Vol. 49 No 6 NovDec

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

CRUISING THE VINTAGE LINE STRAIGHT TAIL CESSNAS WHERE THE FUN IS

AirVenture

MEMORIES

M A D E F O R W H AT YO U ’ R E M A D E F O R .

THE ALL-NEW

2 0 2 2

F O R D

M A V E R I C K

S TA R T I N G AT $ 1 9,9 9 5 M S R P MSRP for base vehicle. Excludes destination/delivery fee plus government fees and taxes, any finance charges, any dealer processing charge, any electronic filing charge, and any emission testing charge. Optional equipment not included. Preproduction model shown.

Message From the President

November/December 2021

SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA PRESIDENT

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

Letter From the President Still plenty of flying left

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

AS I WRITE THIS letter in late September we have, for the most part, completed our post-EAA AirVenture Oshkosh cleanup. This includes a mixed bag of many tasks including accounting updates, inventory, and equipment storage to name just a few.

For example, all of the batteries are removed from our equipment annually and placed into a heated facility to be maintained over the harsh Wisconsin winters. Both the Vintage Hangar and the Tall Pines Café serve as storage facilities except during AirVenture. The Vintage Hangar is used for tram and picnic table storage and pretty much anything else that we can store in a non-climate-controlled building.

Tables and chairs are stored in the Tall Pines Café. All 23 of our scooters that are used on the flightline are stored in our flightline operations building. All of the Red Barn merchandise is inventoried and then carefully packed and moved to a building on-site that is climate controlled. As you can gather from my statements, shutting down the annual Vintage convention operation is no small task and could not be done without our dedicated volunteers who so generously and cheerfully dedicate time for these projects.

For me, the after-convention cleanup is a constant evaluation of our organization’s performance in serving our membership and promoting the health and happiness of the members, the organization, and of course, the vintage aircraft movement. The feedback that I receive from our membership during and after EAA AirVenture is invaluable to

me as well as to our officers and directors. It gives us insight that we may or may not be aware of.

So, thank you to all who stopped by my office during convention to share your thoughts.

Today the epitome of the flying season is winding down, but fall, as we all know, is really a perfect time for flying, particularly for those of us who are out there flying vintage planes that are known to have some pretty quirky handling characteristics. (Just sayin’!)

As you can gather from my statements, shutting down the annual Vintage convention operation is no small task and could not be done without our dedicated volunteers who so generously and cheerfully dedicate time for these projects.

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

CONTINUED ON PAGE 64

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES

888-322-4636

www.eaavintage.org

1

Contents FE AT UR E S

14 Vintage Photo Essay Photos of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

22 Cruising the Line A stroll through the AirVenture Vintage area

By Sparky Barnes

40 A Straight Tale About Cessna Straight Tails Vintage looks, modern utility

By Budd Davisson

50 An Unexpected Project Matt Rybarczyk’s simple project quickly turned into a full rebuild — his first one, at that

By Christina Basken

2

November/December 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM RAEDER

November/December 2021 / Vol. 49, No. 6

COLUM NS 01

Message From the President

By Susan Dusenbury

04

Friends of the Red Barn

06

VAA News

10

How to?

Inspect and Test Aircraft Fabric

By Robert G. Lock

12

Good Old Days

60

The Vintage Mechanic Engine Installations: Part 1

By Robert G. Lock

64

Flymart

COV ER S

Front The rising sun embraces a highly polished DC-3 parked in the Vintage area at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2021.

Back Just a small sampling of the Vintage types gathered at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2021.

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

3

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.

As a dedicated member of the Vintage Aircraft Association, you most certainly understand the impact of the programs supported by Vintage and hosted at Vintage Village and along the Vintage flightline during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh every year. The Vintage flightline is 1.3 miles long and is annually filled with more than 1,100 magnificent vintage airplanes. At the very heart of the Vintage experience at AirVenture is Vintage Village and our flagship building, the Red Barn.

Vintage Village, and in particular the Red Barn, is a charming place at Wittman Regional Airport during AirVenture. It is a destination where friends old and new meet for those great times we are so familiar with in our close world of vintage aviation. It’s energizing and relaxing at the same time. It’s our own field of dreams!

The Vintage area is the fun place to be. There is no place like it at AirVenture. Where else could someone get such a close look at some of the most magnificent and rare vintage airplanes on Earth? That is just astounding when you think about it. It is on the Vintage flightline where you can admire the one and only remaining low-wing Stinson Tri-Motor, the only two restored and flying Howard 500s, and one of the few airworthy Stinson SR-5s in existence. And then there is the “fun and affordable” aircraft display, not only in front of the Red Barn but along the entire Vintage flightline. Fun and affordable says it all. That’s where you can get the greatest “bang for your buck” in our world of vintage airplanes!

4

November/December 2021

For us to continue to support this wonderful place, we ask you to assist us with a financial contribution to the Friends of the Red Barn. For the Vintage Aircraft Association, this is the only major annual fundraiser and it is vital to keeping the Vintage field of dreams alive and vibrant. We cannot do it without your support.

Your personal contribution plays an indispensable and significant role in providing the best experience possible for every visitor to Vintage during AirVenture.

Contribute online at EAAVintage.org. Or, you may make your check payable to the Friends of the Red Barn and mail to Friends of the Red Barn, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086.

Be a Friend of the Red Barn this year! The Vintage Aircraft Association is a nonprofit 501(c) (3), so your contribution to this fund is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Looking forward to a great AirVenture 2021!

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE DAHLGREN

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.

VAA News

Beech Fan Club Formed IT MIGHT BE NATURAL to assume that the annual

“Beech Party” fall fly-in at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum is open only to owners of the iconic brand of aircraft. However, that’s never been the case.

And now, to reinforce that owners of all aircraft brands are invited to attend the event at Tullahoma, Tennessee, the world-class general aviation museum recently formed a new division called the Beech Fan Club. The group will join several other divisions of the museum, such as the Twin Beech 18 Society.

Longtime Cirrus owner Morty Lloyd originally broached the idea of the Beech Fan Club to museum president Charles Parish. Lloyd has always been a fan of the classic Beech Staggerwing, which he considers the most beautiful airplane ever designed.

“The Beech Fan Club is going to allow non-Beech owners, like myself, to feel like we’re part of the family,” Lloyd said. “I appreciate the work of Charles Parish and Jody Curtis and the entire museum board to explore new and innovative ways to make the Beech Party more inclusive.”

Lloyd will be heading up the division, and he’s been busy organizing special events to interest all aviators.

Among the events planned for this year was our annual fly-in, which was held October 13 through 16 (Wednesday through Saturday), with a Beech Fan Club rally and guided museum tour on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. CDT.

6

November/December 2021

Among a variety of seminars presented by renowned author and historian Edward Phillips, was a talk about Beechcraft’s Bullish A17 Biplanes. Other special programs include a Starship Q&A and an Exploded Engine presentation.

Around the world aviator and YouTube content creator Matt Guthmiller gave a talk titled How Do You Do the Impossible? And rounding out the Saturday program was a STOL (short takeoff and landing) demonstration and an outdoor showing of the movie Planes.

Annual museum membership is $50, which includes free museum admission for the member (exclusive of Beech Party) and a guest for a year, a 10 percent discount in the museum’s gift shop, and the biannual magazine.

“I’m excited about the possibilities of how the Beech Fan Club will grow over the next few years,” Lloyd said. “It will take some time for word to get out and for the membership to grow. When it does, it’s going to be enjoyed by many people who appreciate the beauty of so many historic Beech aircraft. After all, a Staggerwing or Twin Beech 18 is a sight to behold.”

For more information, go to BeechcraftHM.org.

Vintage Flightline Volunteers of the Year 2021 Joe Harmison and Ron Brainard

BY PATTY DORLOC, VINTAGE FLIGHTLINE CO-CHAIRMAN

JOE HARMISON travels from North Carolina to vol-

unteer each year. His first year was in 2013 when fellow Vintage volunteers Steve and Susie Mersal offered to give him room and board if he would volunteer.

He was intrigued with riding scooters to park planes, and while he hadn’t intended to work the entire time, that’s exactly what he did! He brought his dad, Ken, to work with him in the Fondy area of Vintage the following year, and his dad has been coming ever since.

Joe said, “Once you find your niche in Vintage, you just have to keep coming back! The people and the friends bring us back every year. We even did Zoom meetings when we weren’t able to see each other for the extended break. We came for the airplanes, but we come back for the people.”

Ron hails from Iowa and brings his wife, Yoko, another amazing Vintage asset to volunteer with us!

1999 was the first year he started volunteering.

Ron traveled with a friend that year, and this was the first time he had been back in quite a while. He had previously volunteered with communications.

A woman came by and asked Ron and his friend Bill Salyer what they were doing. “Why don’t you come park airplanes with Vintage?” she asked. So they did. Ron said, “We parked airplanes like crazy that year. They built the rows, and we kept filling them with airplanes. After that, we just kept coming back.”

Ron has done just about everything on and around the Vintage flightline and enjoys it all. He’s willing to do anything that he’s asked. He said, “I love the people.

They are the biggest thing. They’re the best.”

www.vintageaircraft.org

7

VAA News

Vintage Behind the Scenes of the Year

BY PAT BLAKE, CHAIRMAN OF OPERATION QUENCH

PATRICIA HYTRY (Patti, “Blush” on the radio) has been my right hand on Operation Quench for the past 12 years. Not a soul to draw attention to herself, she is the epitome of behind the scenes.

Arriving a full week prior to convention start, she cleans, sanitizes, and organizes the jugs and coolers we use for Quench.

She is aware of the needs of the Flightline crew prior to organized arrivals/scheduled parkers, delivering water to them with her private car.

She is the labor behind the cucumber, sweet corn, and cheese curd dinner on Friday night as well as the hamburger, brat, and hot potato salad dinner sponsored by the co-chair group on Saturday. Both are completely put together and served by Patti and her husband.

For these and all of the subsequent flightline dinners, she has purchased and premade lemonade (5 gallons at a time) as a refreshing alternative to Gatorade.

If anyone has enjoyed fresh cherries on the flightline, as everyone does every day of the convention, it is because she has purchased, cleaned, and portioned them prior to our shift that day.

She is available for the 11 days Quench is active for any shift I ask her to work, even if it’s 8 a.m. till 8 p.m.

Patti has also been the volunteer who stays at least a day after the end of the official show to once again clean and store the jugs and coolers.

She and her husband, Randy, also consistently and predictably appear with all of the plates, napkins, utensils, and serving supplies for not only the dinners they support, but also all of the dinners served to the volunteers from operations.

Attempts to reimburse them are typically brushed off.

8

November/December 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY BY XXXX

While working on the Gator delivering food on the flightline, Patti is a cheerful and enthusiastic partner to me, always on the lookout for the volunteer standing in the hot sun, ready for food or water, not to mention the second set of eyes so important to safe maneuvering around moving people and aircraft.

I think her approximate hours worked surpass 80 hours for the duration.

I find her absolutely invaluable and a pure pleasure to spend my time with. I’ve been thinking about this opportunity to nominate her for a while, as the above description has applied for every one of the last 12 years.

Univair Has Kept Stinson 108 Series Aircraft Flying Since 1946

Joe Harmison, Kathy McGurran, Mike Kosta, Patty Dorloc

Univair is the Type Certificate holder for the Stinson 108 series. We have thousands of quality parts specifically for these airplanes. Many of our parts are made on the original tooling that was used when these great aircraft were first produced. We also have distributor parts such as tires, batteries, tailwheels, and much more. Call today for a free catalog (foreign orders pay postage).

Toll Free Sales: 1-888-433-5433 Shop Online: www.univair.com

CORRECTION In the September/October 2021 issue of Vintage Airplane, the pilots in the photo on Page 42 were misidentified.

It is Merrill Phoenix who is in the back seat and Harold Allen who is in the front seat.

AIRCRAFT CORPORATION

2500 Himalaya Road • Aurora, CO • 80011 Info Phone ....................... 303-375-8882 Fax ........800-457-7811 or 303-375-8888 Email ............................info@univair.com

FREE SHIPPING on orders over $300 FREE FREIGHT on orders over $3,000

Restrictions apply.

See website for details.

ALL MERCHANDISE IS SOLD F.O.B., AURORA, CO • PRICE AND AVAILABILITY SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE • 08-26-21

www.vintageaircraft.org

9

How To? ROBERT G. LOCK

Inspect and Test Aircraft Fabric

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

TESTING OF AIRCRAFT FABRIC dates back to the Grade A TSO C-15 and TSO C-14 days, and the standard for these fabrics must be met by even the most modern synthetic fabric processes on the market today. TSO C-15 (Technical Standard Order) is a woven cotton fabric that must pull test 80 pounds per inch when new. TSO C-14 fabric was an intermediate grade of cotton fabric specifically designed for light low-powered aircraft — this cloth must pull test 65 pounds per inch when new. The deterioration point for these fabrics is 70 percent of original strength new; therefore, TSO C-15 can deteriorate to 56 pounds per inch, and TSO C-14 can deteriorate to 46 pounds per inch. Those standards are in play when testing any type of fabric covering.

So how is fabric tested? The most accurate test is a pull test done under controlled conditions in a laboratory.

The lab report will give the specific pull test strength when the fabric fails. The most widely used is a field test using a Maule fabric tester. If the fabric is still good, the Maule tester will not punch a hole in the fabric. The older tester was called a Seyboth, and it punctured the fabric to give a reading on its colored bands around the tester. The colors were red, yellow, first, second, and third green. The Seyboth tester is most likely not in use anymore as the Maule has replaced it.

Aircraft with wing loadings greater than 7 pounds per square foot and VNE speeds (velocity never exceed) greater than 160 mph are mandated to use fabrics that meet the TSO C-15 standard — therefore the deteriorated condition would be 56 pounds per inch.

Aircraft with wing loadings less than 7 pounds per square foot and VNE speeds less than 160 mph may use the lighter TSO C-14 fabric as a standard, thus the deteriorated strength would be 46 pounds per inch. Therefore, when testing fabric, the VNE and wing loading must be known so the correct deteriorated strength can be determined.

Illustration 1 shows an old fabric tensile test from my original Aeronca Champ. The airplane was covered partly with Grade A cotton fabric and partly with

10

November/December 2021

Ceconite synthetic fabric. It was painted white with black and red trim, the black and red not good colors for the older fabric processes.

In order to have a pull test done, one must cut large holes in the top fabric surfaces so that the pull test sample measures 1 inch by 6 inches in size. Most owners will not stand for a mechanic to cut holes in their fabric, so here is where the Maule fabric tester comes in handy.

Note that the tester has a slightly rounded blunt end.

That is the part that contacts the fabric surface. As one pushes down against spring pressure, the approximate tensile strength is read on the scale in pounds per inch.

When testing any fabric that must meet the TSO C-15 standard, push down until you read 60 pounds, then stop.

For an aircraft that must meet the TSOC-14 standard, push down until you read 50 pounds, then stop.

Fabric should always be tested on the top surfaces in the darkest color because fabric will deteriorate most when painted a dark color and exposed to UV radiation from the sun.

The question that always pops up when discussing fabric testing is when to do it. If I know the airplane, I do not test annually, specifically if the aircraft is covered in a synthetic process. I do, however, place a strong flashlight inside the fabric to check if any light is transmitted through the finish. If I see light, then I will check fabric tensile strength. If there is no sign of light coming through the finish, I check the finish for cracks,

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ROBERT G. LOCK

July 13, 1929. Al Borkowski pulls off a trick landing within the confines of the Vico station in Gumption, Iowa. He uses his own radical forward slip he calls The Piledriver.

Unfortunately, he came to rest on a small car that had just been topped up.

Fortunately, the owner was in the office paying for his gas and buying some Mrs.Wagner's pies. Vico's attorney portrayed his damage as “repairable.”

Men from the Aeronautics Branch can be seen racing from their car to remove the prop so Al can't try to fly it out.

Al is NOT our kind of guy.

and upon finding none I consider the fabric airworthy. If there are cracks in the finish exposing raw fabric weave, I notify the owner that something must be done to repair those cracks. Sometimes cracks are bad enough that the entire aircraft must be re-covered.

Ray Stits did some very interesting experiments; the results can be had by looking in the back of the Poly-Fiber Procedure Manual.

If you have never read this data, it’s worth the time to gain knowledge of fabric deterioration. Grade A and Dacron fabric when exposed to ultraviolet light from the sun deteriorates in an alarming rate, thus if cracks expose fabric weave, I consider that as the weakest point of the covering and judge its airworthiness accordingly.

The Maule tester is available commercially but is not cheap.

However, it is the only method available to field test aircraft fabric covering for airworthiness.

Upgrade to Reliability

STC/PMA

The BC400 Alternator system is now FAA-approved for Piper J-5C, PA-11, PA-12, PA-14, PA-16, PA-18, PA-20, and PA-22 aircraft. Includes brackets for Wide- or Narrow-deck

engines ... with NO change of oil cooler location required!

316-283-8000 • BandC.com www.vintageaircraft.org

11

Good Old Days

From the pages of what was ...

Take a quick look through history by enjoying images pulled from publications past.

12

November/December 2021

www.eaavintage.org

13

14

November/December 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA

PHOTOS OF EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH 2021

www.eaavintage.org

15

VINTAGE

PHOTO ESSAY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE DAHLGREN

16

November/December 2021 PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE DAHLGREN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD

www.eaavintage.org PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM

17

VINTAGE

PHOTO ESSAY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY RYAN MARX

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA

18

November/December 2021 PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURIE GOOSSENS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL STEINEKE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE DAHLGREN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA

www.eaavintage.org PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM

19

CLICK HERE

TO SEE A FLICKR GALLERY ON THE VINTAGE PHOTO ESSAY

VINTAGE

PHOTO ESSAY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTINA BASKEN

20

November/December 2021 PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEWIS BERGHOFF

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA

www.eaavintage.org

21

C

22

November/December 2021

Cruising THE LINE

A STROLL THROUGH THE AIRVENTURE VINTAGE

BY SPARKY BARNES

THE JOY OF ROAMING the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh flightline after the unanticipated “pandemic sabbatical” of 2020 was palpable during AirVenture 2021. How wonderful and energizing it was to reunite with aviation friends from near and far, and to celebrate the golden anniversary of the Vintage Aircraft Association! Thanks to intensive planning, numerous health and safety measures, a stalwart host of volunteers, and myriad other factors, Oshkosh made a triumphant comeback.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SPARKY BARNES

Pilots and enthusiasts reveled in the weeklong reunion, replete with vintage type-club forums and information tables in the Vintage Hangar, looking at aircraft in the Fun and Affordable portion of the flightline, and seeing the return of annual events such as hand-propping demonstrations and antique engine runs. VAA Director Ray Johnson’s signature Vintage in Review sessions piqued interest in unusual airplanes and pilots, and were kicked off Monday through Friday with a dash of 1940s panache provided by the harmonious Ladies of Liberty trio.

www.eaavintage.org

23

Cruising THE LINE

“On Tuesday evening we had 1,404 Antique, Classic, and Contemporary airplanes on the field at one time. This is an all-time record,” Ray said. “I believe in Vintage we are just one big family, and it is apparent we all missed each other!”

The EAA Seaplane Base, ever a scenic and serene haven on Lake Winnebago, had 112 aircraft, including Cubs, a de Havilland Beaver, a Piaggio Royal Gull, and Cessna models 182, 185, and 195 splashing down and taking off during the week.

At Wittman Regional Airport, there was a vibrant and intriguing display of airplanes throughout the Vintage area, ranging from faithful everyday flyers to those dressed in the finery of fresh restorations. There were numerous models of Pipers, Luscombes, and Cessnas in a widespread array on the expansive flightline. Taylorcrafts were also well represented, including a four-place Model 15A Tourist.

Several aircraft types were celebrating milestone anniversaries (some of which were held over from 2020): the 70th for the Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer; 75th for the Taylorcraft, Cessna 120/140, Aeronca Chief, and Globe Swift; and the 100th for Stinson.

Ercoupes arrived en masse to celebrate their 80th. “The Ercoupers had never flown in trail formation before, and my plan was to do just that going to AirVenture, flying 500 feet apart. I set two Ercoupes 500 feet apart on the Wausau airport during our gathering just prior to the convention, and we all stood next to the rear one to get a mental picture of 500-foot spacing,” organizer Syd Cohen said. “After a few practice flights, we had 28 Ercoupes flying into KOSH on Sunday morning. Three more arrived later in the day. There were a few others that came in earlier in the week, so I’m estimating we had a total of 35 Ercoupes this year.”

There were other mass arrivals, and at least 62 TriPacers, 11 Howard DGA-15Ps, six Beechcraft Staggerwings, 18 Swifts, and numerous Stearmans and Stinsons in the Vintage area. There were also outstanding examples of rare aircraft, including a Kitty Hawk; Spartan Executive; Ryan SCW; Brunner-Winkle Bird; Stinson Model A, 10A, Junior S, and SR-5A; Travel Air 4-D, 10-D, and 6000; Bücker Jungmann; Aeronca LB and C-3; Waco Models YKC and S3HD; Funk; and a Howard DGA-8.

So c’mon — let’s go cruise the flightline and learn a bit more about some of these airplanes and their caretakers!

“If you have an old airplane, you gotta have friends!” — Vern Heyrman, Cessna Airmaster 24

November/December 2021

1939 BÜCKER JUNGMANN Longtime aviator Joe Santana enjoys seeing airplanes and people at AirVenture that he never sees anywhere else, and this time, he had an extra special reason to fly his Bücker Jungmann to Oshkosh from his home in Waynesboro, Virginia.

“It’s just a great place here, and really, it’s about the people,” Joe said. “I came up here with my friend, Bob Coolbaugh, to help him display his Kitty Hawk biplane. Bob worked on that for so many years, so that was our priority this year.”

Joe has owned his Jungmann for about six years, and was first inspired to buy one way back in 1973. “When I saw Dave Rahm fly his Bücker Jungmann in air shows in California, I just couldn’t believe the maneuvers he was able to do — like a double snap-roll on initial climb-out! So when this Bücker became available in 2015, my son went down and looked at it in San Diego, and I purchased it,” Joe said. “It’s a great airplane. There’s no airplane that flies like it — and I’ve flown a lot of airplanes over the years. N1939J is a Swiss-built Bücker, so it doesn’t have ball-bearing controls — the Spanish and Czech Bückers do — but it still has great harmony in the controls.”

Another neat thing about AirVenture is meeting folks who used to own your airplane. “Today I met the son of the man who brought this airplane over from Switzerland in the late 1960s when there was a group bringing airplanes over to the States, and his father was one of them. The son lives only about 80 miles south of me in Roanoke, Virginia, but we never really met before today. He has a Bücker Jungmeister and said that when his father brought this Jungmann over, it had the original Hirth engine, which was very difficult to maintain. One day when they were flying in it, the engine failed and they dead-sticked it onto the runway; it didn’t hurt anything, but that’s when it got converted to a Lycoming.”

SPARKY’S 2021 AIRVENTURE NOTEBOOK 1964 CESSNA 172E Rusty Morris flew his pride and joy — a 1964 Cessna 172E — from his home in Fort Worth, Texas. He’d just had six new cylinders installed on its original engine and was happy to have N5744T on display by the Vintage Hangar. Rusty was introduced to aviation in 1955 when his uncle, an Eastern captain, took him up for his first airplane ride in an Aeronca Champ.

“I’ve loved flying ever since, and back when I owned a Cessna 120, an older gentleman at the airport owned this 172, which he bought brand new in 1964. Everybody there wanted to buy it, but I was lucky because he came up to me in April 1975 and offered it to me; he was buying a 182,” Rusty said. “This one was built May 10, 1964, three weeks before I graduated out of high school. I was a line boy then at the Kansas City Airport in Kansas City, Missouri, and I remember driving by the Cessna dealer and seeing the new Cessnas sitting out there, and I saw an airplane just like this one under the sheds. So I bought it May 1, 1975, with 583 hours’ total time on it.”

Since that time, Rusty has made it his mission to lavish the 172 with careful attention, and it remains very close to its original condition. “All the interior is factory original except for the carpet and a few instruments and the radio. I upgraded the DG and artificial horizon when my son got his instrument rating in it — I had an instrument rating as well — so we went ahead in 1992 and made it IFR capable,” Rusty said. “It was painted in its original paint scheme in January 2003 by R&B Aircraft at Topeka, Kansas. The headliner and upholstery are all factory original, along with the windshield and windows.”

N5744T received the Contemporary Category Best Continuously Maintained Outstanding in Type award, and Rusty plans to keep it in the family so the next generation can enjoy it. “My son soloed it on his 16th birthday, and he’s now a captain at Southwest. And my granddaughter is going to start flying it next month. She wants to solo at 16 because her dad did, and my grandson will also be flying the plane.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SPARKY BARNES

1944 BEECHCRAFT D17S STAGGERWING A sunshine-yellow Staggerwing was a standout in the Vintage area, replete with display boards touting its provenance and recent restoration. Owner Chris Stimson of Fort Worth, Texas, was overjoyed to have his 450-hp Pratt & Whitney R-985powered beauty at AirVenture — especially when it was awarded the World War II Era (1942-1945) Champion Bronze Lindy.

“This was my father’s airplane that he purchased in 1984 from Dr. Higgins, who had owned this airplane out of military surplus since 1947,” Chris said, “so it’s only had two owners since it left the military!”

Chris was an active participant in many aspects of the restoration. “Ronnie Card is really the restorer of this airplane, but he laid out the patterns for the rib stitching, and I did all of that and the wet sanding. I did all the interior with the help of my interior shop in Denton, and then I worked with Peter Heffley and we put a lot of modern avionics in it for a very clean glass panel,” Chris said.

He also made a number of modifications to enhance safety and function. “Normally, the lights were on the lower wing, where they always get hit and broken, and you can’t find those glass lenses. So I had Ronnie form nav and strobe lights into the upper wings to get them up out of the way. I also added the extra tank, which was a factory option, just so I could carry the extra fuel,” Chris said. “Another mod was using Tim Ryan’s enhanced gear motor, and a DER did the engineering so we could get a 337 for that. The small ‘D’ window is an addition to improve visibility, and I put a single windshield in it. Normally the Staggerwings have a center piece right smack dab in the middle of the windshield, but Mike Stanko makes a single windshield for them.”

N67716 was finished in the spring of 2020 — all except for the paperwork. “It took a while to get its airworthiness certified through the feds, because we had to go through a conformity check due to some of the modifications we had made. COVID made that process more difficult,” Chris said.

“We finally finished it in October, and just flew it locally until we annualed it in March this year. My wife, Veronica, and I took our first big trip in it to Idaho Falls from Spinks Airport in Fort Worth for the Round Engine Round-Up in June.”

www.eaavintage.org

25

Cruising THE LINE

1948 PIPER PA-17 VAGABOND Twenty-three-year-old Aeron Fout of Melbourne, Florida, flew his Piper Vagabond solo to Oshkosh and then teamed up with his father, David, and his Uncle Larry on the grounds.

“They’re both pilots, and I got my license on the morning of my 17th birthday,” Aeron said. “I sort of just had the goal of flying for fun, and I enjoy doing this as a hobby. My dad and I love working on airplanes and doing restoration projects, and this is the first tailwheel airplane that I’ve owned.”

Though Aeron has a little bit of tailwheel time in other types, 95 percent of his tailwheel time is in the Vagabond that he and his father have owned for about two years. Transitioning to the quick and short-coupled Vagabond “was a really interesting experience! When we got it, I hadn’t soloed a tailwheel airplane yet; I was just finishing my tailwheel endorsement with a friend of ours in his J-3, so this was actually the first tailwheel airplane that I soloed. It was a pleasant and exciting surprise when I got into this for the first time,” Aeron said. “I’ve come to love it now, how quick it handles and how well-balanced the controls are.

We’re based on a paved runway that has a reputation for bad crosswinds, so I just sort of got thrown right into the worst conditions while trying to learn this airplane, but over the course of a year I made about 400 landings in it. I just dedicated myself to learning how to handle this airplane on the ground before I even took it anywhere; I didn’t leave the pattern for a year. It was a great experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!”

N17VG is all dolled up, with a gorgeous teak floorboard, two 11.5-gallon wing tanks, wheelpants, and a neatly laid out panel chock full of many instruments that didn’t exist in 1948 — so this little Vagabond neatly blends a yesteryear ambiance with modern technology. It also has a healthy cruise of 95 mph while its 85-hp Continental burns 5.5 gph, leaving Aeron with good reserves since he likes to get out and stretch his legs every couple of hours. He was a bit apprehensive about making the long cross-country solo, but the trip went well, and there was an unexpected bonus: The judges awarded N17VG the Classic Category Custom Class I (0-85 hp) Bronze Lindy. (Footnote: Aeron and the author discovered they own sister ships, per sequential serial numbers!)

26

November/December 2021

1966 MEYERS 200D N15RR Joe McDonald of Auburn, Alabama, was a first-time visitor to AirVenture and was enjoying camping by his airplane. He specifically came to look at other airplanes, and there was certainly a bumper crop to behold. There were at least four Meyers 200s on the field, and he became the proud owner of one of them, N15RR, in January this year. “It’s all new to me, and it’s a plane that needs a little love and maintenance, because the previous owner had lost his medical, and his kids had it for probably eight years after that and just didn’t fly it,” Joe said. “So I’ve been doing minor fixes here and there. I have plans to redo the interior, panel, and everything else at some point.”

An A&P/IA mechanic friend of Joe’s turned him on to the Meyers, and then Joe just happened to come across this one for sale in north Florida. “I had looked at Super Vikings, and they’re just so tight — I’m 6-foot, 1-inch, and I wanted something I could fit in comfortably and have good performance. I could have gone with something like a Bonanza, but I like things that are unique. This Meyers has a 285-hp IO-520, and the two-person cruise is about 174 knots. With a full load coming up here, we were seeing a true airspeed of about 166 knots with a fuel burn of about 14 gph. We carry 80 gallons total in four tanks, so we have a four-hour range with reserve. The Meyers is very gentle on landing; with just a single notch of flaps coming across the threshold at 90 mph, you can give it a light flare and it just rolls right onto the runway.”

SPARKY’S 2021 AIRVENTURE NOTEBOOK progressed, Lisa realized she loved flying the Ercoupe. “It’s like having a little MG,” she said. “You pull it out on a Sunday morning, put the top down, and just go cruising around!”

When she learned how to cover the Stearman wings, her confidence zoomed skyward. “I found this Ercoupe for sale, and the fuselage had been rebuilt, but the wings were off and not covered,” Lisa said. “I’m like, ‘Pfft! I can do wings now; I know how!’ So I took delivery of N99217 on February 24, 2021, and I told everybody in my neighborhood, ‘I’m taking it to SUN ’n FUN.’ They said, ‘That’s six weeks from now.’ I said, ‘Watch me!’

I had it at SUN ’n FUN and camped with it!”

Once her Ercoupe was flying, it was also used for the onehour flight to Rob’s restoration hangar. She, Roger, and Rob (“Team Waldo”) finished the Stearman in 10 months. Lisa’s new goal is to earn a mechanic certificate with an airframe rating.

“I’m 59 years old, so I’m not looking for another career at this point in my life, but I’d like to have the ability to cover and work on fabric airplanes,” Lisa said. “If I can get to the point where I can help other people bring old airplanes out of hangars and get them back in the sky again, that would just be a joy!”

1946 ERCOUPE 415-C A dynamo of energy, pilot Lisa Heidinger of Port St. Lucie, Florida, is a hands-on restorer with an enthusiastic can-do attitude. As a young girl in a nonaviation family, Lisa somehow always wanted to be a pilot. “I looked up at every airplane that went over my head, and wanted to know where that airplane was going and who those people were — and how I could become one of those people,” Lisa said. “I saw the airplane as a way to get me out of the small town of Attica, New York. Basically, I got into flying lessons one hour at a time when I had a few extra dollars, because by then I was raising a child on my own and working as a police officer. So it took me a lot of years, but when I finally got my pilot’s license, well, what do you do with no airplane?”

Lisa went to work at an airport just to be around airplanes and was a student recruiter for a Part 141 flight school. “I was putting other people in airplanes, wishing I was in them myself.

Then I met my husband, Albert, and the first thing he did was show me I could afford to buy an airplane,” Lisa said. “I bought a project 1959 Cessna 175, and that’s when I started finding out that tinkering and working on them was a fast way to understand how they actually fly. Albert is a 747 captain, and he moved me up into a Cessna 182 RG so I could get more complex and retractable time — but my heart has always been with the vintage, small airplanes.”

In 2020, Lisa’s friend and neighbor Roger Brown invited her to roll up her sleeves and help tackle the ground-up restoration of his Stearman. Delighted, she seized the opportunity, and she and Roger would sometimes fly Roger’s Ercoupe to commute to Rob Lock’s hangar to work on the Stearman. As that restoration

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SPARKY BARNES

1940 CESSNA C-165 AIRMASTER Among many subtle yet heartwarming scenes during AirVenture, Vern Heyrman of De Pere, Wisconsin, was seen standing on a stepladder and tenderly wiping away raindrops from his Airmaster’s wing, as gently as though wiping tears from a child’s face. He’s owned NC237E for about 12 years and has been coming to Oshkosh well before he acquired his pilot certificate at age 40. At first, he owned a Taylorcraft, which he loved to fly, and then a friend talked him into buying the Airmaster.

“It’s a blast to fly and an honor to own.” — Bernie Harrigan, Fleet 2 www.eaavintage.org

27

Cruising THE LINE

d by highlighte -S4C4G,is 3C CD 3 4 Airways 19 e Legend N25641, th sun. ing the morn

Dave “Flea” Carpenter of Berea, Kentucky, is all smi les in N78137, a 1946 Globe GC-1B Swift he’s ow ned and flown for many years.

ost Unique rary Category M d the Contempo ive ce South 40 e re th a, in rid as Flo w mander 500. It cksonville Beach, m Ja Co of ro al Ae De 59 e 19 ak Bl N159K, a Type award for Outstanding in lights. of g in str a by and highlighted

28

November/December 2021

Roger Jam wife, Jett the Antiq

Scott Hansen of

Batavia, Illin ois, owns th is 1944

B

SPARKY’S 2021 AIRVENTURE NOTEBOOK

mes of New Carlisle, Ohio, restored NC14139, a 1934 Waco YKC. Roger and his ta, were with the Waco in front of the Red Barn all week. They received que Reserve Grand Champion Silver Lindy.

Beech D17S (N C44562).

NC975M is a Kin Co. in 1931 an ner-power ed d resto red by Kitty Hawk Bob Co B olbaug -8, built by th h of N ew Ma e Viking Fly rket, V ing Bo irginia at .

8 642, a 196 ndy for N Li ld o G e aplan ived the Se gton, rece in sh a W , rett ies of Eve .

Doug DeVr 21G Turbine Goose G n a m m ru G

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SPARKY BARNES

www.eaavintage.org

29

Cruising THE LINE

“My friend said, ‘If you buy it, I’ll maintain the engine for you,’ so that was a good deal. If you have an old airplane, you gotta have friends! The original restorer was Don Carter in the 1960s, and he remembered the airplane from his younger days when the CAA had it. That’s why it has the orange and black color scheme, but when Don got it, it was green, so he redid this airplane,” Vern said.

NC237E is powered by its original 165-hp Warner, carries 45 gallons of fuel, and cruises at 120 knots with a fuel burn of roughly 10 gph. “The landing speed is somewhere around 55 knots; there’s an indicator that’s in here by accident that gives you the right speed to land,” Vern said. “It’s this little air vent here on the leading edge of the wing — it howls at about the right speed to bring it in! I think Cessna came up with a whistle later on, but this airplane howls. I normally land it three-point, but in a crosswind I have to wheel land it.”

Another interesting aspect of the Airmaster is its seating arrangement. “The pilot seat is fixed; only the passenger seat is adjustable. So you have to crawl inside, and once you get in there, if you’re my size (5 foot, 7 inches), you’re very comfortable. But if you have a passenger who’s very tall, he has to have his seat all the way forward so he’s not bent over, due to the wing structure and gas tank overhead in the cabin.”

Vern is quite happy with his antique Cessna. “Owning it is a very pleasurable experience, because whenever something breaks or there are problems with it, I’ve got friends that help me out,” Vern said. “I’m an old guy, but I’m a low-time pilot; I have about 800 hours’ total time, including about 300 in this airplane. I keep it at a grass strip, which we don’t plow in the winter, so it’s a fair-weather airplane.”

“When I started on the Navion’s restoration 31 years ago, I found a longeron that had been damaged by corrosion and decided the airplane needed to come all the way apart. We made that repair and gradually started restoring other parts of the airplane,” Jim said. “Dan and Nick were involved in the disassembly when they were very young, and when Nick was in high school he ended up stripping all the paint off the airplane and walnut-shell blasting the inside of the wheel wells. The project went through some ups and downs because we worked on several other airplanes as well. Then Dan was looking for a four-place airplane and a good friend said, ‘Just finish the Navion, and you’ll have the best four-place airplane you can have!’ So we started back in on it, changing some fuselage skins and beefing up the fuselage to put the 285-hp IO-520 in it with a constant-speed three-bladed prop per the type certificate, as opposed to the original 185-hp engine.”

NC4309K has several other mods, including a sloped windshield, a Rangemaster rear-entry flap, two 20-gallon tip tanks, and a plethora of up-to-date avionics. After creating a paint scheme derived from 1950s conceptual drawings that were never used on production airplanes, they hired a hot-rod painter to spray the disassembled airplane with two-stage polyurethane PPG paint.

Jim, an A&P/IA/DAR, is pleased with the performance so far: “We overhauled the engine ourselves, and we’ve made about three one-hour cross-country trips and seem to be getting 160 mph as a typical cruise, burning 13 to 14 gph.”

Dan and Nick are equally pleased after the decadeslong process. “It’s cool to have seen it completely apart and then completely together and flying!” Dan said.

“It’s been an awesome process the whole way. I think we’re really fortunate to have grown up in this side of aviation,” Nick said, “and to see the Navion here at Oshkosh is neat! I think it’s every builder’s dream, really.”

“It was a great experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!”

— Aeron Fout, Piper Vagabond 1948 RYAN NAVION Jim Rezich of Winnebago, Illinois, simply bubbles over with happiness when talking about airplanes. He’s especially proud of his pilot/mechanic sons, Dan (aka “Bug”) and Nick, and their collaborative restorations. The Rezich family had two Culver Cadets at AirVenture, along with their Ryan Navion that’s so fresh out of restoration that it only had 12 hours on it. Jim purchased the Navion in 1990 so he’d have a four-place airplane for his family — never dreaming that it would be 31 years into the future before it was airworthy.

And so it was that Bug and Nick grew into young men as they helped their father work on the Navion at various times through the years.

30

November/December 2021

and Nick Rezich Left to right: Dan, Jim,

SPARKY’S 2021 AIRVENTURE NOTEBOOK

Left to right: Bill Hollan, Mike Steel e

1958 PIPER PA-22 TRI-PACER Bill Hollan of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was keeping his longtime Tar Heel friends, Mike and Deborah Steele of Walnut Cove, close by his Tri-Pacer during the convention.

Tied down amid a sea of fellow Tri-Pacers, N8857D was dressed to the nines, and Bill wanted Mike, who restored the airplane, to field any questions the judges might have.

Lo and behold, Bill and Mike were ecstatic when the TriPacer received the Outstanding Customized Bronze Lindy award.

This short wing Piper isn’t the first airplane Mike restored for Bill; years ago, he restored a Stinson 10A for Bill and his partners, Bert Bahnson and Tom Davis Jr. Bill first learned to fly at Strawberry Hill, an old airfield west of Winston-Salem. “It’s a golf course now, but I started working at Strawberry Hill in the summertime as sort of a line boy, and I would run the wings on the sailplanes during takeoff, hook them back up to the towrope, and refuel the towplane,” Bill said.

“I traded working for flying time and instruction. When I was 18, I soloed in a Shinn, which was unusual to solo something like that. Then my younger brother started flying, and my father had been a pilot during the war, so once we took an interest in it, he encouraged us. We bought a J-3 Cub and kept it at Strawberry Hill, and I ended up with around 600 hours in it before I went in the Air Force.”

Bill has owned N8857D for more than 30 years now. He likes it because it’s a good short-field airplane and has the capacity for carrying four people and baggage, while flying faster than a Cessna 172 and carrying more weight with the same horsepower. Additionally, he finds it easy to fly, since the rudder and ailerons are interconnected. But it got to the point where it needed new fabric, and he finally convinced Mike, who protested that he didn’t want to re-cover another fabric-covered plane, to take on just one more restoration.

Mike has been doing restorations virtually all his life, and received the FAA Charles Taylor Master Mechanic and Wright Brothers Master Pilot awards in 2014. His hangar shop is at his home, on a grassy runway that used to be his father’s farmland.

Mike’s first restoration was a 1959 7AC Champ that he covered in cotton in 1967; he was thrilled later on to learn that the cotton had lasted 40 years. His first visit to Oshkosh was in 1977, in a

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SPARKY BARNES

Cessna 180 he’d restored, and there have been numerous airplanes in his shop since.

It took Mike about four years to restore Bill’s Tri-Pacer. “I took it all the way down and put new wood stringers in the fuselage; the tubing was in good shape, the spars and ribs were fine, but I had to replace both wingtip bows. The fuel tank area on top of the wing had some issues, so I had to do some sheet metal work up there,” Mike said. “Basically, it was in pretty good shape for a 1958 model, and the engine only had 100 hours on it since it was overhauled. I went with a 1955 paint scheme, which matches N2311P, another Tri-Pacer I restored — that one was Reserve Grand Champion in 2002, and it’s actually here on the field right now!”

Left to right: Tom Baker Sr., Nick Baker, Ben Baker, Tom Baker Jr.

1941 TAYLORCRAFT BC12-65 Three generations of the Baker family were at AirVenture with Tom Baker Sr.’s Taylorcraft. Tom Sr. hails from Effingham, Illinois, and has owned the airplane since 1983, restoring it twice during that time. 2021 marked his 60th year of attending the convention. His son, Tom Jr., is a CFI and A&P/IA and lives close to his father in Noble, Illinois, enabling him to maintain N29654 in flying condition. Tom Jr. also used it to teach the third generation of Bakers to fly.

“My sons, Ben and Nick, have been coming to AirVenture since they were small babies. I taught them to fly in the Taylorcraft, but we had to transition to a Piper Warrior to meet the requirements for their private. It was challenging to teach them; the father-son dynamic makes teaching a little bit different, and of course each of the boys are different. Ben is very timid and apologetic in flying the airplane, and Nick would get upset with me if he thought that I raised my voice. Nick is very independent and wants to figure it out himself. He did his glider rating a day after his 16th birthday, then came home and soloed the Taylorcraft — he would have done it on his birthday, except the wind was blowing 25 knots!”

Ben, age 23, was content with a less aggressive approach to flying. “I took my time a little more than Nick, and I finally just got my private last Wednesday.”

Nick, age 18, was happy to fly the Taylorcraft to Oshkosh for his very first solo arrival, and chances are, each of the Bakers will be back next year to carry on their longstanding family tradition of attending AirVenture.

www.eaavintage.org

31

32

November/December 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON

www.eaavintage.org

33

Cruising THE LINE

iving 1934 e sole surv mpshire. th is , 8 4 0 a field. NC14 Barrington, New H re on the f e o i w tt s io co ic a Pupae R ety of W John and A nice vari wned by o , D H S3 Waco

N84614 is a 1946 Aeronca 7AC Champ, with a touch of humor (note the “mouth and teeth” on the nose bowl). It’s owned by Myron Lokken and Doug Tomas of Madison, Wis consin.

flightline. e colors on the stripes and tru eir th t un fla s Stearman

34

November/December 2021

N19GP is Ranger in Monroe,

A Cub taxis to

the dock on La ke

Winnebago by Bre

SPARKY’S 2021 AIRVENTURE NOTEBOOK

a 1942 Fairchild PT-19A WWII trainer, powered by a 200-hp nline engine and owned by Dan and Ashley Wegmueller of , Wisconsin. Ed Lachendro flew it to AirVenture.

ennand Seap lane Base.

N15641

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SPARKY BARNES

Mid Am e NC1516 rica Flight M 5; it w as featu useum’s sole red in s the Ma urviving 193 6 rch/Ap ril 202 Stinson Mod 0 issue e of Vinta l A Tri-Moto r ge Airp lane.

.

Wisconsin ullsburg, Sh f o ce Chris Pri wned by le Bird, o k in W re runn is a 1935 B

www.eaavintage.org

35

Cruising THE LINE

1929 FLEET 2 They’ve only owned it a couple of years, but Bernie and Gayle Harrigan of Fontana, Wisconsin, are still brimming over with joy whenever they’re close by their antique Fleet 2. If you were at Oshkosh in 2012, chances are you saw this “Great American Flying Circus” Fleet fresh out of restoration by Stan and Sandy Sweikar, when it was awarded a Silver Age Champion Bronze Lindy. This storied Fleet, made famous by previous owner Richard Bach in his book Illusions, now creates its own illusion, by appearing as though the hands of time have merely caressed it, for it still exudes a breathless aura of, “Fly me. I’m fun!” This year, it was awarded Silver Age (1928-1936) Runner-Up. Bernie has long been fond of Fleets. “There was a Fleet owned by Terry Bulger, which was based at our home airport, and I had admired the lines of that airplane for years. I thought, ‘Boy, if one ever became available and I was in a position to buy it, I certainly would!’ And on a wintry, cold night, looking at Barnstormers,” Bernie said, “I saw the ad, called Mike Roe, and made arrangements to fly out east the next day.

It happened that quickly; Mike opened up the hangar door and I was trying to keep a poker face, but my jaw dropped and I knew I was going to buy the airplane. Though I never met Stan Sweikar, this will always be ‘Stan’s airplane,’ and Sandy’s upholstery work and the covers are just outstanding.”

Gayle, who enjoys flying with Bernie, was impressed with the Fleet as well, especially with its storied history. (For more on this Fleet, see the March/April 2013 issue of Vintage Airplane.)

They keep the Fleet at Big Foot Airfield in southern Wisconsin, and Bernie flies it once or twice a week.

He’s a longtime tailwheel pilot who’s owned mostly Champs and Cubs for 40 years. One of his favorite tailwheel adventures was flying the New Standard with the American Barnstormers Tour. “We did biplane rides for about three years with that, and I’ve given a lot of tailwheel instruction as well. Everybody says the Fleet flies like a Cub with two wings, and then they go on to talk about the differences forever! It’s certainly a little more sensitive in pitch, and as far as the landing characteristics, it’s a very true airplane and rolls out straight with very little rudder input,” Bernie said. “I think if you had only flown a Cub, and you got into this, you’d probably overcontrol it a little bit. It just doesn’t seem to require a lot of rudder input, whether you’re rolling out on a landing or on the takeoff. When I started flying it, once I kind of backed off the rudders a little bit, I started understanding this airplane better.

The 125-hp Kinner is running well. It has not used a quart of oil since I bought the airplane — it’s just running like a sewing machine. It’s a blast to fly and an honor to own. It really is!”

36

November/December 2021

This Fleet photo is courtesy of Bernie Harrigan.

1947 STINSON 108-2 VOYAGER Randy and Debbie Shields of Benton, Kansas, were relaxing one afternoon under the shade of their Stinson Voyager’s wing during the air show. Randy’s fond memories of his father’s Stinson inspired him to acquire his own. “I was 16 when we got it, and I learned to fly in that airplane. Back in 2007, I saw a Stinson for sale on Barnstormers, and it was out in Maize on the other side of town. I told Debbie we needed to go look at it, if nothing else just to see it. It was in pieces, and somehow I convinced her that we really ought to bring it back to life,” Randy said.

Randy had previously built little pedal planes and model airplanes, but this was his first airplane restoration project.

Debbie provided moral support and the occasional helping hand on the project, and chose the black and gold color scheme as a tribute to their alma mater, Purdue University. They also added another personal touch: a new registration number, N678RD. The numbers denote their wedding date and the RD is for Randy and Debbie. Finally, in 2015, the Stinson was finished, and they flew it to Oshkosh for the first time.

Randy is quite pleased with the Stinson’s performance: “I think it’s one of the better-handling airplanes out there, besides a Beech Bonanza, which is a really nice-flying airplane as well.

This has a 180-hp Lycoming now instead of the 165-hp Franklin, because we were going to need a new engine one way or the other, and I remember my dad’s plane had a lot of issues with sticking valves and other stuff as 80-octane disappeared. So we decided to spend the extra money and buy the Univair STC and get a freshly overhauled 180-hp Lycoming. It’s a great engine and airframe combination and performs really nicely.”

SPARKY’S 2021 AIRVENTURE NOTEBOOK 1968 PIPER PA-18 SUPER CUB Ray and Christina Cook of Spring Grove, Illinois, were happy to have their two Piper PA-18 Super Cubs at AirVenture. Built in 1959, N4273S was the 2014 Grand Champion Gold Lindy winner. Now on floats, it won the Preservation Award Outstanding in Type this year. Tied down close by was Ray’s most recent restoration, N4342Z. Manufactured in 1968, it was standing tall on its 31-inch Bushwheel tundra tires, and received the Reserve Grand Champion Customized Silver Lindy award this year.

Ray is no stranger to restorations. He completed a J-3 Cub in 2005 and a Taylorcraft back in 2001, both from the ground up. The Super Cub projects have consisted primarily of replacing old parts that were worn out with new parts. N4342Z has its original wings, but Ray ended up replacing the ribs, and also replacing the fuselage. “I made all the sheet metal, the headliner and interior, and other items from the firewall aft,” Ray said. “I bought the cowling from Univair, and I did all the fabric covering, using Superflite, which is a polyurethane paint, and sprayed it on with a HVLP system.”

N4342Z was completed in November 2020 and is highly customized. As Ray said, “There are a gazillion STCs on this airplane. It has a Lycoming O-320-A2B, which is original to the PA-18 — but it originally had 150 hp, and this one has the 160-hp Lycon STC conversion. It also has VGs on it, and gap seals on the elevator and ailerons, which make a significance difference in elevator authority when you’re landing.”

Christina’s enthusiasm for Ray’s latest project is nearly palpable: “I love flying in it, and we have such a good time!

We fly all over the place, and it’s so fun to be low and close to the ground and see everything around you. One day near Lake Placid, we counted more than 50 alligators below us!

And with these big tires, as Ray said, you just glide onto the grass — it’s so smooth!”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SPARKY BARNES

Left to right: Andrew Whiting, John Burton

1938 HOWARD DGA-8 Howard aficionados were in for a real treat on the flightline.

The only flying 1938 DGA-8 known to exist was poised nonchalantly amid a row of its younger brethren, the DGA-15Ps. Quietly making its debut in the public world of antique aviation, N56E’s wheelpants were so newly fabricated that they were still bare aluminum, patiently awaiting matching trim paint.

This DGA-8, fondly referred to as Ms. Mulligan (with a tip o’ the hat to the winning golden age racer Mister Mulligan), is quite rare. If you look closely, the differences between it and the DGA-15Ps start becoming apparent. The DGA-8’s fuselage has a sleek, streamlined appearance and a narrower cabin; its flaps are longer; its landing gear cabanes stop midlength instead of going down to the axle; and the whole gear length is rigid, and the Oleo strut slides up and down. It’s powered by a 350-hp Wright Whirlwind R-760E2 supercharged seven-cylinder engine, which was overhauled by Radial Engines Ltd. of Guthrie, Oklahoma.

John Burton started the restoration in his shop in Oregon many years ago for owner Jack Venaleck of Painesville, Ohio.

Over a span of 23 years, with a number of pauses for various reasons, the project was finally completed in 2021.

“I had two right arms, Terry Bruce and Rick Hamilton, and in 2008 when the economy stymied, we put this project to bed.

It stayed in storage in my hangar for five years,” John said.

“Then [when we were ready to work on it again], Terry had retired and moved to Florida, and I had moved to Alaska. It became a long-distance collaborative effort to get it finished.

Terry did the lion’s share of it in Florida; the fuselage was already covered, but the wings hadn’t been done, and there were a lot of systems that had to be finished. Rick went back and helped for about three months, and I showed up on an on-again, off-again basis for several trips down to Florida.”

John Burton had the privilege of initially test flying the DGA-8, and Jack Venaleck gave his blessing to John and another team member, Andrew Whiting, to fly Ms. Mulligan to AirVenture. John proclaimed, “I’m riding right seat,” while Capt. Whiting, the same age as Lindbergh when he made his historic flight, clearly had a grip on the hand-stitched leather yoke. Ms. Mulligan’s Wright Whirlwind radial engine, built by the Wright Aeronautical Division of Curtiss-Wright, is similar to that of the Spirit of St. Louis, which Lucky Lindy relied on for Atlantic crossing in 1927.

www.eaavintage.org

37

Cruising THE LINE

1953 PIPER PA-22 TRI-PACER Rick Michalek of Keosauqua, Iowa, was taking advantage of some shade under the wing of his past award-winning Tri-Pacer to catch up on some reading. He bought N3314A as a project in 1998.

“This Tri-Pacer was meant to be something to work on so I could gain a little experience before working on customers’ airplanes, but as soon as the word got out that I had my A&P/IA, I felt ready to work on customers’ airplanes. So I just worked on the Tri-Pacer in between other jobs, and it took five years to complete it,” Rick said. “I brought it here in 2008 after I finished it, and it won the Classic Category Class II Bronze Lindy. It also got awards at SUN ’n FUN, and at the Short Wing Piper Club convention. Then in 2011, it won the Grand Champion Gold Lindy.”

Aircraft restoration became his third career years ago, and he stays busy with his Oldfield Aero Services Inc. business in southeastern Iowa. Rick grew up in Chicago, where he earned his private in 1983, and rented airplanes at Palwaukee (now Chicago Executive Airport).

“I did that for about 10 years, and then we moved to Iowa, where my very supportive wife, Carroll, is from. That’s when I found a whole group of people who were into vintage aircraft; I never even thought of vintage aircraft being in Chicago! Just north of Des Moines was Morningstar Airfield, and there were a bunch of old hangars and old guys there,” Rick said.

“Morningstar had an adjacent, smaller airstrip used by the Des Moines Modelers RC Club, of which I was a member at the time. While I was out there flying RC, I started watching the planes coming and going. Finally I met another RC flyer who had some planes over there and invited me to take a look. I got introduced to the group, and the next thing I know, I’m looking for a Cub!”

38

November/December 2021

Rick and Carroll had a remodeling business as a second career at that time, and when Rick finished restoring the Cub with a mechanic’s help, she was impressed. “Carroll said, ‘Rick, your Cub turned out pretty nice! Maybe you want to do that for a living?’ I didn’t know if I wanted to do that for a living or just as a hobby,” Rick said, “but then, after talking to more aviation people, I started to realize that there are families out in the countryside that have their own airstrip and hangars. We ended up buying our own place and building our own airfield (Oldfield Aero, 271A) near the cool little village of Keosauqua. A year later, I received my A&P, and we established Oldfield Aero Services Inc. at our airfield. We recently moved our business to a brand new facility at the Keosauqua Municipal Airport (6K9).”

Rick’s current project is a 1942 Navy PT-17 Boeing Stearman, which was purchased from the Dacy family in Harvard, Illinois.

Rick hopes to finish the Stearman this winter and begin flying it next summer.

1941 STEARMAN PT-17 Roger Brown of Port St. Lucie, Florida, was pleased as punch to have his loyal old Stearman at AirVenture — particularly because of its recent ground-up restoration. Roger’s wife, Terese, shared his pride of a job well done, especially when the judges deemed NC33NA the World War II Era (19421945) Open-Cockpit Biplane award winner. Yet there’s a sidebar to the story that is equally impressive, if not more so, than the quality of this restoration.

The biplane spent the first part of its life at Thunderbird Field No. 1, the famous military airfield in Glendale, Arizona.

After WWII, the biplane was flown as a crop duster in Joseph, Oregon, up until the 1960s. “Then a guy in California got it changed from a duster back to normal category, and then it went to Wendover, Utah,” Roger said. “That’s why Northern Nevada Aviation is on the side of the fuselage, and why it has 33NA for its registration number. Come September 9, NC33NA will be 80 years old!” (Wendover straddles the Utah/Nevada state line.)

Roger purchased this PT-17 on April Fools’ Day 1990 at Wendover. He was a low-time pilot with no Stearman time, and flew the biplane home to Michigan via SUN ’n FUN that year.

Since then, he’s flown numerous cross-countries in it, making at least one landing in all 48 contiguous states, and has consistently flown it to the National Stearman Fly-In at Galesburg, Illinois, where the running joke has been that NC33NA was the Stearman “most in need of restoration.” That, however, never fazed his joy of flying it.

“I kept putting Band-Aids on it, and finally last year, Rob Lock, whom I’ve known for 25 years, called me and said his biplane-ride business was out of work due to COVID,” Roger said. “Rob is an A&P/IA, and he was looking for some work. He said, ‘I know your airplane needs a restoration; let’s talk!’ So on August 5, 2020, I landed at Rob’s place in Winter Haven, Florida. Then Lisa Heidinger, my neighbor and friend, jumped into the project, and the three of us became ‘Team Waldo,’ because Rob had Waldo Wright’s Flying Service.”

SPARKY’S 2021 AIRVENTURE NOTEBOOK Roger and Lisa commenced with the woodwork on the wings at Roger’s hangar, while Rob worked on the fuselage at his shop. “We built new upper wings and repaired the lowers, did all the engine detailing, removed the motor mount, the exhaust and shrouds, and made everything behind the accessory case all brand new,” Roger said.

“Throughout the restoration, a couple of our loved ones were having health issues. This project brought the three of us together, and gave us something positive to focus on, which was a lifesaver. Fortunately, all have been restored to good health now. Our ‘Team Waldo’ was mutually supportive, and through it all, we formed a bond and friendship I’d never experienced before. That friendship is much bigger than this project!”

On June 6, 2021, Roger climbed into the cockpit, cinched the straps tight, and took to the skies in his faithful friend made new again. The restoration had lasted precisely 10 months and one day.

Left to right: Lisa He idinger, Terese an d Roger Brown

DON’T WAIT Get your AirVenture wristbands and credentials mailed to you in advance.

We’re committed to getting you into the grounds as safely and quickly as possible.

EAA.ORG/TICKETS

www.eaavintage.org

39

A STRAIGHT TALE ABOUT

STRAIGHT TAILS

40

November/December 2021

VINTAGE LOOKS, MODERN UTILITY

BY BUDD DAVISSON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN FOSTER

www.eaavintage.org

41

t’s hard to think of something that’s still being built as being truly old. Or classic. For instance, we have no problem thinking of tri-five Chevies (1955-1957) as being old and classic. But Cessna 172s?

They’re still rolling off the production line, so how can they be old?

However, it’s not just the age of those first tri-gear 1950s Cessnas that makes them classics.

Just as the lines of the 1956 Chevy Bel-Air make it much more sought after than a 1954 Chevy, the same could be said of a 1956 C-172 or C-182, or a 1958 C-150, normally referred to as straight tails. Everything is straight, not swept back. Because of that, they ooze the look that makes the 1950s the 1950s.

However, it’s not just their looks that make the straight tail clan attractive to anyone wanting a unique airplane. The truth is that in most areas, a 1950s C-150, -172, or -182 will provide virtually the same utility as almost any of their descendants. In some cases, they can carry even more.

For instance, in their second year of production, 1957, which introduced a few minor modifications, the books say that a Cessna 172, with its 145-hp Continental engine, cruises at 108 knots and carries 960 pounds of payload. The same 172 — 20 years newer as the 160-hp 172N — will cruise at 122 knots while carrying nearly 100 pounds less (870 pounds) of payload.

To put that 14-knot-higher speed in perspective, over a 300-nm trip, the difference in arrival time would be 19 minutes. In some models, the old ones surpass the kids they’ve given birth to.

Besides the obvious fun of flying something that looks old but gives modern utility, there are three specific factors that work both for and against buying or restoring the vintage straight tail Cessnas. The three straight tail decision factors, which are the same factors that guide any airplane buying decision, are price, flight time, and condition.

42

November/December 2021

No, the Cessna 140A never got a straight tail, but a number of early 150s have grown tailwheels.

It’s a popular conversion.

PRICE

Obviously, the price of any 1950s-era Cessna is going to be much lower than a 1980s version, and not even close to the $400,000 and up of the latest models. The price of the average straight tail will probably be half that of the much later version (that’s a pure guess). However, it’s not unusual to see the price of a cream puff, totally restored, well-equipped straight tail edge into the lowest range of the average later model.

However, in terms of pure utility, any well-done straight tail Cessna is a terrific bang for the buck.

FLIGHT TIME

If there’s a problem with Cessnas, in general, it is that they are all made out of aluminum. And, given enough cycles at any load, aluminum will always develop fatigue cracks. In other words, if you bend a piece of aluminum enough times, it will eventually crack. Because of that, general aviation is experiencing an industrywide realization that our airplanes are nearing the end of their lives as components begin cracking. The Piper PA-28 wing AD clearly shows that. Same thing for the AD on Cessna’s wing strut attach structure at the lower end of the front door posts.

The 2020 Cessna strut AD is found online at Regulations.gov as Docket No. FAA-2018-0049. For this conversation, the single most important fact to come out of the Cessna wing strut AD is that straight tail Cessnas, all of them, are unaffected by the AD. This is because all straight tails evolved from taildragger 140s, 170s, and 180s. As taildraggers, their main landing gear boxes were captured between two bulkheads that ran crosswise between the bottom of the front door posts. Those bulkheads remained in the 172 until 1977, and in the 182 until 1962. Not being affected by the AD is going to drive up the value of straight tail Cessnas.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIN BRUEGGEN, BONNIE KRATZ

CONDITION

Airframe condition is actually composed of two separate parts. First, there is the really dangerous stuff that can’t be tolerated, and then there’s the ugly stuff that has nothing to do with flyability. However, some folks refuse to be seen in an ugly airplane, so their aircraft has to be de-uglified. For others, an airplane that looks as if it has been ridden hard and put away wet for many decades is, like well-worn boots or jeans, a badge of honor. Buy ’em and fly ’em is their credo. Looks, however, do have a driving role in aircraft prices.

Onboard equipment also drives the price, but many of us forget that an airplane doesn’t actually need a lot of glass in the panel to fly. Plus, inasmuch as an iPad or smartphone is so universal and ForeFlight works so well, they are easy additions to a straight tail with an antique, basic panel.

In the area of critical, must-be-avoided-or-fixed stuff, corrosion leads the conversation, with hidden damage coming a close second, and systems deterioration bringing up the rear. None of this kind of stuff can be ignored for long without compromising airframe safety.

All of these condition issues will be dealt with in detail further along in this tale of straight tails.

THE STRAIGHT TAIL PROFESSIONALS SPEAK

Every airplane type has at least one or two folks whom the rest of that community considers to be the gurus with all the facts and information. In this discussion of straight tails, we made an effort to ferret out those folks. What follows are greatly abbreviated answers to some of our type-specific questions.

CESSNA’S REPLACEMENT FOR THE J-3 CUB: THE 150 STRAIGHT TAIL From before World War II into the ’50s, the Cub was “aviation’s schoolmarm.” Then, Cessna’s ever-present trainer, the C-150, picked up that mantle beginning in ’58. A bazillion were built, with the straight tails replaced with swept tails in 1966. In an earlier issue of EAA Sport Aviation, it featured Joe Smokovitz and his restored square tail 150B. He knows straight tail 150s inside and out. Be prepared to take notes!

Give us a quick rundown of what changed in each year, if anything: The model years are more of a marketing thing. To be exact about anything, one should go by the serial number and the parts manual.

1960 was the 150A. 1961-1/2 to 1962 was the 150B. 1962-1/2 to 1963 was the 150C. All of these were the straight tail with fastback fuselages (no back window).

The 1958 up through the 1960 A model had a bench seat (like the C-140). Not individual or adjustable seats. Only the seat back could be adjusted a little bit.

These two early models also had a control yoke structure behind the instrument panel, which won’t let radios be center-stacked. So, the big changes for the 1962 C-150B model were adjustable seats and center-stacked radios. This also included the C-150C.

www.eaavintage.org

43

All of these — 150, 150A, 150B, and 150C — had a gross weight of 1,500 pounds. I’m sure this is a reason that the “fastbacks” are faster and fly better than the later year airplanes. The C-150D and 150E models, 1964 and 1965 model years, had a back (Omni-Vision) window but still had the straight tail and weighed 1,600 pounds. The 1966 C-150F was the first year of the swept tail. All of the C-150s through the F model had the manual flaps, with up to 40 degrees of travel, selectable in 10-degree notches on the flap handle (lots of flap!).

It’s interesting to note that the 150 still had the straight tail after the fastback fuselage disappeared and the Omni-Vision back window was installed. The 172 and 182s, however, kept the fastback fuselage for several years after the tail was swept.

When buying one, are some years more desirable than others?

My personal choices are the straight tail B or C models (no back window, lighter gross weight) because they have individual, adjustable seats and center-stacked radios. Also, I very much enjoy the manual flaps.

Which areas should concern a prospective buyer the most?

Since most 150s were trainers, it is not unusual to see 10,000 or more hours on them. So, most 150s for sale are in need of lots of love and are available for very low prices. They make great projects, and there are tons of spare parts available. However, sometimes the logbooks are not much more than “fairy tales.” The paperwork has to be carefully checked.

Because of age and so many hours of use, there is likely to be skin cracking in structural areas, so inspect carefully. Especially the vertical and horizontal tail attachments. They are made of pretty thin metal, so watch for cracking and loose, or even missing, bolts.

Which ADs exist on them?

Nearly 25,000 150s were delivered and used tens of thousands of hours; still, there are relatively few ADs on 150s. The ones I usually find not in compliance have to do with the seat and seat rail deterioration on those 150s that have adjustable seats.

All straight tail Cessnas rolled out of the factory being powered by Contintental, rather than Lycoming, engines.

What parts are the most difficult to find for normal maintenance?

Cessna still supports the aircraft to some extent. However, one can usually find almost any item needed from the aircraft junk dealers. Just make sure what you buy is better than the part you already have.

AD 67-03-01 pertains to the exhaust mufflers for cracking and carbon monoxide problems. Exhaust systems, in general, are often very neglected and frequently need replacing.

Where is corrosion most likely to occur, and how do you inspect for it?

Look into the wing inspection panels, the fuselage behind the baggage area, under the cabin area floor, and in the upper cabin area carry-through and door post areas. You are likely to find the usual aluminum white-powder surface corrosion, along with the steel fasteners being a bit red and rusty-looking. If there are no corrosion holes or metal exfoliation, they can be cleaned up. However, all corrosion should be treated, because it will not fix itself or go away. Another high corrosion area is where the battery is mounted.

Inside the ends of the wing spar carry-through on each side of the cabin roof, there are spacing blocks that, when a wing is removed, are always found to have heavy corrosion or exfoliation.

They should be replaced with cleaner blocks. As long as the spar channel itself is not also corroded or damaged, structural integrity is not a problem.

What are the usual engine problems?

An increasing problem for the O-200 engine is finding a good crankshaft. Being a trainer aircraft, they often have had a prop strike. If so, the nitride crankshaft will usually be cracked. If you find a good one that is within limits and not modified, expect to pay a minimum of $3,000.

All the other parts are quite available and not horrible in price, although they still cost money (we’re talking aviation here). The Bendix mags do have a recurring AD on the impulse couplings that I find is often not in compliance.

44

November/December 2021

The lines of the straight tail 150, 172 and 182 were derived from the same design concept: Add a 180 tail and upgrade the taildragger to a nosewheel but retain most of the airframe appearance.

CONTINENTAL LONGEVITY AND STORAGE

Unlike a Lycoming, a Continental will almost never come even close to overhaul time without overhauling the cylinders several times to make it to overhaul time (1,800-2,000 hours). But, so what?

Parts are cheaper for Continental than Lycoming, and it is not all bad to look inside an engine every so often.

To me, a very big advantage of the small Continentals is the fact that the accessories (starter, generator, etc.) are mounted on the rear accessory case, so they are easily accessed. Also, unlike the Lycoming, the cam is below the crankshaft, so it is oiled better when sitting. Plus, no big ADs apply.

There are fewer than 10, and none are recurring.

However, Continentals will make carb ice more often than a Lycoming.

What, if anything, changed from year to year?

1956: The first year for the 172 was practically identical to the 1956 C-170B, right down to the paint stripe. The initial 172 had no openable window on the co-pilot’s side, nor a second access door on the right side of the cowling. The fuel vent is on top of the left wing this year only. Power was provided by the Continental O-300-A or -B. All 172s for ’56 left the factory with registration numbers ending in Alpha, the last two numbers “keyed” to the serial number. S/Ns ranged from 28000 (N5000A) to 29174 (N7074A).

1957: The fuel vent was moved behind the left wing strut to avoid icing. A generator low-voltage light was added to the subpanel. Several instruments — such as the airspeed indicator, altimeter, and vertical speed — were restyled.

S/Ns ranged from 29175 (N7075A) to 29999 (N8199B) and skipped to 36000 (N8200B) through 36215 (N8515B).

ABOUT THE STRAIGHT TAIL 172

1958: ’56 and ’57 172s were prone to sit on their tails if the rear seats/baggage compartments were loaded first, so in 1958, the main gear forward sweep was lessened and the contour of the front seat backs was squared off. The Cessna logo across the top of the yoke was replaced with a couple of foil-like “cigar bands,” with “Cessna” on the left side and “172” on the right side of each yoke. S/Ns ranged from 36216 (N8516B) to 36965 (N4065F).

If Piper hadn’t put a nose wheel under its Pacer in 1953, there’s a possibility the Cessna 170 would never have become the 172. However, Cessna couldn’t ignore the surge in sales that Piper was experiencing with its Tri-Pacer. Cessna stuck a C-180-style square tail on the 170 and put a wheel under the nose, and the first production 172 rolled out of the door in late 1955. That airplane is still flying and won Grand Champion Gold Lindy at Oshkosh in 2017. Dennis Ozment, the owner, pointed us at Daun Yeagley as the straight tail 172 expert. So, we asked him a lot of questions.

1959: The horizontal crossbar in the cowling inlets was removed, so it was one large hole. Also, the instrument panel was redesigned so the left side was a bit squared off. In the panel update, the 172 also got electric fuel gauges for the first time, replacing the direct-read float gauges mounted in the wing roots. 1959 also introduced wheel fairings, which would become standard for the Skyhawk, which was introduced in 1960 as an options package. No straight tails ever bore the name Skyhawk. S/Ns ranged from 36966 (N4066F) to 36999 (N4099F) and then skipped to 46000 (N4100F) to 46754 (N7154T).

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIN BRUEGGEN, SCOTT GERMAIN

www.eaavintage.org

45

What kind of damage is most prevalent?

The early nose bowls are very prone to cracking — it’s nearly impossible to find one that hasn’t had some repair work. The bottom corner of the cowl at the firewall is also a common area for cracks. Lower rudder skins also seem to be prone to cracks.

Is corrosion a major concern?

Always. These airplanes are into their sixth decade and were never expected to be around this long. There wasn’t much thought given to corrosion prevention at the time, so it is something to keep an eye out for and keep at bay.

Vintage features, such as venturis, still work 60 years after the fact.

Is there anything that makes one year more desirable than others?

This is mostly subjective. The ’59 cowl is less prone to cracking; however, some people (me included) prefer the look of the ’56-’58 nose bowl. I also prefer the simple float gauges.

Again, a subjective thing.

Which areas should the prospective buyer be the most concerned about?

Check for evidence of hard landings or nose-wheel-first arrivals. Evidence of that can show up as a slight diagonal crease in the lower fuselage skin under the cabin doors. Also, the castings that the gear bolts to inside the fuselage should be checked carefully for cracking.

Any wrinkling or deformation of the lower firewall is cause for concern.

The Cessna single-engine line shares common ADs, such as the seat tracks. The 172 airframes themselves are pretty AD-free.

What parts are the most difficult to find for normal maintenance, if any?

I can’t honestly think of anything that’s been particularly difficult to find over the years.

What parts are the most difficult to find if doing a restoration?

It’s always the details. I looked forever to find a set of original wheel covers. The Cessna “bird” logo plastic trim that attaches to the ’56-’58 instrument panel is almost always missing the top half of the “wing.”

(Still looking for one.)

46

November/December 2021

Are there corrosion areas that would be deal-breakers if buying?

Anything more than surface corrosion on major structure is a no-go. Wing carry-through spars (especially the forward / main spar) are areas that bear special attention, as the fiberglass insulation can trap moisture here.

What are the usual engine problems?

Anything common to the other baby Continentals — the O-300 is largely an O-200 with more cylinders. Keep an eye out for low hot-idle oil pressure. They do like to make carb ice, so the carb heat control should be used early and often. The biggest issue is probably that it is impossible to drain all of the oil, and the small bit of sludge that remains is now causing pinholes in the pan.

Are some engine parts in short supply?

Crankshafts are getting very difficult to find, and the prices reflect it. As it was explained to me when my crank failed inspection several years ago, the O-300 crank is a little weak in the middle and prone to bending. My recommendation is to keep power changes gradual and avoid extra stress caused by rapid changes.

How well do Continentals survive lack of usage?

They tolerate lack-of-use far better than Lycomings. The top ends will be much more likely to need attention, but the bottom end is pretty much bulletproof. Case in point, my own project 172 flew an average of two to three hours per year from the late 1980s into the mid-2010s. It had never been off the airplane since new. When disassembled for overhaul, the bottom end looked nearly new, and other than the aforementioned crank, most parts passed inspection with no trouble.

BOTTOM LINE

These airplanes are some of the simplest, easiest-flying four-place classics on the market. Cessna hit upon the right combination of an airplane that was practical and relatively inexpensive to buy and maintain. The 172 didn’t do any one thing exceedingly well, but it did almost everything acceptably well. This has been the key to its success.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CRAIG VANDER KOLK, CHRIS MILLER

The straight back fuselage line was interrupted by the “Omni-Vision” window in the 150 in 1964, but it retained the straight tail. The 172/182 got swept tails in 1960 and the window in 1963.

CESSNA’S HEAVY HAULER, THE 182 Texas Skyways, in Boerne, Texas, has been maintaining, modifying, and reengining 182s since 1985, and it is into the second generation of breathing life and performance into the breed. We contacted Fernando Alvarado, EAA 1142659, the company’s quality manager, for his thoughts on 182s. His background includes a lifetime of restoring C-170s, Swifts, and others.

Are there differences in 182s that make one year more desirable than others?

It’s not so much more desirable as less desirable. Some pilots don’t like the tall gear of the ’56s (they were C-180 gear legs).

But the biggest difference is that in ’57 they changed from an O-470R to an O-470L, and ’56-’58s don’t have cowl flaps. Also, the muffler design isn’t as good as the later 182s. 1958s were the first Skylanes and had wheelpants and full paint.

Which areas should the prospective buyer be the most concerned about?

All of the early 182s were built very lightly, so they were easily damaged. In later Cessnas, they beefed up the aluminum in some areas. Also, the center of gravity of the majority of the older airplanes is right on the front edge of the envelope, so they are nose-heavy and were easy to hit nose-wheel-first. They were probably designed that way so they could carry a lot of load. A lot of pilots move the battery and other equipment back to get back farther the envelope.

www.eaavintage.org

47

What ADs exist on them?

They are very solid airframes so don’t have many ADs considering their age. The tail cone AD and seat rail AD are the two of the most consequence. Cracks also occur in the tail cone and stabilizer attachment structure.

What parts are the most difficult to find for normal maintenance, if any?

The fuel selector is hands-down the most difficult to find. They wear out or corrode, and a new replacement is right around $4,000, so most pilots scrounge around aircraft graveyards to find used ones that are still serviceable.

What kind of damage is most prevalent?

The most common damage, which is true of a lot of Cessnas, is from tail strikes. The tiedown ring will be shaved down or bent.

Sometimes it’ll do damage to the fuselage.

The other common damage, again characteristic of Cessnas, is engine-mount and/or firewall damage from landing on the nose wheel. Often, unless the owner is doing their own work, replacing a wrinkled firewall is too expensive, so the airplane is totaled. The main gear, however, is very sturdy.

48

November/December 2021

Where is corrosion most likely to occur, and how do you inspect it?

The main wing fittings in the fuselage aren’t visible because they are shrouded and can corrode so they need to be inspected regularly. It’s also a good place for birds’ nests, and they always cause corrosion.

Under the floorboards is a built-in place for condensation and rainwater to collect. This is especially true if the nose strut is a little overinflated or there’s a load in the back so the airplane is sitting at an angle. It can easily hold an entire gallon of water back there, which isn’t a good thing.

What are the usual engine problems?

The O-470L Continental is actually fairly bulletproof, but they do burn more oil than Lycomings, and their cylinders need to be rebuilt far more often. Part of that might be because the right side is blocked by the oil cooler so is a little hotter. Plus, the mixture isn’t evenly distributed.

Are some engine parts in short supply?

Continental still makes that engine, so all parts are usually available either new or in graveyards. However, a new one runs right at $35,000, and the factory is being moved so delivery on most parts and engines takes 10-12 weeks.

How well do Continentals survive lack of usage?

You always worry about the cams in storage, but Lycomings are worse. Continental advises running them up to operating temperature once a week, which they never are. Plus, to do that requires actually taking it around the pattern. Just running it on the ground can cause problems, because it doesn’t get hot enough to cook the water out of the oil, which puts the cams, lifters, etc. at risk. Chrome cylinders can also have corrosion damage. Flying them regularly is the best corrosion prevention.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN M DIBBS

UNLIKE ANYTHING ELSE THE WORLD’S GREATEST AVIATION CELEBRATION ®

JULY 25 - 31

EAA.org/Tickets

an unexpected project Matt Rybarczyk’s simple project quickly turned into a full rebuild — his first one, at that

BY CHRISTINA BASKEN

50

November/December 2021

AS WORLD WAR II was coming to a close, manufacturers were preparing for an anticipated postwar boom in the aviation industry. Cessna began to plan for the reconversion from war to peacetime production. It had been three years since any civilian aircraft rolled off its assembly line, but that wasn’t Cessna’s only challenge. Several manufacturers were competing to design and produce aircraft, and with thousands of government surplus aircraft that would soon hit the market, Cessna wouldn’t be able to compete with surplus prices.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTINA BASKEN

www.eaavintage.org

51

C

essna’s solution was to design an entirely new aircraft and market it as the aircraft for the common man’s pocketbook. Cessna began engineering what it referred to as “The Family Car of the Air,” the Cessna 190. Americans were thrilled and excited by the thought that every family would soon have its very own airplane.

The war was nearing an end much more quickly than Cessna anticipated, and worry grew as the company was unsure if it could produce the 190 in time. Then, Congress passed the GI Bill of Rights, allowing personnel of the armed forces to receive financial aid for educational purposes, such as flight training, following their discharge from service. Cessna noted this as a market with great potential and quickly changed gears at the realization that thousands of servicemen would soon be looking for a two-place trainer, and surplus aircraft would not meet the need. Cessna decided to shelve the 190, and the design of a twoplace trainer began in January 1945.

By March 1946, Cessna released two versions: the Model 140 and Model 120.

The Model 140 came stock with an electrical system and flaps and sported a metal fuselage, fabric wings, and metal control surfaces.

The Model 120 was considered to be the economical version of the 140. An electrical system was optional for an additional price, the upholstery was simple, and it did not have flaps or rear windows.

Consumers loved the simple design of the 120, making it a favorite on the trainer market.

52

November/December 2021

Matt had his work cut out for himself. Everything after the rear doors back to the tail was badly damaged and needed to be rebuilt.

Building on the success of the 140/120, Cessna quickly established itself as a market leader from 1946 through 1951. By the fall of 1946, Cessna was producing an average of 30 airplanes a day.

To this day, the 140/120 models remain popular among the general aviation crowd.

Take Mathias “Matt” Rybarczyk, EAA 68022, for example. Matt had always dreamed of owning an airplane, but he didn’t exactly know what kind of airplane would best suit him. He thought about purchasing a Cub or a Champ, but when a friend of his suggested he purchase a 120, Matt quickly realized it was the perfect fit for him.

“It’s a very honest, straightforward airplane,” Matt said. “It doesn’t have any tricky quirks or anything to it.”

Hearing Matt say that, I have to think that’s exactly what Cessna had in mind when engineering the 120 with its simple design — side-by-side seating, no flaps, no rear window, and yokes instead of sticks.

“It’s a very honest, straightforward airplane. It doesn’t have any tricky quirks or anything to it.”

Matt Rybarczyk and His Model 120 Matt was overseas serving his country in Vietnam when he first realized that his dream to own an airplane could finally come true.

“I received orders to go to Vietnam, and it was during that year, with my monthly checks going home, I realized I could buy an airplane when I got home,” Matt said.

Coming to that realization, Matt quickly wrote to Elmer Wisherd, the manager at Rusk County Airport in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, where he grew up, and asked him to keep his eyes open for something.

“When I got home from the service, he had two airplanes,” Matt said. “One was a [Cessna] 120 and one was a 140: each one had a plus and a minus.”

Matt said he didn’t know much about general aviation airplanes, so he relied on Elmer’s expertise to help him find something that would work best for him. Elmer’s advice to Matt was, “You’re young. You’re going to do a lot of flying. You’re going to want to fly at night, so you should probably buy something with an electrical system; that way you can fly at night and have a starter and everything else, and a radio.”

The 140 and 120 that Elmer found were both great options, and both came equipped with an electrical system and landing lights for night flying — which should be it was quite rare for a 120 to come factory-equipped with an electrical system — but between the two, Elmer figured that if he replaced the covering, the 120 would basically be brand new.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTINA BASKEN

www.eaavintage.org

53

Since purchasing the aircraft, Matt has installed a new tachometer and has had the airspeed indicator overhauled.

An Unexpected Restoration

SPECS AIRCRAFT MAKE & MODEL: 1947 Cessna 120 CERTIFICATION: N4037N MANUFACTURING DATE: April 22, 1947 LENGTH: 21 feet, 6 inches WINGSPAN: 33 feet, 4 inches HEIGHT: 6 feet, 3 inches MAXIMUM GROSS WEIGHT: 1,450 pounds EMPTY WEIGHT: 868 pounds FUEL CAPACITY: 25 gallons SEATS: 2 POWERPLANT MAKE & MODEL: Continental C85-12F HORSEPOWER: 85 PROPELLER: McCauley 1A90/CF7148 CRUISE SPEED/FUEL CONSUMPTION: 105 mph/5 gph POWER LOADING: 10.2 pounds/hp WING LOADING: 9.1 pounds/square foot EQUIPPED FOR: VFR VNE: 140 mph VSO: 49 mph VX: 71 mph VY: 80 mph

54

November/December 2021

Matt planned on putting new fabric on the wings and shining up the airplane. He figured he could get it flying in no time, until just one month later when the hangar unexpectedly collapsed.

It was winter when it happened, and the melted snow on the hangar roof became too much weight, causing a collapse. It was a flat-roof hangar, and when it failed, the main beam gave way, causing the roof to take on a V-shape.

“The hangar came down on the airplane right behind the cockpit, and pushed it right down to the ground,” Matt recalled. “It actually cut the sheet metal almost in two. I mean, there was still some sheet metal on the belly holding the two halves together. When it came down, it also caught the top of the vertical stabilizer and destroyed that, and everything was just a real mess.”

Matt was faced with the question that no aircraft owner wants to ask themselves: Rebuild it or scrap it? Matt turned to Elmer for advice.

“He thought that we could rebuild that airplane; the cabin was not damaged, but everything after the rear doors back to the tail was,” Matt said. “I had other friends that said maybe the best thing to do is just part it out rather than try to sell it as a project.

But I took Elmer’s advice, and I just said, ‘Well, I’d like to rebuild it because I just bought it, and it’s my first airplane, something I’ve always wanted.’”

And just like that, Matt’s simple wing cover project quickly turned into a full rebuild.

Overwhelmed and unsure where to start, as this was his first restoration, Matt leaned on Elmer and a few other friends for advice.

Navigating the First Restoration Matt said the key to rebuilding the airplane was to figure out the order in which you’re going to do things, and keep going step by step. For Matt, step one was pulling off the wings.

Upon examination, Matt discovered the spars remained intact and he would be able to rebuild the wings by replacing the trailing edge and ribs.

“Step two was pulling out all the cables that run in the fuselage back to the tail surfaces,” Matt said.

“We pulled that all out of the damaged metal and tied them up so they didn’t get tangled up or broken before we drilled out the rivets and pulled the damaged metal off.”

When it came to the next step, hunting down replacement parts, Matt said Elmer came to his rescue once again.

“He knew of a guy that had made a good airplane out of two ‘basket cases,’ and he said, ‘I think he still has a tail cone,’ and we needed everything from the back of the doors back to the tail. So, Elmer checked with that guy, and sure enough, lying out in the weeds behind his garage [was] this tail cone.”

Matt said the tail cone was not pretty. It had sat so long that the metal had begun to oxidize.

Nonetheless, he figured he could get it to shine and purchased the cone.

To prep the airplane for the new-used tail cone, Matt drilled out the rivets around the fuselage and behind the doors so he could remove the damaged metal.

“There was also metal cabin structure on the new-used tail cone, so all the rivets that we drilled out on my airplane to remove the damaged metal, we also had to drill out on the new-used tail cone, because we had to remove that cabin structure that was still left,” Matt said. “We also had to have those rivet holes open so that we could put new rivets in for when we slid the two parts back up together.”

Once the new-used tail cone was on, Matt Clecoed everything together.

“We Clecoed everything together so that it would remain straight, and then we had to rivet all the way around the fuselage again to attach the two parts,” Matt said. “What made it actually not terribly difficult is that there were rivets on the top of the fuselage and a row of rivets that go underneath the belly, and all the rivet holes lined up perfectly,” Matt said. “So, we were able to Cleco everything

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTINA BASKEN

Matt was able to find a replacement vertical stabilizer on Trade-A-Plane.

together and get it nice and straight before we started driving rivets.”

The tail cone wasn’t the only thing that Matt needed to track down. Luckily, he struck more luck when he found a replacement vertical stabilizer on Trade-A-Plane.

“The thing about the vertical stabilizer is that it had three stripes on it, and they were green and black and my airplane had red trim,” Matt said. “And I said, ‘Well, that’s no problem. I’ll just strip the paint off and polish out the vertical stabilizer, and it’ll be just like I bought it.’”

But to Matt’s disappointment, the primer on one side of the vertical stabilizer would not come off.

“I tried, I think it was three different strippers. I could not find a paint stripper that would remove the primer on that one side,” Matt said. “I didn’t want to use anything like steel wool or types like that or anything like that, because then that would scratch the surface and I’d have a real hard time polishing it out. My sister said, ‘Well, why don’t you just mask out that design, the three stripes, and paint them red?’ I go, ‘Wow, what a great idea!’ That’s what I did. And that’s why my vertical stabilizer now has three stripes on it, red stripes.”

After the tail surfaces were assembled, he pulled the cables back through the tail cone and attached them to the tail surfaces, making sure they were routed correctly.

Matt said the other key component to a successful rebuild is knowing when to ask for help. Matt said it wasn’t just him and Elmer. They received help from his sister, mother, uncle, and aunt.

“They all felt bad and all came out and pitched in and worked hard and got it back in the air,” Matt said.

www.eaavintage.org

55

Finally Flying

Side-by-side seating with simple upholstery.

56

November/December 2021

With lots of help and advice, Matt finished the rebuild in six months, and it was finally time to fly it.

“It felt real great,” Matt said. “Elmer, he took it up and did a test flight and made sure that it was going to be okay. And then at that time, actually I still wasn’t tailwheel qualified. Elmer was also a flight instructor, and I flew with him; he got me checked out to fly a tailwheel airplane.”

Matt said it took him quite some time to feel comfortable flying it any farther than the vicinity of his airport. To Matt’s credit, taking it easy while learning a new airplane is always a good and safe call.

“I remember I used to wait for the wind to be right down the runway, about 10 knots or so, because it makes it much easier to fly a tailwheel,” Matt said.

“And so, I would wait until the wind was just right, and I would go out and solo it — just stay in a pattern and do takeoffs and landings until, I don’t know how many hours I did that, until I felt more comfortable to handle going to a different airport.”

When Matt was ready to fly farther, he said he couldn’t wait to fly the 50 miles from Rusk County to Rice Lake to show his friend Carl Rindlisbacher that he was finally back flying. Since that trip, Matt said he’s gone pretty much everywhere with it, proving to be a trusty little airplane!

“I’ve been all over the country with it!” Matt said.

“I’ve been, oh man, I’ve been to Florida and then down the Outer Banks along the Atlantic Ocean. I’ve taken it all the way down to Georgia. I’ve been in almost every state, except the far northwestern states and the far northeast, and all of the southern states over to California, over to Mackinac Island, over to Catalina Island, over to Alaska, the Dakotas, all over.”

Matt said his favorite part about flying his 120 is that it’s honest, and that’s the best way he can describe it.

“It’s just … honest, no tricks,” Matt said. “It’ll carry two people, full baggage, and full fuel, and it’ll fly for four hours and it’ll go an honest 100 miles an hour, so you can actually go someplace if you want to, which we have,” Matt said. “Cubs and Champs and those kinds of airplanes are very nice airplanes, but they only have about a two-hour range and they only go 75, 80 miles an hour. This airplane will fly for four hours, and it gives you an honest 100 miles an hour.

It’s a good cross-country airplane, but it’s also a very cheap airplane to operate. It’s a fun flyer, if you go to breakfast, stuff like that.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTINA BASKEN

Since the original rebuild, Matt has overhauled the engine a few times and has replaced the original cotton fabric.

“It’s still the original engine case. It was overhauled shortly after the rebuild; within a year after we got it flying again I had it overhauled by Elmer,” Matt said. “Since I’ve owned it, it had a major overhaul, then it had a top overhaul, and a second major overhaul; the most recent was about seven or eight years ago, and it has about 400 hours on it now since then.”

At the time of the rebuild, Matt opted to not replace the original cotton fabric; instead he patched it up where it needed it. But a few years later, he decided it was time to replace it altogether.

“When I did the rebuild, all the hemming was behind the rear spar, and so we just put in rib sections behind the rear spar and the new trailing edge, and then we just patched the fabric in from the rear spar back to the trailing edge,” Matt said. “Then about the mid-’70s, four to five years later, is when I took the wings off and completely re-covered them with Ceconite.”

At the time, Matt was working at the Eau Claire County Airport and working closely with two very talented A&P/IA mechanics.

“I bought the Ceconite 101 process, which came with detailed instructions on how to do it,” Matt said. “So, by reading the instructions and having the help of those two mechanics, I did the fabric covering myself.”

RELIVE THE GOLDEN AGE OF AVIATION Visit FLYTHEFORD.org for a complete schedule! flights available thursday 2-5pm and friday-sunday 9am-5pm

• • Book In Advance and Save! • •

Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT property of

Visit flytheford.org or call 1-877-952-5395 to reserve your flight.

www.eaavintage.org

57

A Few Oddities As mentioned earlier, Matt’s 120 is unique in the fact that it came from the factory with an electrical system, but that’s not the only unique feature.

A previous custodian of the aircraft made quite a few modifications to the panel, which Matt still has in his aircraft.

As fate would have it, Matt had the opportunity to meet not one but two previous custodians of his airplane at a fly-in breakfast, one of whom made the customizations to the panel.

“About five or six years ago, I went to a fly-in breakfast at Rusk County and there were two guys at this fly-in that had owned this airplane before me,” Matt said. “One of them told me it was the first airplane he had ever owned, and the other one told me that he was the one that made the new instrument panel.”

As you can imagine, Matt had quite a bit to talk about with the gentlemen. A few of the changes made to the panel include an artificial horizon, which was not standard on the 120s when they came from the factory, and a subpanel to include more gauges.

“Normally the oil temp, oil pressure, and ammeter gauges are in the panel. But when the new panel was made, there was no room, because he put these additional instruments in, and so he mounted them underneath,” Matt explained.

A subpanel was installed to ensure space for oil temperature, oil pressure, and ammeter gauges.

58

November/December 2021

On the left side of the airplane are two venturis, which power the turn and bank indicator, artificial horizon, and directional gyro. When the additional gauges were installed, one venturi was not enough to drive all three instruments.

Matt has since then installed a new tachometer and has had the airspeed indicator overhauled. At one point, Matt even installed a mixture control cable.

“There is no mixture control in the airplane now,” Matt said. “When I bought the airplane, it did not have one, but when I was young and doing a lot of cross-country flying, I put a mixture control cable in and I used it when I was up at high altitude. I ended up having to overhaul the carburetor, and when I did that, I took the cable out because I wasn’t doing much cross-country flying anymore, so it just runs full rich now all the time.”

Matt also has a transponder on the panel, and while he used to have a panel-mounted comm radio as well, he prefers to use a handheld radio connected to a push to talk button on the yoke.

“When I had a panel-mounted radio in there, it seemed like every winter something would happen to it because of the cold, and then come next year the thing wouldn’t work,” Matt said. “So, when I finally decided that I was going to give up on that radio because almost every spring I’d have to send it in for a repair, I just decided to buy a handheld radio, and that way I could easily remove it from the airplane and take it home and keep it in a warm environment.”

Another unique feature can be found on the left side of the airplane, where there are two venturis, which power the turn and bank indicator, artificial horizon, and directional gyro. Matt explained that when the additional gauges were installed, one venturi was not enough to drive all three instruments.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTINA BASKEN

Hard Work Pays Off AWARDS Matt said he’s been to AirVenture three or four times with his 120, and each time it’s been a blast.

“The last time that I was there, we had the big fly-in; it was 1988,” Matt said. “The Cessna 120/140 Association wanted to get 88 Cessna 120/140s to fly in a large formation to AirVenture. It wasn’t called AirVenture at that time yet. We actually ended up having 164 airplanes.”

It was at that time that the 120/140 association presented Matt an award for the work he did on his 120! In fact, Matt has won quite a few awards, but that was his very first. Taking a look at Matt’s long list of awards (see sidebar), it’s very clear: Simple and honest really is best!

Since completing the rebuild of the 120, Matt went on to restore a Pitts Special. You can read more about Matt and his beautiful green and blue Pitts in the August 2021 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.

BEST ORIGINAL — 1988 International Cessna 120/140 Association Annual Convention MOST ORIGINAL 120 — 1991 International Cessna 120/140 Association Annual Convention BEST ORIGINAL 120 — 1996 International Cessna 120/140 Association Annual Convention BEST ORIGINAL 120 — 2003 International Cessna 120/140 Association Annual Convention BEST ORIGINAL 120 — 2005 International Cessna 120/140 Association Annual Convention BEST ORIGINAL 120 — 2007 International Cessna 120/140 Association Annual Convention BEST ORIGINAL 120 — 2015 International Cessna 120/140 Association Annual Convention

Opening New Doors Into Aviation

Our partners:

AeroEducate™ is a free online program filled with age-based learning activities and STEM projects, where K-12 students can explore and develop their aviation curiosity into a lifelong career.

Parents, teachers, and EAA chapters can also utilize AeroEducate™ to further youths’ interests in science, technology, engineering, and math with free vetted activities.

Visit AeroEducate.org or scan the QR code below to learn more and create your free account.

www.eaavintage.org

59

The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK

Engine Installations: Part 1

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

I’VE BEEN ASKED SOME questions recently

regarding engine installations on various antique aircraft, so I thought it would make a good topic for this issue. Engine installations can be classified as original factory or modified. Many older aircraft require modification of the airplane’s engine installation because the engine is unreliable or there is a scarcity of parts to keep it airworthy.

Safety is the prime motivator for me when considering engine installations. Many Travel Air aircraft have been modified from their original Wright J-5 engines to a more reliable Continental W-670. Or perhaps one wants to install the original engine but update the means of shock mounting. The photograph on this page shows a 1929 Command-Aire 5C3 with an original Curtiss Challenger engine installation. The only shock mount provided was a leather washer between the engine and mount. A lot of vibration passed into the airframe with this installation.

When I installed a Wright R-760 in my Command-Aire, I fabricated an engine mount ring from scratch using engine shock mounts from the Boeing Stearman biplane. Gas welding all those mounts to a newly formed ring was a challenging job. I didn’t know at the time that if one took a mount ring from a Stearman PT-13D and removed and relocated the two lower shock mounts, it would fit the Wright. So, on aircraft that have incorporated mount rings from Boeing Stearman aircraft, how does one adapt the shock mount bushings and washer? Take a look at Figure 1.

The sketch on page 61 comes from the Handbook of Service Instructions for PT-13/ PT-17/PT-18 airplanes, published September 25, 1940. Figure 1 shows the rubber bushings and washers, along with the aluminum washers and spacer that can be purchased from Dusters & Sprayers Supply Inc. in Chickasha, Oklahoma.

60

November/December 2021

The only shock mount provided on the Command-Aire was a leather washer between the engine and mount. Quite a bit of vibration was transmitted to the airframe.

Here are the mount rings from a Boeing Stearman aircraft.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ROBERT G. LOCK

The next question is, “What is the torque of the nut on the bolt?” While it is difficult to locate a torque value in my reference data, it would appear that the drawing speaks volumes. One must compress the rubber until the two large area aluminum washers contact the center bushing. Then line up the cotter pin hole and safety the bolt. Figure 2 is an assembly view of a Boeing PT-13D engine shock mount.

Next, if you mount a Wright R-760 engine in a modified Boeing PT-13 Lycoming mount ring, it will be necessary to cut down the lower aluminum washers because the engine case is in close proximity to the mount. I even had to grind a little off the lug on the right side of the engine, just behind the No. 5 cylinder. Here it would be advantageous to fit the mount to the engine before installing it on the airframe.

Proper venting of both the engine and oil tank is an important issue to be considered. The oil tank must be vented to prevent pressure buildup.

Oil tanks are constructed to withstand an internal pressure of 5 psi. Pressure buildup will cause oil to blow out of the weakest link in the oil system — or cause the tank to rupture. In some installations the engine is vented to the tank, and then the tank is vented overboard. Thus the tank acts as a large air/oil separator. In some installations the oil tank is vented to the engine accessory case, and then the case is vented overboard.

Crankcase pressures are caused by what is called blowby, which is combustion chamber pressure bypassing around piston rings during the compression stroke. The more worn the piston rings, the more crankcase pressure. Case pressure is vented overboard by the crankcase vent. After flight when the airplane is secure, if a large puddle of oil and water pools under the crankcase vent line, this indicates significant piston ring wear.

Figure 3 is from a Boeing PT-17 Continental R-670 oil system showing the oil tank and crankcase vent lines.

When interpreting this drawing,

assume the firewall is on the right next to the oil tank and the engine accessory case is on the left where the fittings are shown.

In most cases the engine manufacturer recommends engine installation details, and the airframe manufacturer actually designs the installation. For engine OEM (original equipment manufacturer) requirements, consult the overhaul manual. In most cases there will be details of how the engine and systems should be installed. A few of the old engines may not have this section, but I know that Wright, Continental, and Lycoming all have a dedicated section.

Most small, single-row, air-cooled radial engines vent through the accessory case. However, the Wright R-760 also breathes through the forward crankshaft, nose section, power case, and accessory case! The Wright R-760 in my Command-Aire breathes from the oil tank to the carburetor air scoop.

Some oil systems breathe directly from the accessory case of the engine into the slipstream below the engine cowling. This usually results in a mess on the belly of the ship.

The installation of an accessory firewall can help keep engine heat from impacting the area between the engine and firewall, which is normally where the oil tank is located.

Typically the Wright R-760 engines had heat problems, mostly high oil-operating temperatures.

FIGURE 1 (Boeing PT-13/-17/-18 Handbook)

FIGURE 2 (Boeing PT-13D Parts Manual)

WOOD PROPELLER INSTALLATION

All wood propellers will have highstrength steel hubs. The engine crankshaft will have a master spline that should line up on the top dead center on the compression stroke of the No. 1 cylinder. Some propellers are indexed at 90 degrees to the crank throw. That means the master spline will be pointed toward the No. 1 cylinder centerline. The wood prop should be installed at 90 degrees to the master spline, or in other words, the prop centerline would be in the horizontal position. However, if OEM

FIGURE 3 (Boeing Handbook of Service Instructions)

www.eaavintage.org

61

FIGURE 4

Tracking a propeller tip during installation. (Aircraft Engine Maintenance, by Brimm & Bogess, 1939)

instructions are available, always follow them. With the through bolts and front plate installed, thread the nuts over a washer and snug the nuts.

Tighten the attaching bolts in small increments using a calibrated torque wrench using a sequence that tightens bolts or nuts 180 degrees across from each other. Never torque in a circle. If one views a clock, the torquing process should be started at the 12 o’clock position, then the 6 position, then the 3 position, then the 9 position, etc.

A check of the Sensenich propeller website at Sensenich.com shows a torque chart (Figure 4) for installation of wood propellers. Use the OEM instructions such as those provided on the Sensenich website — we’ve touched on just a portion of the instructions here, pointing out a few items we think are worth highlighting.

It is a good idea to check the track of the prop blade frequently while tightening the bolts. Check the track of the blade tips by rotating the tips past some fixed object on the floor.

(See the illustration on Page 62.) The tips must track within 1/8 inch of each other when the installation is complete. When torquing is complete, safety the bolts using 0.040-inch stainless steel wire. Wire the attaching bolts in pairs; do not use continuous wire. In the case where wood props have hub attachments using large AN8 bolts with AN310 castle nuts, torque gently until reaching the value shown in the chart.

Safety the castle nuts using cotter pins and bend as shown in Figure 5.

TORQUING A METAL PROPELLER

FIGURE 5 (Aircraft Engine Maintenance, by Brimm & Bogess, 1939)

62

November/December 2021

Torque metal propellers by referring to the illustration and the OEM instructions, if available. Torque should be 625 to 750 foot-pounds. For example, if the prop bar is 4 feet long, a weight of 160 to 190 pounds should be applied by means of the bar. While the weight is on the bar, the bar should be struck near the nut with a hammer weighing no more than 2-1/2 pounds.

After the nut has been properly tightened, it should be locked by inserting a clevis pin through the holes provided in the end of the crankshaft and in the retaining nut.

The head of the clevis pin should point toward the inside, or center, of the crankshaft, as when it is installed in this manner, centrifugal force tends to hold the pin in place. The clevis pin is locked with a cotter pin. It should be noted that the pin should be slightly loose, and on each preflight inspection the pilot can move the pin. A tight clevis pin indicates the propeller torque has loosened.

RECOMMENDED SPARK PLUGS

Consult the appropriate aircraft engine specification sheet for approved spark plugs. I can offer that spark plugs approved for most low-compression air-cooled single-row radial engines are all similar. The two major spark plug manufacturers are Champion and Unison (Autolite).

Most single-row radial engines use short-reach 18-mm spark plugs.

Differences include the harness-toplug attachment nut — some could be 5/8 inch-24 thread, and others could be 3/4 inch-20 thread. Most plugs are shielded and require a shielded harness assembly. There is only one plug available that is not shielded. There are massive electrode and fine-wire plugs. The fine-wire plugs were previously identified as platinum plugs, but now they are iridium.

Engine installations can be classified as original factory or modified. Many older aircraft require modification of the airplane’s engine installation because the engine is unreliable or there is a scarcity of parts to keep it airworthy.

Spark plug manufacturers identify types of plugs approved for various engines. Most ignition harnesses have the 3/4 inch-20 threads and are short reach. You can access the Champion website at ChampionAerospace.com, and the Unison website at Autolite.com.

Here are a few common engines and approved spark plugs from Champion: • Continental W-670 — RHM-40E, M40E (unshielded), and RHM-38S • Wright R-760 — Same as above.

• Warner — Same as above.

• Ranger — Same as above.

• Jacobs R-755 (L-4) — Same as above except no M40E (unshielded).

• Lycoming R-680 — Same as above.

• Spark plugs from Unison (Autolite) have similar designators except for a U in front of the Champion designators. Example: URHM-40E.

Both Unison and Champion manuals can be downloaded from their respective websites.

As a sidelight, I have been running Autolite SH-20A massive three-prong electrode spark plugs in my engines for years, with very good service life. When I was in Army aviation we used these spark plugs in all Continental O-470 and Pratt & Whitney R-985 engines. The plugs were replaced on the even periodic inspections, thus they had 200 or fewer hours of operation.

Instead of throwing them away, I threw them into my toolbox, and they somehow wound up in Reedley! The final point on spark plugs is to use the plugs recommended by the engine OEM.

FIGURE 6 (Aircraft Engine Maintenance, by Brimm & Bogess, 1939)

SHARE

The SPIRITof AVIATION Give the gift of an EAA membership and pass the aviation torch to someone you believe will help carry on the legacy of EAA founder Paul Poberezny.

To thank you for sharing this membership, you will receive the following recognition items for the corresponding number of Legacy Memberships gifted.

1

Legacy sponsor pin and patch after first membership gifted

5

Bronze legacy sponsor challenge coin after five memberships gifted

10

Silver legacy sponsor challenge coin after 10 memberships gifted

25

Gold legacy sponsor challenge coin after 25 memberships gifted

50

A plaque and lunch with EAA CEO and Chairman Jack Pelton after 50 memberships gifted

Become a legacy sponsor today at EAA.org/Legacy or call us at 800-564-6322.

www.eaavintage.org

63

Message From the President SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA PRESIDENT

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Anyway, there are still several really nice events on the schedule for 2021. One of the absolute best is the Triple Tree Fly-In in Woodruff, South Carolina, that is held in late September every year.

Triple Tree was founded by Pat Hartness in 2000. It consists of over 400 acres of pristine land and includes an immaculately manicured grass runway that is 7,000 feet long. Reportedly, this is the longest grass runway in the world.

Triple Tree is a personal, laidback, sit in your chair and visit with friends kind of fly-in. It is recreational aviation at its best. It is truly aviation’s field of dreams. As my longtime friend and fellow South Carolinian Jim Wilson once said to me, “They (Triple Tree) have a great venue, but their real secret sauce is the manner in which the volunteers and organizers roll their brand of hospitality.

Everything is first class and well thought out. Relationships with their guests are central. They cater to both model and full-scale aviation. This has allowed them to create a unique and very practical approach for helping young people get some exposure to an aviation

career path and/or a fulfilling hobby. For me, it’s a perfect grass runway, a perfect venue, and a perfect place to meet with my aviation cohorts who share the same aviation interests as myself.”

Later today, I will be loading the 180 (tent, cooler, chair, sleeping bag, etc!) for the trip down to Triple Tree Aerodrome (SC00) for the 14th Annual Triple Tree Fly-In. I often think how fortunate I am to have this beautiful aviation field of dreams within an hour flying time from my home.

Blue skies!

Flymart

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

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

DIRECTORS Jerry Brown Greenwood, IN 46143 317-627-9428 lbrown4906@aol.com

Ray L. Johnson Marion, IN 765-669-3544 rayjohnson@indy.rr.com

George Daubner Oconomowoc, WI 262-560-1949 gdaubner@eaa.org

Steve Nesse Albert Lea, MN 507-383-2850 stnes2009@live.com

Jon Goldenbaum Riverside, CA 951-203-0190 jon@conaircraft.com

Earl Nicholas Libertyville, IL 847-367-9667 eman46@gmail.com

John Hofmann Columbus, WI 608-239-0903 john@cubclub.org

Joe Norris Oshkosh, WI 920-688-2977 pilotjoe@ntd.net

Tim Popp Sun City, AZ 269-760-1544 tlpopp@frontier.com

ADVISERS 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.

Jesse Clement jesseclement1@gmail.com

Kevin McKenzie kevinamckenzie@yahoo.com

Luke Lachendro avidaviator98@gmail.com

Joel Meanor joelmeanor@gmail.com

Kathy McGurran kmcgurran@aol.com

Charlie Waterhouse charles.e.waterhouse@gmail.com

DIRECTORS EMERITUS David Bennett antiquer@inreach.com

Phil Coulson rcoulson516@cs.com

Robert C. Brauer photopilot@aol.com

Ronald C. Fritz itzfray@gmail.com

Dave Clark davecpd@att.net

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

Gene Morris genemorris@charter.net

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT 64

November/December 2021

Amy Lemke alemke@eaa.org

© 2021 Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc.

THE

N E W S TA N D A R D

IN

ANTIQUE

The EAA and Vintage Aircraft Association Aircraft Insurance Plan has all the special coverage options VAA Members require for hand propping, tailwheel, grass strips, and unique aircraft. Visit EAA.org/Insurance today for the right coverage at the best price for you.

Aircraft | Personal Non-Owned | Powered Parachute & WSC Trike | Accidental Death & Dismemberment | Flight Instructor | Hangar | Airport

EAA.org/Insurance | 866-647-4322

When you insure with the EAA Aircraft Insurance Plan you are helping VAA to continue to promote the heritage of vintage aviation.