Vintage Airplane - Dec 1973

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Dec 1973

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VOLUME 1 - NUMBER 12A DECEMBER 1973TABLE OF ONTENTS

Reminiscing With A Lightplane Pioneer Jim Church . . . .. . . . . . 4The Church V-8 248 Aero Engine Jack Cox .. . .. . .. . . . .. .. . .. . . . . .. 7What Ever Happened To The V-8 Ford Powered Campbell Pusher . Jack Cox 10Luscombe Sedan B John Shinn . . .. ..13Meanwhile, Back At Oshkosh . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. 14Around the Antique/Classic World . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . ..18ON THE COVER . E. O. Swearingen'sFokker D VIII. Pho to by Ted Koston

BACK COVER Bob Zilinsky's Cessna170A.Photo by Ted Koston

HOW TO JOIN THE ANTIQUE-CLASSIC DIVISIONMem bersh ip in the EAA Antique-Class ic Division is open to all EAA members who have a special

in teres t in the older aircraft that are a proud part of our aviation heritage. Membership in the AntiqueClassic Division is 10 .00 per year which entitles one to 12 issues of The Vintage Airplane publishedmonthly at EAA Headquarters . Each member will also receive a special Antique-Classic membershipcard plu s one additional card for one's spouse or other designated family member .Membership in EAA is 15.00 per year which includes 12 issues of SPORT VI TION All mem~ r s h i p co rr espondence should be addressed to: EAA, Box 229, Hales Corners Wisconsin 53130.

EDITORIAL STAFFPubl isher Pau l H. PobereznyAssistant Editor Gene Chase

Editor Jack CoxAssistant Ed itor - Golda Cox

ANTIQUE AND CLASSIC DIVISION OFFICERSPRESIDENT E. E. HILBERT8102 LEECH RD .

VICE PRESIDENTJ . R. NIELANDER . JR.P. O. BOX 2464


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REMINISCING WITH ALIGHTPLANE PIONEER.

JIM CHURCH

The ultra-light airplane has always been a fascinationfor a great many pilots. From the earliest days of flyingthere have been innumerable tiny single place machines

machines that have represented perhaps the ultimatein individual expression of the desire to fly . We see thistoday in the homebuilt movement and, notably in the phenomenal interest in Jim Bede's BD-5 Micro, and we saw itin a brief flash just after World War when the MooneyMite was introduced. During the late 1920s and early 1930s,the guru of the ultra light following was Ed Heath. Hislittle parasol had such enduring charms that it is still being ~ u l t by amateurs to this day EAA sells plans forthe ~ senes and will perpetuate the Heath concept witha new design that will appear in 1974.A close associate of Ed Heath was Jim Church, famousfor his Church Mid-Wing. His tiny long wing racer wasmarketed in kit form just as were the Heath's and wasquite successful considering the state of the economy during the depression years. Jim lives today in Muskegon,Michigan and spends a lot of his spare moments answeringmail from admirers who want to know how things REALLYwere when Henderson conversions were the latest thing

Photo Courtesy Jim Church)Jim Church and his first airplane a Henderson poweredHeath Parasol with lower wing panels from a ThomasMorse Scout.ally, to me at the time, I thought it was a large modelrather than a small, full sized airplane.Then and there I decided to build one just like it, sothe following week I called on Mr. Heath at his smallfactory on the north side of Chicago. I convinced a friendof mine to join me in the project and we proceeded atonce after buying the necessary material. My basementin Chicago was to be our work shop.

Our little Heath Parasol was completely assembled bythe next summer in time for Ed Heath to test fly and, infact, to get it ready for the 1928 air races at Cleveland,Ohio . I couldn't fly yet, so we arranged for a gentlemanfrom Janesville, Wisconsin who weighed about 145 poundsto fly the race in which there were about six airplanesof less than 100 cubic inch engines .This little airplane was pulled backwards 350 miles toCleveland with the tail skid tied to my spare tire. Mr.Heath carried my Thomas Morse Scout wings in his


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Photo courtesy Jim Church)The original Church Mid-Wing picture taken sometimein 1929. Compare this with the photos of Gene Chase'srecent restoration.

Gene Chase Photo)Jim Church running up Gene Chase's Mid-Wing. Shortly afterward Jim made his first flight in a Mid-Wingin 31 years

wings left something to be desired. We made some simpleadjustments raised the seating and tried a full sized man- who pronounced everything O . K. (Mr. Heath weighedaround 100 pounds and was just over 5 feet tall - areally small man).This airplane also went to Cleveland for the 1929races and was flown by Freddie Lund later to becomewell known as a racing and aerobatic pilot. This year we

WILL RD F4 27 ROCKY . SCHMITTr RIVER DRCLE; V.ELAND . NO., OHIO 44135

(Photo by Terry Randall)Gene Chase's restored Church MidWing mentioned in the text.


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version using larger bore a nd overh ead va lves . This gaveus 46 dynamometer horse power as oppose d to 23 h orsepower using the Hend erson cylinders. Later, we droppedthe large 4 ft. 6 in. chord Clark Y long wing panels, fa voring our new wing with a four foot chord and M-6airfo il. Each panel was 10 fee t in length .The airpl ane now began to perfor m - which now remin ds me that du ring this time, I learn ed to fly and hadone of our lates t models for myself. In boasting I mu s tsay I neve r enjoyed anything more .Several years now passed and my hopes fo r a twosea ter we re growing. As you may a lrea dy know, I des igned

an air cooled, all aluminum V-8 engi ne around th e FordV-8 cranksha ft, camshaft , conn ecting rods, etc., whi chma de a 93-110 air cooler, which completed 150 hour s atwide o pen throttle - after which it was award ed a govern-me nt Ty pe Cer tificate.We had two youn g college gradua tes in aircraft engineering w ho were stress analyzi ng our little two place.They made considerabl e progress until 1941 , the beg inningof Wo rld War II w hen we a ll had to qu it. I became a Na val Aviator and re tired as a Lt Command er in 1946.After the war we did not start aga in . n the late19605 Ge ne Chase, then of Tulsa, Okl ahoma, picked up anOld Mi d-Wing a nd res tored it - a mos t gorgeou s res toration job. Last year , after 31 yea rs since my las t flightin a Mid-Wing, I flew his ai rpl ane a t Tulsa.Now th e Mid -Wing and th e V-8 air cooled engine arein th e EAA Air Muse um at Hales orn ers, W.isconsin where Gene Chase now lives (he is Bu siness Managerof the Experimental Aircraft Association .All of the above is, of course, anoth er era in this life.I am now 71 yea rs old , enj oying good hea lth and currently hold a comm ercial pilot s license.James Church1656 Fifth S t. , Muskegon, Mich. 49441

November 1973

Photo Courtesy Jim Church)Wind-driven generators once marketed by Jim Church.

Photo Courtesy Jim Church)Church wind-driven generatormounted on a Curtiss Rob in .


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Jim Church of Muskegon, Michigan is rememberedtoday by aviation enthu sias ts as the designer of the littleChurch Mid-Wing racer/sport plane. A lesser known ac

Photo by Dick Stouffer)Jim Church , left , and EAA President Paul Pobereznypose with the Church V8 that is now on display in theEAA Air Museum . Off the shelf Ford parts included thecrankshaft; camshaft; connecting rods ; rod, cam and main


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N. C. Drevalas PhotoSide shot of the Church V8 a single ignition enginecould be certified in those pre-World War days.as a get-away machine . . . away into the wild blueyonder, however.The V-8's major drawback as an aircraft engine wasweight. The basic engine was bad enough by aircraftstandards, but add the radiator, water, hoses, water pump,e tc . and it was even worse. Jim decided to develop anaircooled version employing finned cylinders and othercomponents of his own design.The first version was a rather exotic combination ofthe basic Ford engine and Church overhead valve cylinders. This engine suffered a catastrophic failure on thetest stand with a rod and piston assembly narrowlymissing Jim before imbedding itself in the wall behindhim.A second version with a milder L head , side valvecylinder assembly was successful. t was run at full throttle and full load on a tes't stand for 150 hours , thus qualifying it for a government Type Certificate, At 2900 rpm theengine was cranking out 103 hp ., but it was standard procedure for the CAA to subtract 10 percent of rated poweron their paperwork to allow for manufacturing tolerances ,thus the official 93 horsepower rating of the engine foraircraft use, A further certification requirement wasthat the engine be flown in some type of aircraft for atleast 10 hours, Jim had a friend who owned an ArrowSport that had been certified with a geared, water cooledFord V-8, so this airframe was a natural for the Churchengine. t was installed as shown in the pictures andproceeded to rack up 12 hours of reliable, inexpensiveflying time without a problem of any sort.The Church V-8 248 was awarded Type CertificateNumber 224 on October 10,1939. H . H. Maurer of the CAA

N. C. Drevalas Photo )A photo made in the late 1930s of the Church V-8.

do the stress analysis. The craft was to be a low wingcabin job with lines reminiscent of the Seversky P-35,including its semielliptical wings - a shrewd marketingconcept that Was to be used by post World War II lightplane manufacturers who have tried to give their productsa hint of the ever-popular P-51 Mustang for the past 25years. In 1939 the P-35 was the latest thing in the publicmind - Frank Fuller and Jacqueline Cochran were winningthe Bendix with it and grabbing all the headlines - soit was a good move to design a sport plane that wouldgive an owner the pride of flying a "little Seversky.

The Church low wing was to have been of wood, tubeand rag construction and would feature a retractable landing gear and drooping ailerons. Wing tip slots to tame th estall characteristics of the highly tapered wing were to beincorporated. Span was to be 30 feet and length 23 feet.The projected weight was 1500 pounds.With the FordlChurch V-8 cranking out around 100 h p.the little plane was expected to cruise at about 115 mph.But then it was all for naught. In 1939 while JimChurch was in Chicago certifying his V-8, some 3500miles to the east a demented ex-paper hanger was deciding that 25 years without a major war in Europe was longenough . . . and that his neighbors in Poland needed ademonstration of something he was calling "blitzkrieg.

Shortly, Jim found himself in a Navy officer's uniformand in the cockpit of a Corsair - among other things.Aircooled V-8s and Seversky-like lightplanes were put outof mind for the duration of the war . . . and as thingsturned out, for all time. After leaving the service as a Lt.Commander in 1945, Jim went to work as the design engineer for the American Coil Spring Company in Muskegon,


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new Tailwind equipped with an Olds F-85 engine. Makesyou wo nd er doesn t it? do we progress in an up wardstraight line or are we merely moving arou nd a circle solarge that we can t always see the other side so as torealize that we have been there before?We are proud to have Jim Church s V-8 in the EAA

Air Museum to serve as inspi ration to u ture travelersaround ou r aero nautical circle.

(Photo Courtesy Jim Church)That l i ttle V8 really looks small , doesn' t it?

(Photo Courtesy Jim Church)The Church V-8 mounted on an Arrow Sport. The enginehad to be flown 10 hours to qualify for a Type Certificate .Note the hastily produced cylinder baffling - crude, butworked fine .

CHURCH V-8 248TYPE CERTIFICATE 224

Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . V-8 248Type . . . . . .. . .. . .. . . . . .. .. 8VARating

Max . continuous , hp , rpm at S. L.Press. alt . . . 93-2900-S.L.Take-off, hp, rpm , at full throttle . 93-2900Fuel (Min . oc t. avo gas) . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Bore and Stroke - in . . . 3.25 x 3 75Displacement, cu . in . . . . . . . 248Compression ratio . . . . . .. . . . . 5.7:1Weight (dry), Ibs . . . . . 342 (See NOTE 1)Propeller Shaft . . . . . . . . . . . SpecialCarburetion . Ford Stromberg dual

downdraft with 1 2 in. venturisIgnition . . Ford battery ignition systemCertification basis .. Type Certificate No. 224Production Basis .. None(The manufacturer does not hold a production

certificate for the production of engines underthis type certificate and, therefore , each engineso produced is subject to a detailed inspectionfor workmanship and conformity with the ap-proved data by a CAA agent. In addition , theengine musthave a satisfactory run-in including5 hours at rated power and speed . Upon satisfactory completion of the above, the agent willtag the engine with Tag Form ACA 186.)

NOTE 1 - Weight (dry) also includes exhaust mani-fold , generator and fuel pump.

WILLARD F: SCHMITTt40.2 7. ROCKY RIVER DR NO 22C'LEVEL,AND, OHIO 44135


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What ver Happened To The V 8 Ford Powered Photo Courtesy Popular Aviation)-280Y the Hayden Campbell twin boom pusher mustCampbell Pusher have looked quite advanced to aviators of 1936. It was

powered with a stock Ford V B engine.

The following article and the accompanying photos ofthe Campbell pusher appeared on page 177 of the March1936 issue of Popular Aviation . The little Ford-poweredpusher was rather advanced for its day and created aminor stir in the aviation press. Pictures and a short article on it even appeared in the British magazine, TheAeroplane in April of 1930.The Campbell was one of many aircraft being builtaround the country in the early 1930s in response tothe Bureau of Air Commerce's highly controversial "$700Airplane Contest. Eugene Vidal had become Director ofthe Aeronautics Branch of the Bureau of Air Commercewhen the Roosevelt administration came to power in 1933.To begin the long climb out of the Depression, every officeof the Executive Branch was instructed to initiate programs that would put people back to work and restoretheir faith in the government.

things, if they would be interested in purchase of a newairplane if the cost could be brought down to the rangeof the average automobile, which in 1934 was generallybetween $500 and $1000. Predictably, most responded inthe affirmative - how would you like to be able to buy anice two-placer in 1974 for around $3500??Vidal decided to hold a design contest to pick what became popularly known - and most often derisively - asthe "$700 Airplane ." Preliminary design studies were tobe submitted to the Department of Commerce and the topdesigns would be awarded development contracts for several aircraft which, in turn, would actually be tested bythe government to determine the eventual winner.

The "$700 Airplane contest was controversial in theextreme. The existing manufacturers went into raging,frothing fits because they were afraid they would be runout of what little Depression-era business they still had left


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plane program before it ran its course and had time tocome up with a true low cost airplane. The contest did,however, have its effec t on aviation. The tri-cycle gearused on the earliest Curtiss aircraft was brought back,emphasis was placed on stall and spin resistant characteristics on light aircraft from that time to th e present anda couple of the airplanes actually got into limited production - the Stearman-Hammond and the Arrow Sport.The Waterman Arrowplane also evo lv ed into the roa dable Arrowbile powered by a Studebaker auto engine anda half dozen were built before World War II brought ahalt to civilian air raft development. Even after the demise of the govern.ment contest, many aircraft, obviouslybuilt with con test criteria in mind, surfaced in the late30s - the Gwinn Aircar, the Ercoup e, etc. - and the Campbell pusher, which is the subject of this article.

One thing many of the $700 Airplanes had in commonwas the use of an automobile engine for power. The engine has a lways been the single most expensive componentof a light airplane and the converted auto engine seemedthe best, in fact the ONLY way to go, as aircraft engineswere just as outrageous in price then as today. One of themost popular auto engines for aircraft conversion wasHenry Ford's new flat head V-8. Small in size and easyto soup up, the little V 8 would be just as attractive toaircraft homebuilders as to automotive hot rodders.

We have no information on what became of Mr . Campbell or his pu sher. Can any of you help? We would liketo hear from you if you can add to this story - all newinformation will be printed on these pages. - Jack Cox,Editor.

Designer/builder Hayden Campbell of St. Joseph Missourisits in the cabin of his pusher and explains things to

The Campbell By Hillis R. BradenAll Metal Low Wing

A brand-new low-priced Ford Motored plane thathas been entered in the race for the attention ofthe so-called air-minded masses. It is a swallowtailed pusher of fine appearance and excellent performance.On the Mid-American Airport, St. Joseph, Missouri, a

Photo Courtesy Popular Aviation)Leonard Jurdin of the Bureau of Air Commerce. Kinda.hard t believe this picture was taken 7 years ago eh?

bility and stability in the air. What more could any personask of an airplane designed for the average citizen, andto fit the average pocketbook?t is hoped that this job will retail in the neighborhoodof $1200 under mass production. Quite naturally this factplaces Campbell's ship in the running for Eugene Vidal'squest, in behalf of the Bureau of Air Commerce, for a

poor man's airplane.As yet, the creation has no given name, but has beencalled by a dozen different ones during the past few


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rear of the fuselage, running off an extension on the driveshaft. The cabin is just in front of the motor in the noseof the ship.Side-by-side seating and much more comforfaple upholstering than is ordinarily seen in any plane, gives theideal arrangements for the private flyer. Just above and to

the rear of the cabin is the radiator, or air-intake. Thisscoop gathers in the air and the suction of the propcombines with the speed of the plane to distribute it whereneeded .The fuselage tapers at the back to an eight-inch slitthrough which used air is drawn. This arrangement alsoenables the prop to throw itself into a far greater amountof air than has previously been the case with pushers,due to the fact that the tapering of the fuselage of thismodel distributes the outside air to the entire propeller,with the exception of the eight inches in the exact center.Utilization of this extra footage on the prop naturally aidsin performance.

The plane is constructed entirely of metal; dow-metaland dural being used throughout. The dow-metal wasimported into Missouri from Michigan. Wood is very conspicuous - because of its absence.The general shape of the fuselage reminds one of alarge egg, partly flattened at the rear . Excellent streamlining has been achieved. The cabin windows have beenso placed as to fit into the curvature of the nose, carrying out the streamlining, and creating no more resistancethan would have otherwise been placed at this point.The landing-carriage consists of three wheels, two ofwhich are located to the rear of the center of gravity,but which carry most of the weight. They have the standard sixteen-inch oleo shock-absorbers, while the wheelunder the very nose of the ship has only a ten-inch spread.This wheel does not have the weight on it that the othertwo have, but helps prevent noseovers . Connected to footpedals in the cabin, as is the ordinary tail wheel, thiswheel is on a pivot and allows very easy and accuratemaneuvering while on the ground. Air-wheels will comeas standard equipment.Twin rudders are used, being suspended on tWin boomsextending from the trailing edge of the wing. These extensions are in reality, several joints of metal, each smallerthan the one just forward; this construction gives it somewhat of a telescopic appearance. The elevator and stabilizer swing between these booms. All controls are swungon ball bearings.This plane is virtually a flying-wing, the four majorsections of the ship being built entirely around the wingwhich is, in itself, unusual. Campbell calls it a full cantilever, multi-cellular, airfoil . Four transverse metal spars,spars, evenly spaced, run from wing tip to wing tip.These in turn are crossed by the conventional ribs (also

slotted type, running the full distance of the trailing edge.This job was designed and built with comfort, roominess, convenience and visibility, as well as performance,the ultimate aim of the architect, Hayden Campbell. Thedashboard is as handy and convenient at could be designed, and has a complete outlay of instruments. Thespark, choke, throttle, and starter are all within thumbto-finger reach.

The brake protrudes from just beneath the dash; thestandard brakes from the Chrysler Airflow being used . Thewide seat and exceptionally soft upholstering tend to givethe greatest comfort possible on a long jaunt in a planeof this type. The duals employed are as on the largertransports.A wheel is used rather than the stick, so common tothe lightplane. This control is easily and immediatelyswung from either side to the other. Wide doors on eitherside of the cabin give access to the seat, doing awaywith the habit of tying one's self into the proverbialknot when entering or leaving the plane.

The starter is exactly the same as used in the Fordcar, and is juiced by a standard battery, this being located in the roomy baggage compartment behind the seat,as in the Ford Tudor.This little ship has more than spoken for itself in testson closed courses, being timed from other planes as wellas by a gound timer and also paced by planes with aknown top speed, it is known definitely that the Campbellwill cruise at 110-115 mph with a conservative top of13 mph.

The stability, while in the air is far above that forthe average plane of this type, and the landings are lightalthough the designer brings the ship in with a very lownose. This fact caused a near panic at the Kansas CityMunicipal field when Campbell was landing for the firsttime on that port.

As the diving glide was started, preparatory to landing,shouts went up from the crowd; some expected a crash.A sudden hush fell, then more exclamations as they witnessed the strange landing. To quote the Kansas CityStar, The little plane literally 'flew into the ground' andsettled down to an immediate and smooth landing.

When Campbell returned to St. Joe, he had sufficientinstruments to thoroughly complete his tests, the resultsof which we shall all know soon.This gentleman was flying in the American Army backin '17, and knows the game from the ground up. He leftthe army as a lieutenant, and since that time has been inhis home town, St. Joseph .

t is interesting to note the ease with which he putshis bird in its nest at the close of a busy day . Should itbe sitting in some corner of the field he climbs in, pushesthe starter button on the dash board, and the motor fires


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WILLARD F S HMllTROCKY RIVER DR NO ~

.. OHIO 44 3

(Photo by R. G Elliott)B. John Shinn 's 1949 Luscombe 11A Sedan.

LUSCOMBE SED N

Enclosed is a pho to of my 1949 Luscombe Sedan l l Awhi ch I flew to Os hkosh in '71 and picked up the BestClass III Classic (over 165 h p.) trophy.Its a grea t old bird, fun to y and an excellent in s trument plane. It cru ises a t 125 mph indica ted which givesabout 140 mph tru e a t 8000 ft. on 65 percent power .t .has a Continental E-185-2 engine and will li ft off anythmg you ca n load in it. t climbs like a helicopter1000 fpm at gross (2300 lbs.) u p to 5000 ft. even in thiswa rm Florida air (22 d eg. C).Its a little short on fu el capacity in that it on ly holds40 gal. At low cru ise (105 mph lAS) it burns a little over9 gph , but at 65 degrees it burns at leas t 101/2 gph leaned


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ND MEANWHILEBACK AT OSHKOSH

We sti ll have lots of unpublished pictures of antiquesand classics taken at Oshkosh '73. We' ll try to get in acou pie of pages now and then during the wi nter monthsso as to keep your spirits up - and remind you that Osh-kosh 74 is only seven months away. As you will read inSport Aviation, the 1974 Oshkosh dates have been changedto July 3 through Aug ust 6. This is a Wednesday throughthe following Tuesday. The idea is to elimina te one week-end since th e government is putting th e clamps on Sundaysales of av gas . Mak e your plans now , because everyonewe have talked to is determined to come if th ey have tofloat their planes up the Mississippi on a barge The feelingseems to be that th e government got us into this mess andit is thus unfair for them to expect aviation en thusiaststo give up their hobby to bail the politicians out. No oneelse in society is being asked to give up their recreationalactivi ties, so .

On to Oshkosh

. ht by phot09 ra -. illinois IS caug reak ground .vbe/ t of Elgin, he is about to b this sort ofJack s c . h ~ a S t o u t f e r jus.t as eed camera or The plane,pher DI special , hIgh sp arly stopped prop .Dick has a d mark is the ne C7 Dwork . His : Fairchild F 22 .

Best MooWned b nOPlaney Peter D' Orld War ~ ' ~ ~ f i I I ~Yle of S I I Era to by Leyracus an Int e Fraye, New \/ erState LFOrk. 6


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Brandon Florida wheelsiftGene Roberts of df d W ,on hi rna I e


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TH SOPWITH PUPBy ill Hodges

The Sopwith "Pup" has proven to be a n ideal WWI aircra ft to reproduce as a custom-built re plica, wi th severalalready having been built.The actual British aircraft , which was brought out inea rly 1916, was so efficient that produ ction was continuedth rough the end of that wa r. So me 1,896 " Pu ps we rebuilt by fo ur compani es: So pwith , Beardmore, S tand ardand Whitehead.An advanced d esign when brought out , it was an almos tperfect fighter plane. Powered by an 80 hp LeRhone rotaryengine, the 1,225 Ibs. could climb to 10, 000 fee t in 14 minutes and 25 seconds Grea t for its day Mounting a singleVickers .303 caliber machine gun fir ing th rough the propeller, the first "Pu ps were delive red to th e Roya l NavalAir Service. By December 1916 the Roya l Flying Corp sbegan receiving th e "Pu p" as first-lin e equipment.The famous British Ace J. T B. McCud den, wrote ofthe " Pup, " I realized that th e Sopwith could ouhnaneuveran y Albatros, no matter how good th e pilot was . . . wh enit came to maneuverin g, the So pwith Scout wo uld turntwice to an Albatros' once.Several multiple " kills were record ed for the"Pu ps,attesting to th eir ability. On August 21 , 1917, a "Pu p"from the light cruiser HMS YA RMOUTH, shot down th eZe ppelin L. 23 . Launched from a platform moun ted on topof a gun turret (without catapult) th e "Pu ps" wo uld takeoff in a distance 20 fee t Landing back on the ship couldbe accomplished becau se of the "Pup's superb controllability. t entailed flying alongside the ship, crabbing inboard until over the ship 's forward deck, and then touching dow nMuch more could be written about th e accomplishm entsof the "Pu p" bu t that is not the purpose of this article.The wing s pan of 26 ft. 6 in. and simple wood construction make th e building of a replica we ll within re.achof the average cus tom-builder, expecially since the com

ULTRALIGHT FIBER-GLASS

By R. M. " ob" Puryear1 Arastradero Rd.

Portola Valley , Calif. 94025In the August 1972 issue of Sport Aviation the Desig

nee Corner, written by Tony Bingelis, was devoted to theuse of an extra light weight glass cloth in airplaneconstruction. 10 years previously Tony covered the plywood stabilizer and fin of his Emeraude with an ultralight weight glass cloth he had purchased in a hobbyshop . After 10 years these surfaces were still in perfectcondition . As a result he planned to fiber-glass his entireTurner T-40, which was at that time under construction .The ultra light cloth weighs 25 .5 grams, or approximately.9 ounce per square yard.Since I'm currently rebuilding a Culver Cadet the possible use of this extra light weight cloth was of considerable interest to me. I contacted the Aircraft EngineeringDivision of the FAA, who replied that they could see no


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AROUND THE ANTIQUE/ CLASSIC WORLD

Dear Sir:We have a 195 Cessna for sale, due to the loss of myhusband, who was killed in an accident in July. This wasa very sudden and hard loss for us to accept, but thi s wemust do .you would know of anyone interested, would yo uplease have them call or come and look at it if th ey mightbe interested.

It has had a major overhaul plus paint job on it yellow with black.It is for sale to the highest offer, as this plane had just

gone into a classic so would like to have it in the righthands of someone how will appreciate this.

Thank you.Mrs. MeissnerRR 2, North River Road 5100Janesville, Wisconsin 53545Phone 608/752-6601

Dear Bill:I read with great interest Pete Bowers article on theF4B/P-12 in the June port Aviation As you may rememberme telling you, we have reproducible copies of the F4Bseries drawings here. A set of full-size prints would be inthe neighborhood of 250.00, priced at 10 cents per squarefoot for reproduction. We do n ' t have the drawings so rtedor indexed yet because we are working on others. How-ever, if there is enough interest generated by this article,we can have some sets printed. Therefore, if we receiveat least five firm orders accompanied by a 100.00 depositmade payable to the Smithsonian Institution, we will havethe prints made.

Sincerely,Daniel L RushNational Air and Space MuseumSmithsonian InstitutionWashington, D. C. 20560

Dear Paul :Enclosed is a photo of th e full scale Sopwith Pupaircraft. The aircraft has been test flown and I can say theperformance is excellent, aerodynamically she flies like aCub . It has a 125 Warner which is more than amplehorsepower for the aircraft. I used all 4130 steel in thetuselage in place of wood, along with many more up datedmanufacturing ideas which will add a great dea l to thecontinued airworthiness of the aircraft.Also installed at the purchasers request were discbra.kes along with a steerable tail wheel.I have a set of factory prints along with my engineering data used on the engine installation and changesmade from the original aircraft. I would be happy to sharethi s information with any SERIOUS builder and not some-one just collecting aircraft prints and data .Best regards,William R. Petrone

Dayton Park RoadAm es, Iowa 50010

C LEND R OF EVENTS


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Vintage Airplane - Dec 1973

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