Va Vol 49 no 3 May Jun 2021 by EAA Vintage Aircraft Association

MAY / JUNE 2021

TWO RASCALS FAMILY E-2 RARE FAIRCHILD

Serial Collector WALT BOWES’ AIR FORCE

Trademark(s) of North American Car and Truck of the Year Corporation used under license by Ford Motor Company.

THE TRUCK THAT NEVER SET TLES. 2021 NORTH AMERIC AN TRUCK OF THE YE AR™

T H E

2 0 2 1

F O R D

F - 1 5 0

Message From the President

May/June 2021

SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA PRESIDENT

STAFF Publisher: Jack J. Pelton, EAA CEO and Chairman of the Board Vice President of Publications, Marketing,

Opening up the Vintage Grounds at EAA AirVenture

and Membership: Jim Busha / jbusha@eaa.org Senior Copy Editor: Colleen Walsh Copy Editors: Tom Breuer, Jennifer Knaack Proofreader: Meghan Plummer Graphic Designer: Cordell Walker

AS YOU READ THIS, those of us here at Vintage are buried deep in preparations for EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2021. In this the most unusual of years we find ourselves deeply involved with special COVID safety measures. It is a real balancing act of preservation of the AirVenture culture while maintaining common sense as well as government-recommended and -required safety protocols. Of course, the COVID precautions are based on the guidelines at the time of this writing, but even so we are not expecting any major changes between now and the start of AirVenture. Some of the COVID precautions that you can expect are very familiar to all of us. For example, throughout the AirVenture grounds masks will be strongly recommended if you are unable to social distance. And, increased physical distancing will be encouraged in all areas. Vintage in Review will have reduced seating, and all Vintage buildings will have a reduced capacity. The Vintage Tall Pines Café will have reduced seating indoors (We will finally get to use our new tables and chairs!), and we will be placing picnic tables outside as a backup for our diners. (I’m trying to not lose sleep over the impact of a rainy day on all of our planning!) In-depth information on COVID mitigation procedures at AirVenture 2021 is available at EAA.org. Once on EAA’s website click on “AirVenture COVID Updates.” On a more refreshing note, Tall Pines will be offering a limited menu of “grab and go” items at our new takeout area that will be entirely separate from the normal breakfast area and line. Look for the “Grab

and Go” or “Takeout” signage. We have not finalized the menu yet, but I am advocating along with other choices some type of fresh fruit and a simple healthy choice takeout snack box. In June 2021, and for the first time in two years, our talented and dedicated volunteer maintenance team chaired by Mike Blombach will arrive on the EAA grounds at Wittman Regional Airport to make some muchneeded repairs and improvements on our buildings located throughout the Vintage area. I might add that even though we have been absent for basically two years, the buildings have been regularly inspected for anything that would need immediate attention. Typically, Vintage has three work parties before the fly-in every year. This year we will host two work parties as the EAA grounds will not be open for volunteers until June 1. As a side note, 15 to 30 Vintage volunteers are on hand for these events. We always have a lot of fun. (Any of you Vintage types are welcome to join in on the fun! Just call Amy Lemke at 920-426-6110 for info.) The first order of business this upcoming June is to install large overhead fans in the Vintage Hangar to complement the roof vents that were installed last fall by subcontractors. We will also be making a few improvements on the VAA Red Barn, making some minor repairs both on our buildings and on the Vintage grounds, as well as adding a splash of paint here and there. Landscaping will be completed just before the fly-in. CONTINUED ON PAGE 64

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES

ADVERTISING Advertising Manager: Sue Anderson / sanderson@eaa.org

CONTACT US Mailing Address: VAA, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903 Website: www.eaavintage.org Email: vintageaircraft@eaa.org Phone: 800-564-6322 Visit www.eaavintage.org for the latest in information and news.

Current EAA members may join the Vintage Aircraft Association and receive Vintage Airplane magazine for an additional $45/year. EAA membership, Vintage Airplane magazine, and one-year membership in the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association are available for $55 per year (Sport Aviation magazine not included). (Add $7 for International Postage.) Foreign Memberships Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars. Add required foreign postage amount for each membership. Membership Service P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086 Monday–Friday, 8 AM—6 PM CST Join/Renew 800-564-6322 membership@eaa.org EAA AirVenture Oshkosh www.EAA.org/AirVenture 888-322-4636

www.eaavintage.org

Contents FE AT UR E S

14 This KR Is a Keeper The continuing saga of a 1928 Fairchild KR-34B2 By Sparky Barnes

24 Collecting Can Be a Disease Walt Bowe has the cure — give in to it By Budd Davisson

42 Taylor Made Mark Stewart’s 1935 E-2 Cub By Hal Bryan

Two Rascals Reunited John Murray and his Aeronca Champ By Jim Busha

May/June 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM

May/June 2021 / Vol. 49, No. 3

COLUM NS 01

Message From the President

By Susan Dusenbury

Friends of the Red Barn

2021 Hall of Fame Inductee

VAA Election 2021

How To? Make a Dihedral Board By Robert G. Lock

The Vintage Mechanic My Thoughts on Aircraft Propellers, Part 2 By Robert G. Lock

Flymart

COV ER S

Front Scott Slocum captures Walt Bowe stepping back in time as he flies his J-1 Standard over a California field.

Back Dave Carpenter runs his Fairchild KR-34 after a late afternoon flight. Photography by Jim Busha

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Send your thoughts to the Vintage editor at jbusha@eaa.org. For missing or replacement magazines, or any other membership-related questions, please call EAA Member Services at 800-JOIN-EAA (564-6322).

www.eaavintage.org

Friends of the

RED BARN 2021-2022

DEAR FRIENDS,

For one week every year a temporary city of about 50,000 people is created in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on the grounds of Wittman Regional Airport. We call the temporary city EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. During this one week, EAA and our communities, including the Vintage Aircraft Association, host more than 500,000 pilots and aviation enthusiasts along with their families and friends. With the support of the very capable VAA officers, directors, and more than 600 volunteers, the Vintage Aircraft Association annually welcomes more than 1,100 vintage showplanes throughout the week of AirVenture on our nearly 1.3-mile flightline. We continue to work to bring an array of valuable services and interesting programs to the VAA membership and to all of our Vintage Village visitors during this magical week. Across Wittman Road and in front of our flagship building, the VAA Red Barn, we will feature some really interesting airplanes, including the beautiful past Vintage Grand Champions, an array of fun and affordable aircraft, and some exciting rare and seldom-seen aircraft. In Vintage Village proper we have a hospitality service, a bookstore, a general store (the Red Barn Store), youth programs, educational forums, and much more. As you can imagine, creating the infrastructure to support these displays, as well as the programs offered during the week, is both time-consuming and costly, but they are made possible thanks to donations from our wonderful members.

May/June 2021

As your president, I am inviting you on behalf of the Vintage Aircraft Association to join our association’s once-a-year fundraising campaign — Friends of the Red Barn (FORB). The services and programs that we provide for our members and guests during AirVenture are made possible through our FORB fundraising efforts. A donation from you — no matter how large or small — supports the dream of aviation for aviators and aviation enthusiasts of all ages and levels of involvement. We invite you to join us in supporting this dream through the Friends of the Red Barn. I thank you in advance for your continued support of the Vintage Aircraft Association as we move this premier organization forward on behalf of our membership and the vintage aircraft movement. If you have already made a 2021-2022 FORB contribution, thank you for your dedication and support of the vintage aircraft movement. I look forward to seeing you all in Vintage Village at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh beginning July 26, 2021! SUSAN DUSENBURY, PRESIDENT VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON, SCOTT SLOCUM

C A L L F O R V I N TA G E A I R CR A F T A S S O CI AT I O N

Nominate your favorite vintage aviator for the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame. A great honor could be bestowed upon that man or woman working next to you on your airplane, sitting next to you in the chapter meeting, or walking next to you at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Think about the people in your circle of aviation friends: the mechanic, historian, photographer, or pilot who has shared innumerable tips with you and with many others. They could be the next VAA Hall of Fame inductee — but only if they are nominated. The person you nominate can be a citizen of any country and may be living or deceased; his or her involvement in vintage aviation must have occurred between 1950 and

the present day. His or her contribution can be in the areas of flying, design, mechanical or aerodynamic developments, administration, writing, some other vital and relevant field, or any combination of fields that support aviation. The person you nominate must be or have been a member of the Vintage Aircraft Association or the Antique/Classic Division of EAA, and preference is given to those whose actions have contributed to the VAA in some way, perhaps as a volunteer, a restorer who shares his expertise with others, a writer, a photographer, or a pilot sharing stories, preserving aviation history, and encouraging new pilots and enthusiasts.

To nominate someone is easy. It just takes a little time and a little reminiscing on your part. •Think of a person; think of his or her contributions to vintage aviation. •Write those contributions in the various categories of the nomination form. •Write a simple letter highlighting these attributes and contributions. Make copies of newspaper or magazine articles that may substantiate your view. •If at all possible, have another individual (or more) complete a form or write a letter about this person, confirming why the person is a good candidate for induction. We would like to take this opportunity to mention that if you have nominated someone for the VAA Hall of Fame, nominations for the honor are kept on file for three years, after which the nomination must be resubmitted. Mail nominating materials to: VAA Hall of Fame, c/o Amy Lemke VAA PO Box 3086 Oshkosh, WI 54903 Email: alemke@eaa.org

Find the nomination form at www.VintageAircraft.org, or call the VAA office for a copy (920-426-6110), or on your own sheet of paper, simply include the following information: •Date submitted. •Name of person nominated. •Address and phone number of nominee. •Email address of nominee. •Date of birth of nominee. If deceased, date of death. •Name and relationship of nominee’s closest living relative. •Address and phone of nominee’s closest living relative. •VAA and EAA number, if known. (Nominee must have been or be a VAA member.) •Time span (dates) of the nominee’s contributions to vintage aviation. (Must be between 1950 to present day.) •Area(s) of contributions to aviation. •Describe the event(s) or nature of activities the nominee has undertaken in aviation to be worthy of induction into the VAA Hall of Fame. •Describe achievements the nominee has made in other related fields in aviation. •Has the nominee already been honored for his or her involvement in aviation and/or the contribution you are stating in this petition? If yes, please explain the nature of the honor and/or award the nominee has received. •Any additional supporting information. •Submitter’s address and phone number, plus email address. •Include any supporting material with your petition.

2021 Hall of Fame Inductee STEVE NESSE VAA Hall of Fame 2021 recipient CONTRIBUTIONS TO AVIATION

Steve Nesse has been actively involved with EAA since 1967 and with VAA since 1971. Steve received his private pilot certificate in 1967. In 1975 he purchased a 1946 Navion from his father. After joining EAA in 1967 at Rockford, Steve has since attended consecutive EAA conventions and has been active in VAA since its inception. A charter member of VAA Chapter 13, Steve has served as vice president and president of that chapter. Steve was elected to the VAA board as an adviser in 1987 and then as a director in 1989. The secretary at the time was George York, who was starting to have health problems. Butch Joyce, then president, asked Steve to fill in until he was elected secretary in 1991. He continued uninterrupted as secretary until 2020 and is continuing as an active director. Steve continues to be a dedicated volunteer.

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

There are several significant events where Steve displayed his abilities to be a team player and to support VAA. At the fall 1991 VAA board of directors meeting, it was decided at the suggestion of Tom Poberezny to open a new judging category, allowing aircraft produced between 1956 and 1960 to be allowed in the show area and be eligible for judging. VAA Director Dean Richardson at the time recruited Doc and Dan Knutson as chairman and co-chairman for this the new category. Oshkosh 1992 (prior to the AirVenture name) was going to be a trial run for them to learn judging and to recruit judges, as the official judging would not start until 1993. Per Dan Knutson the first day of the 1992 judging trial run, Steve Nesse approached the newly formed judging team and introduced himself. Steve was not connected to judging, but as a VAA officer he wanted the newly formed group to feel welcome and offer his assistance in any way he could. At the same time, he also provided real world information on the ins and outs of EAA and VAA. This was like a breath of fresh air to the group, since only an hour before they were told by then chief judge George York that he didn’t believe there was a place at the event for “modern” airplanes. Steve’s continued contributions were appreciated the entire week. He displayed that he was a true team player to support moving the organization forward by providing his guidance. In addition to his role on the VAA board of directors, he has also chaired the Tall Pines Café since 2002.

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Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame 2021 recipient Steve Nesse.

THE TALLEST TREE AT TALL PINES

Before the days of the Tall Pines, most of Steve’s time was devoted to the metal-shaping workshop. The idea for a workshop tent was put into place in 1997. There were two tents in the same area where the Vintage hangar now sits. One was for type clubs and the other was to teach people the skills of shaping metal, fabric work, etc. Steve was the chairman, and he brought in a well-respected metal fabricator to demonstrate and teach metal-shaping. In 2009, this was moved to the south side of the Vintage hangar. Steve also served as the parade of flight chairman for two years. The parade of flight was later canceled due to safety concerns. The idea for Tall Pines was approved in 2002, and the first location was to the south of its current spot where the road makes an S-turn shortly before amphibious aircraft parking. Since the tent was positioned along a row of pine trees there, Steve came up with the name Tall Pines Café. Former VAA Director John Berendt was the chairman for a short time. After the 2002 convention, John had a medical issue, and Steve replaced him.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES

Steve Nesse and Charlie Becker of EAA shake hands.

In those days Tall Pines was operated with borrowed equipment on a chipboard floor. After the location was moved to its present spot, Steve pursued purchasing kitchen equipment and a permanent structure with a concrete floor for the kitchen. The dining area was still housed in a tent with a chipboard floor and picnic tables. This arrangement was used for several years until donations and VAA contributions allowed for a permanent structure for the dining area. Starting in 2021, Tall Pines Café will have round, restaurant-style tables with permanent chairs. Many members have shared how much they look forward to a Tall Pines breakfast at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh every year (especially the doughnuts)! Steve Nesse is a positive-thinking individual who has always gone above and beyond to move VAA forward, and he works tirelessly year-round, searching for equipment and looking for ways to improve the operation. VAA is proud to announce Steve Nesse as the 2021 Hall of Fame recipient.

THE VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION’S

Red Barn Store Is Now Online From hats and zip-ups, to plush toys and dice cups, VAA has brought the merchandise you love from AirVenture to their online store! Check back often, as stock will be updated soon.

EAA.org/ShopVintage www.vintageaircraft.org

VAA Election 2021 DAN KNUTSON

Vice President

Dan Knutson, a pilot of 48 years, grew up at a small grass airport in Lodi, Wisconsin. As soon as he was tall enough to reach the rudder pedals, he learned to fly in a J-3 Cub and soloed at age 16.

PAUL KYLE Treasurer

Paul’s inspiration in flight came from his grandfather and father, who took him to his first Oshkosh convention in 1983. During the late 1980s, he helped his grandfather build a Sonerai II. While in college, he started taking flight lessons in his father’s 1959 Cessna 150. He graduated from

JERRY A. BROWN Director

A member of EAA and VAA since 1983, and a lifetime member since 2018, Jerry served as a Vintage judge for 20 years, including five years as chief judge. He joined the Vintage board in 2010 and has served as treasurer since 2014. Jerry has restored several vintage aircraft, including a Waco GXE, YKS, UPF, YMF, and a J-3 Cub. He was awarded a Bronze Lindy for Customized Antique Champion in 1991 and again in 1998. His partial vintage restoration work includes a Cessna 140, Cessna 150, Piper single and twin Comanche, and a Stearman Model 75. He is experienced with most phases of fabric covering, airframe, and engine work.

May/June 2021

Along with his father, Richard Knutson, Dan was involved in the restoration of many vintage airplanes. He has attended every EAA convention since 1966, and became the EAA Contemporary judging chairman in 1992 when the category was formed. For 47 years, Dan has worked in the automotive industry. He and his wife, Mary, who is chairman of the Red Barn Store, live in Lodi.

Concordia University in Wisconsin with a degree in accounting and acquired his CPA license in 2011. He currently resides in Mason, Ohio, with his wife, Stephanie, and their young sons, Ethan and Allon. Paul has volunteered in numerous positions for Vintage, starting with the Antique Classic division during the 1989 Oshkosh convention, where he worked the flightline. Later he started volunteering during the work weekends in the mid-1990s at Tall Pines Café and as chair of Aeromart. While he still helps out during the work weekends, Paul’s main responsibility is now as Vintage finance chairman during AirVenture.

A member of EAA Chapter 729 and VAA Chapter 41, Jerry is director emeritus of the American Waco Club, served as a director of the National Biplane Association, and has received an EAA 50-mission Young Eagles pin. As a private pilot, he holds SEL and MEL instrument ratings and has logged 3,000-plus hours in single-engine aircraft, of which 1,000 hours is with conventional landing gear. Jerry’s business and community service includes co-founder of diversified companies involved with plastic injection molding, custom sportswear, corrugated box printing, and cutting dies. He has received several product design and mechanical patents, and has served as director of the Franklin College board. See attached insert ballot to vote.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES

DAVE CLARK

Director

As a child, Dave built almost every type of model airplane. He learned to fly in a J-3 Cub in 1958 in Indianapolis, where he and his wife, Wanda, moved so he could attend pharmacy school at Butler University. He has owned an Aeronca Chief, an Aeronca Scout, and two Tri-Pacers. Dave has been working on and restoring airplanes since 1969. After his retirement, Dave enrolled as a student in the Vincennes University

GEORGE DAUBNER

Director

George’s love for aviation started at the tender age of 12, when he attended his first air show at his hometown airport in Hartford, Wisconsin. He realized then that he wanted to make flying a large part of his life. He started flying in 1969 and earned his private ticket in 1970. In 1974, George was hired as a co-pilot, flying Beech 18s for a Milwaukee-based

JOHN HOFMANN

Director

John’s interest in aviation was handed down from his father. He grew up with plastic models, advancing to radio control, and culminating in his private pilot certificate in 1982. He attended his first Oshkosh convention in 1978, joined EAA in 1982, and became a VAA member in 1988. In 1990, John moved from Minnesota to Indiana and became involved with EAA Chapter 226 in Anderson, where he eventually served as secretary and president.

airframe and powerplant program in Indianapolis and graduated in 2005. He is now an A&P instructor and has been teaching at the university for the past 15 years. For five years, Dave served as president of the Hendricks County Board of Aviation Commissioners to build a new airport (2R2), which opened in 2001. Dave attended two EAA conventions in Rockford and has attended all but two fly-ins at Oshkosh. He served as judge of the Antique aircraft category for 25 years, serving as co-chairman of Antique judging, and served five years as the VAA chief judge. He also served two terms as VAA vice president and is now a VAA board member.

charter company. His job duties also included managing the Hartford airport on weekends. During that period, he was able to check out in many different types of antique and classic aircraft, including a Cub, Stearman, Great Lakes, and Luscombe, to name a few. Having retired after 25 years of corporate flying, George now spends his time as program manager for the EAA B-17 tour and as a pilot on EAA’s Ford TriMotor. Since 1983, he served the VAA during the Oshkosh convention as a volunteer for and chair of VAA parking and flightline safety, and today as vice chairman of Vintage field operations. In the past, George has also served the VAA as vice president.

While in Indiana, John received his A&P certificate (with inspection authorization in 2016) and worked in technical publications at Rolls-Royce. While working for Ken Cook Co. in Milwaukee, he also wrote marketing and technical materials for Beechcraft and was privileged to help edit Duane Cole’s final book. John is VP of IT with The Rees Group Inc. in Madison, Wisconsin. He’s the past treasurer of the Midwest Antique Airplane Club, as well as the current editor and publisher of Cub Clues, a newsletter of the Piper Cub Club, and the Taylorcraft Owners Club newsletter. John has restored several aircraft and currently owns and flies a Piper J-3 Cub and a 1932 Great Lakes Sport Trainer.

www.vintageaircraft.org

VAA Election 2021 RAY JOHNSON

Director

Ray grew up on a farm near Marion, Indiana, and has had a lifelong interest in old airplanes, having an uncle who took him for his first ride in an Aeronca Defender. He received his private pilot certificate in 1980, and the same year he joined EAA and the Vintage Aircraft

EARL NICHOLAS

Director

Earl’s love of flying came from his parents, who often took their children to airport fences to watch the airplanes. At the urging of his father, he took up flying at the Stick & Rudder Club at Waukegan airport (UGN) and passed his private checkride in 1974.

JOE NORRIS

Director

Joe grew up on a cranberry farm in central Wisconsin. Several neighbors had light aircraft and some had airstrips on their property, so it was always easy to be around airplanes and airplane people. A close friend of the family was ag pilot Jim Miles (EAA 158), who introduced Joe to EAA by taking him to Oshkosh for the EAA convention in 1970, where they camped under the wing of Jim’s

May/June 2021

Association. He was honored with a Bronze Lindy in 1995, and then in 1996 received Grand Champion Classic Aircraft with his 1947 Aeronca Chief (11AC). Ray also owns and enjoys flying his 1963 Mooney M20C. Ray has attended every Oshkosh convention since 1980. In 1991, he started the Fly/In Cruise/In, held annually in Marion, Indiana, with this year being the 30th consecutive Fly/In held there. This will be his 12th year serving as chairman of and conducting the daily Vintage in Review program at Vintage Interview Circle. Ray retired from American Electric Power after 42 years of service.

Earl served as a board member of Stick & Rudder and later as its assistant treasurer, treasurer, and president. His first visit to the Oshkosh convention was for one day in 1981. He began volunteering on the Vintage flightline the following year and joined Vintage in 1987. Earl has had many Vintage jobs over the years, including tracking volunteer hours, producing the Daily Aerogram, and producing volunteer name tags. He was appointed as an adviser to the board in 2015. He serves as Vintage computer ops chairman during AirVenture, and designed and launched the Vintage website in 2013.

Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser. Joe joined EAA in 1976 and became a lifetime member in 2002. He also is a lifetime member of VAA (VAA 5982). Joe earned his private pilot certificate in 1978 and bought his first airplane in 1979 — a 1955 Piper Tri-Pacer. He flew it for about a year and then converted it to a PA-20 Pacer (tailwheel) configuration. He holds commercial pilot and flight instructor certificates with airplane and helicopter ratings, as well an A&P certificate with IA. Joe is also a designated airworthiness representative for experimental aircraft. Joe has owned a number of vintage aircraft over the years, including a Waco UPF-7, a Cessna 180, and a Piper J-5 Cub Cruiser. He currently owns and flies a 1960 Piper PA-18 Super Cub.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES

TIM POPP

Director

Tim joined EAA in 1988 and is a lifetime member. He began taking flying lessons that same year, attended his first EAA convention, and has attended every convention since (until the pandemic). Tim earned his private pilot certificate in 1989, and later added a tailwheel endorsement and an instrument rating. He purchased a 1958 Cessna 172 in 1994 and slowly restored it over several years while actively flying it, attending the EAA convention in the VAA area and camping under the wing for 19 years until selling it. He joined VAA in 1994 as

well, about the time he began volunteering with the VAA Contemporary aircraft judges, eventually becoming the chairman of the VAA Classic aircraft judges, as well as now serving as the VAA chief judge. He completed a Van’s Aircraft RV-7 in 2012. Tim is an active member and past president of EAA Chapter 221 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He has flown more than 500 Young Eagles over the years. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan, and worked as an environment, health, and safety manager in nuclear power and the pharmaceutical industry for over 30 years before recently retiring. He has been happily married for almost 35 years to Liz, who also actively volunteers with the VAA. Tim has served on the VAA board of directors since 2012, first as an adviser, then as a director, and the last four years as vice president.

www.vintageaircraft.org

How To? ROBERT G. LOCK

FIGURE 1

MAKE A DIHEDRAL BOARD BY ROBERT G. LOCK

A DIHEDRAL BOARD is very handy when rig-

ging an aircraft, as it will aid in setting the proper amount of dihedral in each wing. Dihedral is important because it helps the lateral stability of an aircraft — lateral stability provides a positive force against the rolling tendency of an aircraft during flight. Most high-wing aircraft have a small amount of dihedral because the weight of the fuselage is below the lifting surfaces, and that weight acts like a pendulum to right the ship when it wants to roll. On the other hand, lowwing aircraft have substantially more dihedral because that fuselage weight is above the lifting surfaces, which tends to accentuate the rolling tendency. Biplanes fall somewhere in between high- and low-wing airplanes. For instance, the Boeing Stearman has 1-1/2 degrees dihedral in the lower wing, while my Command-Aire has 2 degrees. It is important to know that dihedral is always measured on the top of the front spar and nowhere else.

May/June 2021

To make a dihedral board, use the chart shown in Figure 1 (from an old reprint of data I used while teaching rigging techniques at the college). My dihedral board is set at 1-1/2 degrees because I rigged so many Stearman biplanes over the years. So for 1-1/2 degrees, the “Y” measurement would be about 2-5/8 inches. Cut the dihedral board from a nice straight kiln-dried 2-by-4 and make it 100 inches long. Mark the “Y” dimension on one end and, using a soft pencil, draw a straight line and then cut using a table or skill saw. If a jointer is handy, smooth the saw cut and then either line the cut with tape or bond some thin felt so the board won’t scratch the paint. Now you are in business.

PHOTO 1

In order to properly use a dihedral board, the aircraft must be absolutely leveled laterally (across the longerons); otherwise, the dihedral board is useless. In order to properly use a dihedral board, the aircraft must be absolutely leveled laterally (across the longerons); otherwise, the dihedral board is useless. Place the board on the top of the front spar and place a carpenter’s level on top of the dihedral board. Then tighten the front landing wire until the bubble is centered. And then tighten the wire one more complete revolution just past the level point so when the flying wires are tightened, the bubble should once again be level. Photo 1 shows a dihedral board and level on the lower wing of my Command-Aire. I have successfully used a dihedral board for many years; in fact, I started with one when I helped rig a Stearman back in 1956. This tool is very handy, but it must be adequately marked or someone will cut it up for wheel chocks or firewood! I used this board when first rigging the Command-Aire back in 1980. A shim was added to bring the measurement up to the 2 degrees required for the airplane. The 1-1/2 degrees was for the Stearman, of which I have rigged many over my long career.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES

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BY SPARKY BARNES

Dave Carpenter

of Berea, Kentucky, is the humble and joyful caretaker of one especially rare flying machine. It’s not just that his 1928 Fairchild KR-34B2 is a golden age survivor, or that it’s one of only two known to be flying these days. Its remarkable rarity stems from two rather unusual historical aspects. NC205E is endowed with its very own type certificate (2-505), and is powered by the only known airworthy Continental A-70.

May/June 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

CLICK HERE

TO SEE A FLICKR GALLERY ON THE 1928 FAIRCHILD KR-34B2

www.eaavintage.org

FASCINATION WITH FLYING

Dave is an instrument-rated private pilot and has owned the KR-34B2 for about five years now. He’s owned his Swift for more than 40 years. Although he didn’t grow up in an aviation-minded family, Dave was drawn to flight at an early age. “I started flying when I was about 4,” he said. “I tied a string around a June bug’s leg, and I’d fly it every day during the summer! I was fascinated by flight from that point on, and I was building and flying model airplanes by 7 and teaching all the kids in the neighborhood to fly the old Testor’s plastic 049 control line airplanes.” Then he enthusiastically transitioned to the ultralight world. “I was the ultralight rescue pilot; back in those days a Weedhopper had an 18-hp Chotia engine, and I taught myself how to fly in it. It was so underpowered, it would regularly put whoever was flying it down in a field somewhere,” Dave said. “Well, rather than take it apart, they would call me, and I’d go rescue it, because I only weighed 135 pounds. One of the guys gave me the nickname ‘Flying Flea,’ and most of the Swifters still know me as Flea.”

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Dave clearly recalls his very first airplane ride at age 30. “I was with Johnny Lackey in a 145-hp Swift, and we did a roll on takeoff! Exactly one week later, I had my second airplane ride and I owned half the airplane. It was a Cessna 150 that a co-worker and I bought — he was already a pilot, and I wanted to get my license.” Obviously a self-starter, Dave also taught himself about mechanical engineering and was a chief engineer for a pressure gauge manufacturing company until he ended up running the facility. His aptitude for all things mechanical naturally inspired him to obtain his A&P/IA as well. Through the years, he’s restored seven Swifts. “I would restore or repair somebody else’s Swift and bartered with them for something for my own Swift — that’s the way I got my engines, my canopy, it’s the way I got basically everything on the airplane.” The knowledge he acquired through those experiences facilitated his restoration work on the KR-34.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

KREIDER-REISNER HISTORY

In the early to mid-1920s, Lewis E. Reisner and Ammon H. “Amos” Kreider started out with “an airplane repair and flying service out of a former wooden shoe repair shed” and formed the Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Co. in 1926 at Hagerstown, Maryland. The fledgling company built more than 100 Challenger biplanes, powered by various engines, in 1927 and 1928. Devoted to their craft, they worked indoors and outdoors; wood wings were constructed inside “narrow, low-lying buildings and doped on saw horses outside of the shed.” [HistoricStructures.com/md] On December 7, 1928, NC205E started life as a Challenger C-4, serial No. 180, powered by an Aircraft Engine Co. 150-hp seven-cylinder Comet engine, with a Micarta propeller (under type certificate 88). One company ad proclaimed: “Loop her and roll her — get all the fun that flying provides. Then put her down slowly, surely into the smallest field. Trim of line, graceful as a bird, easily controlled, strong, sturdy, safe — the ship of ships for commerce or sport — Challenger!” Another ad touted the construction features of the biplane, describing its “Welded steel tube fuselage with its sturdy terminals and fittings. Welded steel tail unit with its stabilizer adjustable from the pilot’s seat. The sturdy full swiveling tail skid and removable shoe. The rugged timeproven landing gear. Unusually rigid wing structure with streamlined wire and seamless streamline steel tube interplane struts. Ailerons differentially controlled. All control wires enclosed, operating without pulleys.” In April 1929, Kreider-Reisner was amicably acquired by Fairchild Airplane Manufacturing Corp. “At a dinner announcing the merger at the Detroit Air Show, Sherman Fairchild exclaimed, ‘the most important thing … is not the plant, but the fact that we are connecting with the Kreider-Reisner organization, one of the most efficient airplane manufacturing organizations in the United States.’” [Historic-Structures.com/md] Sadly, Kreider didn’t live to see the business continue flourishing. He died in a midair collision just a few days after the merger. As Fairchild continued production, the aircraft designations were changed accordingly. For example, the Kreider-Reisner designation of “C-4” stood for the fourth commercial model. The Fairchild designation of “KR-34” stood for KreiderReisner, fourth model, three-place, and so on. A suffix letter indicated a slight modification to the model, such as a different engine. Fairchild continued the marketing campaign, emphasizing that “Every Fairchild includes the features that millions of miles of flying under every conceivable condition have shown to be essential to real airplane value. Dependability … Assured Performance … Superior Flying Characteristics … Low Maintenance … Beauty and Luxury.”

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF DAVE CARPENTER

Aviation February 1931 ad.

“

Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted an airplane with four wings and a round engine. — Dave Carpenter

”

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NOT A FLYING START

NC205E was first sold to Harold C. Hannay of Detroit, Michigan, in January 1929. In March, a structural failure in the engine mount ring was discovered and was repaired at the factory. The aircraft records reveal that, although a letter from Reisner declared the repair was minor because it was handily completed in about two hours, the requisite diagrams and paperwork (or lack thereof ) caused a considerable snafu with the Department of Commerce. The biplane was grounded for a few months until the issue was resolved.

FACTORY MODS

NC205E was certainly not a hangar queen; it was flown and repaired numerous times throughout its long life. It suffered its first accident in April 1931 near Ontario, which may have precipitated its visit back to Hagerstown, albeit a couple of years later. By June 1933, the biplane had a total time of 319 hours and 25 minutes, and Fairchild proceeded to modify the Challenger C-4 — perhaps at then-owner Robert Kauffman’s behest. Various repairs were performed, and most notably, the wings were modified by the removal of the false nose ribs and the installation of plywood instead. A tail wheel was installed in place of the old skid, and a battery box was installed under the baggage compartment. Additionally, Bendix brakes, Aircraft Products oil-draulic shock struts, and navigation lights were installed. After the repairs and modifications, the biplane was designated a Fairchild KR-34B.

May/June 2021

In April 1935, Kauffman had a 165-hp Continental A-70-2 engine installed in place of the Comet. The biplane was then licensed as an experimental KR-34B2 and restricted for experimental and demonstration purposes. Just two months later, Kauffman requested a commercial license for it since it had been flight tested, and approval for such was recommended. The total flight time was 459 hours and 24 minutes.

TC 2-505

At that point, the Fairchild KR-34B2 was given its own type certificate. Serial No. 180 was the only airplane eligible under 2-505 (specification basis Aero Bulletin 7A, Section 3). The sparsely worded type certificate referenced the 165-hp Continental A-70-2, a 54-gallon fuel capacity, and 4 gallons of oil. The Class I equipment included landing lights, battery, starter, 8.50-10 wheels, and a tail wheel. The type certificate further stated that the leading edge of all wings and center section were covered with plywood. By May 1936, A&E mechanic Joseph W. Martin of Somerset, Pennsylvania, owned NC205E. He developed a rather long-term relationship with it — and it’s probable that this KR-34’s longevity is due in large part to him. At that time, the biplane had 519 hours and 25 minutes of flight time, and he refinished all the wings, installed new bolts in the landing gear, and overhauled the engine. By June 1946, William Armagost of Hooversville, Pennsylvania, owned the airplane, and he kept it based at the Somerset Airport — where Joseph W. Martin continued caring for it. With 1,264 hours logged by then, Martin made some wing repairs to keep the KR flying. In May 1948, Martin was again doing maintenance work on the KR-34, performing necessary chores and repairs, such as cleaning and zinc chromating the fuselage, installing some new wing spars, and lubricated the elevator and rudder cables with Lion oil. At that time, the complete aircraft (except the rudder and fin) was re-covered with Grade A cotton.

By September 1954, the biplane had 1,755 hours of total time. Evidently, Armagost enjoyed flying it, and no doubt he had also developed a friendship with Martin — for in 1965, Armagost allowed the KR-34 to fly right back into Martin’s ownership. Once again, Martin breathed new life into the KR-34 by re-covering both top wings and the center section, the ailerons, horizontal stabilizers, and elevators. He inspected and Lion-oiled all the wood, cleaned and primed the steel tubing with zinc chromate as necessary, and finally re-covered the airframe with Irish linen and finished it in Tennessee red nitrate dope. In 1970, Martin sold the airplane to William E. Clark Jr. of State College, Pennsylvania. In 1984, Clark sold it to Henry, Charles, and John Pittman of Gainesville, Georgia. The Pittmans did a labor-intensive restoration of the KR-34 in April 1988 and finished it with the Stits Poly-Fiber process. They kept it until 2011, when they sold it to David Mars and Paul Barnett of Mississippi.

A NEW KR CARETAKER

Dave Carpenter was enchanted the very first time he saw the KR-34 in fellow Swifter Paul Barnett’s hangar at Brookhaven, Mississippi. Longtime friends, Dave was ambling through the hangar, looking at Paul’s collection of more than a dozen airplanes, when the KR caught his eye. “Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted an airplane with four wings and a round engine,” Dave said. “I guess it’s every kid’s dream, but I never did let mine go!”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

He told Paul he was totally in love with the biplane. A bit smaller in stature than a Stearman, the KR-34 is similar in size and shape to a Waco 10. Dave walked over to the KR and quickly discovered he could easily ground handle it by himself. “I asked Paul if he’d sell it to me, and he was reluctant, so I told him if he ever decided to sell it, I wanted it,” Dave said. “Every time I’d see Paul at Swift fly-ins, I’d always ask him about the KR. I never flew in it, and I never saw it fly — but I wanted that airplane from the first moment I saw it.” Then at Oshkosh 2016, Dave and Paul were at a Swift dinner, where Paul brought up the subject of selling an airplane or two from his collection. Dave pounced on the opportunity and said, “’Paul, if you’re really serious, you can sell an airplane tonight! I want the KR; price it.’ So we went back and forth several times on a napkin at dinner and came up with a price. Paul then called David Mars, another friend of mine who was Paul’s partner in the KR, and I ended up buying the KR that evening.” Since the KR-34 hadn’t been flown very much (apparently less than 50 hours from the time it was rebuilt in 1988 until 2016), Dave made several trips down to Mississippi to do an annual inspection on it. Then it was time to fly some local familiarization flights, which went well. But with close to a dozen such flights under his belt, Dave experienced an incident on takeoff that ultimately served as the impetus for restoring the biplane.

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RESTORATION

TOP: The photo shows the complexity of the project and the detailed work that was done in only four months’ time. MIDDLE: Using a digital protractor to help set the gear alignment. BOTTOM: Debbie Carpenter lends a helping hand with the rib stitching.

May/June 2021

Like-minded friends are the biggest gift that aviation has given Dave, and a few of his talented friends in the vintage community stepped up to help move the KR project along. Jim Wilson of South Carolina took Dave by surprise when he offered to work on the landing gear, even though he was in the midst of restoring his own Travel Air 4000 at the time. “In about four months, Jim put the front end of that airplane together. Then I finished it from there; I rebuilt the old Warner mechanical brakes, and I had the oleo struts done here at a machine shop,” Dave said. “The tail wheel is now a Scott 3200, and we changed the position of the rudder and brake pedals so now they’re very similar to a KR-21 and are user friendly.” Jim, who owns a 1930 Fairchild KR-21, shared his motivation to help Dave with the project: “I knew the complexity of that landing gear and the amount of machine work, welding, and rigging it was going to take. Dave was in a jam and this looked like good fun, so I told him to bring ’er down here! What I didn’t know when I went into this was how hard a worker Dave is. The amount of ‘stuff’ he got done internal to my work was astounding. He is very highly motivated and focused, and he loves this airplane.” Dave also spent a good deal of time rebuilding the wings as necessary and said, “I also redid the fuselage, and re-covered and painted it. I patched a couple of wings; the nice thing about Poly-Fiber is that it’s easy to repair. The sheet metal, struts, and flying wires were all in good shape.” The original fuel tank was made of steel and was rusty, so instead of repairing it, Dave bought a new aluminum tank that Ted Davis of Wisconsin made. The cockpit upholstery was still in good shape, as were most of the original instruments, including the 1917 World War I military surplus Waltham clock. The windscreens for the cockpits were replaced. “Rob Lock of Florida made those; they’re for a Travel Air 4000, which are very similar in shape to the originals that were on the KR-34,” Dave said. “I bought them from Rob when he was making some for his project.”

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF DAVE CARPENTER

CONTINENTAL A-70

The other major facet of the restoration was overhauling the 165-hp Continental A-70. “I rebuilt it to zero time. The unusual thing about it is that the Bendix early series magnetos didn’t have any oil seals on them — there are holes to drain oil back into the case. The technology has changed a lot over the years,” Dave said. “The good thing about an A-70 is the crankshaft gears and rods are the same as the 220-hp Continental 670, which is the Stearman engine, so those parts are easy to find. What’s hard to find are the pistons and cylinders; the A-70 is 540 cubic inches. It has the original, heavy steel front exhaust collector ring, which is different from any others I’ve seen. The A-70 was the first Continental aircraft engine, and it’s a ‘greaser,’ meaning you grease the rocker arms every 15 hours. I think they made around 100 of these engines, which were mostly used on Wacos.”

DOING THE DANCE

Now that his childhood dream is tangible reality, Dave has become a devoted caretaker for the KR-34B2. As long as the outside air temperature is at least 60 degrees, he’s flying the biplane every week. So far, he’s logged about 50 hours in it and has enjoyed every minute of listening to the percussive song of the A-70 and having his worldview framed by the KR’s lustrous International Orange colored wings. “We’re still doing the dance and learning each other, and probably will as long as I fly it. It’s extremely easy on grass in the wind, but anything other than that it’s a handful. As you slow down, the ailerons cause quite a bit of adverse yaw, so you have to be aware of that and use the rudder,” Dave said. “It’s all fine and dandy when you’re landing; it’s like a flying box kite. Your landing speed is probably down to 45 mph, and it doesn’t take much for a wing to come up on you! When it does, you slam the aileron to its full deflection, trying to get that wing back down. Otherwise, you get to go for a wild ride — you can drag a wingtip in a heartbeat!”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TREVOR ALLEN

Specs Aircraft Make and Model: Fairchild KR-34B2 Type Certificate 2-505 Not eligible to be flown by a sport pilot. WINGSPAN UPPER:

30 feet, 1 inch

WINGSPAN LOWER:

29 feet, 2 inches

LENGTH:

23 feet, 2 inches

HEIGHT:

9 feet, 3 inches

EMPTY WEIGHT:

1,430 pounds

GROSS WEIGHT:

2,400 pounds

USEFUL LOAD:

970 pounds

SEATS:

1 pilot, 2 passengers

ENGINE:

165-hp Continental A-70

FUEL:

52 gallons

OIL:

4 gallons

MAX SPEED:

115 mph

CRUISING SPEED:

98 mph

LANDING SPEED:

45 mph

RATE OF CLIMB:

615 fpm

SERVICE CEILING:

14,500 feet

CRUISING RANGE:

500 miles

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TOP: Close-up view of the prop hub on the rare Continental A-70. MIDDLE: The landing gear was rebuilt, and has Warner mechanical brakes. BOTTOM: The KR’s rudder has a large, distinctive shape.

The KR has a realistic cruise speed of 90 mph, and any kind of maneuvering speed is basically 80 mph. Its takeoff speed might be around 40 mph; Dave doesn’t know for certain because he’s looking outside trying to keep it on the runway until it levitates off the ground. He typically flies about 70 mph in the pattern until short final, when he slows it down to 60 mph. “From there on until I land, I have not a clue what my airspeed is — it’s all by feel. You can do a full-stall landing with it from 10 feet, and it just sort of parachutes in. It’s real nice; it just sort of squishes to the ground. No bounce to it whatsoever,’” Dave said. “I always count on burning 10 gph, and it’s got a five-hour range. My longest flight so far was about two and a half hours up to Springfield, Ohio, to Dewey Davenport’s annual Barnstorming Carnival.”

THE KR IS A KEEPER

It took Dave close to 1,000 hours to go through the KR airframe and engine, which he accomplished in less than two years. It was an edifying experience, yielding the sweet reward of open-cockpit flying. Naturally, it didn’t take long for NC205E to evolve into a member of the family — a sibling, of sorts, for his Swift. “I didn’t buy this airplane because it was a KreiderReisner; I bought it because it was a biplane with a round engine. But now that I’ve learned how unique it is, I do feel like a caretaker at this point,” Dave said. “I love this old airplane, and my wife, Debbie, loves to fly in it. When I do this much work on something, it really does become part of the family, so I’m keeping it!”

May/June 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

Collecting Can Be a Disease WALT BOWE HAS THE CURE — GIVE IN TO IT BY BUDD DAVISSON

May/June 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM

Walt Bowe

has a problem that most of us would like to have: When he wakes up in the morning, he has to decide which airplane he’s going to fly. And the last three airplanes on the 22-airplane list of those he has flying (another eight are under restoration) show the diversity of that problem. They are, in no particular order, a Rose Parrakeet (baby antique biplane), Grumman Wildcat (smallish World War II fighter), and Lockheed Vega 5C (definitely not a smallish antique). To cap it all off, even though he still has to commute to the office every morning, he most often does it in the king of the fixed-gear, highspeed cabin bipes, a Waco SRE! The upshot is that when he walks into the office, he always has a smile on his face.

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WALT DID IT BACKWARD Walt ascended to his position of being a serious antique/vintage aircraft collector in a thoroughly unconventional manner. He may be one of the few in his position who can honestly claim that his passion for old airplanes is what put him on a path that led to him being so successful in business that he could actually afford old airplanes. It’s usually the other way around: Success usually comes first, then the airplanes, but not with Walt. “I was born into an aviation family and raised in Sonoma, California, which is a hotbed for antique and vintage airplanes,” he said. “My dad was an airline pilot. My brother is an airline pilot. My mom’s father was an airline pilot, her mother was a stewardess (and they met on a DC-2 flying the Great Silver Fleet).” There was no possible way he wasn’t going to wind up messing with airplanes. “My grandfather was one of my heroes, although I never met him,” Walt said. “He learned in the teens and got his license, bought a Jenny for $500, and barnstormed. Later he went to work for an Alexander Eaglerock distributor, then on to the airlines. Fortunately, as a teenager, I discovered all his old logbooks and photo albums. It’s neat to have that kind of history in your family.”

Walt’s first airplane was a Pietenpol that he bought when he was 15 for $500. “It was a bare-bones, never-finished project,” he said. “I would have been better off starting from scratch in the long run, but it gave me inspiration. My closest friend, Chris Price, and I were fascinated by the flivver airplanes in high school. He started a Heath Parasol (previous Oshkosh winner) and I the Pietenpol. We worked on them in high school wood shop. I finally finished it in 2005, long after I left high school. College, work, and lack of money stopped me from finishing earlier. Chris beat me! I still have it. It’s Model A powered, no brakes, tailskid, period-correct instruments, solder-wrapped cables, etc. Ridiculous to be honest! Exactly how Bernard designed it. “I’m pretty certain that I can trace my interest in old airplanes to a single episode, when I was 12 years old and my dad took me to Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome,” Walt said. “I got a ride in their New Standard D-25 biplane, and that set the hook about as deeply as a hook can be set. It turned me into an aero addict.”

PIETENPOL “This was my very first airplane, and I put a lot of effort into it, building it over a 10-year span starting when I was in my midteens,” Walt said. “I am proud of how it turned out. I’m especially proud of how original I made it, right down to the wrapped and soldered control cable connections. A low and slow machine, it’s fun to be chugging along, listening to the Model A hammering away out in front of you.”

May/June 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF WALT BOWE

1938 HOWARD DGA-11

THERE’S ALWAYS A BEGINNING Another pivotal moment was when he met Bud Field, a well-known airplane collector, at a fly-in when Walt was 17. “We hit it off immediately,” he said. “So much so that he had me flying some of his antiques, including his Travel Air, to fly-ins. Imagine being 17 and being given the chance to fly those kinds of airplanes! I didn’t know it at the time, but that meeting would change my entire life. Bud Field was key to both my career and my outlook on airplanes.” According to Walt, Bud was an industrialist who owned a major construction company that specialized in building manufacturing plants for companies that made glass bottles. “It’s a narrow niche with very special needs, and he was the go-to guy in that arena,” he said. “When I graduated from college, he offered me a job working for his construction company. At the time, I had my eyes on flying 737s as an airline pilot and turned him down. However, rather than accepting my refusal, he made me an offer in which I had a year to make up my mind whether I want 737s or what he was offering. At the time I didn’t think I’d take him up on it. “I actually went to 737 pilot training, but a few months into the program it dawned on me that I didn’t really think I’d like the airline pilot life,” Walt said. “So, I went to work for Bud and found myself neck-deep traveling and learning the glass industry. Everyone thinks he and I would just play with airplanes, but that wasn’t the case. I flew his stuff more before I went to work for him.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM

Benny Howard may have been a self-taught designer, but what he taught himself was how to make airplanes go really fast. His first three pylon racers, Pete and Ike/Mike, often led their classes. All his designs were DGAs (Darn Good Airplanes), with Pete being DGA-3 and Ike and Mike being DGA-4. There was no -5, but when Howard’s DGA-6, Mr. Mulligan, took the checkered flag for its last race win of 1935, it had won every race of any kind that was worth winning for the year, and a new kind of Howard was born: the round-engine, high-wing, four-place kind. Howard was suddenly in another business: the high-speed, passenger-carrying kind of business. The DGA-6 mutated into the DGA-8, which, with a little more wing and smaller engine, set the standard for comfort and speed. DGA-9 and -10 both tried different engines, but when the DGA-11 debuted with the Pratt & Whitney R-985, the bar had been raised for fixed-gear, light airplanes. Walt Bowe’s DGA-11 is one of only two known to be flying. Walt said, “The DGA-11 is an excellent traveling airplane. Super stable and comfortable. One big plus to it is that the fuel is in the belly as opposed to wing tanks, which eliminates any wing heaviness. It isn’t as docile as the SRE, but I think it looks better with that pretty DGA-11 cowling.”

“At one point, Bud told me, ‘If you want to own airplanes like these, you need a job that will enable you to afford them.’ So, he taught me everything he knew about the industry and business in general. It was an incredible education and gave me enough confidence that after about six years, I told him that we were going to have to become partners, with me having a buy-out option, or I was going to go into competition with him. His response wasn’t what I expected. He said that for some time he had been hoping for someone to want to buy him out, so I became his partner. Unfortunately, cancer took him only a few years later, and our buy/sell agreement had a plan for worst-case scenarios so I bought his share of the company. “I’m proud to say that the company made it through the pandemic without laying anyone off, even though we did take a big hit because of reduced business,” Walt said. “Bud cared for his employees as much as he did his airplanes and infused me with that same outlook. Further, he showed me how each airplane is a historical artifact, and the people who flew them and the history they wrote in them are as important as the airplanes themselves.”

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1937 FLEETWINGS SEA BIRD Considering that the country was essentially penniless, it’s amazing how many new airplane designs were developed and flown in the 1930s. It’s also amazing how many names that would eventually constitute the entirety of aviation were opening and closing companies. Names like Cessna, Douglas, Beech, Stearman, Northrup, and Boeing were doing their best to come up with airplanes for which there were enough rich sportsman pilots in the country that could afford them. James Reddig is not one of those names. A designer for the notable amphibious aircraft manufacturer of the 1920s, Grover Loening, Reddig designed the Sea Bird for Fleetwings Inc. of Bristol, Pennsylvania, and he chose an unusual structural concept for his airframe: It was made entirely of spot-welded stainless steel. This solved the corrosion problem, but made it one of the most expensive airplanes available to the general public at the time. A $25,000 price tag ensured that only five would be produced, making Walt Bowe’s example the only one flying. Of the Sea Bird, Walt said, “I really like it, if nothing else because it is so different. Being made of stainless steel gives the airplane an industrial feeling. I guess it kind of fits my work and the industry I deal with. It flies nicely and, although I haven’t played with it on water much, the previous longtime owner, Channing Clark, operated it on the West Coast for many years, routinely landing it on numerous lakes.”

May/June 2021

HAVING A PARTNER OF HIS OWN Going to work for Bud was undoubtedly one of Walt’s more important decisions and obviously had a huge effect on his life. However, looking at his life from the outside, it has to be said that he and his wife, Carlene, finding each other was just as important, because she’s not only supporting him in his interest, but also is part of it. Describing how they met, Walt said, “She was running her periodontist practice in Pinole, California, and ultimately learned to fly at Schellville Airport in Sonoma, California, where I’m based, in the late 1990s. That’s where we met. She was learning to fly. She had a Cub. I was sold! “She still owns the J-3 Cub she soloed in,” he said. “She wanted to learn in a Cub because the ranchers she grew up around flew Cubs. After we met, I helped her finish getting her license, as I was a CFI. Seven years later we married and are coming up on our 14th anniversary on Christmas Eve. “Carlene and I bought the STA together; she later owned a Monocoupe 90AW with my boss, Bud Field. She purchased the Alexander Eaglerock we have now, and the Rose Parrakeet we own is her second. “In 2001 she did the Amelia Flight in Greg Herrick’s 1927 Avro Avian, replicating Amelia’s transcontinental flight from New York to California and back,” he said. “Last year we acquired that same aircraft, and it’s currently in Minot, North Dakota, in their museum, where she gave a talk about her adventure. We hope to get it home in the spring.” Walt said Carlene routinely flies her Cub, which is her favorite, while the STA is her favorite to look at, along with the Parrakeet, PA-12, Monocoupes, and of course the Avro.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM

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EVERY COLLECTION HAS A FIRST … AND A SECOND … AND … Walt’s first airplane was the Pietenpol, but his second was the 1937 Ryan STA that is still one of his favorites. “The STA is a standout airplane when it comes to looks,” he said. “It redefines the word classic, and it flies every bit as good as it looks. However, this airplane’s history is what really makes it special. It was owned by Tex Rankin, one of the most famous record-setting and aerobatic pilots of the 1930s. He flew dozens and dozens of air shows in this STA, prior to him setting up one of the largest civilian training schools for the government during the war. Every time I strap it on, I’m thinking about him and that the seat I’m sitting in was the same in which he sat.”

With so many airplanes to choose from, it would be logical that only a few would accumulate very much flying time each year, with his commuter airplane, the Waco SRE, being flown the most. “I owned a Meyers 200D for a while, which is a very respectable cross-country airplane, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the SRE in so many areas,” Walt said. “It’s a little faster than the Waco, but the SRE is just loaded with class, and you feel as if you’re flying a real airplane from the days when pilots were real pilots. Plus, it’s incredibly roomy and a really easy airplane to fly. It is surprisingly good in crosswinds. This is unexpected, considering its size and that it’s a taildragger. When climbing on board, you open the door, step down to the floor in front of the back seat, and then thread your way up between the two front seats. It’s as if you’re in a cross between a mini-airliner and a 1930s Packard limousine. It makes going to the office fun.”

LOCKHEED VEGA 5C Walt said, “The airplane was restored a decade ago by John Desmond’s Heritage Aircraft, but only to static condition. It wasn’t meant to be flyable and had been sitting in the Nut Tree Museum in Vacaville, California, for a few years when I got it. We put a new engine on it and went through it piece by piece, bringing everything up from the static condition it was in to be totally flyable. I flew it enough to work the bugs out, but it’s not one of my favorites. I do, however, love the looks and the history it represents. “I feel honored to own the Vega for the simple reason that so much effort was put into restoring it, it would have been a shame to have never seen it fly. It is very stable and definitely has an airliner feel. All the controls are similar in pressure and are responsive, although heavy. It is not an airplane you are going to go and out and shoot landings in for fun. However, I can definitely see why they were operated airliners and why it routinely set distance records.”

May/June 2021

1917 STANDARD J In the frantic ramp-up to provide trainers for a WWI U.S. Air Force that was expanding in an explosive manner, the Standard J was quickly designed as a stop-gap measure until the Curtiss JN-4D Jenny could reach full production. As soon as the Jenny, with its well-respected OX-5, was fully available, the Standard J, with its less-than-powerful and prone-to-fail Hall-Scott inline four-cylinder, was dropped out of inventory. Although a few were converted to better engines and some even received four-place front cockpits, almost none survived for any length of time. Walt’s J is one of those few, and it was reengined with a Hispano-Suiza 180-hp V-8, which makes it a much more reliable and better-performing airplane. It was restored by Chuck Wentworth, and Walt bought it from the Javier Arango estate. “The Standard is just a kick to fly,” he said. “The Hisso provides plenty of power, and it is extremely docile for a tailskid, no-brake airplane. I probably get as much enjoyment letting others fly it as I have flying it myself. Getting to fly something that’s over 100 years old gives you a real appreciation for the early aviators.”

When scanning down the list of airplanes he currently flies, the Grumman FM-2 Wildcat stands out. What’s a WWII fighter doing rubbing shoulders with so many hardcore antiques? “I’ve actually owned a number of warbirds, including a P-40E and a Sea Fury. However, somehow, they just didn’t seem to fit in. I put about 200 hours on each of them and enjoyed flying them, but they just didn’t click with me. Besides, the P-40E always ran hot, which is typical of many liquid-cooled engines. The Sea Fury had the original Bristol Centaurus sleeve-valve engine, and while it was an amazing airplane to fly, it was just too hard to maintain. I like the Wildcat because, first of all, it’s a very simple airplane. All the systems are easy to understand and maintain. Plus, the instant you climb up and slide down into the cockpit, you can tell this is a 1930s airplane. Everything about the cockpit and the airframe is just a little rudimentary and old-fashioned. I identify with that.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM

WHAT NOW? The obvious question to be asked is, “What does a man buy when he already has everything?” What’s on Walter Bowe’s bucket list? Well … Walt said, “Truth is, I’ve about exhausted my bucket list.” What? There are no more airplanes he’d like to own? Is that even remotely possible? The words were barely out of his mouth, when, seeing no contradiction to what he had just opined, he said, “I do, however, really like the Mullicoupes. And there’s Mr. Mulligan. Oh, and a Spartan Exec. And …” Like we said, collecting is a disease. So if you can afford it, just give yourself over to it and enjoy the ride.

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May/June 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM

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WACO RNF Walt credits antique expert and restoration specialist Forrest Lovley for his acquiring the RNF, which he said is one of his favorites. He also says Lovley has been “instrumental” in many of his acquisitions and is his go-to guy for any antique-oriented questions he may have. The RNF is one of five Wacos that Walt owns and flies, which includes a 9, 10, RNF, Taperwing, and of course the SRE. “The RNF is a light, responsive, stress-free airplane to operate,” Walt said. “The engine was done by Forrest, which gives you all of the confidence you need. This airplane is extremely original, as previous owner Bob Howie owned and loved this airplane for over 50 years. This airplane was also owned by Phoebe Omlies of Monocoupe fame, who bought it new from the factory.”

WACO 10 “I believe I am the fourth owner of this old girl,” Walt said. “Bob Howie wrote a great article on it in Vintage Airplane years ago, about its first owner who never actually got a pilot license. Reportedly, it was given its name, Miss Fortune, because sometime in the distant past, a wing-walker fell off.

May/June 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF WALT BOWE

TRAVEL AIR 6000 ”My most recent acquisition, the 6000 is true timepiece that I am honored to get to fly,” Walt said. “It is extremely original, which is important to me, as it is a true representative of a time when aviation was still trying to bring true utility to its still-developing marketplace. In its day, to be able to haul six passengers as easily as the 6000 could was really something.”

WACO SRE “I can’t say enough good things about the SRE,” Walt said. “It is the very definition of of ‘classic antique airplane.’ But it’s so much more than that because it is actually so useful. I use it for commuting to the office and it’s like driving a vintage Packard limousine. It is smooth, roomy, and so incredibly comfortable to fly that you forget that it is well over three-quarters of a century old.”

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MONOCOUPE 70 “The Model 70 is fun to fly, but is definitely a flivver plane, meaning it’s small and light but isn’t an airplane you’d take coast to coast, although that has probably been done,” Walt said. “It looks miniscule compared to the hulking biplanes of the time, and the Velie five-cylinder engine, which supposedly puts out 55 hp, adds a lot of character to the airplane. The airplane first flew in 1927/28, and it’s amazing how much better airplanes became over the next few years.”

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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF WALT BOWE

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WACO DS0 “The DSO was once Denny Trone’s of Brodhead, Wisconsin, who owned it twice in his lifetime,” Walt said. “I got to fly it when Denny was alive, and it was important for me to acquire it as a memory to him. It’s powered by a Hispano-Suiza engine, which is a powerhouse for its age. You put one of those where an OX used to live, and, regardless of the airplane, the performance magically improves by leaps and bounds.”

PA-12 SUPER CRUISER “The PA-12 is a great performer that Carlene loves to fly,” Walt said. “It’s roomy, soloed from the front seat, and it can really get with the program. It’s sort of a Cub with all the rough edges smoothed out. But, it’s still a Cub.”

May/June 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF WALT BOWE

WACO TAPERWING ”This particular Taperwing was Speed Holman’s airplane when he was with NWA,” Walt said. “It is powered by a rare J-4 Wright engine and is a true antique but does beautiful rolls and loops. In its day, the Taperwing was in a class by itself, and it still is. It’s one of those airplanes that, when you’re done flying it, you just want to hang around and look at it.”

ROSE PARRAKEET “We often call the class of very light, inexpensive, low-powered aircraft that popped up between 1928 and 1933 or so as ‘flivvers,’ because they were built specifically for just having fun around the airport,” Walt said. “So, the Parrakeet is definitely a flivver. As with the rest of its peer group, the Parrakeet is Carlene’s size. Not for me. I’m just too big!”

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MONOCOUPE 110 “I have been fortunate to fly almost every model of Monocoupe, and my long-wing 110 is my favorite,” Walt said. “Some are faster or sportier, but I just like the way this airplane feels.”

BEECH D18S “The Twin Beech is a very reliable, basically modern airplane that is fun to fly,” Walt said. “Its controls are smooth, and the visibility, when compared to a lot of airplanes of its period, is hard to beat. Today, it is as good of an executive transport as it was nearly 80 years ago.”

May/June 2021

JOIN US THE VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION WILL BE CELEBRATING THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ICONIC PIPER PA-22 AIRCRAFT AT EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH 2021.

Please join us in the festivities, which include educational forums on the history and maintenance of the PA-22 aircraft as well as other events. Our VAA Red Barn store will feature specially designed PA-22 clothing along with other items. DON’T MISS THIS FUN AND INFORMATIVE EVENT!

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT EAAVINTAGE.ORG AND FACEBOOK.COM/EAAVINTAGE

May/June 2021

MARK STEWART’S 1935 E-2 CUB BY HAL BRYAN

hen he flies, Mark Stewart, EAA 412692/VAA 22984, isn’t in much of a hurry. The single-mag Continental A-40-2 that powers his 1935 Taylor E-2 Cub puts out all of 37 hp and gently pulls the less-than-thousand-pound airplane along, covering 60 miles and sipping a miserly 3 gallons of gas every hour. “They’re not a great airplane. I mean, they are a lot of fun to fly, just a hoot to fly,” he said. “It’s just so

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

much fun to fly. The engines are a fair amount of maintenance. On a hot day, with a passenger, boy, you’ve got to be paying real close attention, because you can stall out so easily. It just doesn’t have the power. So, it’s grossly underpowered, and nobody really wants them or cares about them.” Mark’s appreciation for early Cubs like his E-2 and his brother’s J-2 goes back long before he was born. It all comes down to two words: family history. “[If ] we didn’t have family history,” he said, “I wouldn’t screw with them.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA www.eaavintage.org

A Little Genealogy Mark’s father, Bob Stewart Sr., was working as an auto mechanic who was looking for a hobby, something — anything — other than working on cars, when he took his first flight at the dawn of World War II. “In September of ’39, he went for an airplane ride in a J-2 Cub and just loved it,” Mark said. “[He] came home, told his brother, Donald, that they had to get an airplane. Donald had never flown. They paid $600 for a J-2, which we have today. We have that airplane. And they borrowed $300 from their dad, my grandfather, who gave them 300 silver dollars as part of a loan in ’39.” As luck would have it, Bob’s friend Ralph Avery was already a pilot and owned a J-2. As fate, perhaps, would have it, many years later, Mark married Ralph’s daughter, Martha. Bob and Don learned to fly in 1939 near Erie, Pennsylvania, both soloing and passing their checkrides in the J-2 before trading it for a Franklin-powered J-3.

It takes just 37 hp to pull Mark’s Cub along at a gentle 60 mph.

Bob kept at his flight training and then spent some time instructing as part of the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), flying PT-17s and PT-19s at Schrom Airport in Greenbelt, Maryland. He tried to enlist in 1942, but flight instructors were in such high demand that the Army turned him down. They relented the following year, and Bob spent most of the war moving bombers around the European theater as part of Ferry Command. His brother Donald did his bit, too, flying Stinson L-5s in the China-Burma-India theater. After the war, Bob and Donald came home to Erie with the intent of finishing building an airstrip that they’d started on the family farm years earlier. The local utility company had other ideas and came in and condemned part of the brothers’ property to build an electric substation. That devastating blow ended up leading Bob to a different career. “He was broke,” Mark said. “The only asset that he owned was the bulldozer that he bought to level off the farm. So, he took the bulldozer and went into the earth-moving business for the next 40 years.”

Like all Cubs, the E-2’s cockpit is simple and inviting.

May/June 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF MARK STEWART

The Next Generation Bob was eventually able to put in a strip on the family farm, and in 1955, he bought a Piper Pacer. “My first memory of flying was with him in the Pacer, coming in to land at the airport on our family farm,” Mark said. “I was 5 years old. I was on my knees looking over the dash as we came in on final. That’s my first flight memory.” Over the next several years, Bob flew his family whenever he could, including an epic trip in a rented Bonanza from Erie to Disneyland in the early ’60s. “But it wasn’t until ’72 that [Dad] decided to buy a J-3, which I still have, and taught me to fly the J-3,” Mark said. He soloed in August of 1972, at age 18. Mark spent a few years in the family earth-moving business and then started a career with General Electric. He married Martha in 1975, and flying took a back seat for a while as he focused on career and family. Then, in the late 1980s, Mark found his way back into the air, initially flying rented 172s and Cherokee 140s. “Flying was the only activity that would so engross you that you couldn’t think about anything else,” he said. “I couldn’t think about work. I couldn’t think about bills and everything else. When I was flying, I was 100 percent focused on flying. And that was a great relief from everything else I had going on in my life. So, that was the motivation. It was such an intense and enjoyable activity, that it just broke up all of the stress and strain of everyday living.” Mark spotted his dad’s first airplane on the FAA register in 1990, and after some patient negotiation, the J-2 found its way back to the Stewart family more than 50 years after Bob and Donald had learned to fly in it. Not only did Bob get to fly it for several years, but Mark’s daughter April also soloed in it in 1998 when she was 16. You can read the full history of the Stewart clan’s J-2 in the story “Family Cub,” published in the January 1998 issue of Vintage Airplane.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

When I bought it in 2018, it was all re-covered, basically ready to paint. The engine needed to be overhauled, and it was missing some instruments, but otherwise it was a pretty complete airplane.

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The E-2’s instrument panel coming together.

Selling Gauges, Buying an Airplane

When Mark went to look at it, the E-2 hadn’t flown in more than 40 years. Bob Whittier, EAA 1235, a prolific aviation writer who’d been contributing to EAA publications since the beginning, had purchased the airplane from the Washington, D.C., Soaring Club in 1962, where it had spent hundreds of hours training pilots, and had been repaired at least a dozen times. Somewhere along the way, the original engine, serial No. 374, was replaced with a slightly younger sibling, serial No. 452, but the lack of complete logs means that Mark’s not sure exactly when that happened. Bob flew the airplane until about 1975, and then set it aside. Years turned into decades until 2005, when Bob decided it was time to restore the little Cub. He re-covered the airplane, but by the time Mark found it in 2018, Bob realized it was time to sell. Bob died in December of 2019 at the age of 97. “When I bought it in 2018, it was all re-covered, basically ready to paint,” Mark said. “The engine needed to be overhauled, and it was missing some instruments, but otherwise it was a pretty complete airplane.”

As the 1990s gave way to the 2000s, Mark was thinking about starting a Waco 10 project. He amassed a good collection of vintage instruments over the years but eventually realized that he wanted to go in a different direction. He decided to sell off the bits he’d collected. “I was calling various people that I knew to see if they had any interest in this stuff,” he said. “And one conversation led to another, and a guy said, ‘Well, I think there’s an E-2 for sale.’ And I said, ‘Great. I’d love to have an E-2.’” The E-2 turned out to be NC15009, serial No. 174, a rare surviving example of the 350 or so Cubs built in Bradford, Pennsylvania, by the Taylor Aircraft Co. C. Gilbert Taylor and William T. Piper were partners in the company until 1935, when Piper bought Taylor out. Taylor went on to form Taylorcraft, and after a fire in 1937, Piper moved the compa to Lock pany Lo k Haven, Have , renamed it after himself, and the rest — including the tens of thousands of Cubs and their descendants that followed — is history.

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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF MARK STEWART

Of course, with 37 hp, you can’t afford to lose anything. The Restoration “First thing I did was, of course, a complete inspection of the airplane to see what the hell it is I bought,” Mark said. “And it was pretty well done. The recovery work was done well; it was all signed off. And so, I ended up sanding the whole airplane, the fuselage, tail feathers, and wings, and then painted … the fuselage, tail feathers, wings, painted the NC-numbers on it, instrument panel, etc.” Mark made a new boot cowl, but he called in reinforcements to help with some of the other metalwork. “Jim Reddick out in Peoria, Illinois, made new engine cowlings for me,” he said. “So, there’s a nose bowl, a top cowl, and a bottom cowl. … So, I had new cowlings on the front end, new instrument panel, new windshield, everything painted. And then I went to work on the engine.” Over the years, Mark has overhauled a number of Continental A-40s, for the family J-2 and a number of other J-2/E-2 owners whom he has to come to support. “They’re pretty much a lawn mower engine — there’s not much to them,” he said. “They’re very easy to disassemble, overhaul, and reassemble. There’s just not a lot to them. … There’s an aluminum head on the engine. And that’s a one-piece head that covers two cylinders. … The head is removable. It’s got a head gasket under it. … Unlike a modern engine that has an overhead valve, when you look at a modern engine, all you see are the rocker arm covers, right? “Well, we don’t have rocker arms. Ours are like a flathead Ford, or a lawn mower. They’re in a block.” When he’s flying off grass, the E-2 is equipped with a typical tailskid that helps keep it straight and slow it down, which is useful in the absence of brakes, though he has a tail wheel that he installs when he’s going to be operating on a hard surface, or in a congested area — think Sentimental Journey — where he wants better control and maneuverability.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

Most of the time, Mark flies the E-2 with a traditional, two-blade Sensenich wood prop.

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The he instrument ins umen panel on n Mark’s E-2 is stock and clean as can be. There’s a Waltham tachometer, an oil temperature gauge and an oil pressure gauge, both by U.S. Gauges, and a Zenith altimeter, all period correct and all nicely restored. When he bought the airplane, the only gauge that came with it was the tachometer, and it was frozen. He took it apart and cleaned and re-lubed everything, then calibrated it, and now it works just fine. The altimeter, what Zenith called a height meter, was a rare find that came through thanks to eBay. Getting it refreshed and functional was a serious restoration project in and of itself. “I had to take it all apart, new glass, sandblast it, paint it, lube up the insides, free it all up, make it work again, calibrate it, put it all back together,” he said. “There’s 100 hours in that restoration. BELOW: Sourcing and restoring the gauges for the E-2’s panel took up a big chunk of the project.

Nobody wants the stuff anymore, right? So, it just gets thrown in a box with a whole bunch of other stuff. And it sits there, and it rusts away for 80 years. And then, silly people like me come along and say, ‘Hey, I want it.’

May/June 2021

“Nobody wants the stuff anymore, right? So, it just gets thrown in a box with a whole bunch of other stuff. And it sits there, and it rusts away for 80 years. And then, silly people like me come along and say, ‘Hey, I want it.’ … A lot of them don’t have that brass knob at the bottom. The screw falls out, and the knob falls off. … Either they all have broken glass and some of them work, some of them don’t. But in this case, I was lucky mine worked. The bellows were still intact. The other problem is once the glass cracks, they get water in them and then everything inside rusts. It can get to be a really ugly restoration if it’s been exposed to water.” About the only thing on the panel that isn’t original is the red line, set at about 2575 rpm, on the tach. With no airspeed indicator, Mark wanted to make sure that anyone who flies his airplane — and he’s pretty generous about that — has a constant reminder not to overdo it. “I have a lot of people that fly [the E-2 and the J-2],” he said. “So, I put that red line on there so that I don’t have somebody in a dive, rev it too high, and throw a tip off a prop.” And, speaking of prop tips, while he usually flies with a wooden two-bladed Sensenich, he also has a wooden single-bladed prop by Everel. “The single-blade propeller was designed to be a variable pitch propeller, and that’s why it’s only one blade,” he said. “Because if you reduce the pitch on one side, it would increase the pitch on the other side. So, you had to cut that other side off. So it’s just a single-blade propeller that’s variable pitch. The problem with the single-blade propeller was A), it didn’t work as a variable pitch propeller, and B), it was always out of balance.” The Everel prop was an expensive option back in the ’30s, costing up to 10 times as much as a standard Sensenich. “The Everel propeller has a very complex hub in it, and that hub has a pivot inside it, which allows the wood to rotate,” he said. “If you were to look down the end of the propeller, you could rotate it clockwise or counterclockwise on the airplane. You could twist it. There was a set of pivots in there, or brass bushings in there, that allowed it to rotate and change pitch. And it’s all that complex machining on that hub in those pivots that made it $200. And it’s heavy. It weighs 22 pounds. … It had no springs, it had no counterweights, it had no controls inside the cockpit. It was all self-adjusting based on rpm.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

Specs Aircraft Make and Model: 1935 Taylor E-2 Cub CERTIFICATION:

Standard

LENGTH:

22 feet, 5 inches

WINGSPAN:

35 feet, 3 inches

HEIGHT:

6 feet, 6 inches

MAXIMUM GROSS WEIGHT:

970 pounds

EMPTY WEIGHT:

525 pounds

FUEL CAPACITY:

9 gallons

SEATS:

POWERPLANT MAKE & MODEL:

Continental A-40-2 (single mag)

HORSEPOWER:

PROPELLER:

Sensenich wooden two-blade or Everel wooden single-blade

CRUISE SPEED/FUEL CONSUMPTION:

60 mph/3 gph

POWER LOADING:

26.2 pounds/hp

WING LOADING:

6 pounds/square foot

VNE:

80 mph

VSO:

30 mph

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Pitch trim is operated by pulling on one side or the other of a looped cotton clothesline that connects to the stabilizer via a pulley.

Low and Slow When it’s time to fly, Mark pointed out that the simplicity of the A-40 engine comes at a price, as it requires a little bit of extra attention. “The big downside to that design is that the valves don’t get oiled,” he said. “There’s no way to get oil on the valve guides as the valves work up and down, opening and closing. And so, before every flight, you have to go around and oil the valves to get oil up into the valve guide to keep the valves from seizing. And if you don’t, the guides tighten up as it gets hot, then they start to seize a little bit and you’ll lose power. And of course, with 37 hp, you can’t afford to lose anything.” In addition, as the Cub isn’t equipped with a primer, another preflight ritual comes into play. “To get it started, we’ll give it a shot of ether,” he said, and the engine starts on the first or second pull, every time. “It’s It’s a single mag, no impulse, and it fires right up. There’s no engine checkout, there’s no run-up. There’s not anything you can do. If the engine’s running, the mag is working. So, there’s no mag check. The other thing you can do is check for oil pressure and oil temperature before you tak off. So, take So make sure re the fuel’s on [and] controls are free. … And so, pretty much taxiing out, you’ve done your pre-takeoff checklist.”

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Once lined up, Mark will add power and use a bit of forward stick to raise the tail. Mark said that during the takeoff run, he sees about 2200 rpm, which equates to about 32 hp. “As it starts to get light and bounce, you just lift it off the ground and then hold it about 3 feet in the air in ground effect, and let it accelerate from basically 40 miles an hour to about 55 miles an hour, which is 2500 rpm. … Once you get airborne, you can get it up to 2500, which is your 37 hp. And at that point you can commit to a climb. And what we do is climb at about 2400 rpm, which is basically 34 hp … it’ll struggle to get to 300 feet a mile off the end of the runway.” When airborne, Mark goes nowhere fast, cruising gently over the vineyards that surround his home base at Moorhead airport and produce the fruit that ends up in Welch’s grape juice, covering a mile a minute. The throttle stays full until he’s back at the airport on downwind, ready to land. Mark’s E-2 can also fly behind an Everel single-bladed propeller that, believe it or not, is considered to be variable pitch.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

My wife has said, ‘You own enough airplanes,’” Mark said. “I own four. She said five is beyond the pale. But I keep telling her there’s always room for one more in the hangar, but she’s not buying it.

“We keep about 1500 rpm on final, which will keep you at about 50 miles an hour,” he said. “Stall speed’s 38. And of course, as you cross the threshold, close the throttle. And being that it’s only 550 pounds empty weight, it just floats down the runway forever. If you practice a little bit, you can roll the wheels in the grass without putting any weight on the wheels.”

Expanding the Fleet While Mark stays plenty busy helping friends with their E-2 and J-2 restorations — he’s involved to some extent in more than two dozen projects — he doesn’t foresee adding anything to his personal collection anytime soon. “My wife has said, ‘You own enough airplanes,’” Mark said. “I own four. She said five is beyond the pale. But I keep telling her there’s always room for one more in the hangar, but she’s not buying it.” HAL BRYAN, EAA Lifetime 638979/VAA 714005, is managing editor for EAA’s print and digital content and publications, co-author of multiple books, and a lifelong pilot and aviation geek. Find him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at halbryan or email him at hbryan@eaa.org.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF MARK STEWART

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THE BEGINNING OF A LOVE AFFAIR

JOHN MURRAY AND HIS AERONCA CHAMP

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

May/June 2021

“The first entry in my flight logbook is for an Aeronca Champion, N3066E, and it’s dated November 4, 1962. That’s the day I fell in love with flying,” said John Murray of Tampa, Florida. Growing up near Fort Rucker, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida, and seeing all kinds of civilian and military airplanes flying around only enhanced his fascination of flying. By the time he was old enough to drive, John managed to save up $10 to buy his first hour of dual. John began taking lessons in an Aeronca Champ that was operated by Napier Air Service at the old Napier Field in Dothan, Alabama. Johnny Culpepper was the proprietor, and Clyde Lovall, a corporate pilot from Dothan, was his first CFI.

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hen I was a kid in high school in Eufaula, Alabama, which is about 40 miles north of Dothan, I would get some money in my pocket and drive down to Dothan, where I’d get an hour of dual in this particular airplane,” John said. “This very airplane — three, zero, six, six, echo [N3066E] — was orange and yellow, kind of dingy yellow actually. It was a daily, everyday flyer, and that’s where I started my career. I have about six or seven hours of dual in this airplane. I didn’t actually solo in it, but I did do my first phase of training in this particular airplane.” John’s logbook indicated that he flew this Champ a halfdozen times in November and December of 1962 while training at Napier Field. But he also remembered quite vividly having to share the pattern with some heavy iron as well. “I learned things like wake turbulence,” John said. “We got into wake turbulence one time from a Southern Airways DC-3 that was taking off in front of us. So it was just a good primer for basic, primary instruction. And that’s where I got my start. Napier had a proper paved runway at the time. It was the old airport at Dothan. They have Dothan Municipal now, which is just 3 or 4 miles away from where Napier Field is. But the thing I remember about it was that there was Dothan Aviation based there, and they had a fleet of B-25s and B-17s that they used for pest control and firebombing. And they had some B-25s that they had converted to an executive configuration. To get to the Napier Air Service facility, you had to drive through their ramp and around the B-17s and B-25s. So it was pretty neat experience for a 16-year-old.” Unfortunately, as quick as John’s flying journey began, it was stopped before he could even solo. “When my parents learned that I was going down and taking dual, they were not very happy, and they would not sign my medical certificate or permit,” John said. “Without their blessing I couldn’t solo this airplane. So I had about a two-year hiatus before I got back in and started flying again. But boy oh boy, flying that Champ sure was a lot of fun.”

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Although spartan looking, everything a Champ pilot needed was right in front of him or her.

AN OLD FRIEND RESURFACES Fast-forward 47 years. John is now a well-established attorney specializing in aviation litigation. Living in the Tampa, Florida, area, he eventually earned his pilot certificate, along with additional ratings and a flight instructor certificate. But his love remained with his early flying roots. “I think it was in 2009,” John said. “As a lawyer, I knew a lot of the aviation adjusters. I knew the websites that they would put salvage information on. And I happened to just run across my old flying buddy. I recognized it as being my old Champ, and it had been totaled in an accident in Columbia, South Carolina. It was based at the Columbia [Owens] Downtown [Airport]. KCUB was the identifier, and it was in a hangar there. “I think it had suffered a forced landing, and the pilot put it in a cotton field, and it flipped over,” he said. “So they got it and they took it to a crop duster strip nearby, where they left it overnight. Fate was not on the side of the Champ, as a nasty thunderstorm came along and flipped it over again. So by the time I got it, it had been in two accidents.”

NTSB — Factual Report — Aviation Occurrence date: 02/01/2009 Occurrence type: Accident Aircraft registration number: N3066E Most critical injury: None Aircraft manufacturer: Aeronca Model/series: 7AC Narrative: On February 1, 2009, about 1530 Eastern Time, an Aeronca 7AC, N3066E, was substantially damaged during a precautionary landing near Cameron, South Carolina. The certificated commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the local flight that departed Owens Field (CUB), Columbia, South Carolina. The personal flight was conducted under provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The pilot reported that he had been flying for about 1 hour, and was at an altitude of 800 feet mean sea level, when the airplane’s engine began to run rough. The pilot elected to perform a precautionary off-airport landing in a nearby cotton field. During the subsequent landing roll, the airplane nosed over and sustained substantial damage to the firewall and vertical stabilizer. The pilot did not recall the engine rpm and did not use the carburetor heat control after experiencing the engine roughness. He further stated that he departed CUB with 13 gallons of fuel, which he checked prior to takeoff and was absent of contamination. Examination of the airplane by FAA inspector did not reveal any preimpact malfunctions. In addition, the engine was started and test run with no anomalies noted. The airplane had been operated for about 15 hours since its most recent annual inspection, which was performed on December 20, 2008. The pilot reported 800 hours of total flight experience, which included about 200 total hours in the same make and model as the accident airplane. A weather observation taken at an airport about 30 miles southeast of the accident site, at 1553, reported: winds from 300 degrees at 11 knots; visibility 10 statute miles; sky clear; temperature 16 degrees Celsius (C); dew point -4 degrees C; altimeter 30.15 inches of mercury. According to the carburetor icing chart contained in the FAA publication Winter Flying Tips P-8740-24, the atmospheric conditions at the time of the accident were not conducive for the formation of carburetor ice.

Ironically, John was not actively searching for his old friend. Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps it was just meant to be. “I knew the adjuster that was in charge of it,” John said. “So I called him and asked him about it, and he gave me the information, and he cautioned me that the salvage bids were absolutely something that were jealously guarded. That is, he couldn’t give me an inside track. So I had to bid on it. I bid too much for it, but I bid on it and got it on a very objective basis. For me it was just a happenstance that I ran across it. But when I saw the number, the tail number, I recognized the airplane immediately, and all these memories came flooding back to me.” With the ability to fly most anything he wanted to, John instead choose to restore his old friend. He claims he did it for the nostalgia of it. “I guess the fact that I had flown this airplane well over 50 years ago and wanted to see it get back going,” John said. “Besides, it’s better than playing golf, so I decided to go with it.”

ATTACKING THE RESTORATION — ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK John’s battle plan to attack this project began with finding someone to move the project from South Carolina back to his hangar in Florida. After he secured the bid and got the title to it, it was on a trailer. He found a gentleman in DeLand, Florida, who was an A&P mechanic and had a business of transporting airplanes. “He went up and loaded this on his truck, and he did a good job,” John said. “Because, as an A&P, he had a truck that was appropriate to handle this type of transport, and he was able to secure it so it didn’t do more damage to it in transport. When it arrived down here, I put it in my hangar at the Peter O. Knight Airport (KPTF), and I started to disassemble it and realized very quickly that I’m a lawyer and not a mechanic.”

The attention to detail during the restoration was second to none — case in point was the wheel assembly.

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When I saw the number, the tail number, I recognized the airplane immediately, and all these memories came flooding back to me. — JOHN MURRAY

John started looking for people who might be able to assist him with the restoration. He went to the local EAA chapters but didn’t have much luck with anyone willing to take on a project. He was given the name of Michael Mock and another gentleman named Walter Hudson. “They both came out, looked at it, and Michael agreed to take on the job,” John said. “I had no idea at the time the level of work which he did. I was just interested in getting somebody to rebuild the airplane. I didn’t realize it was going to be such a fabulous job in such a pristine example once he got finished with it.” Michael Mock of Brooksville, Florida, had been around aviation for quite some time. He had experience in a variety of vintage and warbird types, everything from a Tiger Moth to a PT-19 to a Sea Fury. So to him, an Aeronca Champ project would not be too difficult. But Michael would not settle for second best; when he restored airplanes, he did them to look better than factory new. “In 2009 [I had an] old-time friend named Walter Hudson who was a real fine gentlemen here, IA, and excellent aircraft builder,” Michael said. “And he had gotten up there in years, and somebody had asked him to come over and look at this airplane for John. And he called me up and asked me to come along. I came over and looked at the airplane with him, and Walter said he was too old to take on such a project.

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“At the time, I didn’t know if I’d be interested just to oversee John’s work, but the Champ was sad-looking,” Michael continued. “So I said, yeah, I had the time to do it, and I would come down and oversee his work. So when I came in the hangar, pretty much nothing had really been done. I think John said he had it six months, and he asked me to come over and spend a few hours with him one day. So I came over and spent a few hours with him, got him going. And as I was walking away to leave, he came walking out to me and said, ‘You just did more in four hours than I did in six months. Is there any chance I could just get you to restore the airplane for me?’” Michael agreed because he has a soft spot for projects that are underdogs, and this airplane was a real underdog in his mind. “I wanted to see it come back nice,” Michael said, “although the original intention was just to make it a nice little flying airplane. And I told John, ‘I have a hard time just putting stuff together. I only know how to take it apart and put it back right.’” Michael attacked the wings first, as they were the most damaged. He broke each of them down and went through and repaired the ribs, since the Champ had been over on its back. He then revarnished the spars, checked them, and made sure they had no cracks.

TOP: John added the art work when he was “christened” with his new nickname.

“There was some damage to the aluminum ribs,” Michael said. “Since some of them were buckled, we had to put stiffeners on them and put them back together. I also installed new leading edges, trailing edges, and false spars. I did the two wing ailerons, and then I did the tail feathers. They were heavily damaged also, so I took them down to a buddy of mine. And we straightened them, and welded them all back together, and wrapped them up. I had them powder-coated, along with the fuselage and the tail feathers. Everything was powder-coated black. The fuselage had some damage on it. We took it down and had it blasted. So there was damage from ground loops over the years.” With the repairs completed, and the installation of a single fuselage tank upfront, the Champ was ready for covering. Michael chose to go with Stits through the whole process, with the final coat of Randolph Ranthane paint. John wanted to keep the Champ colors original, sans the dingy yellow look, so Michael applied a two-tone yellow and orange scheme it would have worn back in 1946 when it left the Aeronca factory. “I primed the airplane here in Davis Island,” Michael said, “but I had a good friend of mine who owns American Aviation, John Petrick, and the painter he had, Bill Hoover. They all agreed to let us bring it up there. And Bill said he would like to paint it. So I had Bill paint it. I helped him prep it all up, and Bill Hoover sprayed it for me because he was John’s painter and a real pro. Bill had been in business for many years at Hoover Aircraft Painting.” After the airplane was painted, Michael completed all the large N-number work on the wings, and all the other details on it, and then began to reassemble the airplane. “I hadn’t built the boot cowling or anything like that,” Michael said. “So I brought it back here and assembled the airplane, did the boot cowling and all the windshields and whatnot, and then took it back up to have them sprayed. While that was going on, John had the A-65 Continental engine overhauled and zero-timed by an engine shop in southern Florida.” One of the unique items on this restoration was the re-creation of a rarely seen hand brake that came as an option on new airplanes like the Champ and others. “When I began on the project, the hand brake was just some makeshift thing in there, but you can still buy the parts,” Michael said. “There is a gentleman that actually has the parts made in Guam. And he sent them up to me, and then I detailed them all up and polished them to make it factory fresh. All the Aeronca guys just loved the detailed work on it, and everything about the installation. So it’s nice having the original brake lever in there.”

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The floorboards and interior were an example of another item that Michael spent considerable time with, not only manufacturing but researching the Aeronca data as well. “Aeronca originally had a painted floorboard,” Michael said. “Although the print did say it had a mahogany floorboard, they were usually pine. One of my little things that I do are mahogany floorboards with a high urethane finish on them. So everybody seems to love that with stainless steel heel plates. The interior was actually picked by John and his wife at the time. And I had, again, Bill Hoover and one of his sons — Brian is in the upholstery business — Brian did the upholstery work in it. When it all was said and done, the wood grain all around the windows is actually veneering with an epoxy finish on them; they turned out very nice as well.”

BACK TOGETHER The journey back to the sky took Michael about 18 months to complete before the first flight. John was more than a little apprehensive to make the first flight — the Champ was better than brand new, and he didn’t want to scratch it. “Michael was with me on that flight,” John said. “He was in the back seat to make sure I didn’t tear it up on the first flight. And we took off right here at KPTF. I did a local flight, and it was very nostalgic. It flew beautifully. It has always flown beautifully, ever since he got done with it, it’s a lot shinier and a lot newer-looking than when I flew it last in Alabama. Michael and his family have been a tremendous support to us, and it’s been a great adventure, and I hope it keeps up for a while.” That first flight, along with the others after it, produced no squawks as John was turned loose to get acquainted with his old friend. “I didn’t do any modifications to the airplane,” Michael said. “I tried to build a stock Aeronca and just tried to put it together, more or less, with detail. That’s my game; I like detail on things. If you build them nice, they last a long time. Like I said, this airplane has been flying nine to 10 years, and I think it’s still a fine example of a restoration.” John did end up adding some nose art to the Champ after he had an interesting conversation with one of the earlier bidders of the Champ. “When I went to Columbia Downtown airport to get the airplane, one of the local EAA guys was there,” John said. “And he told me that they liked this airplane in Columbia and wanted to keep it there, and he offered to buy it from me. And I said, well, I can’t do that because of the nostalgic value that this airplane has for me. I need to take it on back down to Florida. And he looked at me and he said, ‘Well, you rascal.’ And so that’s where that name came from. We painted the word Rascal on it, and that’s what we proudly call it.”

May/June 2021

Surprisingly, when John and Michael took the Champ to SUN ’n FUN in Lakeland, Florida, the first year the Champ returned to the sky, the same guy who called him a rascal ended up being one of the judges in the Vintage area. “The first year we took it over there, they loved it,” Michael said. “One of the best compliments on this airplane was when I was standing in front of it the first time we were showing it. And I guess one of the head guys was looking at me and he says, ‘Whoever built his airplane knew what they were doing and has done them before.’ And I looked over at him and said, ‘This is the first one I’ve ever done, but thank you.’” Michael could have simply walked away that day he met John and said, “Thanks but no thanks.” But then he would have missed out on an opportunity to build a relationship with a new friend. “You go your whole life to meet certain people, and I’ve met a lot of people in my life,” Michael said. “And John Murray has just been a prince of a gentleman. There is just not a finer guy in this world, but a super, super, super nice guy.” For John and his old friend Rascal, they aren’t simply going to go off into the sunset together. John has other plans for his Champ. “I have a 15-year-old grandson named Graham Murray,” John said. “He will be 16 in February of next year. And my effort at getting my kids and grandkids interested in flying has not been what I call very successful, but hopefully, I’ll be able to get him at least his first lesson. I’d like to give it to them, since I’m still certified as a CFI, and so at least he can have a logbook, even if it’s one entry in it where he flew with his granddad. But knowing what I know, about the magic of these old airplanes and what it does for your soul, I’m betting he will be hooked, just like I was 58 years ago.”

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The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK

My Thoughts on Aircraft Propellers, Part 2 BY ROBERT G. LOCK

IN THE PREVIOUS ISSUE we discussed fixed- and ground-adjustable pitch propellers, both wood and steel. Now it’s time to look at some general information regarding aircraft propellers; I trust that you will find it informative. A few subjects to be addressed are: • How do I know what prop fits my particular airplane? • Where can I find information about a particular prop? • What is type design data, and where can I locate such data? • What are “yellow tags,” and what do they tell me? • What is static rpm, and why is that important? And we’ll include other issues that are of importance.

TYPE DESIGN DATA This is data the original manufacturer used to build the airplane. Approved type certificates (ATCs) date back to March 1927, when ATC No. 1 was issued to Buhl-Verville to build the J4 Airster. Type design data consists of drawings, engineering data, and any other kind of detailed information needed to construct an aircraft or component that had been awarded the ATC. Why does that matter to us in our prop discussion? The approved propeller type specific to that particular airplane is included in the type design data. Sometimes this data is easy to find, but more often it is very difficult. For some aircraft, copies of the original drawings are available, but for others, the drawings either do not exist or the FAA will not release them. However, I have personally seen file cabinets at FAA headquarters, in Washington, D.C., that contain file folders numbered sequentially 1 and up. The numbers pertain to the ATC number granted by the Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce and, later, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA). In some cases the file folders are empty. Such is folder 184, ATC 184, the Command-Aire 5C3. I know; I’ve seen the empty folder. To understand how the type certification of aviation products happens, let me quote from a reliable source — a U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Air Commerce, document dated July 1, 1934, Airworthiness Requirements for Engines & Propellers. It is Aeronautics Bulletin No. 7-G, and, at that time, it was the source for data to obtain a type certificate (TC) for an engine or propeller. Chapter 2 deals with “Aircraft Propeller Requirements.” Section 19 of the chapter deals with commercial propellers. Manufacturers are to submit “(1) Application for approved type certificate, in duplicate, submitted on forms which will be furnished for the purpose by the Secretary (Daniel C. Roper). (2) A complete set of drawings descriptive of the propeller, in duplicate. (3) A complete log, covering the tests outlined in paragraphs (B) or (C) of this

May/June 2021

section accompanied by an affidavit. (4) A stress analysis as required in conjunction with flight testing, (B) Tests required for propellers other than fixed pitch wood propeller: (1) Propellers of this type shall be subjected to a 50-hour endurance block test on an internal-combustion engine, rigidly mounted, of the same general characteristics as the engines upon which the propellers are to be used in service. Section 16 (C): When an approved type certificate is granted, one set of drawings is impressed with the seal of the Department of Commerce and is returned to the manufacturer to be used in the construction of his propellers. The other set is placed in the Department’s files. The Department’s inspectors may call for, and must have access to, these approved drawings when making an inspection at the manufacturer’s plant to determine whether the propellers built conform to the approved data.” And there, folks, is the source of design data for TC’d products, whether they be an aircraft, engine, propeller, or appliance. And this is the data we are trying to get from the FAA at this time. It’s not the propeller drawings, but the specific aircraft drawings. To understand how to research approved propeller types, it will be necessary to explore where type design data can be located.

AIRCRAFT SPECIFICATIONS Aircraft specifications were produced by the CAA and are the source for type design data. Included in the aircraft specifications is a list of approved equipment that could be installed on the aircraft, including the propeller(s). In most cases, specific hub and blade numbers and a manufacturer can be found. When wood propellers were approved, a minimum/maximum diameter was specified and a static minimum/maximum rpm was given. Static power is maximum rpm at full throttle with the aircraft not moving. Therefore, several types of wood props could be used as long as they met the above length and static rpm specs. If the type design data doesn’t appear in the aircraft specifications, it is contained within the aircraft listing.

AIRCRAFT LISTING When there are 50 or fewer aircraft registered, the type design data appears in the aircraft listing. This very condensed version of type design data isn’t detailed enough for the mechanic when

determining what type of prop was originally used. For example, the publication will show “Propeller — adjustable metal.” It will not give the specific manufacturer or type. That’s not very helpful, so where does one go next?

Figure 1

PROPELLER LISTING The propeller listing contains type design data for older propellers that are no longer around “en masse.” Some of the data that can be gleaned from this publication is maximum/minimum diameter, blade and hub part numbers, maximum horsepower for hub and blades, serial numbers eligible, etc. Also shown is the propeller ATC number for the hub and blades.

CAA AIRWORTHINESS FILE

Figure 2

Most airworthiness and registration files are available for a specific aircraft on microfiche (now available on CD-ROM). If one searches through the file to locate inspection forms, the Department of Commerce or CAA inspector usually listed the prop by manufacturer, make, and model. For instance, a search of the record file for the New Standard D-25, serial No. 105, registration No. NC9756, shows that it was powered by a Wright J-5 engine and had a Hamilton Standard prop installed. The hub number was 1518 (ATC 187) with blade design No. 1407 (ATC 4). See Figure 1. For the second New Standard, serial No. 205, registration No. NC9125 (formerly NC150M), the file shows it was originally powered by a Wright R-760-8 and had a Hamilton Standard propeller installed. The hub number was 1693 and the blade model was 5B16. See Figure 2. You have just found the data that didn’t appear in the aircraft listing. Where can further propeller data be found?

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES

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The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK

SUMMARY OF SUPPLEMENTAL TYPE CERTIFICATES When the FAA came into being in 1958, it changed the rules and added a category to TCs called supplemental type certificates (STCs). If someone other than the manufacturer of the airplane changed the type design data, that person could go through a lengthy process and eventually receive an STC. One could consult the Summary of Supplemental Type Certificates to check whether a particular prop had been approved for installation on the specific aircraft. If no data could be located in any of the previously discussed data, the last choice is FAA field approval.

FIELD APPROVAL CAA inspectors were used to grant field approvals for major changes in type design, and so the airworthiness file for the specific aircraft may contain a previously issued field approval for a propeller installation. Today, it is much more difficult to secure FAA field approval for propeller changes. I really don’t want to go into FAA field approvals, because it’s not clear to me exactly what the FAA’s current policy is at this time. Once the propeller data has been located, one might want to obtain the type design data for the specific propeller. To find this data, one must consult the propeller specifications. Propeller specifications are similar to the aircraft specifications but are a separate publication. Propeller type design data can be found there, but if there is no data, one must consult the propeller listing.

PROPELLER OVERHAUL Airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanics can do little work on propellers; overhauls and repairs are completed in approved propeller repair stations. In order to overhaul old propellers, the shop must have type design data and even have blade profile data. Before purchasing a propeller, make sure you get the hub and blade numbers and check with a prop shop to assure it has the data to overhaul such a prop. Let me detail an example of a potential problem: My son Rob found a set of blades for a Hamilton Standard 5406 ground-adjustable propeller for sale on the internet. The blade numbers didn’t match any data in the propeller listing. In fact the blades were not manufactured by Hamilton Standard. I began checking with known prop shops that overhauled these older props, and nobody had any data on the blades. The result was that nobody could overhaul and certify the blades. So for us they were useless! When propeller components, or the entire assembly, are overhauled, the component parts are “yellow tagged.”

MAINTENANCE RELEASE FORM (YELLOW TAG) The propeller receives a “yellow tag” when overhauled by a propeller repair station. Accompanying the yellow tag is a “work order” detailing exactly what was done to the prop during overhaul, compliance with airworthiness directives,

May/June 2021

manufacturer’s service bulletins, etc. If you have a prop overhauled, be sure to obtain a copy of the work order and keep it with your aircraft records. It is extremely important to request a copy of the work order if the prop shop doesn’t send it with the overhauled prop. So now you have a fresh overhauled prop and you need it installed. Call your friendly A&P mechanic for installation and the appropriate entry into the logbook.

PROPELLER INSTALLATION The prop can be installed by an A&P mechanic, a “P” mechanic, or the propeller repair station. The propeller should be torqued according to manufacturer’s instruction. A 30-spline prop is torqued to the weight of a 180-pound man on a 4-foot bar, or 720 foot-pounds. A 20-spline prop is torqued to 480 foot-pounds, the equivalent of a 200-pound person on a 2.4-foot bar. After torquing, a safety device such as a clevis pin or AN bolt should be installed in the hub so, in case the safety device fails, centrifugal force will hold the pin/bolt in place. The pin or bolt should be “slightly” loose so you can check it on every preflight inspection. If the bolt or pin is tight, the prop may be loosening on the shaft. The mechanic should also check propeller track to assure proper dynamic balance. In the powerplant logbook, an entry should be made showing powerplant total time, time since major overhaul, and, if the propeller is a different type from what had been previously installed, the signature of the person approving and releasing the aircraft for return-to-service and a change to the weightand-balance information and equipment list, if required.

PROPELLER LOG New propellers will be furnished with a prop logbook. However, older props do not have logs. The FAA requested that I provide a prop log for a Hamilton Standard ground-adjustable propeller manufactured in the early 1930s. I refused because there was no way to estimate total time, number of repairs, etc. So there is no prop logbook in any of my airplanes!

HARMONIC VIBRATIONS All moving objects produce vibrations and sound waves. These vibrations, when they are associated with an object such as an engine and prop, will intermingle and will produce some “strange” vibration modes. Harmonics are the sum of vibration modes produced by the rotating parts of the engine, accessories, and the propeller. Some engines have dangerous harmonics, which will be identified by a yellow arc on the tachometer or a placard next to the tachometer (or both). It would read something like “Avoid Continuous Operation Between 1500-1650 rpm.” If one operates the engine in this region, a very highpitched vibration may be felt in the airframe. That is the harmonic, and it can be dangerous. Harmonics will be associated with specific propellers installed on specific engines. This information will hopefully be helpful when the subject is aircraft propellers. It is imperative that the prop

be matched correctly to the airframe and powerplant. Since the airframe manufacturer selects both the engine and prop for the airplane, harmonic vibration is a strong consideration. Changes to the original type design are critical and should be made with great care. Using the approved prop(s) is closely associated with the safety of the airplane and longevity of the engine. To further illustrate problems with vibrations associated with propellers, one must examine FAA AD 54-12-02. This directive applies to all McCauley propellers having 41D5926 or D-1093 hubs with SS-135-6 or SS-138-6 blades. The first number of the AD (54) tells us that the AD was issued in 1954. The wording in the directive is interesting, so I’ll duplicate it here to show a point. “On the basis of satisfactory vibration stress surveys conducted on the 102-inch diameter configuration, these propellers were approved vibration wise for installation on the Continental W-670-6A, W-670-6N and Lycoming R-680 engines. When

installed on the Continental engine, the propeller must be indexed in the 0 degree position (blades in line with the crank throw) and operation is to be restricted between 1500 and 1650 r.p.m.” The 1500-1650 rpm range indicates there is a dangerous harmonic vibration at that speed of constant operation.

SYMPATHETIC VIBRATIONS The cause of most vibrations of this type is the engine/propeller combination. Even though the engine may be shock-mounted, vibrations are still fed through the engine mount to the airframe, and other parts of the airplane will “shake.” Heavy sympathetic vibrations can be felt in the pilot’s seat, but are more commonly felt or seen in the instrument panel, throttle quadrant, etc. Some engines require that a wood prop be installed on the hub with blades at 90 degrees to the crank throw. The hub will be indexed to the prop shaft by a master spline, but the prop can be mounted at the 90-degree point by the mechanic. With the piston on top dead center on the No. 1 cylinder, the prop should be installed in the horizontal position. This procedure is a method to control unwanted vibrations between the crankshaft and the propeller. This ends our discussion of propellers for this issue. Hopefully I have passed along some helpful information that you will find interesting.

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Message From the President SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA PRESIDENT

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

On a more refreshing note, Tall Pines will be offering a limited menu of “grab and go” items at our new takeout area that will be entirely separate from the normal breakfast area and line. And lastly, but so very uplifting, is the announcement of the Vintage Aircraft Association’s Hall of Fame Inductee for 2021. I am proud to announce that Steve Nesse of Albert Lea, Minnesota, will be inducted into the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame at the EAA Sport Aviation Halls of Fame induction ceremony this fall in Oshkosh. (Note: The 2020 Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame inductee, Steve Dyer, will also be inducted this fall as the

induction ceremony for 2020 was canceled due to COVID.) Blue skies!

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DIRECTORY OFFICERS PRESIDENT Susan Dusenbury 1374 Brook Cove Rd. Walnut Cove, NC 27052 336-591-3931 sr6sue@aol.com

SECRETARY Dan Wood 75 Walton Place Dr. Newnan, GA 30263 678-458-3459 fly170@gmail.com

VICE PRESIDENT Tim Popp 60568 Springhaven Ct. Lawton, MI 49065 269-760-1544 tlpopp@frontier.com

TREASURER Jerry Brown 4605 Hickory Wood Row Greenwood, IN 46143 317-627-9428 lbrown4906@aol.com

DIRECTORS

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COPYRIGHT © 2021 BY T HE E AA VIN TAGE AIRCR AF T A SSOCIAT ION. ALL RIGHT S RESERVED. VINTAGE AIRPLANE (USPS 062-750; ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published bi-monthly at EAA Aviation Center, 3000 Poberezny Rd., PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54903-3086, email: vintageaircraft@eaa.org. Membership to Vintage Aircraft Association, which includes 6 issues of Vintage Airplane magazine, is $45 per year for EAA members and $55 for nonEAA members. Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54902 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Vintage Airplane, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. CPC #40612608. FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES—Please allow at least two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via surface mail. ADVERTISING — Vintage Aircraft Association does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken. EDITORIAL POLICY: Members are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with the contributor. No remuneration is made. Material should be sent to: Editor, VINTAGE AIRPLANE, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Phone 920-426-4800. EAA® and EAA SPORT AVIATION®, the EAA Logo® and Aeronautica™ are registered trademarks, trademarks, and service marks of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. The use of these trademarks and service marks without the permission of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is strictly prohibited.

Dave Clark 635 Vestal Lane Plainfield, IN 46168 317-839-4500 davecpd@att.net

Dan Knutson 106 Tena Marie Circle Lodi, WI 53555 608-354-6101 lodicub@charter.net

George Daubner N57W34837 Pondview Ln. Oconomowoc, WI 53066 262-560-1949 gdaubner@eaa.org

Paul Kyle 1273 Troy Ct. Mason, OH 45040 262-844-3351 paul_e_kyle@hotmail.com

Jon Goldenbaum P.O. Box 190 Warner Springs, CA 92086 951-203-0190 jon@conaircraft.com

Steve Nesse 2009 Highland Ave. Albert Lea, MN 56007 507-383-2850 stnes2009@live.com

John Hofmann 548 W. James St. Columbus, WI 53925 608-239-0903 john@cubclub.org

Earl Nicholas 219 Woodland Rd. Libertyville, IL 60048 847-367-9667 eman46@gmail.com

Ray L. Johnson 347 South 500 East Marion, IN 46953 765-669-3544 rayjohnson@indy.rr.com

Joe Norris 264 Old Oregon Rd. Oshkosh, WI 54902 pilotjoe@ntd.net 920-688-2977

ADVISERS Kevin McKenzie 40550 La Colima Rd. Temecula, CA 92591

Joel Meanor 1015 Trail Ridge Ct. Keller, TX 76248

DIRECTORS EMERITUS David Bennett antiquer@inreach.com

Ronald C. Fritz itzfray@gmail.com

Robert C. Brauer photopilot@aol.com

Robert D. “Bob” Lumley rlumley1@wi.rr.com

Phil Coulson rcoulson516@cs.com

Gene Morris genemorris@charter.net

S.H. “Wes” Schmid shschmid@gmail.com

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT 64

May/June 2021

Amy Lemke alemke@eaa.org

THE

N E W S TA N D A R D

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Va Vol 49 no 3 May Jun 2021

Articles inside

Flymart

The Vintage Mechanic

Message From the President

VAA Election 2021

2021 Hall of Fame Inductee