in, trapping my dad and the C
3 in a fog shrouded Appa lach ian
valley.
Out of gas and in the dark , he landed in a
open field ten miles outside
of
Pelham ,
Tennessee.
After shutdown,
he
crawled
out
of
the little Aeronca and was shocked
to
be confronted by severa l very unfriendly
locals pointing cocked and loaded shotguns
at him
At
this
point
, the socia l
standards
in
place in the Appalachians of southeastern
Tennessee must be considered to put my
dad 's reception in perspective. Knowledge
of the world beyond the hills was limited
and strangers , if encountered, due to the re
moteness
of the area,
were
received
cau
tiously. Given that much
of
the local econ
omy was driven by moonshine production,
to take a look at the flying machine. As it
turned out, modem amenities were unheard
of and even cars were uncommon.
The
C
3 was the first airplane that virtually all of
these country folk had ever seen.
At this point
dad
became a reluctant
guest
of
sorts. He expressed a desire to get
gassed up and continue hi s trip , but he was
informed that, due to the lack of motorized
ve hicl
es, there was
no
gas
to be had for
miles. 1suspect that gas was available, but
deep
down , the country folk of this small
town realized that my dad represented a
glimpse of a civilization other than their
own,
and
they were
not about to let him
disappear back into the sky and beyond the
hills until they were darn well ready. For
three day s dad was treated to the Ap-
mained
active
in
aviation,
and
his so
n,
Steve ,
has
built the
now named
Poplar
Grove Airport into a thriving aviation com
munity . Dad finally so ld the plane when
he became aware of
a
Service
Bulletin
w
hi
ch required an inspection (nitric acid or
magna
flux)
of
the
crankshaft
every
25
hours. The
C-3
had become too expensive
to own.
When
I was about five years old, dad
took the fam
il
y on a vacation and revisited
the town of Pelham. A small reunion was
held in the local restaurant and the locals
recalled his visit from years before, espe
cially
th
e owner
of
the restaurant. It seems
that my dad
's
visit had a profound effect on
the then five -year-old boy and he realized
that there was more to the world than the
most
strangers
were
sirnply not ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
tolerated, let alone strangers
in
air- .
planes (revenuers were known to
use aircraft to hunt for moonshine
sti lls).
So
there stood my dad in hi s
CAP uniform,
his gold wings
looking for all the world to the se
unknowing Tennesseans like the
badge a revenuer would wear, bab
bling
in
Yankee about flying from
a mythical place called Illinois to
an equally mythical place called
Florida. All
of
it
sou
nded lik e
trouble
to
the
suspicious Ap
palachian farmers.
"The events that followed more
closely
re
se
mbled
the fate
of
a
downed
American a
irman
cap- Harry D
Fenton and
his newly acquired Aeronca C-3 Master 500 Roundback
series)
during
the
tured by the Gestapo hundreds of summer of '45
at
the family farm
between
Rockford and Belvidere,
IL
miles
deep
into hostile Germany
territory. The pasture that dad had
landed in was full of cows that had taken
their own particular type of interest in the
C-3.
One cow in particular had decided
that the
C-3
had bee n placed there as a
scra
tching post
for
its
hindquarters.
Alarmed that the cow was going to damage
his plane he tried to get the farmers to help
him
move hi s ship.
The shotgun
toting
farmers, in a tone that did not mask their
intentions for my dad to do exactly what
they told him, shoved my dad into a wagon
paJachian lifestyle
(including delicacie
s
such as mountain oysters), in trade for hi s
discussion of the airplane and
li
fe beyond
the mounta ins . Curiously,
several
of the
farmers took an inte
rest
in
the zippers
in
the C-3 fabric used for inspection access.
More than one thou
g ht that tho
se
areas
would make for excellent areas to transport
the local distilled commodities.
"Eventually, th e loca ls let the young pi
lot go free , and , after some rides, he disap
surrounding hills.
The
little boy worked
his
way through school and
became the
owner of several area restaurants.
"Off and on since the late 1970s I have
tried to trace the subsequent history
of
the
C-3. t was last owned by a fellow named
Doncevic in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
and was de-registered in 1971 . I wrote to
him a couple of times and received no an
swer. I have friends in the area , but no
body seems to have much information on
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1996
28/36
WELCOME
NEW
MEMBERS
Aerospace Branch
Library ........Little Rock, AR
Richard
S.
Allen
..
......................... Lewiston,
ID
Steve P. Bentley
...........................
san
Jose
,
CA
Charles Boswell
....................Brandywine, MD
Edmund T. Burke
....................
Toms
Rive
r, NJ
Wayne W. Burkhardt..
...
North Brookfield , MA
Dan
R. Campb
ell .....Trenton , Ontario,
Canada
James
H.
Crowl ey ...................... Rive
rvi
ew,
FL
Tony DeGrand
......
..
...............
Corn
ell,
MI
Arthur
G. Dous
e
....
..
........
Ft.
Lauderdale, FL
Robert J. Floeder
...........
Rosemount
, MN
Henry
J. Frieh
...................... ...............
Joliet, IL
Frank
Gleason
...........
..
......... . .Darlington,
SC
George Greene
.............................
Presque
, MI
Scott Ha
german
....
Markham
, Ontario,
Canada
Charles
J.
Harring
ton
.................... Wichita,
Ks
Fred P.
Hod ge
..................
..
............
sanger, TX
Earl
I
ce
.......................................... Dew
ey, OK
Krista
Ann
J
autz
........ ....... ........ Milwa
ukee,
WI
Carlos
Jobke ......................Olivios, Argentina
Rick R. Jones .................. ..........
Gr
eenville,
NC
Barbara Kajiy
a
....
......................... Duvall, WA
Russ W.
King ..
..
.... ....
.................
In
gl
es
ide,
TX
Gl
enn Kinneber
g ................spring
Grove,
MN
Alan Lackie
..............................Melbourne,
FL
UNITEDSTJJ.TES
l ~ ~
~ 0 M t
VlNTAGR AIRPLAHE
b
1 1.1,1-1.1.1.
9 30 96
_-
Monthly
12
EAA, P.O. Box 3086. Os hk OSh
WI
!l0t903- 3086
$21.00
-
14/426-4825
Statement
of
Ownership. Management, and C
ir
culation
i
POST,jJ,SERVICE,.
(RfIqUftd
by
J J USC 3685)
EM .
P.O. Box
3086,
OShk06h .
WI
!l4903-3086
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ' = t ~ E d I D o , I f t d . . . . . , ~ ( o O n a f .......
* * J
Tbccas p PoberezDY
ltAA. P O Box 3086,
Oshkosh, WI
54'}03-3086
E d l ; J r p - . . ~ ~ - . . t h a }
Henry
G,
F rau t.c::hy
I I T ' * ' ~ f s . . m o l f . k _ I S I J
AA,
P.O. Box 3086, a.hkosh.
loll !l
4903
-J086
Gold"
G. COx
Dod so
n Manly ..................... Fruitland Park ,
FL
Steven A. Marsh
...........
....
..... Eaton Rapids
,
MI
George
F.
Martin ........................ Newville,
PA
Burt
M. Morrow ................. Ormond
Beach, FL
Carl R. Moser
...................... Bloomington, MN
Dou gl
as
G. Murray ................ Mountain Vi e
w,
Alberta , Canada
Mic
ha
el
Naramore
....................Cornelius ,
NC
Robert
C. Nelson
.............
..
............
.Fruita
,
CO
Wayne M. Nichols ..........................
Wra
y,
CO
Kevin
J.
Nugent..
.
.....................Greenville, IN
Paul T.
O'
Reil
ly ...... ................
.....
Burleson
,
TX
Alberto Ofenito ...............................
Venice
,
FL
R.
G.
Ohllll
......