Vintage Airplane - Jun 1999

7/27/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jun 1999

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2/36

STRAIGHT

LEVEU

Espie Butch Joyce

2 AlC NEWS

3 AEROMAIL

4 THIRTY FIVE YEARS AT THE OUTER MARKER

Dutch Redfield

8

MYSTERY PLANE

H.

G

Fra

utschy

10

TAKEOFF ACCIDENTS/

Roger Gomoll

13 SUN N FUN 99/

H.G Frautschy

21

TIGER MOTHS AND RACING

Michael Maniatis

24 PASS IT TO BUCK

E E Buck Hilbert

28 CALENDAR

29

WELCOME

NEW

MEMBERS


3/36

AIGMT

by ESPIE BUTCH

JOYCE

PRESIDEN

T,

VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOC I

ATION

This month, in your Vintage Airplane you will find bi

ographies of

the

Officers

and

Directors who are up

for

election as an Officer or Director in the association. These in

dividuals are pleased

to

donate their time and expense

to

your

Vintage Airplane Association.

By

taking care

of

the many

things that need to be done on a year 'round basis, the dona

tion

of

their time and talent helps ensure that each member

can enjoy being a part of the organization.

As a general rule, each of these officers and directors will

average almost 30 days oftirne in Oshkosh between meetings

and other activities. The cost or expense

of

this effort on their

part is paid out of their own pocket. Most

of

this time is en

joyable, but there are times when it is

ju

st basic hard work.

For my part, I consider it a pleasure and an honor to work

side by side with these people each year.

Just this morning I was informed that George York passed

away the night

of

May 19,1999. Until George's health

caused him to step down as one of your Directors, he was

very dedicated to the vintage aircraft

movement

and re

mained

dedicated

to

the

cause. George was one of

the

original group who helped to form the then EAA

Antique/Classic Division. He served

as

an Officer and Direc

tor from the time the group was founded until only a couple

of years ago when he became ill. George was the chief Clas

sic judge at Oshkosh for years. A WW-II Navy pilot, he flew

four-engine seaplanes in the Pacific . After the war he re

ceived an engineering degree and worked for Jim Gorman in

Mansfield, Ohio.

He was

one of

the first inducted into the

EAA

Antique/Classic Hall of Fame. George was known for his

Baron, but it makes up for that deficit by being a ball to fly.

With my trusty Garmin 195 GPS and a hand-held com we

took off the other week for a cross country down to South

Carolina. The trip was around

1.5

hours each way, which was

great as the drive would have been 4 hours one way.

I landed and taxied up to the gas pump, parking beside a

Cessna Citation Ill. When I got out

of2628K

the line boy (or

should I say person now) walked up to me and the first thing

out of his mouth was, "Okay, what is it?"

At that point I could have told him anything, but I was

an honest person and explained that it was a Luscombe 8E,

built in 1947. He looked at me and said,

Well

, it looks

nice anyway."

He was just finishing up fueling the Citation, which took a

little over 1,000 gallons of jet fuel. Next, he came over to the

Luscombe for a top off.

t

took a total

of

8.5 gallons (I had

done some touch and goes the weekend before this trip). I

was even able to pay for the fuel with cash. Sometimes sim

pler is better

The V AA Chapter 3 Spring Annual Fly-In was held this

year at the Moore County airport located in Southern Pines,

NC. This event is always held the first full weekend of the

month of May each year. There was some confusion as to

what is to be considered a full weekend . Here is my opin

ion, but should someone have a better definition please let

me know. As everyone will agree, the weekend is generally

Saturday and Sunday, but if the fly-in activities for the total

weekend start on a Thursday or Friday, then those two days

should be days that are in the same month as the Saturday

and Sunday.


4/36

A A NEWS e r ~ in the automotive design and proto

1fH

compiled by H G Frautschy

VINTAGE CLASSIFIED ADS

What

do you do when you've got just the

right piece for someone else out there who

needs it to complete their restoration , but

you just don 't know where

to

advertise

it

so

the right people will see it?

Why, adverti

se

in Vintage Airplane

A Vintage irplane Classified ad will

reach over 9,000 men and women who are

just the people you want to reach, thousands

who are actively looking for parts and ser

vices for their vintage airplanes. In addition

to reaching just the right people, you can do

so for minimal cost. Only 50 per word,

with an

$8

.00 minimum. At those rates, you

can

reach each and

every

V AA

Member

(and many others who just happen to pick up

the magazine and read it in hangars around

the country) for less than a thousandth

of

a

cent

Send your ad and payment to : Vintage

Trader,

EAA

Aviation

Center

, P.O. Box

3086, Oshkosh,

WI

54903-3086, or

fax

your

ad and your

credit

card

number to

9 /426-4828. Ads

must

be received by

the 20th of the month for insertion in the

issue the second month following ( for in

stance, to place an ad in the July issue, you

need to have at the EAA Editorial office

no

later than May 20th).

METAL

SHAPING AT

AIRVENTURE '99

EAA and the Vintage Aircraft Associa

tion will again present our metal shaping

forum .

Just

as in 1998 , it will be in

the

workshop tent next to the V AA Headquar

ters, just east of the Theater in the Woods .

The same group

of

highly skilled craftsmen

type

mdu

stry, clay modeling has now found

its way into the aircraft industry via the

An e x ~ e l l e ~ t example is Cirrus De

sIgns SR20 Intenor. Wanting to create a

completely new approach

in

aircraft design,

Cirrus contacted Alternative Automotive

Design (AAD) to assist and guide in the

styling and construction

of

the complete in

terior,

around

the

known

engineering

requirements and placements or mandatory

components. The process of clay styling,

having been used for over 70 years in the

auto industry, has been long thought of as

being art form beyond the scope

of

the av

erage

handyman

l

homebuilder

l

FRP

laminator, etc

..

We hope that s about to

change. AAD s President Stephen Stringer

will give hands-on demonstrations and

seminars during this year s EAA AirVen

ture '99.

Steve will present a variety of projects

from continuous video presentations

to

con

struction of

various

aircraft

related

components, along with the methods

of

cre

ating quick (minutes, not days) synthetic

gypsum molds, along with methods on pro

duction tooling in epoxy tooling foam, all

methods, materials and techniques used in

the prototype and one-off

production

of

glass, epoxy FRP, aluminum and steel tool

ing.

One project piece will

be

the air scoops

and wing tips for a restoration project being

undertaken by the Valiant Air Command in

Titusville, Florida. A WW-II Grumman

Hellcat from the bottom

of

Lake Michigan

is

being restored by this volunteer group

of

re

tired Grumman and other a ircraft industry

individuals and enthusiasts. They have re

stored many

of

the available components,

but for many areas, no replacements, or re

storable parts are available. AAD, along

with

Eclder

Manufacturing

of

Titusville,

Florida constructed two (handed L&R) oil

cooler intake scoops complete with inner

ductwork from original blueprints. The wing

ing (fmished wing tip).

If you have any questions about our

metal shaping activities planned for Air

Venture '99, you can call me, Steve

Nesse, evenings between 9:00-10:30 p.m.,

CDT,507/373-1674.

SWIFTERS ON

THE

WEB

A number of type clubs are getting very

active on the world wide web, as they dis

cover its ability to get a lot of information

out to many people, without a lot of extra

work for each "hit." An excellent example

can be found at: http://www.napanet.

net/-arbeau/swiftlindex.html

the Globe/

Temco Swift Home page. Check it out, and

if you have a favorite type club home page

you re

proud of, drop us an E-mail at vin

[email protected], and we'll include the address

here in Vintage Airplane.

......

THE

OVERS

FRONT

OVER .. Apair

of

beautiful

Stin

son

108s shot during the Sun

'n

Fun

EAA

Fly

-

In. In the foreground is the 108 restored

by

B ~ t c h W a ~ s h Arlington, VA

and

right

off hiS left

wing S

Don Goodman with his

108-3.

Photo

by

Jim Koepnick

shot

with

a

Canon Eos1

n

equipped with an 80-200mm

lens

.

EAA Cessna 210 photo plane flown by

Bruce Moore.

B CK

COVER

Burt B.

Mader

painted

See You

Next

August as one

of a

series

of

paintings done

by

him that

depict

many

of

our

favorite

civilian

classic airplanes.

As Burt

explains

: 'See You Next August' expresses

the

joyful, friendly

atmosphere

that

pervades

all the attendees of the annual fly-in called

'

Sentim.ental

Journey to

Cub

Haven', awell

e ~ t a b l l s h e d

event involving aI/ who love

P per Cubs,

other

Pipers,

or just airplanes

,

pilots and down home nice people. It's held

where most of the Cubs were built,

in Lock
http://www.napanet/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.napanet/mailto:[email protected]


5/36

IRDMEMORIES

Dear

Mr

Joyce,

I thoroughly enjoy Vintage Airplane--

when

I

read it

I

get to

relive the past. The

letter regarding the

Bird was

modified a

bit

from the version sent Dr. Woodward and

Dick Hill

in 1995 . I hear

from

Dick

on oc

casion

.

The letter detailing my

experiences

with

Robin, NC82H, was

sent

to

Terry Bowden

also in 1995.

This

letter was triggered

by

the

photos

of

Robin

in one of

the recent magazines

and

pictures ofthe Bird which graced the

cover

of your magazine and was used in advertise

ments. I own a

KR

which I built over a

period

of

12

years

and

a

Bakeng

Duce

which

I recently purchased and fly on occasion.

After a lifetime career in aviation I

still en

joy

getting

the wheels off the ground.

Bird

NC876W

I

was

pleasantly surprised

to see the pic

ture

ofNC876W

on

the cover of Vintage

magazine. I last saw the airplane at Naper

Aero, Naperville, Illinois in 1987 when I

tried

to buy it for

the

second

time.

I first purchased it in the summer of

1936 from Spinney Leech

(?)

a Stinson

dealer based at Roosevelt Field, Long Is

land,

NY.

I was the second owner

and used

it to

barnstorm

in

the state of Connecticut

during the period 1936-39. I

then

sold

it to

an FBO in

North

Carolina

who

planned

to

use

it

in the

secondary program

of

Civilian

Pilot Training Program. I did not see it

again until I visited Naper Aero as a result

of information

which

I received

from Dick

Hill

while

at

Oshkosh.

t is my recollection

that

this airplane was

customized for a well-known aviatrix, a

The

instrument

lights were

controlled

by

a

rheostat switch which

utilized

an open coil

of wire and a wiper type contact adjusted

with a

control knob which the

pilot

used to

control the level of lighting. One night,

while returning from a weekend of barn

storming, I adjusted the rheostat which

shorted, depositing

red hot

pieces

of

wire on

the fabric

floor

of the

cockpit.

I distinctly re

call watching those bits

of

wire bouncing on

the

fabric

under

my seat

until

they

cooled, a

process which lasted a

long

lifetime. t was

instrumented front and rear. There

was

a

liquidometer fuel gauge which was ex

tremely accurate . The cockpits were

trimmed with blue leather. The brakes were

mounted

on

the rudder

bar

and, since there

was little space between the bottom of the

front

seat

and the floor, it was

necessary

to

twist one s

feet

so that the

toes

pointed

out

ward. The heels were placed on the

brake

pedals

and the

opposite

pedal

pushed

to se

cure braking,

to

tum right hold the right

brake

and

push

the

left

bar. Since the farm

ers objected to their alfalfa being tom with

a

tail skid, I installed a Bassick commercial

type full castering

wheel

of he type

used

on

machinery or pallets. This

made for an in

teresting situation

on

the

ground,

I didn t let

many

fly

it.

The

exhaust manifold

was

coated

with

a

black

porcelainzed

fmish

and

attracted much

attention. Surprisingly the porcelain acted

as

a

flux

when welding

any

cracks.

t

had

a

ring

cowl and,

with

the front

windshield

re

moved and a cockpit cover installed, it was a

sleek looking machine . I regularly used

strips of 800

to 1000

feet in length while

barnstorming and it would haul anything

which

we

could put

in it

and there were

not possible.

NC82H,

letter to Mr Bowden,

1995

In April

of 1936 I went to

work for

James

Wales in Stratford, Connecticut as

a

pilot for

his

seaplane service. At the time,

he had

a

C-3

Aeronca on floats

and 82H,

on wheels,

at the Stratford Airport.

I

had never flown

a

seaplane but

was

hired

for

the grand sum

of

$15 a week when I succeeded in getting the

C-3,

37 hp,

off

the

water

with both

of us in

it. It

was

glassy water to

boot

My logbook shows that on April 20,

1936 Wales and I flew the Robin

to

the

North Beach airport which

is

now LaGuardia

Field.

Edo had

a hangar on the west side of

the

airport

which was not much

bigger

than

that portion ofLaGuardia occupied

by the

Marine Air Terminal

some

30

years later.

We

arrived in

the

early afternoon

and some

time later

had an assemblage

of

wires, struts,

fittings

and a couple of floats

which

I

learned

I

was to

install. I didn t

know it

but

Wales

had

convinced

Edo to let

us

use

their hangar

after closing, he didn t

know that

I was look

ing forward to

a

night

in a

hotel.

Edo

had

redesigned the float attach fit

tings and the

new

type utilized a ball-socket

type

connection

at the strut ends. The sock

ets

were

bolted

to

the

fuselage

as

well

as the

floats, the ball-ended struts enplaced and

held

in place

with the

rigging wires. Since

the ball was free

to

float out of the socket

until the rigging was tightened, nothing was

stationary, everything

moved

in

all

direc

tions.

Talk about a Chinese

fire drill With

plum bob, eyeball and a fair amount of

luck

I finished the job

as

the morning shift

re

ported

for

work.

We then flew it to Port

Washington for

li

censing where George Gay,

of

the


6/36

-

e rs

tt

uter

a ~ r

Holland Dutch

Redfield

EM

48441

VM

27803)

Cutchogue

,

NY

ha

s

generou

sly

offer

ed

to

allow

us to publish

ex

erpts from his

book '

Thirty-five

Year

s

At the Outer Marke r " his

mem

o

ir

s of

an aviation

c

areer

that

reached

from the

co

mmer

c

ial

use ofo

pen

cockpit

biplanes

w

ell

Prologue

It

is the middle of a black Decem

ber night. We are airoome and I am

alone

in

the

beautiful

upper

deck

lounge

of

a span,king

new Boeing

.

The 747, although being used for

training tonight , is months away

from

its

final FAA

Airworthiness

Certification prior to its introduction

into

the service of the world s air

lines.

There are only

four

other people

aboard

this huge

airplane that

can

carry as

many

as

440

people

.

After

an in-flight exploration of the main

cabin area

to see what all positions

sound and feel like in flight, I have

just returned to the upper deck and

am

now seated

in a comfortable

ing factory in Seattle. This

sour

first flight on this monstrous h i n

and

our

first

chance

to

operate

its

controls. We are climbing eastward

with

Bob

at the controls and I watch

the lights

of

Seattle slide farther and

farther behind the family silhouetted

huge wing and engines . The Cas

cade

Mountains

sliding in

under

us

are

not

actually visible in the inky

blackness below, but all are aware

of

their lurking presence as the airplane

growls steadily skyward.

Suddenly without warning

power

is snapped back on all engines and a

powerful aerodynamic shudder

shakes the airframe as the

airplane

decelerates , is

banked

steeply, then

pitched over

into a steep tail-high


7/36

that ha ve

been

my lot in a

career

totally

d

evote

d to av ia

tion

. t

started at age

15

.

hapter One

In July,

1927

when only 11

years

old

I trundled my

batt

ere d

Co lumbia

bicycle

to

the top of

a

hill in Syracuse's eastside Lincoln

Park, arriving there early and then

waiting

for long

hour

s

searching

the eastern

skies

for the Spirit

of

St. Louis flown by Charles Lind

bergh, who was to fly over the city

during hi s

triumphal tour

of the

country

after

his

tran

sa

tlantic

crossing of

a f

ew months

before.

Following the fly-by, he touched

down a Syracuse 's local

airport

ther

side of town,

at th at

n

the

in

anH a

time ju st

an

emerald green beauti

sodded field.

uring these days my head was

e clo ds dreaming

of

airplanes

iat0rs, hile poring through

flying magazines and malting balsa

wood airplane models covered wi

tissue

and banana oil. But such

models, although capable

of.

flight,

were too easily smashed and to me

just never looked right. My interest

soon turned to exactly

scaled non

flying models that were meticulous

in appearance and detail, and I sa

vored

t)1eir

functional loveliness.

On my 13th birthday, after weeks

of

pestering, my mother drove me to

the air or

on a

Sunday afternoon

i

.

.

a pr,ese t

Q

a

$2.00 airplane

This ay

I

ended

up

alone in

the

drafty

Qpen fron

cockpit be

my ne

pilo friend was

e

to

find anyone

e lse , and I

uess he

wanteo

to

go fly'

ng

any

I was ba

ely able

to see over

leather

cockpit

coamings of the

..

but

this few

minutes

flight

turned

out to have lasting

effects as I

first

experienced the soft surge

of lifting wings and the

thrust

of

a

propeller

t

has

ever since

delighted

me.

f y:

ing

machine

s .

Bar

and I more

and mor e found OUli elves playing

hooky ana riding b

iey

cles to the air

port

on

the ou skirts

of

town where

we would

poke

around du y, f1at

tired airplanes ,stored fa in the back

of

c01d han ,ars. When sure that no

one

was

lookin

g

we'd climb

into

them then

carefully manipulate

the

control

sticJ


8/36

around

and

underfoot so

much,

an

awareness of our frequent presence at

the field inevitably developed among

the airport s aviators and mechanics.

At Salt City there were many menial

chores that had to be done as part of

the Buhl fabric recovery and the en-

gine

overhaul job that was

in

progress. One day Barb and I were

called in from the cold drafty hangar

where we had been shuffling around

the airplanes in our floppy overshoes.

We stepped into the heated front of-

fice

with

its

glass showcase

full

of

pilot

logbooks

, leather helmets and

aviators goggles, wondering what we

had done .

We

were asked

by

Fred

around the puffy white clouds I could

see outside noisy classroom windows

and it became more and more difficult

to

apply myself

to

English, Algebra

and French when thoughts were really

engrossed in flight control pressures

and movements, and propellers and

fabric

covered airplane wings, and

powerful radial engines.

There were

many

chores that

needed

doing on the Buhl as well as

the

other

airplanes housed in Salt

City's hangar:

removing

paint from

the

Buhl's

aluminum cowlings with

gooey paint removers, forever sweep-

ing hangar floors, wiping oil runbacks

and dried

mud from

bellies and

un-

weights and

of

incredible strength.

We

cleaned

and

polished

and

helped Ed with magnifying lenses

inspect

the

grayed aluminum

crankcase and the close finned black

cylinders, and rods, and pistons, and

valves of the beautiful Wright en

gine laid out on a spotless worktable.

Here was developed an appreciation

of

the great beauty and the

power

so

apparent in every

component

part of

the engine's polished innards .

The micrometer and magnifying

glass examinations that were given

every single part of that lovely en-

gine

,

and

the

sensitive fingertip

handling that

Ed

gave them

all, left

I

daydreamed

at my

desk as

/

made imaginary beautiful graceful

banks around

the

puffy

white

clouds

/

could see outside noisy

classroom windows and it became

more

and more

difficult to

apply

myself to

English

Algebra and

French

when

thoughts

were

really

engrossed in flight

control pressures

and movements and propellers

and

fabric

covered airplane wings and powerful

radial

engines.

McGlynn, Salt City's Chief Pilot, and

Ed Boss

,

their Chief Mechanic

,

whether Barb and

I

would

like

to

pitch in and help with the Buhl over-

haul on weekends and afternoons

after school. Our

work would

be in

exchange for some airplane rides, or

perhaps even on

a

more restrictive

basis, credit could be given for some

flying instruction time which would

be paid off when we were old enough

to obtain our student pilot certificates

at age 16 Barb and I had a year to go

der-wings of closely packed

airplanes,

with

the latter

being

done

with frozen fingers that resulted from

bare-hand handling of gasoline

soaked cleaning rags whi

Ie

lying

prone on a cold hangar floor . And

we also spent much time in the warm

hangar shop, here discovering a won-

derful

camaraderie as

we came

to

know and understand others with the

same avid interests .

In the Shop

Ed

Boss taught us to

stretch over and stitch the soft pliant

lasting impressions of the love that

those

who are

associated

have for

these

geometric creations

of

strokes

and impulses.

P RT II

In the

early

1930s

American

Air-

ways

(now American Airlines)

operated

Airmail Route

Number 21

(AM

21)

across upstate New York.

Whenever possible, I would forego a

hot

supper

at

home

and instead have

a hamburger and a bowl of soup

at

the field so

as to be

there when the


9/36

down

as

the

airplane

was

taxied

across the field to takeoff position .

Many times, along with other volun

teers, have I

proudly draped

myself

across the

horizontal

stabilizer of a

tri-motor Stinson to

prevent

it from

nosing over as its fat main landing

gear

wheels pushed through

un

plowed drifts. Back on the tail

n

the

darkness it was a rough, bitterly cold

ride

behind

the strong

propeller

streams.

The signal, after

the air

plane had been swung into the wind

at the airport boundary, for us to drop

off, would be a brief pause before the

throttles were

opened

wide. As the

plane disappeared in the night there

Sometimes all

of these

efforts

would be of no avail, in which case it

would be

necessary

for the

snugly

hangared smaller planes to be wheeled

outside so

the

big airliner could be

man-handled inside and positioned in

front of the hangar s heater blowers.

Attempts to get

engines

running

would continue inside with Ed Boss,

because

of

the

plane s

run-down bat

teries, swinging the propellers by

hand on the hangar floor.

One cold

March day

after the en

gines of a tri-motor had been thusly

warmed, Ed beckoned me inside and

T

followed him forward

through

the

empty passenger cabin and into the

or

misuse

of cockpit

controls

could

do great harm and possible injury to

Ed. I enjoyed the responsibility.

Curtiss

A

viation had established

one of its many nationwide bases of

operation at the Syracuse Municipal

Hangar

, from

which

they operated a

busy flying

service

using Curtiss

Fledging biplane

trainers and Cur

tiss

Robin cabin

monoplanes for

sightseeing

and charter flights.

Working for Curtiss

was

a

young

Syracuse aviator,

Merrill

Phoenix,

who was in later years to become a

very dear friend .

One

February

afternoon Merrill

ambled up to Salt City S office for a


10/36

Our March Mystery Plane was familiar

to

many of you .

By

golly,

we

got over

30

responses, many from members

who have

not

taken

part in our little guessing game.

Welcome

to

you,

and

thanks

to

our many

regulars

who help

fill in

the

details on one

Our June Mystery Plane is supplied by

Pete Bowers who took the photo of this

stubby biplane in June of

1942

while

by

H G

Frautschy

March issue] taken in the east

in

1960, it

has the lines

of

earlier Luscombes, more

so than the Sedan.

It was severely damaged later in a bad

windstorm and put up for sale.

Joe Johnson and Bobby Slaton bought

snooping around an abandoned airport

in Belmont CA.

The f llow

peering in the

cockpit

is

William Larkins

who

would

become renowned

for

h

is

historical docu

mentation of the Ford Tri-Motor as well

as many other lit erary aviation project

s

Your answers need

to

be in at

EAA HQ

no

la t er than July

25

1999 for inclusion in

the September issue of Vintag e Airplane.

Send your Mystery Plane correspondence

1 :

Vin-

tage Mystery Plane, EAA, P.O. Box 3086,

Oshkosh.

WI

54903-3086.

Ij

you 'd prejer 10 send your response via e

mail, send it to: [email protected] certain to

include both

your

name and the address

in

the

body

ojthe

copy and put (Month) Mystery

Plane

in

the subject line.

built

it to

show quality.

It won

afew

awards locally.

1

looked in my logbook and noted that 1

was flying it for the photos taken and pub

lished in Sport Aviation in February

1975.

The photo flight was made on 10-24-74.

The

plane had

never been certified

and

had an NX number when rebuilt. Your

photo

shows a straight N54082. Later,

NX54082 was added.

The plane came to another hard part of

its life when it was severely

damaged

when the hangar it was in was destroyed

in a tornado. The plane was sold and the

new owner said he meant to rebuild it, but

that was 10 years ago and nothing so

far

has been heard.

Joe

Johnson is the man who also re

built the Luscombe Phantom that used

to

be on display in the EAA museum.

Tom Hamblet

VAA320

Grand Prairie,

TX
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


11/36

From Marshall, TX

we

received this note from a man with a boy

hood

personal recollection of

he Colt:

Our Mystery Plane

for

March is the Weatherly-Campbell Aircraft

Company Colt. This prototype was built

in

Dallas immediately

f

ter WW-/J with production planned or early

1947.

It had a 190 hp

Lycoming

engine with fixed pitch propeller,

throw-over dual controls, all metal construction with monocoque

fuselage, single spar, single strut braced compound tapered wing.

Thejlaps were mechanically operated with three positions . Lus

combe fans will recognize the lineage. It was designed originally by

Fred Knack with Don Luscombe and substantially modifiedfor pro

duction purposes by Raymond Weatherly and William Campbell.

The Colt was unveiled

in

October,

1946

during the Texas State

Fair at Texas Private Flyers Day, coincidentally as Luscombe was

announcing its all metal 85 hp single-strut Silvaire. The Luscombe

Sedan came afew years later.

Specifications for the Colt were impressive for the time. The gear

tread width was over seven feet, it cruised at 140+ mph (top at 160).

The

roomy sound-proof cabin with sloped instrument panel carrying

four adults, 120 lbs., ofbaggage with full tanks

60

gals.) was luxuri

ous according to the test pilot. The short-field, rough-field, climb

(1,000) fpm) and landing speed

52

mph) performance made the Colt

a very desirable airplane at its projected $5,000 price.

Ourfather, Dave Red Curry was the test pilot. He is visible at

the controls

of

the Colt in the enclosedphotographs taken at the new

Highland Park Airport near the SMU campus. The Colt gathered

dust in the back ofthe hangar until sold at auction when the airport

was closed. Dad also served as a test pilot

for

Globe during the de

velopment

of

the Swift. His spin testing resulted in the addition

of

dihedral to the horizontal stabilizer to improve the stability of the

Swift. Dad's friends will remember him as an active pilot, instructor,

designee, mechanic and aerial applicator in the Dallas, Corsicanna,

Gatesville and Mexia areas.

Keep

up

the excellent work on Vintage Airplane.

Yours truly,

Doyle Curry VAA 22762), Marshall, TX

James Curry

EAA

445707), Mexia, TX

Sandy Curry, Denver,

CO

Other correct answers

were

received from:

H. Glenn Buffington, Baldwin, LA; John Kennelley, Norwalk,

IA; Ralph Nortell, Spokane, WA; Peter Bowers, Seattle, WA; Jim

Montague, Lake Elmo,

MN;

Dale Rupp, Mahtomedi, MN; Cy Gal

ley, Rock Island, IL;

Jim

Gurr, Alden, MI; Roger Miller, Middletown,


12/36

A

takeoff

accident How

n the world could anyone have an accident on takeoff?

Takeoff

ccidents

in

Tailwheel ircraft

by Roger Gomoll

M

any pilots consider the take

off

so

benign

as to

be

routine.

But insurance figures show

that takeoff accidents still

happen- especially in tailwheel aircraft.

Many of

these accidents

are

due

to

a loss

of directional control.

Some of the

causes

are out

of

the

pilot's control, like a blown

tire, a malfunctioning brake or tailwheel,

or a drastic change in wind speed or di

rection. But

some of

the causes

of

takeoff

accidents are within the pilot

s

control,

making many

takeoff

accidents pre

ventable.

Here are a number

of

ways that you

can reduce your chances of having

to

an

swer the dreaded question- Howcould

it

have

happened

to

me?

Preflight check

First things first. A complete and thor

ough preflight

is

in order before each

and

every flight. And as you preflight your

conventional geared aircraft pay particular

attention

to the

tailwheel. A disconnected,

broken, or stretched tailwheel spring or

connecting chain will severely compro

mise

your ability

to

control

the

aircraft

as

the

takeoff

progresses. Pay

particular

atten

tion

to

the tailwheellocking mechanism.

Steerable tailwheels commonly found

on

light aircraft

may have

a plunger that lifts

at

the extreme travel

of

the tailwheel for

ull swivel.

quickly tailwheels wear. The combination

of

being

in

a very dirty environment and

the rugged use and neglect that they in

evitably

get makes

for

a

very

short lifespan.

As you

walk around yo ur aircraft, pay

particular attention

to

the brakes. Check

mechanical brakes

for

loose or frayed ca

bles. Check hydraulic brakes for broken

or cracked brake lines and for fluid com

ing from the wheel cylinders . These are

indications that your brake system may be

failing. In rugged winds you'll need your

brakes. They may

be

your best friend

on

a

dicey takeoff.

As you're looking at your brakes , it

may be a great time to assess your air

craft s

brak ing system . Is it the old,

barely serviceable system that came with

the aircraft? Does it function only good

enough

to

keep you stopped on run-up?

Strongly consider updating your brakes

with a new system.

On

that windy day

as

you're wrestling your aircraft to a stop

on a narrow runway,

you'll be

glad that

you spent the money

to

install modem,

reliable brakes.

While you're at the main gear, give

more than a cursory glance at all

of

the

parts

of

the main gear. f a bungee cord

is

sagging, old, and frayed or a supporting

brace or flying wire

is

cracked

and

about

to

break, there

may be

a wild ride

in

your

future. Crosswinds can create a sizeable

On

the

Runway

One type

of takeoff accident

is

to

have

a collision on the runway with another

aircraft, or to have to brake or swerve

your aircraft to avoid another airplane.

Countless tailwheel aircraft have been

abruptly perched

on

their noses

as

a

result

of

hard braking

to

avoid landing traffic.

The way to

avoid these kinds

of

accidents

is

very apparent: look before you move .

Unfortunately, not all

of

our aircraft are

designed

to

maximize visibility. To

make

doubly sure that there are

no

other aircraft

in

the pattern,

try

a quick

360

degree tum

on

the taxiway before taking the

runway.

That wi

ll

ensure the best visibility in all

directions,

and

you won't

be

surprised by

the no-radio pilot who decided

to make

a

tum

from

base

to

final

right over

the

num

bers . Relying on a radio for collision

avoidance

is

using secondary information

- your eyes are your best defense.

With

the pattern clear, it's time

to

take

the active and prepare for that faultless

takeoff. Line up

on

the centerline, using

all

of

the

available runway.

Move forward

a

few

feet

to

make sure your tail wheel

is

straight, and the locking mechanism

ha

s

taken hold. Then

stop.

Make a last

minute

cockpit check- especially looking at

flaps, trim,

and

fuel selectors

and

gauges.

Look again at the wind, and add aileron

appropriately. How much aileron should


13/36

leasing the

brakes

to check the oil

tempera-

ture and the oil pressure. When you ' re

focused back on

the

runway, release

the

brakes and add the

re

st of the power for

takeoff. The distraction of checking

the

gauges or other things inside the cockpit

during the

takeoff

roll

can

cause

you to lose

directional

control. f

your aircraft

begins

a

gentle turn towards the side of the runway

while you 're distracted,

resist

the temptation

to

immediately

get

the

aircraft to the center

of the

runway

. The best advice

in

these situ-

ations is to stabilize , then correct. Stabilize

your

course to arrest

the

movement

toward

the edge ofthe runway. Only

then

, begin a

slight correction to the centerline

if

you

need to.

The first

few

seconds

of the t keoff

As you

begin to

move,

resist

the

temp-

tation to immediately push the stick

forward. For the first

few

seconds,

you

want

the tai lwheel firmly planted on

the

ground to maximize the effectiveness of

ta ilwheel steering, or

of

the locked tail

wheel to provide directional control. Only

when you are sure of having enough

speed

to ensure rudder effectiveness should the

tail

come

up off

the

ground. In light air

craft,

a count of three is usually sufficient

time

to

wait.

A

smooth

raising of the tail

is

always

in

order.

The

propeller acts

as

a giant gyro

scope. If you have any doubts about the

strength ofgyroscopic precession, take a

small spinning gyroscope and hold it

in

the

approximate position

of a propeller in a tail

low position. Then quickly move it to the

normal flight position and feel the ten

dency

of

the

gyroscope

to

move. The force

is proportional to the speed at which

you

moved

the

gyroscope.

he normal takeoff

For a normal takeoff, you should lift the

begin your climb . Establish your best rate

of

climb speed

,

and you

'

re

off.

The soft field takeoff

For a soft field takeoff, raise the tail

wheel

just

slightly when you achieve

control effectiveness. This

will

maximize

your

angle

of

attack

, allowing your

aircraft

to lift off at the minimum possible speed .

As you stagger into

the

air at the earliest

possible moment ,

the

trick

is

to

begin

de

creasing the angle of attack without

touching

the

ground until you

achieve

the

best rate or best angle of climb speed.

(Your

choice, depending

upon any

obsta

cle clearance issue you might have

.)

There are pilots who use the soft field

technique

as

their takeoff technique

of

choice. They

feel

that since the conven

tional geared aircraft is

more

controllable

in

the

air than on the ground,

the

sooner

they

get into the

air

the

easier

the

aircraft is

to

handle.

They

argue

that the slower liftoff

speed puts less wear

on

the tires and the

landing gear, and

puts

the aircraft

in

a bet-

ter position

to be

controlled

at

the earliest

moment. Since the aircraft is more

at

home

in the air, the sooner that one can effec

tively and

controllably

get the aircraft into

the air, the higher the chance of making a

safe takeoff.

It's difficult

to

argue with that

-

espe-

cially

as

one witnesses pilots holding

conventional geared aircraft on the ground

long past the point of when they should

have

started climbing.

But there are times when the tail low

takeoff

should

be avoided .

Here's

one:

It's a short runway. Most

likely grass

, possibly dew

covered. The

air-

craft may

be

under powered and loaded

to

gross

with fuel and gear. The pilot, eager to

get the aircraft

off the

ground

,

begins

a

soft

field

takeoff. With tail

low and

angle of at

tack high, the aircraft

is in

a position to

maximize lift- and also to maximize aero-

dynamic

drag. When the

aircraft

is

light,

on

to stop , or to charge ahead and hope you

gain enough speed

to

get over

the

trees

at

the

end of the runway .

If the pilot had reduced

the angle

of

at-

tack to a minimum, decreasing the

aerodynamic

drag

by lifting the tail higher

,

there

may have been a

chance

to get the

air-

craft

airborne.

I don ' t know

about you but

I've wit-

nessed successful ends

to

this scenario

and unsuccessful ends to this scenario.

The

successful outcomes

end

in increased

heart rate and sweaty palms

and

maybe

some leaves

and

branches

in

the gear- or

a slight embarrassment as the pilot of

floads gear or waits until the wind picks

up. The unsuccessful ones have to be

trailered

out of

the

woods .

ownwind takeoff

Downwind takeoffs offer their own

kind of problems. But

who

in their right

mind attempts a downwind takeoff' you

ask? There

may be

a couple of instances

where you may consider a downwind

takeoff. One would be when the runway

is

oriented in a way that makes the down

wind option much safer than the upwind

option. f here were large trees on one

end, for instance- or

if

you were on a

mountain strip

that

had an unusual

grade.

Or

,

you

may be

flying at Oshkosh dur-

ing the Convention.

On

numerous

occasions, controllers

have asked

pilots

to

land and to depart with tailwinds of more

than just a few knots . A miscue here

may

not

only put you

in

the ditch, but you'll be

doing it

in

front of a hundred thousand

people. Be prepared by considering the

downwind takeoff.

The

biggest difference

in

a

downwind

takeoff is the apparent

wind.

A tailwind of

5 knots

would make the

apparent wind 0

knots when

you're traveling 5

knots down

the runway. That means that your wing

and other control surfaces- will act as if

you were

standing still

on

a

calm day

. Ex-


14/36

WHAT

OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

by H G Frautschy

STINSON 108

Don Thies (EAA 586798, V AA 29240) (left) , Randolph, NE dropped us a note to share photos

of

his pretty 1947 Stinson

108 Voyager, powered by a smooth running 165 hp Franklin. He has owned it for over 20 years, keeping it on his 1,500 ft strip

on the family farm located in northeast Nebraska. A few years ago the fabric started looking bad, so a rebuild with the help of

Vernon Sudbeck (right) and his wife Bonnie had the know-how to get the airplane redone. Don's wife also provided a lot of

help as well, work that was rewarded with the top Neo-Classic award at the AAA-APM fly-in in Blakesburg, IA. Congratula

tions to the Thies'


15/36

erialphotogr phy by Mark Schiable

Ground

photogr phy

by

H G

Frautschy

As the

years pass Don and Wendy Gaynor

of

Englewood, FL continue to improve

their Beech K35 Bonanza. A completely

new paint job frames a neatly reuphol

stered interior. This year, they were pre

sented with the Best Custom

Contemporary Trophy.

A nice Spring morning spent on the porch in a swing or rock

ing chair - who could

want

more? Before heading off to look

at showplanes, Dr.

Roy

Wicker foreground) takes a few min

utes to relax on the VAA Chapter 1 headquarters veranda with

his cup of coffee. Later in the day, Roy will be back for a cool


16/36

Bar Eisenhauer Winter Haven FL took home

the Antique - Best Monoplane trophy

for

his

restoration

of

this very nice BL 6S Taylorcraft.

This sharp Piper PA-16 Clipper powered by a 108

hp Lycoming belongs to Harry Murray Jr of

Turnersville NJ.


17/36

Doug Coombs and the Don Luscombe

Aviation History Foundation gave us a

treat

when they put together something that had

been a dream of Don Luscombe's many

years ago - a turboprop model 8. While

never completed by Don after its conception

in 1950, this modified machine

with

its

clipped wings can climb

out

at an almost

ridiculous angle and a nice rate - 2,500

fpm

.

The turbine engine is an Apex (Solar)

T62T32A 1-32, originally used in the Boeing

Chinook helicopter as an Auxi liary Power

Unit

. It develops 150 hp. An

NSI

CAP

140

prop

is

mounted

to

the

Ross

Aero 2.85:1

gear reduction

unit

added

to the

gear

reduction on the engine itself, which steps

the turbine shaft rpm

down from

66,000

rpm to 2,200 rpm at the prop. The

DLAHF is in the midst of a final

push to secure a permanent home

for their organization, which has

collected and preserved a large

number of tooling and drawings of

Luscombe aircraft, and have been

actively involved in keeping many a

Luscombe in the air. For more infor

mation, contact them at DLAHF, PO

Box 63581, Phoenix, AZ 85082

or

call 602/917-0969.

Chip and Sue Fisher of Senoi

a,

GA have been enjoying

their

recently restored Piper

PA

-12 Super Cruiser, subject

of an article in Vintage Airplane in June, 1998. The stock

Cruiser was

the

winner of

the Best

Restored Classic (101

165 hpj trophy. Great V hat, Chip


18/36

Taking a seat in the shade, some of the spectators and those who have been

manning a booth in the Type Club tent get settled in

for

the afternoon air

show. If you come to the

Fly In

looking for info rmation on a specific brand of

older airplane, you can often find what you need right here.

Looking northeast, the VAA headquarters building

is

on

your left, tucked in at the edge of the tree line.

Can

you

spot your vintage airplane?

Betcha haven t

seen

one

of

these except in some corner

of a book on floatplanes - this is the one and only

Piper PA 23 Apache on Edo floats. Flown by Belgian Erik

Banck, the Apache

is

used primarily

for

twin-engine

float training.


19/36

Stan Dollan's Meyers OTW still looks great, its deep

black paint not yet covered in the fine dust

that

was

the result of the extraordinary drought experienced in

Florida this past Spring . Officials had trucks spraying

water on a regular

basis

each day, which helped a

lot

to

keep the dust down. Later in the week,

the

dry

conditions contributed to a brush fire that blackened

over

200 acres

a couple

of

miles

to

the

south/south-

west of

the

airport. End

of

the week rains helped

bring relief

to the

parched state, and the fire danger

for Florida began

to

ease somewhat

after

Sun 'n Fun .

Hooray Bob Coolbaugh

is

done

with

his Monocoupe

With the

help

of

Andrew King, Bob completed

the

restoration

of

his 110 powered with a 125 hp Warner

engine. The wild color scheme was originally created for

the

Detroit Air Show,

an

event similar to today's huge

auto shows in many major metropol itan locations.


20/36

The little Mooney M-20A seems to be gaining in pop

ularity. We look forward to the day when we see a

full y restored M-20 take home all the marbles in the

Contemporary judging category. This nice example is

owned by Marshall Seymour, Gold Hill , NC

Is

it our

imagination,

or is aluminum metal

polish getting better

and better? This

exceptional example

of a Cessna 140

is

owned and

flown

by

Billy LaForce of Big

Sandy,

TX


21/36

And then there were three

Len

McGinty,

Thonotoasassa, FL is happy to

say

he

has seen

the end

of

the restoration of the prototype Johnson Rocket. The

only one built with a conventional landing gear, the

majority of the restoration was done t Kevin and Jim

Kimball s shop in Zellwood,

FL.

The first Rocket now

joins Roy Foxworthy S and Orville Fairbairn s as three fly

ing Rockets in the world out of 19 produced.

Holding the Best Custom Classic (over 165

hpj award are Don and Wanda Goodman of

Goode, VA. Their Stinson 108-3, restored

with help

from

craftsman Butch Walsh,

is

an

exceptional piece

of work

.


22/36

(Top) One

of

the prettiest speedsters of the post-war

age, the Bellanca Cruisair. Th is fine example

is

owned

and flown by Ozzie Levi, Lancaster, CA.

(Left) Just fresh from a new

paint

job, this Luscombe

Model

15

Sedan

might

look familiar . It's been

flown

by

Frank and Marilyn Lamm since 1974. Frank

says

the

Sedan is a good airplane as long as the pilot learns its

particu lar ways and does not try to make

the

airplane

do

something

different

.

(Right) This great looking 1956 Piper Apache was

restored by Lori Seymour of Atlanta, GA.

(photo by Jim Koepnick).

(Below) Ohh, boy Thundering along behind a beautiful

right

J-6-9, this

is

Roy Redman's Waco ATO recreation

done

for

Jerry Wenger of Powell, WY. ith a custom

paint

job that

hearkens back

to the

beautiful work done

by the original company in Troy,

OH the

ATO is a spec

tacular airplane.


23/36

TIger

Moths

and Racing

by Michael Man i

atis,

Chairman, The deHavilland Moth Club of the USA

W

hile most American airplane

enthusiasts

affectionately

view the

Tiger

Moth as the

slow flying forgiving biplane trainer

of

the

RAF

during

WW

II it is also

remembered in England for an illus

trious

civilian career

as

personal

transport aerobatics mount and rac

ing machine.

In 1925 Sir Geoffrey deHavilland

designed the Gipsy Moth, which

was the forerunner to the Tiger

y the time war

broke

out

n 1939

all Tiger Moths

even civilian owned

examples were

absorbed into

Also in 1931 the overall growth

of

the deHavilland company led

it to

try to attract a military contract

by

submitting the Gipsy Moth as a pri

mary

trainer.

The first

RAF

objection

concerned the visibility

over the nose - it was restricted by

the upright engine. The engineers

knew they

could

rectify that

prob

lem.

They would simply

turn

the

engine

upside down. Now the

nose

sloped

down

from

the cockpit top,


24/36

I

I

I

,

,

.

t /. f ..

. -/

.4

Barnstorming Tiger Moth showing off its slim fuselage and thin

wings during ribbon cutting .

G OXS with streamlined hood over Bagington Aerodrome,

Coventry,

scene

for many years of the National and Kings Cup

Air Races .

Thus the

Tiger

Moth was born and

accepted

for use in

the RAF.

During the thirties with tensions

mounting

in an un

stable Europe most

Tigers went

to the RAF

but some

were bought

by

civilians

and

used in flying clubs

throughout England

where

the

general population

had

access to flying activities . These consisted

of

flight

Two of the

four

Super Tigers put together by Roll i

son

aircraft

for

the

Tiger Club.

Tiger Moth G-

PDZ

The Bishop. The lower wing faring and cockpit

fairing are visible in this close up photo.

days

as an RAF

trainer

an

d no w

the

government

was

disposing

of

the fleet. Many Tigers

left

England for

flight schools in Holland Belgium and France.

The

one

bright spot was that at the time

one could

be had for as

little as 150 pounds Sterling. This seemed to be just the

cata lyst needed to start

one

of

the most famous

of all

civilian flying clubs - the Tiger Club .


25/36

July 1961 Tiger Moths G-ADUY and G-ACDC bending around

the

Pylons.

hour. The requirement for

joining

was 100 hours flight

time. You also had to be patient, since you had to

wait

for a vacancy!

The Tiger Club was not really a primary training facil

ity, but they were interested in the finer points of flying,

such as developing the prospective aerobatics pilot, and

providing opportunities

for racing. Many of

the

Tiger

Moths were raced on the weekend shows put on to enter

tain the

paying

public.

These shows were scheduled at

different airports during the flying season. They usually

consisted of two

or

three heats of racing followed by

Tied together formation of The Canon The Archbishop and G

ACDC during a Tiger Club Demonstration. ACDC remains the oldest

surviving Tiger Moths.

Tiger Moths and one Jackaroo (modified Tiger) lines up with engines

roaring for the start of the National ir Races.

Reed

metal

propeller. The modifications

were

so suc

cessful that

a

second

Tiger

was

modified

to

similar

specifications and named

the Deacon. A third

Tiger

mounted a streamlined canopy from the front cockpit to

the

rear and

also

doubled

as an

air

taxi.

These

aircraft

could reach

speeds

in excess

of

120 mph

and became

quite famous for their racing and aerobatics routines all


26/36

PASS IT TO BUCK

by E.E. "Buck" Hilbert

EAA

21 VAA

5

P.O.

Box

424,

Union,

IL

60180

WOW

HELLO OLD FRIEND

I

wondered where

you

went.

How long have you been here? t

sure s good to see you.

These

were some

of

the

thoughts

that crossed my mind when I met this

Old

Friend at the Combat Air Mu

seum at Topeka, Kansas in February.

Actually there were a couple of Old

Friends there in the museum.

The

first one to

get

my

attention

was Elton Rowley s IN-4 replica .

Elton, unfortunately now deceased,

gave Matty Laird

and yours

truly

rides in this Milwaukee Tank pow

ered wind wagon

back in

1976

IN 4 replica uilt

by

Elton Rowley

when we had the

dedication of

the

monument to the Wichita Pioneer

Aviators. This monument s located

on the fringes

of

the McConnell Air

Force Base, and is a beautiful trib

ute to the

people who birthed

the

Aviation

Center

that

Wichita

was

and s today.

Just

beyond the

Jenny was the

Number

One

Meyers

OTW. Del

Denly, an avid

antiquer

from Osce

-

A good Qia Ha rvard


27/36

When

Del's

health began to fail,

and

the airplane had

to

be

sold

to

cover the bills, I wanted it, but just

couldn't forego my own family

obligations

to

acquire

it.

Where

it

went, I never knew, but here it is

. Hello again, Old Friend.

I could go into great detail about

the times we

had

flying together.

Del in # 1, me in

#2, Harold Loss

ner in #

57,

and

Chuck

Downey in

his "Fly Navy," but

that's

all past

history

only valued by

the two

of

us who have survived.

The memo

ries are sweet and sorrowful at the

same time.

On past the Meyers, another

"Old

Friend" a

Fairchild

UC-61 K,

but

different

now

than when 1 last

saw it.

It had

a round engine on it

in the old days; now it has a Ranger.

The

gentleman doing the

restora

tion told me that he

hoped

to run it

that day. His workmanship on the

restoration is pretty darned good. I

found it hard to believe, but he'd

fabricated the entire cowling, in

cluding the nose bowl, from

scratch Now that

is an

accom

plishment. Sand bag and a

mallet

metal

forming

is a

lost art unless

you are a Younkin.

In the Combat Museum collec

tion are quite a few

jet

fighters and

light bombers. We did see an array

of

flight

ready airplanes - a

Boeing "Kaydet" (Stearman),

a

Harvard and so me heavy iron ,

but

I'm

narrow minded and aside from

the North American

0-47B,

I really

wasn't too interested. These great

big clunkers were the mainstay of

the

Air National

Guard in the late

thirties

and seeing this

one trig

gered

more

memories of my high

The No.1 Meyers OTW, restored many years ago by Del Denly.


28/36

THIRTY FIVE

YEARS

at the

OUTER MARKER

Continuedji om page -

and feet

on its

controls made deep

and lasting impressions. Many years

later, and not too

many

years ago, I

endeavored to convey

to

myoid

friend how much this flight on a bit

ter cold day had really come to mean

to me over the years . I wrote

of

this

in a

poem

to Merrill describing

the

impact of this wonderful event in my

life.

IT WAS TH R YOU

SHOWED ME!!

Merrill - old friend

We are both getting old.

Of

some wonderful memories

There's one need be told.

With Barb, I' d swept hangar

When said you to Mc Glynn.

T'would do Kinner Bird good

A long time since a spin.

Oil heater was immersed

Then pried doors along icy track .

Much snow on the ground

As we three pushed her back.

Stif f prop you pulled through

And the switches worked

I.

T'was a responsible chore

That for privilege

we'd

vie.

Five cylinders soon cycling

Prop swished, you stepped back.

Nice sounds us to hear

From collector ring stack.

Cold prop stream you leaned into

How controls worked showed me.

And already life

some feel was there

Though airstreams flow wings

not yet see.

Soon you flew her

you climbed her

Up into her sky.

such friendly sky

I was sure no harm

you'd

let come me.

Then you yelled,

"here, let me show you"

"You follow me through! "

And you upped her and downed her

Deft touch was there from you.

Such light movements I followed

As graceful turns you did make.

With something so nimble

Could I hope duplicate.

And you said,

Now you've got her"

Le

t's

see how you do!"

Oh, Lord, what a feeling

Here held live thing for true!

Such light touches did it

New feels did I sense.

In spite very taut muscles

Not at best when so tense.

The plane 's every fibre

With her controls now alive.

Must nudge her so lightly

So's not hurt her I strive.

A shared feel of the sky

Came back to me from you .

'Cause what I was sensing there

This you already knew.

Can recall to-day your helmet

Your hand signals still see.

And the sheer awe and wonder

"Good God , was this me?"

And you made me sense and feel it

And you drove it in deep.

I knew it now and grabbed it

Forever for me to keep.

Only ten minutes up there

But that's all that it took.

And that which you left me

For years others still look.

Then you brought her back

to land her

Controls still felt I with you.

To bare small spot, snow

covered field

My father was ill

at

the

time

and

there was difficulty sharing with him

this

important phase of

my life now

being entered, but my mother tried

and I know that she saw and under

stood

what

was going on within me .

She was

later

to respond

after

months of soul searching, and what T

now know was agony, by permitting

my withdrawal from high school, af

ter a promise to

return

in a year. I t

was only

a

short

while

ago that

I

learned that Professor Shea,

my

school principal encouraged this . I

have

never

doubted that this move

was the proper one for me, because I

have been an extremely happy man

in my profession.

Age 16

quickly

came around

and

with much trepidation I took my very

first flight physical

from

Doc

Lewis, the Department of Commerce

medical examiner, at his office in

downtown Syracuse. Whether

I

would squeak through, or not, caused

worry and apprehension. Flight phys

icals to this day have the same effect.

A pilot s logbook was

selected

from the showcase in Mac's Salt City

office

and

I

was prepared

to

record

any

flight

instruction that might be

received. The overhaul on the Buhl

continued and my

logbook

shows

several dual instruction flights on the

Bird and one on a Taylor Cub, with

new flights exceeding

20

minutes.

All of my flying time for quite a few

years was earned by working for each

minute flown and

I

would

do

any

chore

at

all,

on

anyone's airplane

,

car,

or anything

else,

to

earn

even

five minutes flying time. In Septem

ber 1933, after

three hours

and 30

minutes instruction, I was soloed.

t

is

difficult to describe to

the

non-airman

the

wonders

of a pilot's


29/36

buoyant wings take

over

with a soft

surge of lift.

As I climb away I ease my gog

gled face over the leather

cockpit

coamings into the airstreams of flight

and look back at my instructor kneel

ing

on the grass, watching me fly

away and at the moment both of us

are very much alone. To better fly I

scan the horizon forward

of

my posi

tion and the now empty front cockpit

with its untended dual controls mov

ing as do mine shouts his absence as

the

thrott

le is

eased and

I

start

my

glide for the field

and my

very first

and totally alone landing.

As I hunch low in the cockpit be

hind the

Bird s

tiny rear windshield

as I bank and descend

the

lovely,

sodded

field slow ly swings into a

beautifully framed position framed

by the upper and lower wings ahead

of

me, and their struts and bracing

wires.

Their sighs

and

moans and

whistles of flight produce delightful

tone

cues of much

aid to the

open

cockpit airman.

The field boundary fence line slips

toward then beneath the lower wing

panels and alone and not far ahead is

my instructor who during my circuit

of

the field has

walked

forward to a

position near which

I am to

touch

down. I start my level-off for land

ing with the gentlest of pressures on

the very live controls and now with

out the pull that kept me

gliding

on

my slide downhill from the landing

pattern, speed rapidly falls off

. I

must keep

the Bird s

wheels from

touching before all lift is gone lest

we do an ungainly bounce back into

the air. A faster and faster backward

movement of the stick becomes more

and more necessary

to hold

the

rapidly fading lift has been nursed

from the wings.

The stick

is

now

full

back and

in

my stomach. The wings can support

flight no longer and with a fluff and

gentle shudder,

as

the last tenuous

grasp is lost we settle to the ground

with a whump. I stay busy with the

rudder to hold her

straight

and the

dragging

tai l

skid

and

the

main

wheels

again trund le and

rattle

as

with idling engine I roll past my re

lieved instructor.

During my training prior to sole in

the 1930s a my turns were left turns

and I never got higher than seven or

eight hundred feet nor had I flown

outside the

airport

traffic pattern.

The

first right turn I

ever

flew was a

few hours after solo when I bravely

departed the circuit pattern

one

day and climbed to the breath

taking height

of

3 000 feet while

keeping the ai rport in sight

over

my shoulder at a times.

There

was

no such thing

as

pre-solo sta ll

training, just the

landing itself which was al

ways made in a full stall

with

the

wings totally devoid

of lift.

When

I

soloed, besides the

dearth

of

right turns I had never

made

a

crosswind landing or

takeoff

because on

the large

grass fields of the day you could

land in any

direction

. When I

was

puzz

led why the airplane s

nose yawed in a direction oppo

site to the

rolling aileron

I was

using I taught myse lf to offset

this

yaw

by

use of

the rudder,

and

developed coordination

ex

ercises of my own.

Such loneness self-reliance,

self

-discipline and great satis

driving permit . Yet

joys

similar to

solo continue for all airmen, being

renewed

and savored each time

a

personal contribution has been made

toward getting any airplane up or

down and it is there whether direct

ing or

being directed,

and

whether

supporting

or being supported by

other cockpit crew. All airmen seem

to sense this and you will absolutely

never fail to see an airman of any

cockpit position,

upon alighting

from a flight as he walks away not

momentarily turn and l

ook

back at

his p l

ane

with a

great

sense of

ac

complishment.

To be co

nt i

nued in the Ju ly issue

of Vintage Airplane. ......

VINT GE

TR gER

Something to buy, sell or trade?

An inexpensive ad

in th

e Vintage Trader may be jus t

th

e answer to obtaining that elusive part 50 per

word, $8.00 minimum charge. Send your ad and pay

ment to: Vintage Trader, EAA Aviation Center, P.O.

B

ox

3086, Oshkosh, W 54903-3086 , or fax your ad

and your credit card number to 920/426-4828. Ads

must be received by the 20th

of

the

monthfor

inser

tion

in

the issue the second month following e .g.,

October 20th for the De cember issue.)

MISCELLANEOUS

BABBm BEARING SERVICE - rod bearings, main bear


30/36

~ . : ~

-

\ . \ : ~

r J._ ~ ~ ~ ~ . . . - . ' - -

Fly

In alendar

The fo

llowin

g

list

ofcoming events is

furnished

to

our readers

as

a matter

of

information

on

ly and

does not constitute approval, sponsorship, in

volvement, control or direction of any event

(fly-in, seminars, fly

market,

etc.)

listed.

Please

send the information

to EAA, All: Go

l

da Cox,

P.O.

Box 3086, Oshkosh

,

WI

54903-3086. Infor

mation sh

ou

ld

be

receivedfour months prior to

the

event date.

JUNE 12 - ALL OVER THE WORLD - INTERNA

TIONAL YOUNG EA GLES DA Y. Contact your

local Chapter regarding Young Eagles events, or

call the EAA Young Eagles Offi

ce

at

920/426-4831.

Fly ayoungster

JUNE

13

- ROCK FALLS, IL -

Whiteside

COllntv

Airport

(SQ/). 17th

Annllal

EAA Chapter 410 y-

In/Drive-In. Pancake Breakfast. 7a.m.-noon. Info:

Bill Havener, 815/626-0910.

JUNE 16 - COOPERSTOWN, NY - (NY54) EAA

Chapter

1070

Pancake breaAfast

and old Aeroplane

Fly-In. 7a.m. -noon. Info: 607/547-2526.

J

UNE

17-20 - CREVE COEUR, MO - American

Waco Club

Fly-Itl.

Info:

Phil

COllison. 616 /624

6490 or Jeny Broll'/1, 317/535-8882.

JUNE

19 - MOOSE LAKE, MN - Lake Air Flying

Club Annual Fly-

In

BreaAfast. 7:30-11:00 a.m.

Info:

Lany Peterson . 218/485-4441.

JUNE

20-25

-

DURANGO,

CO -

Animas

Air Park.

31st annual International

Cessna 170

Association

conven

tion.

Bassed

at

the

Doubletree

Inn,

970/259

6580. Info: David or Judy

Mason,

409/

369-4362.

JU

NE 26

-

PROSSER, WA -

EAA

Chapter

391 Fly-In

BreaAfast.lnfa: 509/735-1664.

JUNE

26 27 -

WALWORTH, WI - Bigfoot Field

(WI05

). Pancake

breakjilst/brunch.

Aerobatic demo

Hai

gh.

616/695-2057.

JUNE

27 - ZA

NE SVILLE, OH -

Muni

cipal

Airport, EAA Chapter 425 Airport Awareness

Day,

Fly-in,

drive-in breakfast

8 a.m.

-

2 p.m.

Inf

o:

Darrell

Todd,

740

/4

50-8633.

JULY 1-5 - JACKSONVILLE,

IL

- 1999

Er

co

upe National Convention. Contact: John

Wright. Jr, 2317/698-8243.

Everyone

welcome.

JULY 3-5 - WELLSVILLE, PA

-

Footlight

RClllell. 10th

annual Fourth

ofJuly

Tai/dragger

Fl

y- In. Info: John Shreve. 717/

432-444101'

Email

[email protected]

J

UL

Y5-8 - DENVER, CO - Centennial

Ai/port.

Short Wing Piper Club

annual convention.

This

year's theme: Rocky Mountain

Rende

zvous.

Info: Kent O

'Ke

lly,

303

/979-3012 , (Head

winds@msn,com)

or

visit the SWPC

web

site

at

http:www.shortwing.com

JULY 7-11- ARLINGTON, WA N orthwest EAA

R

egiona

l F(v-in at Arlington

Airport.

COlltact: Bar

bara Lawrence-To

lb

ert. 360/435-5857. or

I'WW,/Hveaa,

org/nweaal.

JULY

9-10

- GAINESVILLE, FL - (GVL) 31st

Annual Cracker Fly-In.

Fly Ollt

Friday

(6:30

pili) to

Cornelia (AJR)

for

dinner

, then

Saturday

Pan cake

breakfast and Fly-

In. Info: Mick Hu

dson,

770/53 1

0291

or Gary Ames

770/534-2994.

JULY 9-11-

LOMPOC,

CA - 15th annual West Coast

Piper

Cub Fly-In. Info: Bnlce Fall,

805/733

-1914.

JUL

Y 10-12 - ALLIANCE, OH - Alliance-Barber

Airport (2

DI ). 27th

AlIllual Taylorcraji Owners

Club

Fly-

In alld Old

Tim

er's R

ellnion. Displa

ysJo

nUlls

. workshops,

Sat. evening program. Breakfast

Sat, and Sun. served

by EAA

Chapter 82.

Sunday

worship service, Info : Bruce Bixler. 330/823-9748.

Forrest Barber 330/823-1168, jbarber@al

liancelink.colII;

or check

IVlvw.taylorcraji.org

JULY

16-18

-

COTTAGE GROVE

,

OR

-

Oregon

An

tique Classic Aircraji Clu b Bi-Annual Fly- III.

Con ta

ct: 5411746-3246.

JULY

16-18

WEST

YELLOWSTONE,

MT -

13th an

nual Northwest Mountain Region Family Fly-In,

Safety

Conference and

Trade

SholV at the

Holiday

Inn Conference Center. Sponsored by local EAA

Chapters

and

the

FAA Flight

Stalldards District

0/

fice,

Kit

plane exhibitors and seminars.

Contact:

Jim Cooney. FAA FSDO. 1-800/457-9917.

wwwjiw.

govljsdolhill.

JULY 17 - STURGIS, SD - EAA

Chapter

39 Fly-In.

Pan cake Breakfast and

YOllng Eagle

rid

es. Info:

605

/

347-3356

JUL Y 17 - COOPERSTOWN, NY -

(N

I'54)

EAA

Chapter

1070 Pancake br

eakfos

t alld old Aeroplane

Flv-In, 7

a.lII.

-noon, Info: 607/547-2526

AUGUST 2 COOPERSTOWN, NY - (NY54)

EAA

Chapter 1070 Pancake breakjast and old Aeroplan e

Fly- In. 7a.m. - noon, Info:

607/547-2526.

AUGUST 21- SPEARFISH,

SD

-

EAA Chapter 806

Annual

F(y-In. Camping onfield.

Cream Can

Din

ner.

Awards.

Poker

run

011 Saturday. SD Aviation

Hall

of

Fame Induction

Sat.

Email:

[email protected]

SEPTEMBER 3-5 - PROSSER, WA - EAA

Chapter

391 16th

Annual

Labor Day Weekend F(y-In. Inf

o:

5091786-1034,

SEPTEMBER 3-6

-

WELLSVILLE, PA - Footlight

Ran ch. 10th annual Labor Day Fly-In. Info :

John Shreve.

717/

432-4441 or Email

ShreveprtN@

aol.

com

SEPTEMBER 4 - HA YWARD ,

CA

- EAA

Vintage

Aircraji

Assn. Chapter

29

Air Fair

/

Air

SholV.

Inf

o:

925/455-2300.

SEPTEMBER 4 - MARION, IN -

9th

Annual

Fl

y

In/Cruise-In

Pan

cake Breakfast. Aircraft, vintage

cars

and

motorcycles.

ray

ljohnson@bus

prod.

com

SEPTEMBER

4 -

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO

EAA

Chapter 649 Vintage

Fly-

In.

SEPTEMBER 4 - MARION, IN - Marion Municipal

Airport.

9th

Annual

Fl

y/ln-Cruise/

ln

all

YOII

can

eat Pan cake Breakfast. Features Antique. Classic

Custom Cars as well

as

all Ai/planes.

Info:

Ra

y

L

Johnson

(765)

664-2588

or rayjohnson@blls

prod.

com

SEPTEMBER 5 -

ZA

NESVILLE,

OH

- Riverside

Airport.

EAA Chapter

425 Airport. Fly-ill.

drive-in

breakfast

8

a,m.

- 2

p,m,

In

fo: Darrell

Todd.

740/450-8633.

SEPTEMBER

5 -

MONDOVI, WI - 14th Annual Fly

In. Log Cabin

Airport.

Info: 715/287-4205.

SEPTEMBER

5 -

NAPPANEE, IN -

EAA

Chapter 938

Sunday

for a

Sundae

Ice Cream

So

c

ial, 12

to

3

p.m,

SEPTEMBER 10 12 ATWATER , CALIFORNIA

-

Golden West

EAA F(y-In at Castle Ai/port. Con

tact: Wlvw,gwfly-in.org.

SEPTEMBER

IJ

- OSCEOLA,

WI

- 19th Annual

Wheels

Wings

Fly-In.

Antique car

show, book

sale,

pan

cake

breaAfast. Info:

800/947-0581.

SEPTEMBER II l2 MA RlON,

OHIO

- MERFI

Mid-Easte

rn

Regional Fl

y-

In . Contact: Lou Linde

man, 937

/8

49-9455,

SEPTEMBER

11-12

- EASTON,

PA

-

EAA

Chapter

70 FAA Safety Seminar. Annual

Fall Fly-In.

Fly

Market. plaques for all aimaji. Info: 610/588-0620.

SEPTEMBER 17- 18 - BARTLESVILLE, OK

Frank

Phillips

Field. 42nd

Annual Tul

sa Regional

Fly-In, sponsored by

EAA

Chapter 10, VAA Chapter
mailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/http:www.shortwing.comhttp:///reader/full/IVlvw.taylorcraji.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/Wlvw,gwfly-in.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/http:www.shortwing.comhttp:///reader/full/IVlvw.taylorcraji.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/Wlvw,gwfly-in.org


31/36

Franc

Badof

szky ...... ......................... .

.. ... ..

..

... 22260 Rio

De

Janeiro, Brazil

Steve

1

Atkins ............ ...... ..... ...... .

.. ..

.

..................Windsor, Ontario, Canada

John M. Bogie..........

..

.... ...... ............ .

....... ......... ....Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Jack Ferguson .... .................. .... .......

..

.

...................London, Ontario, Canada

Klaus Dieter Mart in ........... ..... ...... .... .

.......................Landsberied, Germany

Anthony E.

Ro

se ..... ....... Winscombe,

... .. ....... .... N. Somerset, Great Britain

David Graham .......Co . Laois, Ireland

Bassem Hatem ...... Caracas , Venezula

Hermann G.

Zingg

........ ..... ............ ...

..

... ... ...

..

....

..

...........Caracas,Venezula

Richard

T

Reynolds ... ..

Vintage Airplane - Jun 1999

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