Vintage Airplane - Apr 2008

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 2008

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J

o


2/44

G OFF

RO ISON

PRESI DENT, VINTAGE AI RAFT ASSOCIATON

April is

upon

us

and

I have

but

one

thing to say about this: Hallelujah

Preparations for

EAA

AirVenture

Oshkosh

2008 have already reached

a fever pitch for not only our key vol

unteers

and staff, but also all

of

our

valued

chairmen and chairwomen,

who

provide much of the heavy lift

ing in preparation for the big show

in

Oshkosh.

As I write

this

month s

column,

it is

the first of March, and

I just attended

the

initial

meeting of

the Vintage Aircraft Parking Flight

line Safety Committee.

We

met this

year

at the

Kalamazoo Air Museum

in

Kalamazoo, Michigan.

In

the

midst

of

all of

the

planning

that

goes into preparing the Vintage

area of the convention, we

always

find ourselves reflecting

on

just how

many airplanes, campers, etc. may

show up in

our

area of responsibil-

ity. How

many

pancakes will need

to

be flipped? How many bags

of

ice

hauled out of the freezer? How many

volunteer

caps and

T-shirts

should

we have

on hand

this year? It's great

to

be a

popular

destination, but that

does give us the responsibility to

allelujah

showing

an

interest in

parking with

their type clubs.

We are now planning to type club

park

the

following

aircraft:

Cessna

120/140,

Cessna 175, Cessna

180,

Cessna

185, Ercoupes,

and Swifts .

While we

routinely

park between 75

and 100 aircraft

in

our

deSignated

type club parking area, with the un-

usual number of requests this year we

already have plans in place for more

than

200 aircraft for this

designated

area. The pOint in sharing this infor

mation is that if we are experiencing

this

level

of interest

in January and

February, surely we will experience a

large number of our members visiting

us this year at AirVenture,

and

we find

that potential very exciting.

Be

assured that your Vintage board

of

directors is always focused on not

only the critical issues of member ser

vices, but also the financial well-be

ing

of

this organiz

ation.

I

would

ask

everyone to keep in mind that as in

dividual members

of the

Vintage

Air-

craft Association, we all share in these

important

fiscal responsibilities. Most

directly, it's your dues

that

provide a

staff, in

developing

and nurturing a

number

of alternative fundraising

ef-

forts and then using those funds not

only to offset

the inevitably

rising

costs of operating this association,

but also to provide

the

critical fund

ing necessary each year to properly

host the

membership during

our an

nual convention.

With

that said,

the time

has

come

yet again to appeal to the membership

to

please

give due consideration to

supporting

your association's Friends

of the Red Barn Fund. This flagship

program is the critical initiative that

allows the

VAA

to provide a myriad

of

member services to the masses

at

AirVenture, particularly the over-

head

and infrastructure necessary to

make for happy campers in the Vin

tage area, as well as sustaining VAA

programs

and services throughout

the year. I cannot begin to thank the

membership

enough

for your strong

financial support over the many years

this program has been in

place. The

Friends

of

the Red Barn program of

ferings have again been

enhanced

for

this year's event, so be sure to check it


3/44

N E

APR

I

L

VOL.

36, No 4 2008

CONTENTS

I Fe Straight & Level

Hallelujah

by Geoff Robison

2 News

5 Sport Pilot Q A

6 Airplane Design Made Simple

hat happens behind

the scenes

by R.R. Osborn

1

Shuttleworth Air Displays

Vintage aviation

in the

United Kingdom

by David Macready

and

H.G. Frautschy

1 4 Pea Pod Pusher

Dave Powell's Anderson-Greenwood AG-14

by Budd Davisson

21 A Leap of Faith

by Gilles Auilard

4

American Barnstormers Tour 2008

A step back

in

time

by Sarah Pancho Wilson

28 Type Club Notes

High Oil Temps

and

Oil-Temp Gauges

by George Horn

3 The Vintage Instructor

Fly-In Perils-A heig

htened

sense

of

awareness

is

imperative

by Doug Stewart

34 Mystery Plane

STAFF

E Publisher Tom Poberezny

Director

of E Publications David Hipschman

Executive Director/Editor H.G.

Frautschy

E Art

Director

Olivia P Trabbold


4/44

FAA Mandates 21 Day

Turnaround

for Aircraft

Transaction Notices

A final rule issued by

the FAA

last

week requires a person selling or oth

erwise

transferring ownership of

a

U.S.-registered aircraft to return

the

completed

certificate

of

aircraft reg

istration

to the FAA

Aircraft Registry

within

2

days of

the

transaction. That

requirement

becomes

effective on

March 31,2008. This change was part

of

the

final rule published recently

that requires all pilots

to

replace their

paper pilot certificate with a counter

feit-resistant plastic certificate

within

the

next two years. The

FAA

originally

proposed a five-day t ime limit

on

re

porting the sale or transfer of aircraft

but adopted

a 21 day period in re

sponse to comments suggesting five

days was an unrealistic requirement.

Sellers will

have

to complete the re

verse side of the certificate and

en-

sure its arrival

at

the

registry

within

that time. Additionally, the

FAA is

re

quiring people applying for aircraft

registration to include their printed

or

typed

name with their signature.

This change

is

in response to concerns

raised in

the

FAA Drug Enforcement

Assistance Act. The purpose of these

changes

is

to

upgrade

the

quality

of

data and documents to assist federal,

state, and local agencies to enforce the

nation s drug laws.

FAA Issues Final Rule on Airmen

Get

AirVenture

Tickets Online

Now

and

Save

Admission to

EAA

AirVenture Oshkosh

2008

is now just a click away with new

advance ticket purchasing available at www.AirVenture.org.

The

advance purchase

system allows

EAA

members

and

nonmembers to pre-purchase AirVenture admission

tickets via a secure website. Both daily and weekly admissions are available, as is

the ability to join EAA or renew a membership to receive the best possible admission

prices available only to EAA members. This new system created

by

ClicknPrint Tickets

also gives discounts to those who pre-purchase their AirVenture tickets by June 15,

including

2

savings on daily admissions and 5 savings on weekly admissions for

advance online purchases.

"This system responds to requests we've received from EAA members for

the

past several years," said Rick Larsen, EAA's vice

president of

marketing.

"People wanted the

ability to fully plan for their AirVenture experience, including

having their

tickets

in hand when they arrive in Oshkosh. We're happy to make

that

possible

this

year."

To access the advance ticketing area, go to www.AirVenture .org and connect

to

the "Buy Now " area.

Ful

l instructions and answers to frequently asked questions

are available at that site. Advance AirVenture tickets are scanned and redeemed for

the appropriate wristbands at AirVenture admission gates.

EAA

AirVenture advance ticketing is made possible through

support

from

Jeppesen.

"Jeppesen is a longtime supporter of EAA AirVenture and enthusiastically supports

this new online advance ticketing system," said Rhonda Larance, senior manager of

http:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp://www.airventure/http:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp://www.airventure/


5/44

affected under this rule. These changes

are in response to concerns raised in the

FM Drug Enforcement Assistance Act.

The purpose of this rule is to upgrade

the quality of data and documents to

assist federal, state, and local agencies

to enforce the nation's drug laws. EAA

has supported changes to more secure

and counterfeit-proof certificates con

sistently since September II, 200l.

EM encourages its members to replace

their paper certificates soon, keeping in

mind there is currently a slight back

log at the Airmen Registry branch with

many pilots seeking replacement cer

tificates to comply with the new ICAO

English Proficient endorsement re

quirement. To make

the

replacement

process as quick and easy as possible,

the FM has set up a system that allows

certificate holders to request a replace

ment

online at

https://AmSrvs Registry

FAA gov/amsrvs/logon asp

Send

Us Your AirVenture

Waypoints, Fuel Stops

Airport facilities that will be provid

ing special offers to EMers traveling to

and from AirVenture Oshkosh can send

their information to EM for inclusion

on the AirVenture website.

I f you

have

a landing facility and

would like to be

on

the list,

send an

e-mail to

webmaster@EAA org

and

include

the name

of

the

business,

airport, phone

number,

e-mail ad

dress ,

and any

special offers

you d

like to announce. We'll be continu

ously updating the online list at www.

A irVenture org/2008/flying/alternate_

airports html

in the days, weeks,

and

months

leading

up

to AirVenture

AirVenture

Quick Links

For the latest EM AirVenture information, visit

www.AirVenture.

org. Use the handy links below to help plan your visit in 2008

• Admission: www.AirVenture.org/2008/planning/admission.html

• Lodging:

www.AirVenture.org/2008/planning/where_to_stay.html

• Flying in:

www.AirVenture.org/2008/f1ying/index.html

• Airline discounts: www.AirVenture.org/2008/f1ying/airline_

discounts.html

• RideShare:

www.AirVenture.orglrideshare

• Services: www.AirVenture.org/2008/planning/services.html

• AirVenture Planning Guide:

www.AirVenture.org/2008/

planning/08 planningJ}uide.pdf

• AirVenture Schedules/Maps:

www.AirVenture.org/2008/

planning/forms_schedules.html

industry

and

FAA representatives.

The

team s

objective

is

to

assess

the adequacy

of the

various airwor

thiness

processes

currently

in place

throughout

the airplane 's service life

and, if appropriate, look for ways

to

improve those processes.

The

review

team

is a separate

but complemen

tary

effort to the Safer Skies safety

initiative

formed

in the

late 1990s

and

early

2000s.

The FAA

credits

Safer Skies with helping start

the

cur

rent

downward trend

in the num

ber

of small airplane accidents in

the

United States.

Team members worked to identify

the

major

airworthiness

processes,

procedures,

and

policies applied

throughout

the

entire small airplane

life cycle; major myths between the

different areas of certification, main

tenance, and operations; and rele

vant general aviation safety/accident

The

binding

ties

throughout

EM s

55-year existence are founders Paul

and

Audrey Poberezny, who

not

only

created the organization

but

over these

many years also preserved its history

and culture. They saved countless

personal mementos-letters

and

cor

respondence, photographs, a wide

as-

sortment of artifacts-the very heritage

of

the

Experimental Aircraft Associa

tion-so

that future generations might

understand its story.

EAA

is proud to announce the Found

ers' Wing, an exciting plan to create an

appropriate display of this treasured

col-

lection in the EAA AirVenture Museum

in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

A

True

Account of

E

History

For many organizations,

t

would

be difficult to accurately describe their

history. Fortunately for

EM,

Paul and

Audrey have lovingly preserved it; re

search is not required, because they've

https://amsrvs.registry/mailto:[email protected]://www.airventure/http://www.airventure.org/2008/planning/admission.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/index.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/airlinehttp://www.airventure.orglrideshare/http://www.airventure.org/2008/planning/services.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/planning/services.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/planning/services.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008http://www.airventure.org/2008https://amsrvs.registry/mailto:[email protected]://www.airventure/http://www.airventure.org/2008/planning/admission.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/index.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/airlinehttp://www.airventure.orglrideshare/http://www.airventure.org/2008/planning/services.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008http://www.airventure.org/2008


6/44

Upcoming Major Fly-Ins

Sun n Fun Fly-In

Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LA

L)

,

Lakeland, Florida

April 8-13, 2008

.Sun-N-Fun.org

Golden West Regional Fly-In

Yuba County Airport (Myv),

Marysville, California

June 6-8, 2008

www.GoldenWestFlyln.org

Virginia Regional Fly-In

Suffolk Executive Airport

SFQ)

,

Suffolk, Virginia

June 14-15, 2008

. VAEAA.org

Rocky

Mountain

Regional Fly-In

Front Range Airport

FTG),

Watkins, Colorado

June 27-29, 2008

www.RMRFI.org

Arlington Northwest Fly-In

Arlington Municipal Airport

AWO),

Arlington, Washington

July 9-13, 2008

.NWEAA.org

EM AirVenture

Oshkosh

Wittman Regional Airport (OSH),

Oshkosh, Wisconsin

July 28-August 3, 2008

.AirVenture.org

Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-In

Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport (MFD),

Mansfield, Ohio

TBD

.MERFI.info

Southeast Regional Fly-In

Middleton Field Airport (GZH),

Evergreen, Alabama

TBD

www.SERFI.org

opperstate

Regional Fly-In

Casa Grande Municipal Airport (CGZ),

represents the core culture that fos

ters that spirit and innovation .

A Two-Tiered Approach

While still in the early planning

stages, the Founders' Wing will have

two distinct display areas located in

the

repurposed

(not new construc-

tion) space within the museum's res

toration center: a public area and a

members' area. Elissa Lines,

EAA

vice

president of

donor

and business rela

tions, explains.

People less familiar with EAA may

not

be aware of what the organization

is

beyond the large air show

that

takes

place every summer, she said. Our ob

jective for the public area

is

to educate

visitors how people, drawn together by

a common passion for grass-roots avia

tion, forged a unique spirit

and cama

raderie

that

literally changed aviation

through

the

promotion

and

advance

ment of personal flight.

The

public area will feature artful

displays of photographs,

documents

,

and other visual elements from Paul

and Audrey's collection. The mem-

bers' area , The Paul and Audrey Po

berezny Library, will provide a

more

privileged view exclusively for EAAers ,

who ' ll be able to delve more deeply

into

the

early days of

the

organization

with a more detailed review of EAA s

history and culture.

Also planned

is

a large

open

space

on

the

main floor usable for special

events,

eliminating

the

often

cum-

bersome rearrangement of museum

space currently

required

for

such

functions.

Volunteer Committee to Lead

EAA board member Fred Telling,

man

of the Founders' Wing Fundrais

ing Committee.

The opportunity

to help

enable

one man's dreams and a lifetime of

memorabilia

to

be

permanently

dis

played and accessible to all our mem

bers is an opportunity I did not want

to

miss, Telling said. Paul's vision

and legacy will live

on

and, I expect,

touch a million more lives long

into

the future

with

the establishment

of the Founders' Wing. Working to

gether we can be a part of his dreams

and vision.

New

D Proposed for

Taylorcraft

A B and Models

The FAA

in

mid-February proposed

to adopt a new airworthiness directive

(AD)

for Taylorcraft A, B, and F models

requiring inspection of

the

wing strut

attach fittings for corrosion or cracks.

This is in addition

to the

earlier AD

is-

sued in

October

2007

to

inspect

the

wing struts themselves. (That AD was

revised on February

22,

2008,

as

Taylor

craft AD 2008-04-09.)

If any corrosion or cracks are found

in

the

wing strut attach fitting, repair

or replacement would be required. If

not

corrected, this condition could

result in failure of

the

wing strut at

tach

fittings and lead to wing separa

tion and loss of control. The proposed

AD comes after analysis of data col

lected from

an

accident involving a

Taylorcraft Model BF12-65 airplane,

in which a wing separated from

the

airplane after the wing strut attach

fit-

ting failed due to corrosion.

EAA s

government relations depart

ment and VAA will review the wing

http:///reader/full/www.Sun-N-Fun.orghttp:///reader/full/www.Sun-N-Fun.orghttp:///reader/full/www.Sun-N-Fun.orghttp:///reader/full/www.Sun-N-Fun.orghttp:///reader/full/www.GoldenWestFlyln.orghttp:///reader/full/VAEAA.orghttp:///reader/full/VAEAA.orghttp:///reader/full/www.RMRFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.RMRFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.RMRFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.NWEAA.orghttp:///reader/full/www.NWEAA.orghttp:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp://www.merfi.info/http://www.merfi.info/http://www.merfi.info/http://www.merfi.info/http:///reader/full/www.SERFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.Sun-N-Fun.orghttp:///reader/full/www.GoldenWestFlyln.orghttp:///reader/full/VAEAA.orghttp:///reader/full/www.RMRFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.NWEAA.orghttp:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp://www.merfi.info/http:///reader/full/www.SERFI.org


7/44

Question

I

have

a

private pilot

flying as a sport pilot needing a flight

review. His kit aircraft, though having

two seats, will

not

accommodate

both

pilot and this

CFI.

I wish to offer

him

the flight time in a Piper Cherokee,

though

some feel

that

this would

not

suffice. I

cannot

see an exclusion in

the FARs, and

as long as I can evaluate

his abilities, it seems to satisfy the

intent

of

the

review.

Answer A

pilot

is

allowed to

Question

I

applied

for

a

third

class

medical,

and

the

FAA

wanted

additional tests . I

did

not complete

them

due to

the cost . Is this

considered a denial?

Answer

Unfortunately, yes. Once

the

application for

an

FAA

medical

is

started,

the

aviation medical examiner

is legally required to forward the

application to the FAA. If an applicant

fails to provide all

the requested

information, the FAA denies the

driving privileges are vision changes,

loss of consciousness,

impairment

of

judgment, loss of motor function ,

and

seizures or blackouts. I f you have

experienced anyone of

the

above,

even temporarily, you need to verify

with your

state

department

of

motor

vehicles

that your

driver's license is

still valid. In

addition,

you should

consult with your family

doctor

about the advisability of

piloting an

aircraft. I f your license is

suspended


8/44

-;:r·_ .

I I

:> IR P L N E

E S I G N M D E

S I M P L E

hat happens behind the scenes

R.R. OSBORN

As

PUBLISHED IN

VI TION

AND

BY

K.D.

W OOD

IN HIS BOOK

IRPL NE D

ESIGN

FOREWOR

The study of airplane design

must

be a study

of

airplane designers,

and

should preferably include a portrayal

of th

e

conditions under which

com

mercial airp lanes are commonly de

veloped. The following articles from

viation by

R R

Osborn were written

prior

to

1940,

and

while

no

longer as

applicable as at

the

time of their orig

inal writing, they

present some

per

sonnel

aspects of

the

development

en

gineering problem

that

are still,

with

important variations,

involved

in

many

development projects.

Lately we have been very much

surprised to find

that

airplane design

and cons truction seem to

be

very

FIRST

PUBLISHED

IN 1934

know, to learn from them the reason

ing

and

processes by means

of

which

a new airplane is created.

They

were

glad to tell us their experiences and

we have condensed all of their stories

into the following,

which

might be

said to be the

high points in

the life

of

an average airplane

in

its

journey

from

the

drafting board to

the

field:

As his favorite

la

yo ut

draftsman

is working up some advertising for

the sales department, the DeSigner

is

much

discouraged

to

find

that

he

will

have to use an inexperienced

man and do the figuring and calcu

lating himself.

Designer calls for a

wingspan of

37.5 feet . Layout draftsman misun

ufactured by the Chief Engineer's

golfing partner.

Designer

asks the

world howinell

he

can

turn out

a

good

ship when he has to

use

an

engine

like

that

one? Chief

Engi

neer's golf

game

gets

poorer

so

that

his partner beats him regularly De

Signer

ordered

to shift to the best

engine available

in

another

com

pany. Designer asks the world how

inell h e can turn

out

a

good

ship

around

an

engine like that one?

President

sends

in

a

note

stat

ing

that

the

watchword

is economy,

and that all new designs should have

cheapness

of

construction and econ

omy

of operation

as

their major crite

ria. Design is altered to suit.


9/44

toward better vision for

the

pi

lot,

and that

all other features,

including speed and cheapness

of construction, should be com

promised to obtain better vision

for

the

pilot. Design is altered

to suit.

President sends in word that

the crying need of this country

is a good 5-cent Cigar Design

is

altered to suit.

Shop

makes

an

error

in

building the fuselage a foot too

short. In exchange for previous

shop favor in covering up one of

his errors,

the

Designer writes a long

treatise to

the

Chief Engineer point

ing out the trend to shorter fuselage

lengths, suggesting that the fuselage

be made shorter by 1 foot. Chief Engi

neer does not grasp the full meaning

of the obscure part of the Designer's

calculations, so issues order to have

the

nose of

the

fuselage shortened by

1 foot. Designer

and

Shop Superin

tendent

talk it over

and

decide they

had better just cut 1 foot off the nose

and say nothing more about it.

Engine finally arrives for installa

tion in the ship. Turns out that the en

gine company had decided to build a

nine-cylinder engine instead of a sev

en-cylinder engine. Long correspon

dence between airplane company

and engine company to determine if

two cylinders shall be taken off or if

engine

mount

shall be changed. Mat

ter finally settled by flipping a coin.

Engine mount

is

changed.

On installation of the

engine

it

is found

that the carburetor

inter

feres with

the

center

landing-gear

DURING

SETUP

OPERATION,

UPPER

WING IS

FOUND TO

INTERFERE

WITH A BEAM IN

THE

ROOF OF

THE FACTORY.

AFTER COMPARING

COSTS OF ALTERING

THE

BEAM IN

cowl. Project Engineer has draw

ing made to suit and sends draw

ing in to Chief Engineer, pointing

out that his new design will prob

ably add 4 mph.

Landing gear was laid out

for large-diameter wheels.

Somebody

invents

small-diam

eter wheels and sells them to

the Purchasing

Agent.

When

they are applied to

the

ship it

is

found that the propeller ground

clearance is too

small.

Proj

ect Engineer

announces that

a three-blade propeller will be

used because of

high propeller tip

speeds or something.

During setup operation, upper

wing is found to interfere with a

beam

in the roof

of the

factory. Af-

ter

comparing

costs

of altering the

beam in the roof or changing one set

of wing struts, gap between

the

wings

is decreased by 6 inches.

First weighing of the ship shows

the center of gravity to be badly out of

position. Upper wing is taken off and

changed

to one of large sweepback

to balance

the

ship. Chief

Engineer

sends note to President explaining

delay as necessary, as sweepback has

to be used to improve pilot's vision.

At the field 1 foot of left wingtip

is knocked off on a hangar door. One

foot

is

sawed off the other tip to match,

and both ends are faired off neatly.

The airplane

is

put

over

the

speed

course and

is found

to

have

a

high

speed 5 mph more than

the

Designer

expected,

but

5 mph less

than

he

wrote

in the preliminary specifica

tions. This speed

is

10 mph more than


10/44

tomer

's specification for

the

new airplane.

Thinks it would be a good

idea to underscore

with

red

pencil the parts of the custom

er's specification that will affect

the

design.

After

completing

four pages finds that

he

has un

derscored all but three words so

throws down specifications in

disgust.

Goes

into

Drafting Room

to

discuss latest sporting news with

favorite layout draftsman. Finds

him busy on

a rush job for

another

designer. Dashes into Chief Engi

neer's office and pounds on desk, de

manding

that

favorite

draftsman

be

transferred to his project and moved

into his office to assist,

as

no other

draftsman

is

able to understand what

he wants done. Chief Engineer grunts

and

says he'll

think

about it.

Wanders through drafting room

looking

at

work being

done

for

other

designers

and offering

suggestions,

which involve scrapping all drawings

and starting over again.

Designer

is

startled on return-

ing to his office to find that favorite

draftsman has already been moved in

and

is

ready to go to work.

Suggests

that

centerlines

be

drawn

here, here, and

here

, and re

turns to desk for contemplation.

Reads

through

specification hur

riedly

and then

slams

it

down on

desk, asking howinell customer ex

pects to get all

that

in

one

airplane.

Looks at drafting board and sug

gests

that

centerlines be moved

to

here , here , and here to allow more

AFTER COMPLETING

FOUR P GES FINDS

TH T HE H S

UNDERSCORED LL

BUT THREE WORDS

SO TH ROWS DOWN

SPECIFICATIONS

IN

DISGUST

the

specification again.

Factory Superintendent calls up

and says would like him to look at a

fitting of his design

that is

giving

him

trouble

in

shop.

Designer says

that

he'll

be down immediately to look

at it. Shop Superintendent faints at

other

end of phone

as he

expected

that Designer would manage to get

down to see fitting in about three

nant

race with

watchman

.

Back in office starts reading

over specifications again.

Admires le

ttering on

cover

of new notebook

and then

num

bers pages

therein,

using

orna-

mental figures.

Suddenly realizes

that

if he

is to

turn

out design that is abso

lutely up-to-date it will be neces

sary for

him

to read

up on

latest

developments

here and abroad

as noted in

aeronautical

maga

zines. Gets magazines and reads

all social

and

political news

therein.

Makes

mental note to

read technical

articles later.

Wanders down into shop

to

watch

operation of new riveting machine.

Talks over international political

situation with foreman

of

the sheet

metal shop.

Hears report that

new

airplane

built by competing has landed

at

field

so drives over

to

see if

there

are

any

new ideas thereon to be appropriated.

Looks ship over carefully. Points

out

to foreman of Hangar Crewall details

that

were

improperly designed

and

expresses amazement

that competi-

tor managed to get a large production

order

on

such a poor airplane.

Walks down

to the

School Hangar

to

watch students practicing landing.

Comes to conclusion

that

modern

landing

gears are

pretty good after

all.

Back

at

office starts to read over

specification again but notices that

his slide rule is in

need

of cleaning.

Decides he

had

better clean rule thor

oughly

as

he will be using it a lot.


11/44

My father and grandfather were both pilot/mechanics

so

airplanes have always been in my blood. I've always loved

old airplanes, especially old round-engined airplanes. For the

5

years we've owned Bigbird, I've depended on the fine

folks at

AUA

to provide all my airplane insurance needs. They

can always be counted on for professional, courteous,

cost-

competitive service

Rudolph (Rudy) Ribbeck

Lake

Wylie, SC

• Dual

rated

ATP

• Flight

engineer

• 15,000+

flight

hours

• 20-year

u Army pilot V

i

etnam vet

• Air/i

ne

and corporate

pilot

experience

•

Currently flies

V

news helicopter


12/44

BAE

Systems maintains its connection

to its past wHh the ownership of this

946 Avro

C.19 Series

2 Anson

G-AHKX, serial

number

333

Vintage aviation in the United Kingdo

BY DAVID MAC RE DY

AND H.G. FRAUTSCHY

Here

are more images from the

camera of David

Macready of

the

United Kingdom.

We

hope that you enjoy this fea-

ture which will appear on a regular

basis in

the pages of Vintage Airplane


13/44

Frank Chapman flies this

rare Gloster G.37

Gladiator

1

G-

AMRK 4231427), serial

number

L8032

buiH in

1937.

Owned

by the Shuttleworth Collection.


14/44

Here s

the only

example

built of the Air Navigation and Engi

neering

Company

Ltd.

ANEC

II.

Registered

as

G-EBJO,

it is

serial

number 1,

built

in

1924. Owned

by

the Shuttleworth Collection

the display pilot

was Roger Bailey.


15/44

Above

right:

Amazingty

all four

Chilton

D.W.l

and

D.W.1A aircraft built

are

still

in existence; G-AESZ is se

rial

number 1

built in 1937. A fascinating history

o

the

company and its roots

is

available on the web

at

www.

Chilton Aircraft. co.u

and at

www.PilotFriend.com.

Search

the

site for Chilton D.W.l.

Roy

Nerou

is

the

owner

o the Chilton which is powered

by a

32-hp Carden-Ford

water-cooled

engine

an

aero

adaptation

o

the

Ford 10

1172-cc motor car engine equipped with

dual

magne

tos. Three

D.W.l aircraft

were

built

and one D.W.1A

powered by

a

French 44-hp Train engine. Preserved

at

the Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden Aerodrome.

The

single-seat 1937 Dart Kitten II is

powered

by a two

cylinder 36-hp

Aeronca-JAP engine. Another

of

the

very

light

planes

built prior to the outbreak of

World War

II,

the

G-AEXT

is Kitten serial number 123, and it s

owned

by

Mr. A.

Hartfield.

The

Kitten II

has

a

wingspan

of

31

feet, 9

inches and an all-up weight of 832

pounds.

http:///reader/full/www.PilotFriend.comhttp:///reader/full/www.PilotFriend.com


16/44

Pea Pod Pusher

Dave Powell's Anderson-Greenwood AG-14

BY

BUDD DAVISSON


17/44

It was a real scavenger hunt and most

of it had been sitting outside in Hous

ton's corrosive atmosphere for

the

entire 30 years."

Besides

having

been attacked by

the elements for all of

those

years,

the

airplane had been abused long

before it went derelict.

The airplane had

been

flown a

Dave Powell

Powered by 90-hp Continental

driving special

Hartzell

pusher

propeller,

the AG-14

is

one of

the

most

recognizable

waaszat? air

planes in the United States.

Far

more people have

seen

photo of

the airplane than

have ever seen

real one. There are four remaining

AG-14 airplanes.

than

that. The parts that worried me

the most were the spar carry-through

extrusion,

which

had

intergranular

corrosion, and

the damaged

"fuse

lage" skins, all of which were stretched

formed at the factory, so they were go

ing to require some compound alumi

num forming, which I know nothing

about.

At

the time, I didn' t realize how

and

saved

me

an

enormous

amount

of work,

no

t to mention

even more

money, was

that

two different com

panies tried

to

revive

the

design in the

'50s

and

'60s. I started tracking down

the

parts that had reportedly been built

by those companies,

which had

been

led

by

Ray Hubert in California . He

had planned

on

putting

the

airplane

back into

production

in

the

'60s

and

had actually

made partial

parts

sets

for 25 airplanes. His plans included re

naming

the

airplane the

Space

oupe

I tracked

down

his grandson, an

A&P

mechanic who had traveled through

many states with the parts. When we

finally talked, it turned out he had got

ten tired

of moving and storing

the

parts and had sold them. With his help

I finally found the parts in Oregon,

two owners later. When I talked to the

owner he said he wouldn't sell me just

the parts I needed. I had to buy the en

tire batch, whil;h was a lot of stuff, or

get none of it."


18/44

11Ie view over the nose

can

e

a

bit disconcerting, since there s no nose

out

there to

use

when

gauging

the pitch angle.

A

quick glance to the

side will

confinn the angle.

Not

until helicopters went into regular production

was

there such

an

unobstructed

view from

a

post-World

War II aircraft.

end, it was

so

packed that I was literally

just jamming stuff inside the doors. I

felt as if I had just won the lottery."

This time

when

he arrived

home

with a treasure trove of airplane parts

they didn t look as i f they had been

lying

on the

beach because they were

all new old stock NOS)

and had

been

stored inside. Because of handling dam

age accumulated over the years (they

changed hands three times) they may

not have been pristine, but they were

close enough.

"I had so much more stuff than I

could use that it wasn't funny, but

at

least I had the critical parts that were

going to be really hard to duplicate. I

had two fuselage pods, one of them on

its wheels, and about 40 spars, a bunch

of booms, tons of castings,

and some

unmachined extrusions for the carry

through. At the same time one of Dad's


19/44

a fifty-fifty mix of new and old skins

and

the

pea-

pod

fuselage was look

ing good.

When I started this, Dad was a great

help for about the first haIf,

but then

he

got sick with cancer and we lost him, I

was on

my own, now wanting to

see

it

fly

in his memory. It was obvious

that

although it was a little airplane, it was

a big job. Everything led to something

else

and

each time I drilled

out

some

rivets, I found more corrosion.

By the

time we were finished we

had taken

the wings apart down to the spars and

built them

up

almost from scratch with

all new skins.

The wings were a special problem

in

that they

were

skinned

with .016

aluminum, which

is

one thickness up

from tinfoil,

and is one

reason all the

originals were in such poor condition.

Plus

the

wing construction itself was

unique see sidebar) and required some

creative restoration

to

do it right. The

spars, for instance, aren't your normal

smooth-web-riveted-to-capstrips, but

have vertical corrugations for stiffeners.

Fortunately, he didn t have to replace

any of the webs,

but

he came close.

Oddly enough, Dave says, con

sidering what a unique little airplane it

is and how few were built, one of the

hardest things to come

up

with was the

oil-temp gauge. I had

the

part num-

ber,

but

had a terrible time finding one.

Then someone told me he thought

Stinsons used something similar so I

got on the Stinson forums and came

up with one that was rebuildable. Part

of the problem

is

that it has a 12-foot

Decades of outdoor storage in the Houston, Texas, area

wreaked

havoc

on the

original structure of the AG-14

A

couple of

shots

of

the structure

of

the

AG-14

during its restoration.

You

can

see the

level of skin replacement

needed on

the fuselage pod.


20/44

capillary tube that runs from the panel

and back to the engine, so the tube

is

together one good engine. Even more

fortunate was the prop's condition: It

The structural

heart

of

the

fu-

selage

pod

is

this

keel running

from

the

nose

to

the

engine

mount.

Bolted

on the outboard ends of the back of

the center

section

are the

two

booms,

which

feature

this novel structure.

phenolic-coated blades for internal

delamination and neither did any of

the prop shops. He solved that for me.

He said to take a quarter and tap, tap,

tap your way down

the

blade listen

ing for a change in the way it sounded.

t sounds a little silly, but if you think

about it, if there's a delamination there

will be a void or discontinuity and it


21/44

nDesigning and Building 194 5

Pusher

When

Marvin

Greenwood and Ben

Anderson, along with

their

partner, Lomis Slaughter,

left

Boeing right

after

World

War

,

they

headed

straight

back to

Houston

where

they set up

a

company

to design

and

build

little airplanes. During

the

war

they had all learned

a

lot,

as engineers, and

had some ideas they wanted to incorporate into

their new

design. Chief amongst those features

were

visibility

, safety, and

comfort.

This

is what

led

them to the pusher configuration.

With

no need to have an

engine out

in

front,

the fuselage

could

be

any shape

they wanted, so

they

l

owered

the instrument

panel and

mounted the

nose gear on

a

keel

assembly that projected

only

slightly

out

in front of the

crews

' feet. Then they positioned the

wing

in a shoulder position so

the pilot

could

turn

his

head and see

both over

and under it. There

wouldn

't be a production aircraft

with

that

kind

of visibility until helicopters

became

commonplace.

By running most of the landing-gear loads through the keel

and

a load-bearing frame around

the door, it allowed them

to

make a huge door.

So anyone,

regardless of height, could just back

up to the seat and sit

down

. There

was

no climbing on board at all.

Plus

the door-to-door distance

of 44 inches makes it a full 4-1/2 inches wider than a modern C-172.

Then, with the engine behind, although the noise was still there, the firewall went from floor

to

ceiling with no windshield

to

interrupt

it,

so

upholstery and

carpeting

could

do

an effective job of

keeping the

decibels

at bay.

Everything is not,

however,

all

sunshine

and roses

with

a

pusher

configuration, especially on

a bird this size.

CG

limitations and the desire

to

keep the size and weight of the airplane

to

a

minimum meant that the firewall is right up against the main

spar

and

the engine is sitting almost

mickhord in the

wing.

This necessitated some clever structural

engineering

that saw the center

section

and the wing become monospar units, meaning most of the wing

loads

are carried by

the further-back-than-normal main spar and a [).shaped torque box ahead of it that doubles

as

the

leading edge of

the

wing.

This meant

the

rear spar,

to

which

the

ailerons

and

flaps

are

attached,

could

be quite

light,

which simplified

carrying the

loads through

the

engine compartment.

distractions,

as

you tap along the com

ponent , you allow

th

e coin to bounce

off

the

surface,

letting

it slide

fr

ee of

your fingers for a

moment.

You're lis

tening for a difference or change in the

sound as you tap along

the

item. With

practice

and

experience, an inspector

can

pick out voids near

the

surface.

More recent NDT inspection

meth

ods such

as

radiography will often give

more consistent, reliable results, albeit

for greater expense. While the coin tap

test is

rather

subjective, excellent re-

sults can be obtained using this time

tested procedure.-HGF)

With all

our

searching, besides

our

prop, we've

only

found

one

other

and Mr. Anderson himself

ha

s

that

one.

I've

been

talking to hi m , and

his family, but I'm not convinced I'll

ever own it ."

When

we got the

airplane

close

to being finished, we mulled over the

paint

scheme

for a couple of years. I

settled on a scheme that I felt would

complement its lines and

not

look

too ' flashy ' or new, sort of

timel

ess.

I t

was designed by Craig

Barnett at

Scheme DeSigners."

The

big day finally arrived, and it

says something about his wife, Julie,

that he

flew it for the first

tim

e on

her birthday, May 9,2007 . And how

does it fly?

"It flies like any other 90-hp airplane

that has its nose wheel hooked directly

to the yoke, has only one brake ped

al-no

differential

braking-and

only

one small rudder in one fin. It's a little

disconcerting at first becauseyou lite

r-

ally steer it on the ground. Just like a

car

It

has rudder pedals, but they don't


22/44

GET THE

SKILLS

TO

GET

IT

BUILT

AT

EAA

SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

GET

YOUR

HOMEBUILDING

PROJECT

OFF THE

GROUND

BY SIGNING

UP

FOR EAA'S SPORTAIR

WORKSHOPS

BEGINS DURATION COURSE

DESCRIPTION LOCATION

April 25-27 2 days Repairman ELSA) Inspection-Airplane Broomfield, (0

May 2-4 2

days

Repairman

(ElSA)

Inspection-Airplane

Oshkosh, WI

May

3-4

2

days

Von's

RV

Assembly Oshkosh, WI

May 9-11 2 days TlG Welding

Griffin,

GA

May

17-18

2

days

Von's RV Assembly

Arlington, WA

June 13-15

2

days Repairman ELSA) Inspection-Airplane Frederick, MD

June

20-22

2 days Repairman

ELSA)

Inspection-Airplane Arlington,

WA

it off high because they aren't used to

not

having

a nose in front of

them.

In fact, that's the first thing everyone

comments on when they get in the air

plane. The instrument panel is really

low and there's

nothing

but windshield

in front of you, so you don't have any

of the normal references.

Of course, i f you ask someone

to

start it without explaining anything to

them, they'll never get i t started: The

starter is a small pedal on the floor be

tween your feet.

It

climbs at about 700 feet per min

ute

and

cruises

about

115-120 miles

per hour. The controls are not perfectly

balanced, the ailerons are heavy, while

the

elevator

is

light. Did I mention that

at full roll deflection one aileron is up

40 degrees and

the

other aileron

is

also

pointed up, but

at

10 degrees? This

is

because of some of

the

steering linking

geometry. Plus

the

trim

is

an overhead

crank,

which

a lot of 1950s airplanes

had. Service ceiling

is

16,500 feet and

I have flown it several times above

11,000 with no issues. Gross weight

is

1,400 pounds.

Power off on final at 65 to 70 mph,

it sinks quickly, about like a Piper Arrow

and it has almost no float in that situ

ation. The flaps aren't terribly effective

(two-position Johnson bar), but they

do get the nose even further down, so

you're looking through that big wind

shield at the ground rushing up at you

and

i t

can really be unnerving. Espe

cially in a high wind. So, to keep from

embarrassing myself, I generally add a

little power right at the end.

In general, I'd have

to

say

that

I

grossly underestimated every aspect


23/44

of

ait

BY

GILLES AUILARD

y landings are faith-based. I f I cannot

see the runway, then I know everything

is okay, mentions Bruce McElhoe, pi

lot and owner of

the

Curtiss-Wright

Travel Air 4-D N689K (c/n 1270), the

only original flying example of a kind of biplane produced

in small numbers at the advent of the Depression.

He explains:

I

started flying in high school and generally stayed with

Cubs, Champs and the like, airplanes I could afford. How

ever, I always wanted to own an

antique

airplane

and

I

starting with Howard Hughes' 1929 war epic

Hell s Angels

and continuing well past World War II, acquiring along the

way the nickname of Wichita Fokker.

In 1929, the Travel Air Manufacturing Co. became part

of the great Curtiss-Wright conglomerate. Vanishing as a

separate entity

the

following year, it left a legacy of rug

ged and adaptable machines, able to take on the dirtiest

job. As such, the Travel Air became the mainstay of the

crop-dusting industry.

Of the 1,200 or so Travel Airs built between 1925 and

1930, a surprisingly high number about ISO are still on


24/44

With

brown

crinkle finish, the instrument panel

features

period

instruments like the bubble-face

compass.

Bruce

McElhoe and

couple of

young

fans during

one

of the American

Barnstormers

Tour

stops.

With his ever-present

unlit stogie, Frank Rezich

does great

job as

tour

barker

and

ground

guy for

Waldo

Wright's

Flying Service.

Frank was

instrumental

in helping

Bruce find

the 4-D.

On

january 24, 1934, Sol Sweet,

owner/operator

of Sweet Flying Service at Visalia Municipal Airport,

acquired the Travel Air from Larson Aircraft Sales, a

dealer in Oakland, California, for $1,500 and the trade of his

rather tired Waco 10. Starting immediately, the Travel Air

became

the

official mode of transporta tion of Col. john R.

White, superintendent of Sequoia National Park. In january

1937, after three years and 750 hours of national parks hop

ping, Sol sold it

to

Earl Hopkins, owner of the West Coast

Kalsomine Co., a paint company in Berkeley, California.

In November 1940, the left wing and

the landing

gear

were

damaged

in

a ground loop. In 1941, in accordance


25/44

starting with a good, straight fuselage. The wings were in very

poor shape, but I was able to salvage 60 to

70

percent of their

wood. The empennage on that model is metal, and the good

news was that it

was

in serviceable shape.

I had an engine that could be rebuilt and a Hamilton

Standard propeller. These are extremely difficult items

to

find, and I was lucky it came with the project. I did most of

the work myself, with a lot of coaching from Bob Lock.

Bruce acknowledges he reached his

limits

on this

enterprise:

liThe

top half of the fuselage is metal, and I started work

ing on it. I threw away all the work I did and sought help

from Mark Lightsey in Hemet, California, who is much better

than

me at

the

English wheel. For over a year, I would drive

to Hemet on Monday morning, spend the whole week with

Mark and come back home on Friday night. Mark painted

the airplane in traditional Travel Air colors and we finally as

sembled and rigged it.

In 2005, after five years of restoration, the flying phase was

approaching.

Bruce

wanted to be ready:

I learned to fly

on

tailwheels, but I was very rusty. I got a

refresher course

on

big tailwheel airplanes, and Mark helped

me starting. We did the first flight together (on May 6, 2005),

and then he turned me loose.

liThe

plane handles beautifully. I t is much better-behaved

on

the ground

than

a Stearman. That particular model has

outrigger gear with air-shock struts, so it handles like a baby

carriage.

It is

very reluctant to bounce.

It

will lift off at about

55

mph

and climb at 70/75. Cruise

is

about 100 mph and

the

landing speed

is

about 50 mph. I can fly

the

airplane hands

off, feet

on

the floor, and it will fly in a straight line, even

though it will wallowa bit.

liThe

hardest thing

for me

to

get used

to

was

the

view

from the cockpit. I have to admit, I still am not used to it.

It

takes very definite S-turns upon taxiing and, for that rea

son, I very

much

prefer a wide taxiway so I can make high

amplitude S-turns.

In cruise, I

cannot

see straight ahead,

and

on

landing I

can hardly see anywhere. I tend to make my turn to final very

close to the end of the runway, so I can see my landing point

and touch down not too much later after than when the run

way disappears. The Travel Air loves grass runways because

Travel Air 4 D Specifications

(As powered

by

a 220-hp Wright J-5 radial engine.)

Wingspan: 33 feet 0 inches

Length: 23 feet 4 inches

Total wing area: 289 square feet

Airfoil:

Trave l Air N

o.1

Empty weight:

1,837

pounds

Useful load: 1,034 pounds

Payload with 67 gallons gas: 428 pounds

Gross weight:

2,880

po

unds

M

ax

speed: 130 mph

Cru ising speed: 110 mph

Landing speed: 52 mph

Rate of climb: 980 f

pm

at sea level

Ceiling: 14,000 feet

Gas capacity: 67 gallons

Oil capacity: 6 gallons

Ra

nge at cruise @ 14 gph: 520 miles

Price

FOB

at the factory: 7,960 ($8,640 after

May

1930)


26/44

American Barnstormers

Tour 2008

A

step back in time

Y

S R H

PANCHO WILSON

The 2008 American

Barnstormers

Tour showcases as many

as 20 meticulously restored vintage aircraft from

the

1920s

and

1930s

in an exceptional collection of airplanes

and aviators.

This nostalgic salute to the daring

young

men and women

who

ventured across America during the 1920s

seeking fame

and

fortune

in their

biplanes,

dubbed

"barnstormers,

I I

will

journey

through

America's

heartland on

a

nine-city

tour

from

June

15

through June

30, 2008.

Admission

is

free

and

these rare air-

craft can be seen

at

the following cities:

June

: ;'-.10 IOwa City, Iowa (lOW)

June 17 18 Ames, Iowa (AMW)

Each

afternoon

the aircraft will

take

to the

skies for the Barnstorm-

June 19 20 Council Bluff, Iowa (CBF)

ers Parade of Flight, with the legend-

ary "Mr. Travel Air," Frank Rezich, as

June 21 22 Hastings, Nebraska (HSI)

master of ceremonies. Frank will en-

tertain

the

crowd with his unique an-

June 23 24

Great

Bend,

Kansas

(GBD)

nouncing style, while attendees hear

tall tales of barnstorming and learn

June 25 26 Wichita, Kansas (AAO)

the

history of each biplane

as

the pi-

lots perform overhead.

June 27 Emporia,

Kansas

(EMP), morning only for refueling

Spectators

can even experience

June 27 28 Lee's Summit, Missouri

(LXT)

the thrill of open-cockpit flight and

go barnstorming in a beautifully re-

June 29 30 Jefferson

City,

Missouri (JEF)

stored Travel Air or New Standard

vintage biplane. Weather permitting,

biplane rides will be available daily.


27/44

These

aren't airplanes,

they ' re

time machines, said

tour

organizer

Clay Adams. Our

tour

gives people

from all over the country the chance

to travel back in time and experience

the

same sights, sounds,

and

excite

ment

they

would have felt some 80

years ago as they looked

out

across

the fields and saw the barnstormers

on the horizon.

The American Barnstormers Tour

was born

under the

wing of

an

an-

tique Travel Air biplane as a group

of friends

and vintage airplane

afi

cionados began to talk of resurrect

ing

the

barnstorming

tours of

the

1920s, where many local citizens saw

their first airplane up close and per

haps spent a few dollars for their first

flight. Tour organizers saw an oppor-

Above: First

buiH

in Engtewood

Colo

rado and then

in

Colorado Springs

the

Alexander

A-2

Eagterock biplane was

produced

by the Alexander brothers

a

pair of

enthusiastic

businessmen

who

wanted

to

issue

each

one

o

their

film

advertising

sa

l

esmen an airplane

to

cover

their

telTitory.

No

matter what

the

reason the Eagterock has long been ad

mired

for its

looks and performance.


28/44

Above:

The

subject

of

one

of our

fea

ture articles

in

this issue, Bruce McEI

hoe s Travel

Air

is one of two Travel

Air

biplanes on

the tour this

year.

Left: Airline pilot Clay Adams, the

spark plug of the American Barnstorm

ers

Tour,

flies

his Travel

Air

4

all

over the Midwestern United

States. A

gathering of pilots

who had

enjoyed the

2 3

National

Air Tour enthusiastically

embraced the idea of

a

barnstormer s

tour,

and with Clay s leadership, the

idea

was off and running.

Below left: From the far

side of the

Rockies, this

is Alan and

Connie

Bu

chner s

Waco

QDC, the

cabin-class

biplane

of the

2 8

American

Barn


29/44

Above: Another symbol of

the

bamstonning

era

here

are a pair of Waco ASO biplanes

owned and flown

by

Rick Hornbeck rear) and

Dave and Jeanne Allen.

Above right: The ramp

display

at a tour

stop.

Right:

Participants line

up

for

a ride of a lifetime.

GET

CONNECTED ...

Stay

Informed

E-mail

is

the easiest

way

for

you

to

get connected to the

EAA

community and

stay

informed.

By sharing your e-mail address

with us, you'll receive:

• EAA's e-Horline electron ic newsleller

• Information on EAA events

• The latest

aviation

industry updates

Well.

f O r

D U : l f t C ~ e n ~ a

airplanes, anyway .. we

got

the

idea from Ponce.

It's called

rejuvenation,

and itworks great with

real

dope finishes. Spray

our

rejuvenator over aged dope;


30/44

TYPE CLU NOTES

High Oil Temps and Oil Temp Gauges

Dear George:

My 170 is a

1948 model

with a

C-145 engine. The oil-temp gauge is

original and I have

not

checked it for

accuracy yet. I take off and climb to

2,000 feet and within

15

minutes the

oil temp

is

touching the red line of

225 degrees. The instrument doesn t

give exact temp readings. t has only

a green arc all the way across its face

and then a red line.

The

engine

cooling

baffling is

of

the original type and is in good con

dition. I have checked the mag timing

and it

is

set on factory specs accord

ing to the engine manual.

The cowling lower half is new with

lip at bottom . Last flight was in temp

of 55 degrees OAT. Can oil cooler be

put on this

engine?

Thanks

for

any

help you can give me.

Russ

Hello, Russ

BY GEORGE HORN

Parts/Maintenance Advisor, TIC170A

brication

and

cooling,

which

in

turn

can mean

engine failure. The C-145/

0-300

engine was designed to operate

satisfactorily in

OATsup

to 130

de

grees Fahrenheit without an oil cooler.

There

is

no reason a healthy engine

should suddenly experience high en

gine oil temps unless a failure of some

sort has occurred. There can only be

one

reason for high oil-temp indica

tions if there has been no engine fault

developed.

That one

reason is

an

in

correct oil-temp indication system

(bad oil-temp gauge) .

The C-145/0-300 engines typically

indicate higher oil temps than engines

of other manufacturers as a result of

design (That statement does not mean

Continentals actually operate with

higher oil temps.

t only

means

they

indic te higher oil temps.) Do not use

previous experiences with other en

gines to decide that your C-145/0-300

is reading excessively high. The rea

Certificate Data Sheet

and

is

the

cur

rent maximum

oil temperature speci

fication for this engine.

SINCE YOU STATE THAT YOU

HAVE

THE OLD-STYLE OIL-TEMP

GAUGE you shou ld

know that

the

redline of

that

gauge

is

225 degrees.

That red line has been

superseded

The

new redline for your engine when us

ing SAE 50 straight-weight oil (such

as Aeroshell lOOW has changed and

is

now

specified at 240 degrees There

fore, when using 50 straight-weight

aviation oils, the redline on your old

style gauge is no longer va

li

d at 225

degrees.

You

may operate the engine

with oil temps up to 240 F How do

you determine where that is on your

gauge? You

must either

have your

gauge recalibrated

and

re-marked

by

a certified instrument shop or

you

must replace the gauge with a gauge

already marked with an indication of

240 degrees ..or you may simply plac


31/44

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32/44

tinue with the assumption you truly

have high oil temperature ....

The

oil-temp gauge

is

made up of

a capillary tube filled with alcohol or

gas with a bulb-end submerged in en

gine oil

at

the

oil screen

and

its op

posite end acting against a diaphragm

within

the

gauge. That diaphragm ex

pands

with

pressure from

the

heated

alcohol

and

bears against

the

indicat

ing needle

to

move it to

the

indicated/

associated temperature indication.

The most

common failure

mode

of

the

gauge

is

a break

in

the

capillary

tube o r leak in the diaphragm result

ing in loss of

the contained alcohol/

gas

and

resulting in the failure of

the

gauge in a lower-than-correct (or no)

indication.

Your

gauge does not pres

ent

this

problem.

The second

most

common

failure mode of

the

gauge

is

a loss of accuracy due to a diaphragm/

tube mechanism

that

has been weak

ened from excessive and/or repeated

expansion. This will cause the gauge

to read excessively high even though

oil temps are normal . This

is

a possi

bility considering your complaint.

(Another

less

common failure of

the

gauge

is

a mechanical failure wherein

the

needle finds interference within

the

gauge, does

not

move smoothly

without interference, or does not re

turn to the lowest possible indication

when

the

engine has returned to am

bient, such

as

after an overnight rest.

Remember

that

the

bottom

of

the

green arc in your gauge is 100 degrees.

A cold engine should indicate less

than

that.) Many gauges' lowest in

dication

is

100 degrees. f your gauge

never returns to that 100 mark, you

touch the pan. The gauge should very

quickly

indicate 210 degrees (212 to

be exact)

at/near

sea level. (Alterna

tively, if you are a midget contortion

ist, you

might

be able

to

remove

the

bulb

and

dip it in boiling water at

the

engine

compartment,

but

be careful

how

you heat

and handle

water close

to

the

airplane

and

nearby fuel.)

Special Note:

When

reinstalling

the

probe

do not

overtighten

the nut

hold

ing it within

the

oil screen casing. The

soft

copper

skirt

on the

bulb will be

crushed/cut

and

will fail if excessively

tightened,

and

complete loss of oil in

flight

is

a possible result. When rein

stalling

the

probe, tighten

the nut

just

snug,

and then only 1/2

flat

on the

nut

further (about

1/16th

of a turn).

No more.

Method 2:

Purchase a 14-inch or

longer barbecue or meat-type ther

mometer from

an outdoor

barbecue

or restaurant equipment supplier.

Us-

ing the

boiling water method, deter

mine the thermometer

is

accurate

at

210

degrees Fahrenheit. Fly the air

craft

to

bring

the

oil

temp up to the

normally observed temperature. Land

the

airplane

without

significantly de

scending or cooling

the

oil

and shut

down

as

soon

as

possible. Remove

the

oil dipstick and plunge the BBQ ther

mometer into the

dipstick position.

Allow it

to

register the oil temp

and

then compare

that

thermometer in

dication with

the

urrent cockpit oil

temp

gauge

indication.

This

second

method has greater possible error but

should be an acceptable method to de

termine if your cockpit gauge

is

suffi

ciently accurate to be serviceable. The

higher rates of oil flow to the valve

rocker box area

than

other engine de

signs. This results in

higher oil-flow

return

rates

through the

pushrod

housing

tubes. Those

pushrod

tubes

act

as

a pathway for oil

to

drain back

to the

crankcase from

the

rocker boxes

and

cylinder heads,

and

also act

as

oil

coolers. Cylinder baffles exist at

the

lower

cylinder

surface

and between

the

cylinders

to

properly direct cool

ing air around

the

cylinders and to

re-

direct

that

air once heated away from

the

pushrod

tubes.

The exhaust

sys

tem flanges at

the cylinder

are nor

mally sealed with a high-temp gasket,

but

that gasket can develop a leak and

the flange can

thin

out

and warp

due to time

of operation,

which

will

also cause a leak of hot exhaust gases.

Additionally, there

is

a "joint" clamp

that

exists between

the

short exhaust

"riser"

(the

IPC calls

them

exhaust

tubes") which

bolts to the

cylinder,

and

where that riser connects

to the

muffler. Those clamps can develop

exhaust gas leaks. When

that

gasket/

flange seal fails or that clamp leaks,

it directs

hot

exhaust gases onto

the

pushrod

tubes

containing engine

oil

on its way back to the crankcase. This

will improperly

add heat to

the oil

that

is

draining to the sump, resulting

in

high

oil temperatures. Be aware

that leaks

at the

flange, if left uncor

rected for long, will erode the face of

the cylinder exhaust port to the point

that

new

gaskets

cannot

correct

the

problem. The only fix in that case

is

cylinder repair/replacement. Do

not

neglect leaks at this flange area. In

fact, due to the danger from hot ero

auto parts stores. It is a 1-1/4-inch-wide

and will require a field approval, and

closely examine the bulb flange's outer


33/44

red-colored fiberglass tape. Wrap

that

tape tightly, twice around the cleaned

joint,

and

reinstall the clamps using

new stainless bolts and high-temp nuts

(AN363C-I032 nuts, AN960CI0 wash

ers and AN3C-4A bolts). Aircraft Spruce

can supply

the

hardware

(877-477

7823). Use new exhaust nuts (Spruce

PN 22022)

when

removing/installing

the exhaust risers. New risers are avail

able from Knisely Welding Inc., Loomis,

California (800-522-6990 or 916-652

5891),

and

from Aerospace Welding

Minneapolis Inc., (800-597-4315).

Tell Charlie Feld of

the

170 Associa

tion sent you.) The risers are part num

bers 0550157-7 for the short straight

ones (four required each engine)

and

0550157-8 for

the

longer curved ones

(two required each engine). The best

gaskets are

the

spiral wound ones from

Spruce PN RA-627429). Knisely

may

also carry them.

I f your exhaust

system is

not the

problem then you should consider

other less common causes of high oil

temps. High-time, worn piston rings

are sometimes blamed for combustion

blow-by gases entering

the

crankcase

and heating the oil. I do not person

ally subscribe to that theory, but

if

you

ask your mechanic to perform a com

pression check and you find low cylin

der pressures (below 45/80 differential)

then that should be repaired regardless

of my opinion (grin).

To

answer your oil cooler question:

Yes, there

was

an oil cooler installed on

this engine for a C-I72 seaplane ver

sion. It was done under the authority

of a Cessna kit. The seaplanes have an

3) the FAA is virtually no longer willing

to grant field approvals without expen

sive engineering support. Such a mod

will probably cost

far

more than repair

ing whatever problem you might have

with your engine/airframe.

I hope this helps guide you

in

this

problem or non-problem (grin).

Another Special Note: Rochester was

the original manufacturer for the early

gauges. Later B-models (and most al

tered airplanes) use 2-1/4-inch-round

Scott Aviation gauges for oil tempera

ture. These gauges themselves are still

made for Scott by outside

vendors.

(Scott used Rochester for a while but

reportedly has switched vendors.) Its

recent change in supplier has created a

problem

and

a potential oil leak.

The capillary

bulb (the

part

that

sticks

into the

oil screen) has an inte

gral hex-collar/nut that is

not

remov

able

and upon

installation

is

threaded

into an adapter, which

in turn

is

threaded into the oil screen/filter. The

adapter provides a sealing surface for

an integral flange on the bulb. On our

C-145/0-300 engines

it

is a

5/8-18

thread

on

the

adapter,

and

is also a

5/8-18 thread on the integral nut. The

adapter's sale purpose is to provide a

sealing surface for the integral

nut

to

hold the integral bulb flange against.

(There is

no

sealing surface within the

oil screen assembly.)

The problem

is

that the change in

vendor/supplier resulted in an un

intended change in the shape of the

bulb flange. The early/original flange

was flat; the later flange was slightly

conical at the outer edge.

surface edges and the adapter's inner

surface to ascertain

whether

the two

are compatible. A flat flange will not

seal against

an

adapter with

an

inner

conical sealing surface,

and

a conical

flange will not seal against

an

adapter

with a flat inner sealing surface.

Also be aware that some adapters

got by quality control (?) that had ir

regular

inner

conical sealing surfaces.

nspect

the

adapter supplied with your

gauge for a clean,

smooth inner

seal

ing

surface

where

the

copper bulb

flange

will reside. Do not

use any

adapter with a rough or uneven inner

sealing surface.

Finally, I'd like

to

address

another

misconception regarding these C-145

/0-300

oil systems. I t is

commonly

heard that

the

cooling blast tubes are

aimed at

the

oil screen area

in

order to

fool the indication system

into

be

lieving

the

oil

is

cooler than it actually

is. This

is

a disreputable half-truth.

The cooling blast tubes are intended

to relieve an indication error due to

direct contact by the capillary bulb

with hot engine surfaces. When

one

checks

the

accuracy of

the

mechani

cal gauge with boiling water it is im

portant that the bulb rest only in the

water and NOT contac t the metal pan

that the water is being heated within.

If the capillary bulb contacts the pan

then the bulb will be incorrectly deliv

ered additional

heat that

is

not

truly

representative of

the

water (The

pan

is

hotter than the boiling water and

we don t want to measure the temp

of the pan, we want to measure only

the water.).


34/44

BY DOUG

STEW RT

Fly In

Perils

heightened sense of awareness

is

imperative

With the wind blowing at a steady

15 knots and

the

gusts reaching

into

the high 30s

and

low 40s, it certainly

made the temperature, which was

struggling

to

get out of the

single

numbers, feel

as

i f

I was in

the

Arctic.

Combining that

with

the

whiteout

conditions

that

occurred

not only

as

the snow squalls blew

through,

but

also with each new gust, it definitely

was not a day

that

inspired me to go

flying. In fact, the way the

wind

was

blowing it was difficult not to go

fly-

ing

just walking from

the

car

to

my

office at the airport.

Although

it

is true that I prefer

cooler climes to hotter ones, I couldn't

help but

think

about spring and

the

onset of warmer weather and, con

current with

that, the

beginning of

the fly-in season, which for me typi

cally starts with Sun

In

Fun. With

the

frigid conditions outside I figured this

to be an ideal time to download the

Sun n Fun Fly-in NOTAM.

As I waited for the download to

close-in downwind leg for landing.

As all these pilots

fly

in single file,

some are having difficulty maintain

ing

the proper

separation. Some pi

lots are

having

trouble flying at

the

recommended 100-knot

airspeed.

Some

of

us

in antique and

vintage

Cubs and

Champs

have

our

throttles

firewalled,

worried that others

in

their

latest

and greatest, sleek

new

high-powered

offerings from

Min

nesota,

Oregon

(soon to be Kansas),

and Texas will run us down from be

hind

unless

they

have

their throttles

pulled almost all the way

back

and

are hanging out as much drag in

the

breeze as they can.

Whoa wait a minute,

Stew

art. You're supposed to be thinking

soothing, warm thoughts. Somehow

they have taken on a somewhat chill

ing

atmosphere

l

albeit

not

as

cold as

it

is

outside your office. But it

is

true.

Flying in to a gathering of pilots is a

higher-risk endeavor. Whether it's a

big one, like Sun In Fun, or

EAA

Air-

to depart for Sun n Fun, recently ar

rived

there, or looking

back

fondly

on the recently concluded gathering

of pilots in

Lakeland, Florida. Per

haps you

were

unable to or

chose

not

to

attend

this

year's

celebration

of flight

that

for me begins

the

fly-in

season in earnest. But you are prob

ably

looking

ahead

to one or more

of your favorite fly-ins

that

you are

planning to

attend.

Regardless of

your

perspective, let

us all be highly aware fly-ins can

be

very dangerous.

A

lot

of

aircraft

converging

or departing (and some

times both) in

the

same

place

in a

short period of time creates hazards

that are not

normally

present in

our

typical flight

Vintage Airplane - Apr 2008

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Transcript of Vintage Airplane - Apr 2008