VA Vol 51 no 6 Nov Dec 2023

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2023

VINTAGE WALK-AROUND ARROW SPORT MEMORIES VAA VOLUNTEERS OF THE YEAR

WHERE DREAMS TAKE FLIGHT EAA AirVenture 2023 Vintage area

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© 2022 Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries.

Letter From the President

November/December 2023

SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA PRESIDENT

STAFF Publisher: Jack J. Pelton, EAA CEO and Chairman of the Board

Hats off to Steve Nesse and our VAA Volunteers of the Year

Vice President of Publications, Marketing, Membership and Retail/Editor: Jim Busha / jbusha@eaa.org Senior Copy Editor: Colleen Walsh Copy Editors: Tom Breuer, Jennifer Knaack Proofreader: Tara Bann Print Production Team Lead: Marie Rayome-Gill

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

NEWS FLASH! After more than 20 years as chairman and leader of the

Vintage Tall Pines Café operations, VAA Director Steve Nesse has finally thrown in the proverbial towel (probably a dish towel in this case) and retired!

Steve entered the VAA scene as an advisor to the Antique Classic Division of EAA (later the corporate name was changed to the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association) board of directors in the spring of 1987 and was elected to the board in February of the following year. In 1990, Steve was elected to serve as secretary of the Antique Classic Division of EAA. He served in that position for the next 29 years.

Let’s look back at the beginning of the Tall Pines Café. At the time of the Tall Pines’ inception, Butch Joyce was VAA president and Tom Poberezny was EAA president. Food vendors were scarce, and that was particularly true for the south end of the field, as there was not even one food vendor located on the south end in Vintage operations. The south end was not full of activity then as it is now! While there was some activity on the south end, it certainly did Many thanks to Steve for not rival the activity of our neighbors to the north, such as the Homebuilts, the his part in moving the EAA International Aerobatic Club, and the EAA Warbirds of America. Basically, Tall Pines Café forward to since most of the show exhibits and become the fine facility we activities were on the north part of the flightline, the food vendors were on the have today. north part of the flightline, leaving the attendees to the south without a convenient location for meals.

With Butch’s endorsement, VAA Director George Daubner was the person who pushed for VAA to open a restaurant on the south end of the field to serve our members and guests. As George recently told me, he was lobbying for “coffee, pancakes, and applesauce.” Anyway, George went to Tom and EAA Convention Administrator Peter Chapman, who were in total agreement as they both recognized the need for food service on the south end of the field. It was Tom who actually picked out the original location of the Tall Pines Café.

It was just south of its current location, nestled near a cluster of tall pine trees, hence (and obviously) the name Tall Pines Café.

Around 2002, then Antique Classic Director John Berendt volunteered to serve as the manager of Tall Pines. John retired after two years in this position after receiving a promotion in his “real” job at home that would require more of his time. Butch then asked Steve if he would take the position as CONTINUED ON PAGE 64

CONTACT US Mailing Address: VAA, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903 Website: EAAVintage.org Email: vintageaircraft@eaa.org Phone: 800-564-6322

Visit EAAVintage.org for the latest information and news.

Current EAA members may join the Vintage Aircraft Association and receive Vintage Airplane magazine for an additional $45/year.

EAA membership, Vintage Airplane magazine, and one-year membership in the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association are available for $55 per year (Sport Aviation magazine not included). (Add $7 for International Postage.)

Foreign Memberships Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars. Add required foreign postage amount for each membership.

Membership Service P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086 Monday–Friday, 8 AM—6 PM CST Join/Renew 800-564-6322 membership@eaa.org EAA AirVenture Oshkosh www.EAA.org/AirVenture 888-322-4636

EAAVintage.org

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Contents FE AT UR E S

6

Volunteers of the Year Mary Wendorf and Paula Gruizenga

14

Cruising the Line Sparky’s 2023 AirVenture notebook

By Sparky Barnes

32

Vintage EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2023 Photographs

44

Memories of the Past Johnny Etchison and the Arrow Sport

By Don Etchison

52

Just Like Haven Hunter Havener’s antique fleet

By Christina Marsh

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON

November/December 2023 / Vol. 51, No. 6

COLUM NS 01

Letter From the President

By Susan Dusenbury

04

Hall of Fame

05

Friends of the Red Barn

10

How To? Construct a wing rib fixture

By Robert G. Lock

12

Good Old Days

60

The Vintage Mechanic Teaching a Nation How to Fly – The Lon Cooper Story, Part 2

By Robert G. Lock

64

Classifieds

COV ER S Front EAA AirVenture 2023 featured the 75th anniversary of the Cessna 170. Here a smart-looking line-up graces the cover.

Photography by Chris Miller

Back Vintage airplanes as far as the eye can see. Just a very small sample of the 2023 EAA AirVenture Vintage area looking south.

Photography by Andrew Zaback

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).

EAAVintage.org

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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; their involvement in vintage aviation must have occurred

between 1950 and the present day. Their 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 their 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 P.O. Box 3086 Oshkosh, WI 54903 Email: alemke@eaa.org Find the nomination form at EAAVintage.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 is 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 their 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.

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November/December 2023

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 600,000 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

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT BROCK

affordable says it all. That’s where you can get the greatest “bang for your buck” in our world of vintage airplanes!

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, P.O. 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 2024!

EAAVintage.org

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Volunteers of the Year EAA Vintage Aircraft Association Volunteers of the Year

Mary Wendorf and Paula Gruizenga MARY WENDORF BEHIND-THE-SCENES VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR

Mary Wendorf began volunteering with the Vintage Aircraft Association 10 years ago. Her husband, Wayne, a longtime volunteer, encouraged her to attend work weekends, and Mary was hooked! She has had a few roles, including working in the volunteer kitchen and hospitality, but over the years she has found her role in the Vintage Red Barn Store, where she has been a co-chair for five years.

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November/December 2023

Mary is beloved by Vintage Red Barn Store customers, VAA members, and fellow volunteers. She has a knack of making work enjoyable and dedication look easy. She spends countless hours planning, prepping, and selling during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and then taking down the store after the event. The store is a hub for activity in the Vintage Village, and Mary is the heart of it. Her generous spirit, infectious sense of fun, and devotion to the VAA make her a most deserving volunteer of the year.

PAULA GRUIZENGA VINTAGE FLIGHTLINE VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR 2023

Paula Gruizenga’s journey to Oshkosh is a twopart story. She first attended the convention when she was only 1 or 2 years old. Around the time she was 8, Paula said her mom needed a break from taking care of four kids while her dad volunteered, and she didn’t return to Oshkosh until she was 16. “My mom and I came again to see what it was like. That year, I volunteered with my dad at Classic Point for several days. I was hooked!”

The next year she became more involved with volunteering, learning from her dad, who had been a manager at Classic Point for years. “I was able to learn much from him about what it took to run a point and how the flightline functioned. One year, Wheeler North and Bob Perkins took me out to work on Classic Intersection, one of the more active on the field, and I have been volunteering there ever since. It was fun, as I was both working at the intersection and learning how to identify aircraft. My dad also took the time to walk me around the vintage airplanes, pointing out special features, teaching me what to look for to identify them.

Wheeler and Bob would explain the concept of flying, their love for it, and encouraged me to pursue flying lessons.”

Paula said that when she started volunteering, she learned from the camaraderie at Classic Intersection, and then it became more about learning the duties and responsibilities of the intersection, followed by a gradual transition to running it. “I was eventually teaching other volunteers and watching their passion grow as they thrived and took over responsibilities of that area. That has been amazing to see and be a part of!”

Paula also is often seen in the right seat of the flightline chairman’s VW, serving as his right-hand assistant when not running Classic Intersection.

“I look forward to coming back every year. I love seeing the faces of people that I see only once a year. Getting together with my Oshkosh family is always an amazing part of being at Oshkosh. Working Classic Intersection, with busy situations and having to make immediate decisions, is where I thrive. Watching the pilots’ faces smile the first time they hold up their destination signs with the look that says, ‘Whew, we made it!’ and the joy of putting those smiles back on their faces brings me gratification.”

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“Dream It and Let Your Spirit Soar”

Pave the way for the future of aviation with the purchase of a custom commemorative brick to help fund the construction of the Vintage Aircraft Association’s Youth Center, opening in July of 2024.

Visit EAAVintage.org or call 920-426-6110 for more information.

12” x 12”

8

November/December 2023

4” x 8”

Up to 3 lines

Up to 2 lines

$300

$150

www.eaavintage.org

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How To? ROBERT G. LOCK

Construct a wing rib fixture

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

TO CONSTRUCT A WING rib, a holding fixture must be made. It is common to use a flat board, such as a piece of good pine board that may measure 1”x12”x72”. If no good flat pine wood can be found, then consider using some 3/4” plywood of the same dimensions. Hopefully, an example of an original wing rib is nearby; however, in some cases where there are no ribs available it will be necessary to loft a fullsize drawing of the rib outline. Coordinates for lofting a rib can be found in airfoil data books or from old NACA data. We won’t go into how to loft a wing rib at this time.

First, trace the outline of the rib and all its diagonal and vertical members. Then, cut out blanks to represent the spar dimensions. The spar blanks will be placed at the appropriate location in the wing rib. (Figure 1 and Figure 2).

The small wood blocks should be drilled in advance of gluing and nailing to the base wood to prevent splitting. The blocks will guide cap strips and truss members in their proper location.

Photo 1, scanned from the

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November/December 2023

ANC-19 book, shows a Boeing factory worker nailing up a model PT-13/ PT-17 wing rib. The plywood gussets are precut and are in bins at the top of the table. This speeds up fabrication time. I usually cut all the gussets and place them in small cardboard boxes numbered as to their location. The spar blanks are precisely located and glued to the base and they will accurately locate the vertical members on each side of the spar. If I anticipate difficulty sliding the spars through their respective openings, I will leave the vertical member on the rear side of the front spar and the front side of the rear spar out of the rib, slide the ribs on, then insert the two vertical members and glue in place. This makes for a good, accurate fit.

FIGURE 1

FIGURE 2

PHOTO 1 PHOTO 3

*not valid on clearance items*

PHOTO 2

Photo 2 shows a close-up of my Command-Aire rib fixture made from aluminum instead of wood. I once had plans to construct five airplanes, but struggled to build just one. The wing rib shown is an original factory part. Rather than use triangular or square plywood gussets, the factory chose to use long plywood gussets that bridged from one vertical upright to the next, also reinforcing the cap strips. It took a lot of mahogany plywood to make these and there was much waste, which in today’s market is costly. I remember the first sheet of 1/16”x4’x8’ aircraft-grade mahogany plywood cost me $20, but that was back in 1959.

Finally, back in the old days, my father, Leonard (Photo 3), who built most of the wing ribs, and I are assembling the right lower wing on the Command-Aire. The wing was assembled and then attached to the fuselage to assure proper fit.

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STC/PMA/OEM/ MINOR CHANGE REPLACEMENT/UPGRADE 2pt and 3pt OPTIONS

3 and 8 TON OPTIONS RANGES FROM 24” to 93”

EAAVintage.org

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Good Old Days

From the pages of what was ...

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

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November/December 2023

EAAVintage.org

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The field was full of Cessna 170s celebrating their 75th anniversary.

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November/December 2023

Cruising the Line - Sparky’s 2023 AirVenture notebook

Sparky’s 2023 AirVenture notebook STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY SPARKY BARNES

EAAVintage.org

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O

H, WHAT A WONDROUS WEEK! Despite a few hazy days and occasional storms, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh was resplendent in myriad ways. EAA celebrated “70 Years of Dreamers and Doers” this year, with an overwhelming attendance of approximately 677,000 visitors. That established yet another record, as did the number of showplanes: There were 1,497 registered in Vintage aircraft parking, and 134 seaplanes and amphibians. At least 125 Cessna 170s flew in to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first flight of the first production Cessna 170.

Intriguing aircraft were abundant in the Antique, Classic, and Contemporary fields, ranging from the diminutive Culver Cadet to the grand Lockheed Lodestar. There was a covey of airplanes showcasing the Continental A-40 engine, which included early Taylor Cubs, Piper Cubs, a Heath Parasol, and a Taylorcraft. This remarkable gathering of 10 aircraft was spearheaded by Mark Stewart of Georgia, in celebration of 90 years of general aviation powered by the first horizontally opposed, four-cylinder engine. Mark not only organized the gathering; he participated with his two A-40-powered Cubs.

To top it off, his 1936 Taylor J-2 Cub flew to the field with a rare Everel single-bladed propeller.

Love is in the

air!

Charlie’s Park behind the Vintage Hangar. VAA’s Susan Dusenbury presided, and at least 100 people joined their celebration.

The ever-popular and informative Vintage in Review sessions and displays were delightfully orchestrated by VAA Director Ray Johnson, with the stalwart help of his wife, Judy.

In a repeat performance this year, the Ladies for Liberty shared their joy by gracing visitors with their musical harmony.

Commanding a remarkable presence in the Vintage area were 24 Wacos, six Staggerwings, 10 Howard DGA-15Ps, and a goodly number of Fairchilds and Stinsons. Other aircraft included a 1926 Waco 9; 1937 de Havilland Thruxton Jackaroo; Howard DGA-6 Mister Mulligan (replica); 1932 NicholasBeazley NB-8G; 1946 Commonwealth Skyranger 185; and a 1939 J-3 Cub in its original black livery. So c’mon, let’s keep up the annual tradition and go cruise the flightline to learn more about the pilots and airplanes who made the journey to AirVenture this year!

Pancake 60th

lieved to be Photographer be

Steve Moyer

Another milestone was recognized and lauded in the Vintage area, as well — one that few people achieve in their lifetime. It was an endearing, sentimental celebration for Vintage Hall of Famer Bill Pancake and his wife, Saundra, of Keyser, West Virginia. Devoted to each other and to an aviation lifestyle ever since they met, the Pancakes celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows at Simply glowing on the flightline was NC445 62, a 1944 Beech D17S Sta ggerwing registered to Scott Hansen of Batavia , Illinois.

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November/December 2023

Cruising the Line - Sparky’s 2023 AirVenture notebook

t LCA 1941 Culver Cade

Clipper 1949 Piper PA -16

1941 CULVER CADET LCA

1949 PIPER PA-16 CLIPPER

Shining like a red beacon and nestled between the ends of two rows was Bob Eckberg’s Culver Cadet (N34776). Bob is from Dakota City, Iowa, and bought his Culver about a year and a half ago in Billings, Montana. It’s powered by an 85-hp Continental. “It had last flown in about 1984, and then it was rebuilt. The owner had it all ready to fly in 2016, but he got sick and never got to fly it,” shared Bob. “I saw it advertised online; it was sitting in an EAA chapter’s climate-controlled hangar when I bought it. I like it because it’s really unique.

You have to play with its retractable gear sometimes to get them to lock, but that’s the nature of the beast. It takes off about 45 mph, cruises around 117 mph, and burns a little less than 6 gph from its 20-gallon tank. This airplane lived in California in the 1970s and 1980s. It was built in February 1941, and Al Mooney signed the statement of conformity and also the application for airworthiness certificate. I plan to keep it and enjoy flying it.”

An eye-catching, laminated cover of the July 1949 issue of Skyways was clipped to this PA-16’s propeller. Remarkably, it featured a photograph of N5215H, and an accompanying article described the airplane as being the first Clipper on the West Coast. David Momquist and Robert Brokaw of Tulsa, Oklahoma, went together to purchase it about five years ago.

David learned to fly when he was going through aircraft mechanic school, and his first solo was in a Cessna 150 when he was 19.

An A&P/IA mechanic, David has worked in the aviation industry for more than 30 years, and owns Airelectric Inc., an FAA certified repair station at Riverside Airport. “We have a Cessna 150 at our shop for guys who work for me to learn to fly and maintain,” David said. “This Clipper was in pieces on the East Coast, near Hilton Head Island, when Robert and I bought it. We airlined out there and trailered it home. The fabric was done, but we had to put the wings on and put a new interior in it. We also updated the engine to an O-320 (STC) and did some other modifications, like changing the wheels and brakes.”

He logged seven hours of flight time from Tulsa to Oshkosh. “I only had to make one fuel stop,” David said, “because the engine mod took the header tank out, so it has two wing tanks for a total of 36 gallons.”

David used to own a Citabria and enjoys flying tailwheel airplanes. “You can go camping with them and fly just about anywhere you want to. It’s just fun, and having a vintage plane is an inexpensive way to get into aviation. We’ve got a Piper Aerostar, too, and Robert flew that to Oshkosh. So we’ll trade, and I get to fly the Aerostar home,” David said. “I’ve been here every year for the last 12 years, and there’s something special about Oshkosh, besides seeing all the airplanes — it’s the level

Jones d by Jody SR-8 owne ar II n W so d in rl o St is a the W NC69993 Oklahoma. It was l, -Up. of Stilwel Era Runner

EAAVintage.org

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of trust you find here. I can put my battery at a charging station and leave it there all day, and when I come back, it’s still there. There’s not too many places anywhere else you can do that! The people you meet at Oshkosh may be the best part, because every time you sit down for breakfast or lunch, there is someone new to talk to. It seems like everyone has a cool aviation story.”

1932 Waco UEC

1932 WACO UEC

15P Jobmaster

A1943 Howard DG

1943 HOWARD DGA-15P JOBMASTER Tyler and Dena Appleton of Evergreen, Colorado, bought N53H as a project about four and a half years ago. It was restored by Big Sky Stearman and finished about a year ago.

The Appletons debuted it at the Howard gathering at Siren, Wisconsin, just before flying it to AirVenture. “The Jobmaster conversion is basically for floats, which we do have,” Tyler said.

This 1935 Piper E-2 Cub (NC15009) was one of two A-40-powered Cubs that Mark Stewart of Georgia brought to AirVenture.

It’s been 16 years since John Swander of DeSoto, Kansas, has flown his award-winning Waco (NC12471) to Oshkosh.

“I’ve been wanting to come back for a long time; I used to be a judge here, but then ‘life just got in the way.’ I’m glad to be here again, because I get a lot of satisfaction from how much people enjoy seeing the Waco. There aren’t as many early Cabin Wacos as there are open-cockpit Wacos, and it’s nice to try and educate people about how Waco was placed in the aviation world. They were the leading manufacturer of airplanes up until World War II, building over 5,000 airplanes.

That was a lot more than Stinson or Howard or Beech built.

Especially interesting this year is to look at the OX-5-powered Waco 9 sitting here and compare it to this Cabin Waco, which was built only six years later — it’s light years in design difference!”

John tremendously enjoys both flying and sharing his Waco. “It’s a wonderful-flying airplane! It flies like a round-engine Cub, and I feel at ease in it,” he said. “There are 24 Wacos here, and most of them are really beautifully done ground-up restorations. I’ve been doing the antique thing since 1979, and most of the Cabins were ‘shave and a haircut’ back then — just a ‘re-cover and fly it.’ Replacing all the wood in a Cabin Waco is like double the build time of an open-cockpit airplane.”

A hands-on mechanic, John bought his Waco in November 1989 and finally flew it in October 1999. Midway through the project, he decided to speed up the process. “I ended up farming out the wings to Ed Sampson in Minnesota; he was a real craftsman, and at that time, he’d built over 40 sets of wings for Wacos, Monocoupes, and other airplanes. A good friend of mine, who was a world champion model airplane builder,

Cruising the Line - Sparky’s 2023 AirVenture notebook

did all the woodwork on the fuselage. I covered and painted the fuselage, landing gear, door, and empennage,” John said.

He’s flown his Waco more than 600 hours now. “My joy is sharing it with people,” he said. “I got my first ride in a Stinson Junior at Antique Airfield, and I was bitten by the bug. I had to have an old airplane with a radial engine. I’ve had the pleasure of giving over 400 people rides in this airplane. It’s been my gift to them, because this is a world that some people don’t know exists. I love sharing it with people that are not involved in this world, because it’s unique to ride in a biplane; there’s something magical about it. This world of antique aviation is a magical kingdom!”

1935 Taylor E-2

this airplane. He went through the engine for us as well, and it just purrs like a kitten,” Steve said. “It was about a threeyear project and was finished about five years ago. We’ve hardly flown it since then, and last year I decided we ought to figure out how to bring it to Oshkosh. So we trucked it to an airport about 60 miles from here, reassembled it, and flew it in here on Friday morning.”

The E-2 was designed by C.G. Taylor as an economical, everyday flyer and is easily identified by its square tail. “The E-2s first flew in 1931, and they all had this open cabin and sort of a semi-parasol wing. In 1936, Piper took over the operation and evolved the design to a J-2. The biggest differences are that the J-2’s fuselage comes up to meet the wing, the cabin is fully enclosed, and the tail is rounded. It’s kind of funny, when I first flew it I was kind of high on final one day, so I put a little slip in — but all that does is make a big crosswind right through the cabin!” Steve said and laughed. “I’ve flown a lot of different Cubs, and this is by far the most pure flying experience you’re ever going to get. Nothing happens very fast, but it’s just as gentle as can be and really is a delight to fly. You fly entirely by feel and sound, and I felt comfortable with it literally in just two minutes — it’s as easy as can be.

There are no brakes; it came equipped with a tailskid, but we operate it off a paved runway with a tail wheel. That’s all well and good right up until there’s any sort of wind, and then you’re kind of off sightseeing!”

Cub

ylor ylor, and Finley Ta

, Steve Ta (L-R): Shamus Black

1935 TAYLOR E-2 CUB Steve Taylor of Bellevue, Washington, was relaxing under the wing of NC15356 and flashed a telltale smile when asked what it was like to fly behind an A-40 engine. “It’s as much fun as you’re ever going to have! You obviously don’t want to fly it on a windy day, and you’re pretty restricted with what you can do with it, but the flying characteristics are just fantastic! It’s so light — it only weighs 593 pounds empty. So even though it’s only 37 hp, when you go to take off, you put the power in and the tail comes up before you’ve even started moving. The takeoff speed really feels like a brisk walking pace, and it just sort of levitates and off you go!”

This outstanding 1935 Taylor E-2 Cub was restored to resplendent airworthiness by Bob Johnson and was awarded the Antique Silver Age (1928-1936) Champion Bronze Lindy.

“Bob is a master mechanic who works for Gig Harbor Vintage Aero Museum just outside Seattle. Bob is the one who deserves accolades for his talented and skillful restoration of

Up close and personal — a colorful 1953 Twi n Beech, owned by Brian and Rachel Aukes of Huxley, Iowa.

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2

1958 Cessna 17

H 1942 Beech C-45

1958 CESSNA 172

1942 BEECH C-45H

Thirty-three-year-old Zach Schaeffer of Maplewood, Minnesota, started flying when he was 19. This year, he flew N4711C into Oshkosh for the first time. It was a nice transition from his 15-year role as ground support for other pilots flying in to AirVenture.

The airplane is a straight-tail Cessna 172, which “had a Bolen tail wheel conversion completed about 50 years ago,” Zach said. “I’m building time for my CFI, and I want to teach tailwheel flying in vintage airplanes. I love flying and being free; it’s fun being one with the machine! I got here Tuesday and have had a lot of fun meeting people here from the Dakotas, Texas, and Tennessee. It’s a great opportunity to network with folks.”

At 22, Ray Brown of Center Point, Indiana, has a string of letters trailing his name on his business card: CFI, CFI-I, MEI, and A&P. He also has a DC-3 type rating. Ray flew his family’s C-45H to Oshkosh again this year; last year, N213DE received the World War II Era Runner-Up award.

“I’ve been very fortunate; I grew up in aviation and took my first airplane ride when I was a month old. My parents actually owned a Bonanza before they owned a house, and we’ve still got that airplane. I grew up riding around in it, and then when I was about 10 years old, we bought this C-45. So I’ve grown up going to air shows in Indiana and Illinois. As I got older, I started taking lessons and getting my ratings,” Ray said, smiling. “My parents made me a deal — I could get my multiengine rating in the Twin Beech if I polished it entirely by myself! So I did that, and we’ve got a C-47 we keep going as well.”

He particularly enjoys AirVenture for two reasons. “One, it’s the community — meeting new people and making new friends, and hanging out with old friends,” Ray said. “Two, it’s obviously the airplanes — there’s nowhere else in the world that has such an amazing variety of airplanes. It’s just fascinating to me!”

Ray’s aviation aspirations are a bit different from most.

“My goal is to get into aerial firefighting. It’s a totally different kind of flying from anything else you do in aviation; you’ll never do the same thing twice in a day. You get to go and travel, and it’s a totally different flying environment,” Ray said.

“I like that aspect of it, and the biggest thing to me is that it’s a type of aviation that helps people.”

N3897P is a 1955 Pip er PA-18 Super Cub, out of White Bear Lake, Min nesota.

Cruising the Line - Sparky’s 2023 AirVenture notebook

A-15P 1940 Howard DG

1940 Stinson 10

1940 HOWARD DGA-15P

1940 STINSON 10

Kris and Mike Iverson of Lino Lakes, Minnesota, flew their Howard to the annual Howard gathering just prior to AirVenture. Then the Howards flew as a group to Oshkosh on Monday morning. Kris’ late father, Al Lund, bought NC22424 as a project in 1997, and its first flight after restoration was in 2003. Twenty years and 814 flight hours later, it still looks new.

Mike is a commercial pilot with single and multiengine land and sea, and instrument ratings, and has flown the Howard for about one-third of its hours. He’s also an A&P/IA mechanic. “I think this was the only civilian DGA-15 airplane to have a Wright engine on it from the factory. The early pictures of it show the Wright engine with its front exhaust and a different cowling, and it’s in the logbooks, too. It was purchased by Texaco Oil, and after they ran out the first engine, they put the Pratt & Whitney on it. The other Howard in the family, that Jim Lund has, is a consecutive serial number to this one,” Mike said. “A funny little piece of trivia is that this yellow Howard was owned by Texaco, and Jim’s red Howard was owned by Shell Oil — but according to company colors, ours should have been red and Jim’s yellow!”

Mike and Kris enjoy not only their Howard, but also the group of Howard owners. Kris is a private pilot with single-engine land and sea ratings. “I love the Howard’s cruising speed — about 160 mph — and its comfort. Also, that it can haul ‘everything!’ I love the range it has with 151 gallons of fuel,” Kris reflected. “My dad always said, ‘The Howard DGAs have classic good looks; they’re what an airplane should look like.’ It’s a joy and privilege to fly.”

Mike Samson flew NC31504 to Oshkosh from his home in Crescent City, Florida. He’s been an A&P mechanic and pilot since 1976 and made his first solo in an Aeronca Champ.

“I found this Stinson sitting on a remote airstrip in Scott Valley, California. It hadn’t flown in quite a few years, but I did fly it over the hills to my hangar in Oregon and started working on it in 1998. I rebuilt it from ‘stem to stern.’ I don’t do restorations; it’s too much for me,” Mike said. “I started flying it a lot about two years ago. We moved from southern Oregon to Florida, and I flew it out to Florida last year at this time. We’re on Thunderbird Airpark, which has a grass strip.”

It had been a while since Mike visited Oshkosh. “I flew here about 20 years ago, from where we lived in southern Oregon, once in a Bellanca Cruisair and once in an experimental Turner T-40,” Mike said. “Seeing all these cool planes — and there are so many of them here — is very impressive!”

ana, Hobar t, Indi ctive stin Click of tra Ju at to an s ed er ha S) Regist CF (NC2091 me.

Q o ac W int sche this 1931 scalloped pa

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0A

1951 Cessna 17

1937 Waco YKS-7

1951 CESSNA 170A

1937 WACO YKS-7

Chuck Miller of Hillsboro, Texas, purchased N3443D in early March. It’s his second 170; he wanted another one because his wife, Anna, loves it. “The 170 association in Texas is very active; we go to some kind of fly-in or do some kind of fly-out every month. My wife and I really enjoy it, and our group has a lot of older folks like us, so we need some young blood in there!” Chuck said and smiled. “This airplane was done by Bob Jolly in Texas, and I’ve known him a long time.

He did most all of the mods to it, including installing a 210hp Continental IO-360, which makes it a true four-place airplane. The aux tank holds 18 gallons, which gives you about 48 total usable, and it burns about 9.5 gph while cruising about 130 mph.”

Chuck joined the Air Force in 1969 and soloed in a T-37; nearly all of his light airplane time has been in tailwheel airplanes. He was thrilled to fly to Oshkosh and join the great number of 170s celebrating their 75th anniversary. “Oshkosh is just an awesome experience! I’d wanted to come up here for 50 years while I was farming in central Texas, but you don’t leave town on payday!” Chuck said and laughed. “My son is taking over the farm, and he’s back home shelling corn right now.”

Tom Eggert of Woodbury, Minnesota, has owned NC17453 so long that it’s become a member of his family. Many years ago, a Taylorcraft spurred his interest in antique airplanes. “I flew my Taylorcraft to Blakesburg when I was 22, where I discovered these Cabin Wacos. That was in 1988, when the Bowdens had just restored an EQC-6, which made its debut there. I think I decided right then that I had to have a Cabin Waco,” Tom said. “In 1997, my wife, Yvonne, and I flew our Taylorcraft to the Bartlesville fly-in and met the couple that owned this Waco and became good friends with them. Later, he wasn’t flying it, so I had the opportunity to buy it. I’m the only one who’s flown it since 1999.”

This year, his youngest daughter, Laura, accompanied him to AirVenture, and they both enjoyed camping in the Vintage area. Tom and his family have used the Waco as their main transportation for numerous trips, and he’s put more than 500 hours on it. “I’ve looked out this Waco’s windows at the Pacific Ocean and much of the country between there and the Atlantic Ocean! The 275-hp Jacobs R-755B2 has had some cylinder maintenance but still runs beautifully,” Tom said.

“It’s a great family hauler and an enjoyable airplane to fly because the controls are very well-balanced.”

He redid all the wiring when he installed ADS-B, so the YKS-7 has modern capability while retaining much of its authentic appearance. The biplane has an original Waco paint scheme, as well. “When this airplane was new, it was Berrychrome Beech Blue, where it’s now Beaumont Blue, and the Nevada Silver striping was Diana Cream with the same Fokker Red trim,” Tom said. “According to the Waco sales order 203, it was ordered in November 1936 by the Waco distributor of New York as a showplane for the National Aviation Show [a 10-day exhibit held in January 1937 at the Grand

“This world of antique aviation is a magical kingdom!”

— John Swander, W Waco UEC

Cruising the Line - Sparky’s 2023 AirVenture notebook

Central Palace in Manhattan]. I have early photographs of it at the factory and at Long Island Country Club in 1937; apparently it was in Life magazine. It’s the second YKS-7 built, but the first one was lost in an accident shortly after it was made, so this is the oldest 1937 model.”

out with the B-17 Yankee Lady. It’s one of three still flying and giving rides, and I got involved with it back in 2018 when my dad was brought on as a pilot. It’s definitely been one of the more rewarding experiences, getting to meet different people from all around the country who have experiences in similar types of airplanes,” Jack said. “Vintage flying is honest flying, but owning a vintage aircraft is more than just drilling holes in the sky. Whether it’s a B-17, a Swift, or even the humble Cub, each vintage aircraft is a living, clicking-and-ticking work of mechanical art. And, as a vintage caretaker, it’s our duty to keep these aircraft out of the museums and in the air, not only for our own enjoyment, but to pass on the importance of living aviation heritage to the next in line.”

1B Swift 1946 Globe GC-

1946 GLOBE GC-1B SWIFT Jack Albright of Richmond, Indiana, has owned N80986 for about a year and a half. At 22, he’s one of the more youthful Swift owners. “I became interested in Swifts when I first saw one about three years ago. It was the nicest-looking airplane I’d ever seen, and I said, ‘I will own one!’ I couldn’t resist it. I got this one out of a little airpark near Denver, and it’s just fun to fly! It has a Continental O-300A, and ‘smiles per gallon’ is how I view it. When I got it, I was a little skeptical of how hard it would be to find parts for a vintage airplane, but it’s been great because I’ve only had to do a handful of very minor things to it,” Jack said. “It’s easy to fly, and easy to take off and land — when you get used to it! But at the same time, it’s going to keep you on your toes.”

He comes from an aviation family; his parents and grandparents are pilots. Jack had his first flying lesson in a Champ at age 16 and a half. When he was 18 and a senior in high school, his interest in flying piqued. “I have my private, commercial, instrument — all the way up to CFI-I. I’ve already got the airline class date coming up,” Jack said.

This was his first time flying into Oshkosh. “I flew in to Appleton last year, just to get kind of an idea of how it works.

I like hanging out and getting to enjoy the people that are around here. I’m also spending time up at Appleton, helping

This de Hav illand Beav er at the seap lane base an (N10349) was anchor ed d is register Aviation Se ed to Marsh rvices Inc. all of Elkhar t, Indiana.

ned several ys DC-3 Liberty joi The Legend Air wa ld this year. fie the on e typ others of its

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azley NB-8G 1932 Nicholas-Be Cam Blazer d an ok Victor Co (L-R)

1932 NICHOLAS-BEAZLEY NB-8G This rare parasol airplane with folding wings was an attention-grabber all week. It’s largely the fruit of Cam Blazer’s and Victor Cook’s restoration labors — which included hand-carving the propeller. They brought the airplane to AirVenture and assembled it for display on-site. The NB-8G was built in Marshall, Missouri, at the NicholasBeazley aircraft factory. That company is a story in itself; in a nutshell, it was the aircraft supply company of its era, replete with detailed and illustrated catalogs. “Nicholas was a World War I aircraft mechanic for the Marines at Great Lakes Naval Air Station, and after the war, he saw an ad for Jenny propellers for 50 cents apiece. He bought 50 and sold them for $3 each to barnstormers. Then he bought 100 more for $1 each and sold them for $6 each. While doing that, he learned of all the surplus engines, fabric, wood, bolts, turn-buckles — everything it takes to build an airplane from m Curtiss-Wright and Standard — and began stocking and sell-ing those,” Cam said.

Russell Nicholas and Howard Beazley’s aviation companyy began thriving in the early 1920s. “It’s just remarkable whatt they had, and they were supplying the barnstormers.

Nicholas-Beazley would guarantee if they received an order by noon, it would be on a train headed towards the customer that night. In the late 1920s, Nicholas hired Walter Barling, who had designed the Barling Bomber for World War I,” Cam said. “Barling had designed a corrugated aluminum wing, which was used on the [Barling] Nicholas-Beazley NB-3.

They set a bunch of records with it. Later, they got Tom Kirkup to design this NB-8G, and used the 80-hp, five-cylinder Armstrong Siddeley Genet radial engine. The Genet is booster-mag started, which was the predecessor to the electric starter.”

NC12518 spent the first six months of its life in Marshall, and then it went to Eugene, Oregon, and later to Northern California. Cam found it on the FAA Registry when it was owned by Lane Leonard at Cable Airport down by Los Angeles. “It took about 10 years of negotiations before I finally was able to buy the airplane. We brought it home from California in early September 2007. It’s been an ongoing project since then, and Victor Cook has worked on it tirelessly for 13 years,” Cam said. “The two of us did it almost all by ourselves; we had a little bit of welding help from one of our chapter members, Marvin Story. Our friend Dick Hardzler, an old TWA mechanic on the Constellation, did a marvelous job on the Genet.”

They used the Poly Fiber covering process, and most of the instruments came with the project. Thanks to Cam’s son, Chip Blazer, and his online sleuthing skills, they were able to obtain the sole surviving canopy from Ralph Cobb in Nicholasville, Kentucky, which they carefully replicated.

Eighty-six-year-young Cam summed up the Nicholas-Beazley project with a smile and succinctly stated, “It’s been fun!”

Cam is a board member of the Nicholas-Beazley Aviation Museum, which has a great display of the entire history of this pioneering company and is handily located at the Marshall Memorial Municipal Airport (KMHL).

Harry Holmberg of Stil lwater, Minnesota, own 1946 Bellanca 14-13 s this Franklin-powered Cruisair Senior (NC867 19). Restored by its pre Richard Klepperich, vious owner, it won the Reserve Gra nd Champion Silver Lind y award.

0N) 140 (NC235 hed Cessna 40.

A highly polis of the South

in the far reac

hes

Cruising the Line - Sparky’s 2023 AirVenture notebook Now, at 19, he has already logged about 600 hours flying his Ercoupe. “I got my private and commercial in it, and my dad just got his license last October in this airplane,” Lawson said. “This is my second year having the airplane at Oshkosh.

The community here is great, with people coming up and talking to you. There’s a lot of past Ercoupe owners that come by, and I can relate to them; it’s been great!”

5C 1946 Ercoupe 41

1946 ERCOUPE 415C Lawson Laslo bases N2005H at Sundance, Oklahoma. He’s owned the airplane for about five years, and it started out as A large gathering of Howard DGA -15Ps made a color ful presentatio a barn find. “We did a restoration on it; the guy we bought it n! from was a mechanic, so he did more of the airframe work, and we did the cosmetic painting and polishing work. It took about half a year to get it airworthy, and then another year of working on numerous items we found along the way. We upgraded to a 100-hp O-200, so it has a little more power than most Ercoupes,” Lawson said. “The military scheme is what it came with, and “Where are those bums?”

I always kind of wanted a warbird, so Qantas air stewardesses it kind of fit that bill. I call it the War Ethel Barlow and Louise Bug! It was owned by EAA Warbirds Hankin, jilted on the very President William Harrison up in tarmac at Brisbane by Tulsa; he owned the B-17 Aluminum the philandering flight Overcast. Then I believe this airplane crew who got off the plane before they did and ran into the hangar went to Texas, and then back up to to avoid them. They had no intention of keeping those in-flight Seminole, Oklahoma, which is where promises given solely to make time with the girls. They’ll be it sat for about 10 years.”

Lawson was drawn to aviation by back in the air in an hour, on their way to Darwin with another happenstance. “One day we were just pair of stewardesses. hiking along a lakeshore, which was right by Wiley Post Airport, and I saw Sure, it’s an age-old ploy and it hurt only the girls’ egos, right? airplanes flying overhead. That just But the girls filed a complaint, and the boys were soon hauling kind of got me hooked right there,” he sheep carcasses to a disposal site. Of course that doesn’t happen said, “and then I started going out to nowadays … does it? the airport and meeting people, and they’d take me for flights.”

Stood-up Stews!

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0 1946 Cessna 14

r and An (L-R) Alan Schluete

drew Lindsey

5

alth Skyranger 18 1946 Commonwe

1946 CESSNA 140

1946 COMMONWEALTH SKYRANGER 185

Twenty-five-year-old Andrew Lindsey was happy to fly N89523 from his home in Duluth, Minnesota, into Oshkosh for the first time. His friend, 20-year-old Alan Schlueter of northwest Wisconsin, is a student pilot and accompanied him; it was his first visit to AirVenture as well.

“My brother and I have owned this airplane since July 2022, and I started learning to fly in January 2021. I got my tailwheel endorsement in a Cessna 170, and I have about 70 hours in this 140,” Andrew said. “Vintage flying is affordable, and it’s a good entry into aviation. I like the simplicity of the vintage aircraft; some don’t have flaps and that adds a challenge for landing, and it teaches you the good old basics of flying. A lot of these aircraft have simple instruments; they don’t have the advanced avionics. And you have to calculate things like weight and balance, because a 140 is not made to carry your whole family. It’s just a fun plane, and a nice, forgiving taildragger — it’s a blast to fly! It’s economical, and it looks cool. We were the last ones to fly in Thursday night, which I think is fitting because it cruises at a nice slow speed, but it got us here just in time!”

Karl Rauch of Fredericksburg, Virginia, came into vintage aviation in a nontraditional way. He learned to fly in the Navy, and in 2008, he flew an F-18 to Oshkosh for his very first time at AirVenture.

“When I was growing up, my dad was a military pilot and my uncle was a crop duster. One of my first memories was flying in the back of a Super Cub with my uncle, and I loved it. I didn’t get into general aviation until about 10 years ago,” Karl said. “My dad had a Bonanza, and my brother had a Cessna 152, so that’s how I started getting into it. I bought a 170 and had that for a while, then I had a 1957 Bonanza and gave it a new instrument panel and new engine, and sold it. In 2015, I finally convinced my dad and brother to come to Oshkosh, so we loaded up my dad’s Bonanza and flew out here. They loved it, and we’ve been coming every year since then. The big thing about Oshkosh is the airplanes — but really, it’s the people you see and meet and get to hang out with.”

This year, he flew his Skyranger and was the lead plane for a group of five coming in from Ripon. Karl has owned NC92833 only since September 2022, when he saw it advertised on Barnstormers. “I was looking for a fun little two-place taildragger, and this had control sticks and side-by-side seating, which I love. Plus, it has a Continental 85 motor in it, and the airplane is very unique, so it really appealed to me. It also has an electrical system, and I liked that as well, because I didn’t want an airplane I had to hand-prop,” Karl said.

“Commonwealth Aircraft built 275 of this model after World War II. This is serial No. 1,629, and it has 852 hours’ total time.

It sat from 1973 until its first flight after restoration in 2004.

Most of the serious rebuilding work took place beginning in

A handsome group of Beech Staggerwin

26

November/Decem November/December mbe 2023 2

gs on the flightline!

Cruising the Line - Sparky’s 2023 AirVenture notebook

2001, and they made that first flight 50 years to the day that it came out of the factory.”

To Karl’s surprise and delight, NC92833 was awarded the Classic Class I (0-85 hp) Bronze Lindy, for which he credits Chuck Stottlemyer of Indiana. “He was the one who really got it back in the sky and made it what it is today,” Karl said.

“It carries 12 gallons in each wing tank, so I plan for three hours,” he added. “It originally had a Flottorp controllable propeller, and there’s still a small hole on the instrument panel where the prop control was. But they removed the Flottorp because they couldn’t get anybody to service it and put a McCauley metal prop on instead.”

The Skyranger panel is eye-catching and rather different from other airplanes of its era. On the pilot side, a large tachometer is neatly surrounded in a combined faceplate with oil temperature, oil pressure, amps, and fuel gauges. The center portion of the panel has the airspeed, compass, altimeter, ignition switches, ashtray, and the navigation/instrument light switches. A Grimes retractable landing light is in the left wing, operated by a switch on the lower portion of the panel.

A large glove box on the passenger side of the panel neatly conceals modern-day avionics (the airplane is based inside the Dulles Mode C veil): a Garmin GTR 225 and Garmin GTX 335 ADS-B transponder.

Now 53, Karl flies an Airbus A320.

“When I say fly the Airbus, I sort of just tell it where to go,” he said and laughed.

“I just love general aviation, and I really enjoy the old-school stick-andrudder flying. There’s not even a slip/ skid indicator in this airplane — it’s just seat of the pants. I use my phone for navigation, and it’s really fun because I just look out the window and fly the airplane — it’s a blast!”

N26053 belongs to Donald E. Duck of Edwardsburg, Michi 1939 Piper J-3 Cub gan. This was finished in the Airship Squadron awarded the Antiqu livery and was e Customized Aircra ft Runner-Up.

Back in the 1930s, pilot Jimmy Matt ern flew this 1934 Waco UKC (N13897) the Pure Oil Co. Powered by a Contfor nental R-670, it cruises at 128 mph ilands at 50 mph. It has a fuel capaand of 50 gallons and a range of 500 city miles.

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1926 Waco 9

2

1957 Cessna 17

1926 WACO 9

1957 CESSNA 172

Andrew King of Vienna, Virginia, flew this OX-5-powered Waco 9 (N2668) to AirVenture from Brodhead, Wisconsin.

“The restoration was started by Bob Howie in Indiana. He had a new fuselage built and had the wood in the wings replaced. After he died, Walt Bowe bought the project, sent it to Brodhead, and hired Chris Price and Jay Berendes to finish it. Ted Davis also did some work on it,” Andrew shared.

“It first flew after restoration a couple of weeks before Oshkosh. When I got to Brodhead, it had flown less than two hours. I put about another three hours on it, and then on Sunday flew it to Hartford, Wisconsin. On Monday morning, I flew it into AirVenture, landing on the Ultralight strip because of the tailskid.”

This beautifully restored antique drew the admiration of numerous visitors who strolled along the flightline and was awarded the Golden Age (1918-1927) Champion Bronze Lindy.

Pat Harker of Forest Lake, Minnesota, restored this highly polished 172 (N8357B) and finished it in an original paint scheme. Pat enjoyed sharing details about its restoration with numerous admirers. His 172 was featured at the Bill and Myrt Rose Park all week and was highlighted in Ray Johnson’s Vintage in Review circle. N8357B was awarded the Contemporary Grand Champion Gold Lindy.

shire, enjoys flying his Meyers John Ricciotti of Barrington, New Hamp 145 (N190E) with its Aeromatic prop.

Brian and Rachel Au

kes of Huxley, Iow a, own this 1953 Bee ch D18S (NC411J).

Cruising the Line - Sparky’s 2023 AirVenture notebook

“It just sort of levitates and off you go!”

— Steve Taylor, T Taylor E-2 Cub

5 1948 Cessna 19 Barron

n an (L-R) Dillon Barro

d Mike

1948 CESSNA 195 Dillon Barron and his father, Mike, restored this Cessna 195 at their home base in Perry, Missouri. The project took thousands of hours to complete, and included using new old stock and original components that Mike had collected for nearly three decades. The Barrons have completed multiple restorations through the years, and Dillon commented that NC4312N “is an example of originality like we have never done!” Their intense devotion to immaculate detail was rewarded when N4312N received the Classic Grand Champion Gold Lindy.

N883R was decorated for a birthday celebra tion! This 1960 Beech M35 Bon anza is registered to Megan Volpe of Redondo Bea ch, California.

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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 This 1941 Taylorcraft has a 65-hp Continental and belongs to Austin and George Bassett of South Bend, Indiana. It cruises at 90 mph and lands at 45 mph.

PA-22 aircraft. Includes brackets for Wide- or Narrow-deck engines ... with NO change of oil cooler location required!

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b 1939 Piper J-3 Cu

is, owns this of Wheaton, Illino ca Joseph Dougherty wered 1940 Aeron -po ing om Lyc nice-looking 65-hp 65-LB (N31483).

1939 PIPER J-3 CUB It was a great week for seeing old friends and making new ones! Twenty-one-year-old Aubrey Clark flew fellow North Carolinians Dee and Cynthia Bradford’s Cub solo to Oshkosh.

Accomplished seaplane pilot and author Mary Build of Maine happened by, and they enjoyed the opportunity to talk all things aviation. NC23438 was recently restored by Steve Yancey of Huntersville, North Carolina, in its original factory color scheme. It was featured on display at Bill and Myrt Rose Park and received the Bronze Age Outstanding ClosedCockpit Monoplane award.

) is C45896 e 8A (N , Missouri. b m o sc 1946 Lu t. Peters -looking y Stegman of S This nice thon n A to d registere

C 1948 Aeronca 7D

Champ

1948 AERONCA 7DC CHAMP Tuggin Long of Smithville, Missouri, was happy to be camping alongside his eye-catching Champ this year and was thrilled when the Classic Custom Class A (0-85 hp) award was given to his Aeronca 7DC (NC4529E).

NC19360 is owned by David Satin a of Norton, Ohio.

A 1938 Waco ZGC-8, it received the Antique Bronze Age Outstanding Closed-Cockpit award.

Cruising the Line - Sparky’s 2023 AirVenture notebook

Rex Ott of Burlington, Iowa, owns this 1955 Morrisey 2000C (N58789, serial No. 1A). It’s powered by a 90-hp Continental and received the Classic Outstanding Limited Production award.

place pular gathering se Park was a po Bill and Myrt Ro . ek we the t throughou

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November/December 2023

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EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2023

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MILLER

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MILLER

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW ZABACK

ANTIQUE AWARDS 2023 WORLD WAR II MILITARY TRAINER/ LIASON AIRCRAFT RUNNER-UP JAMES HAMMOND N49795 1941 FAIRCHILD PT-19

TRANSPORT CATEGORY RUNNER-UP TRANSPORT CATEGORY ANDREW KIEST N1940S 1941 LOCKHEED LODESTAR CUSTOMIZED AIRCRAFT RUNNER-UP CUSTOMIZED AIRCRAFT DONALD DUCK N26053 1939 PIPER J3 C-65 WORLD WAR II ERA OUTSTANDING CLOSED COCKPIT MONOPLANE WW II ERA (1942-1945) STEVE AMBROSICH N47283 1943 TAYLORCRAFT L2M WORLD WAR II ERA RUNNER-UP WW II ERA (1942-1945) JODY JONES N69993 1943 STINSON SR-8 BRONZE AGE OUTSTANDING CLOSED COCKPIT MONOPLANE BRONZE AGE (1937-1941) AUBREY CLARK NC23438 1939 PIPER J3 BRONZE AGE OUTSTANDING CLOSED COCKPIT BIPLANE BRONZE AGE (1937-1941) DAVID SATINA NC19360 1938 WACO ZGC-8 BRONZE AGE OUTSTANDING OPEN COCKPIT BIPLANE BRONZE AGE (1937-1941) DAVID DAY N52573 1942 STEARMAN BT17 PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW ZABACK PHOTOGRAPHY BY BERNIE KOSZEWA

BRONZE AGE RUNNER-UP BRONZE AGE (1937-1941) DONALD WADE N22986 1939 PIPER J3 F-50 SILVER AGE OUTSTANDING CLOSED COCKPIT MONOPLANE SILVER AGE (1928-1936) PAUL ISAKSON NC17253 1936 TAYLORCRAFT J2 SILVER AGE OUTSTANDING OPEN COCKPIT BIPLANE SILVER AGE (1928-1936) WARREN CALDWELL NC13444 1933 WACO UBF-2 SILVER AGE RUNNER-UP SILVER AGE (1928-1936) PAUL KRELLA NC12430 1932 WACO UBF-3 WORLD WAR II MILITARY TRAINER/LIASON AIRCRAFT CHAMPION BRONZE LINDY ROBERT SWINT N63806 1942 BOEING A75N1 TRANSPORT CATEGORY CHAMPION BRONZE LINDY TED DAVIS N9193 1923 NEW STANDARD CUSTOMIZED AIRCRAFT CHAMPION BRONZE LINDY WARREN CALDWELL NC13571 1934 WACO UMF-3 WORLD WAR II ERA (1942-1945) CHAMPION BRONZE LINDY SCOTT ROZZELL N66143 1941 FAIRCHILD 24W

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRITTANY ELISE

BRONZE AGE (1937-1941) CHAMPION BRONZE LINDY SCOTT TAYLOR N32053 1941 WACO UPF-7 SILVER AGE (1928-1936) CHAMPION BRONZE LINDY STEPHEN TAYLOR NC15356 1935 TAYLORCRAFT E-2 GOLDEN AGE (1918-1927) CHAMPION BRONZE LINDY ANDREW KING N2668 1940 WACO 9 ANTIQUE RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION SILVER LINDY BENJAMIN REDMAN N18424 1937 STINSON SR9-FM ANTIQUE GRAND CHAMPION GOLD LINDY ROGER JAMES NC14139 1934 WACO YKC

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY BEN MILLER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT BROCK

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW ZABACK

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT BROCK

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MILLER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ED HICKS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOLLY CHILSEN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CRAIG VANDER KOLK

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MILLER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BAILEY NOEL

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEWIS BERGHOFF

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE SWARTZ

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MILLER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEWIS BERGHOFF PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MILLER

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CLASSIC AWARDS 2023 OUTSTANDING AERONCA CHAMP PLAQUES (SMALL) PHILIP PRESTON N81986 1946 AERONCA 7AC OUTSTANDING CESSNA 120/140 PLAQUES (SMALL) STEPHANIE TRIESENBERG N9477A 1949 CESSNA 140 OUTSTANDING CESSNA 170 PLAQUES (SMALL) COLIN BUTTERFIELD N4112V 1948 CESSNA 170 OUTSTANDING CESSNA 190/195 PLAQUES (SMALL) DAVID PFISTER N127GM 1949 CESSNA 195 OUTSTANDING LUSCOMBE PLAQUES (SMALL) SCOTT MISTYSYN N2340K 1947 LUSCOMBE 8A OUTSTANDING PIPER OTHER PLAQUES (SMALL) DAVID TULIS N3328A 1953 PIPER PA-22 OUTSTANDING STINSON PLAQUES (SMALL) GARY SHENK N108RD 1948 STINSON 108 PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT BROCK

OUTSTANDING LIMITED PRODUCTION PLAQUES (SMALL) REX OTT N58789 1955 MORRISEY 2000C PRESERVATION PLAQUES (SMALL) SHANE ORR N4062N 1947 CESSNA 140 CUSTOM CLASS A (0-85 HP) PLAQUES (SMALL) TUGGIN LONG N4529E 1948 AERONCA 7DC CUSTOM CLASS B (86-150 HP) PLAQUES (SMALL) HAYDEN NEWHOUSE N1368A 1951 PIPER PA-18 CUSTOM CLASS C (151-235 HP) PLAQUES (SMALL) MICHAEL MARCO N170DM 1952 CESSNA 170 CUSTOM CLASS D (236 - UP HP) PLAQUES (SMALL) STEPHEN HOWARD N1904 1951 BEECH C35 BEST CUSTOMIZED RUNNER-UP PLAQUES (LARGE) THOMAS SWIGART N419AK 1951 PIPER PA-18

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MILLER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MILLER

CLASS I (0-85 HP) BRONZE LINDY KARL RAUCH NC92833 1946 COMMONWEALTH SKYRANGER 185 CLASS II (86-150 HP) BRONZE LINDY KEN MORRIS N5669C 1950 CESSNA 140A CLASS III (151-235 HP) BRONZE LINDY TONY BOREN N113SC 1952 PIPER PA-18 CHAMPION CUSTOMIZED CLASSIC BRONZE LINDY JARED STORM N1894A 1952 PIPER PA-18 RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION SILVER LINDY HAROLD HOLMBERG NC86719 1946 BELLANCA 14-13 GRAND CHAMPION GOLD LINDY DILLON/MIKE BARRON N4312N 1948 CESSNA 195

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM KOEPNICK PHOTOGRAPHY BY TANDESS O’NEAL

PHOTOGRAPHY BY RYAN MARX

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW ZABACK

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY TANDESS O’NEAL

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AJ RICCOBONO

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURIE GOOSSENS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY RYAN MARX

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MILLER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MILLER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AL SAUER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEWIS BERGHOFF

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOLLY CHILSEN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW ZABACK

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW ZABACK

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CONTEMPORARY AWARDS 2023 OUTSTANDING BEECH SINGLE ENGINE OUTSTANDING IN TYPE WILLIAM STENGL N334WS 1966 BEECH C33-A OUTSTANDING BEECH MULTI-ENGINE OUTSTANDING IN TYPE MARTIN GOMEZ N1421G 1962 BEECH D50 OUTSTANDING CESSNA 150 OUTSTANDING IN TYPE MIKE GEORGE N1058M 1969 CESSNA 150 OUTSTANDING CESSNA 170/172/175/177 OUTSTANDING IN TYPE JOEL DOPSON N2172 1956 CESSNA 172 OUTSTANDING CESSNA 180/182/185/210 OUTSTANDING IN TYPE SARAH ACIEGO N145JK 1965 CESSNA 180 PHOTOGRAPHY BY RYAN MARX

OUTSTANDING CHAMPION OUTSTANDING IN TYPE ZACHARY QUAMME N9899B 1957 AERONCA 7FC OUTSTANDING MOONEY OUTSTANDING IN TYPE RICHARD BROWN N1015E 1965 MOONEY M20 OUTSTANDING PIPER PA-22 TRI-PACER OUTSTANDING IN TYPE MARK HOLTON N3320Z 1960 PIPER PA-22 OUTSTANDING PIPER PA-24 COMANCHE OUTSTANDING IN TYPE ROBERT SPICUZZA N5091P 1958 PIPER PA-24 OUTSTANDING PIPER PA-32 CHEROKEE OUTSTANDING IN TYPE STEVEN SETTLEMYRE N3629W 1966 PIPER PA-32 OUTSTANDING PIPER PA-30 TWIN COMANCHE OUTSTANDING IN TYPE DAN BERGERON N67TX 1966 PIPER PA-30 OUTSTANDING LIMITED PRODUCTION OUTSTANDING IN TYPE AUDREY HART N799CE 1968 AERO COMMANDER 500S BEST CONTINUOUSLY MAINTAINED OUTSTANDING IN TYPE AARON ROBSON N8236T 1961 CESSNA 175

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PHIL HIGH

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURIE GOOSSENS

PRESERVATION AWARD OUTSTANDING IN TYPE VICTOR SOBRADO N4948D 1958 CESSNA 182A CLASS III SINGLE ENGINE (231 - UP HP) BRONZE LINDY JAMES MCMASTER II N3359W 1965 PIPER PA-32-260 OUTSTANDING CUSTOMIZED BRONZE LINDY KEVIN USSELMAN CFXDQ 1968 CESSNA 172 RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION CUSTOMIZED SILVER LINDY MICHAEL HANEY N8352S 1965 CESSNA 182 GRAND CHAMPION CUSTOMIZED GOLD LINDY ADRIAN EICHHORN N1733G 1962 BEECH 35 GRAND CHAMPION GOLD LINDY JAMES HARKER N8357B 1957 CESSNA 172

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Memories Past OF THE

Johnny Etchison and the Arrow Sport

BY DON ETCHISON, EAA 1262547 / VAA 727670

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IN HUMAN LIFE, nothing great or meaningful is accomplished without a degree of passion or determination.

The reason for this is as varied as the people who have it. Obsession, passion, and determination provide the seeds for accomplishment. In the 1930s as a young man, my father, John A. Etchison (JAE), or Johnny, as he was called, had a dream that led him to leave the life he was living and to become a pilot and airplane owner.

The oldest son of a successful veterinarian in rural southern Illinois, Johnny learned the meaning of hard work and sacrifice to make ends meet during the Great Depression years, from 1929 into the 1930s. As with many young people who experienced the Great Depression, he did not want to spend his life being poor. He had seen enough poverty, with hobos riding on train cars and beggars coming to the back door for a handout. He had helped his father deliver calves in the middle of a winter night only to be paid with eggs and vegetables in return, as the farmers had no money.

After high school, Johnny and his brother Lindsey made money by owning a bicycle shop and then a dirt car racetrack. Within a couple of years, he became a mechanic, or “grease monkey,” working at a local gasoline station. My dad liked working on engines and machines and was so enamored with all the exciting aviation developments that were making headlines: the advent of passenger airlines and the dramatic and exciting aviation accomplishments of Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Will Rogers, Wiley Post, and others.

At the age of 23, Johnny decided he was going to become a pilot. For a young man in a small town in rural Illinois, this was an outlandish notion.

But a young man with a dream is hard to stop. In 1938, he packed his Ford sedan and headed to California to learn to fly. On the way, he stopped in Yellowstone Park and drove an open touring car for tourists to make some money. This was his first experience in the mountains and away from home,

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF DON ETCHISON

and he loved the adventure.

From reading newspapers, watching movies, and listening to radio news, he knew the most glamorous and best-known airport in the county was the Metropolitan Airport (Van Nuys) outside of Los Angeles. So this was his destination.

Hollywood movie stars flew out of that airport, as well as famous pilots like Hughes and Earhart, and many movies featuring flying were being made there. In early 1939, he arrived in Los Angeles. It had been a 2,000-mile trip, but now that he was in California, he would have to find a way to make money, pay rent and living expenses, and then have enough to learn to fly.

Soon he got a job as a service attendant at a Union Oil 76 gasoline station near the Van Nuys airport. He worked there for several months while going to the airport to watch airplanes and to get acquainted with the pilots. Two of his first friends at the airport were young pilots, Ray Schey and Harold Hutt. Ray became Johnny’s lifelong friend and a short-term business partner. Harold worked at Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica and owned his own airplane, which was a sleek, two-seat, side-by-side low-wing monoplane called an Arrow Sport F. It was Harold who took Johnny up on his first airplane flight in his Arrow, NC17023, in March 1939. In a matter of days, Johnny sold his car and used the money for a down payment on an airplane.

At the age of 23, Johnny decided he was going to become a pilot. For a young man in a small town in rural Illinois, this was an outlandish notion. But a young man with a dream is hard to stop.

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The airplane he purchased was just like Harold’s, an Arrow Sport F. It was NC18019, serial No. 31, a used airplane probably made in 1936. The Arrow had a sporty look and offered a new design of an open-cockpit monoplane with side-by-side seating. The Arrow Sport airplanes were manufactured from 1936 to 1938 by Arrow Airplane and Motor Corp. in Nebraska, with around 100 produced. The company won a contract from the U.S. Bureau of Air Commerce to make an inexpensive civil aircraft. What made this airplane unique was that it was powered by an 85-hp Ford V-8 flathead engine. This automobile engine was made lighter with the use of aluminum for the oil pan, but it was still nearly twice the weight of a comparable air-cooled airplane engine. But its big benefit was the low cost and the ability to use car parts. The new price of the Arrow Sport F was $1,500, approximately $26,000 today.

Johnny’s dream became a reality on April 1, 1939, with his first flight lesson in his Arrow. Five weeks later, with just six hours of dual flying time, Johnny soloed, and his dual flight training was over. The instructor, Gordon E. Buck, said he was not getting back in the Arrow, and advised Johnny not to do so either. He emphatically said, “That plane is dangerous.” The little sport plane, with the liquid-cooled V-8 flathead engine, was nose-heavy and, with an automobile carburetor on top, would stop if the

Harold Hutt

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airplane banked too steeply. In addition to these inherent shortcomings, the Arrow was a used airplane, and it might have had other problems.

Johnny now faced a dilemma. He was thrilled to have his own airplane and to be learning how to fly it, but now he no longer had an instructor.

Even worse, the instructor had advised him that the airplane was dangerous.

Mitigating this worrisome advice, however, was his friend Harold, who flew his Arrow regularly without a problem. So Johnny disregarded the instructor’s advice and taught himself to fly. His logbook shows entries throughout 1939 as Johnny practiced landings, turns, stalls, and spins.

In late 1939, Johnny had the good fortune to begin working at Douglas Aircraft in San Fernando near Van Nuys Airport, and he started making more money. While still flying at Van Nuys airport, he had the opportunity to see and meet many aviators, such as Howard Hughes and various movie stars. He rented a hangar from movie star and accomplished aviator Richard Arlen, who had invested in buildings and a flight school at Van Nuys. Arden starred in several flying movies made there, including Wings (1927), the Aces of Action series starting in 1939, and Power Dive (1941). According to friend Ray Schey in his oral history Fifty Years of Flight With My Guardian Angel, Johnny once had a bad argument with Arlen after he was late paying rent and found his hangar door padlocked. Arlen, who was big and ruggedly handsome but was known to be a nice person, was evidently sympathetic to the young pilot and had the hangar unlocked with the understanding the rent would soon be paid.

Another movie star Johnny met at Van Nuys was Oliver Hardy, who, with his partner Stanley Laurel, was at the airport filming the movie Flying Deuces. Johnny tried to get a part in the movie, but the pilots were already hired. However, he got his picture taken with Oliver Hardy, giving a big wave by his stylish Arrow Sport.

Johnny’s dream had become a reality: He was living in California, flying his

Johnny with Oliver Hardy.

own airplane, and meeting movie stars. After months of having no car and living on a diet of hamburgers, he finally was able to move into an apartment in Hollywood, buy a classy Auburn roadster, and frequent restaurants and clubs in Los Angeles with pretty young women. From these days in the Hollywood area, he developed a dapper, if not slightly flamboyant, style that continued throughout his life.

Unfortunately, the happy days ended suddenly in the spring of 1940, near the anniversary of Johnny’s airplane ownership. His good friend, 24-year-old Harold Hutt, was killed in a crash in his Arrow early one morning when it stalled and went into a spin after takeoff from the Van Nuys Airport. The Los Angeles newspaper story didn’t offer an explanation as to what happened, but it did say that the young pilot was highly experienced, Harold Hutt

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF DON ETCHISON

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with nearly 800 hours of flying time. While saddened by the loss of his friend flying an Arrow like his, the subsequent logbook entries show that Johnny started flying and practicing maneuvers more than ever.

The last time Johnny flew his Arrow was in December 1940 before trading it for a Taylorcraft. His logbook shows he had flown it without incident for more than 100 hours. The last entry in his logbook for the Arrow read: “Traded the Arrow Sport in on a new Taylorcraft (CN29529). Yipee, it’s a honey!”

In 1941, Johnny flew cross-country from California to Illinois in his Taylorcraft, which was an adventure in itself, flying over mountains and desert with only basic instruments. In subsequent years, Johnny would become a proficient pilot, flying many types of aircraft, as well as being twin-engine rated and a certified A&P airplane mechanic. As World War II was starting, he left Douglas Aircraft and took a job with Allison Engine Co. as a technical representative specializing in the Allison V-1710, a V-12 1,000-hp engine used in the P-38 fighters and other military airplanes. He traveled to air bases throughout the United States and to Brazil, where he was stationed in the middle of the South Atlantic on Ascension Island, which handled a large volume of American aircraft going to Africa. And so, the young man from rural Illinois had succeeded in the world of aviation and played a role in the war effort.

After the war ended in 1945, he continued to work in the aviation field until 1950. During this period, with friend and partner Ray Schey, he owned an airport in Texas, but they suffered a large financial loss when it was wiped out by a tornado. All their buildings and airplanes were damaged, including a new Ercoupe. Johnny survived the twister by holding on to a flagpole with his face in the ground, and he said while they lost everything, he was thankful to still be alive. Following that disaster, he worked at various airports in Oklahoma and Kansas, but with many mechanics and pilots in the marketplace after the war, supply outstripped demand and made

Without a doubt, his beloved first airplane, that ageless and historic Arrow Sport that he learned to fly after receiving only five hours of instruction, played an important part in his formative years as a young man.

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Johnny with a P-40.

wages low. He was financially unable to adequately provide for his young wife and two children, so in 1950 he made the decision to leave aviation and join his brother in an appliance business in his hometown of Flora, Illinois. This proved to be a wise decision, as in subsequent years they became successful businessmen.

As for the Arrow Sport F, of the 103 airplanes made, only five are apparently left. Two Arrows are in storage in airplane museums in Oregon and Pennsylvania. Another one, a sleek yellow Arrow Sport with number NC18722, hung from the ceiling in Terminal 3 of the San Francisco International Airport for many years until it was removed in recent years for airport renovation. It is owned by the Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum.

A fourth, a red-and-yellow one, is beautifully displayed hanging from the ceiling at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, Canada. The only Arrow with a current registration is NC18018, located at El Centro, California, and owned by R. Douthitt Enterprises Inc. In the family since

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF DON ETCHISON

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1938, it has been dismantled for several years. Its current owner, Bob Douthitt, son of the original owner, undoubtedly has more hours flying an Arrow Sport than any person alive.

The Douthitt Arrow, NC18018, is one airplane older than Johnny’s Arrow, NC18019. It’s certain Johnny would be pleased to know that one of the surviving airplanes that launched his dream of becoming a pilot had been flown in recent years, and that another was prominently displayed at the San Francisco airport, where thousands of people saw it daily.

While the Arrow Sports were pretty airplanes and inexpensive compared to airplanes with air-cooled airplane engines, the experiment to have widely produced automotive engines in airplanes proved to be unsuccessful. This was perhaps the first and last time the government played a role in funding a project to have automotive engines in aircraft.

At 66 years of age, Johnny was slender and fit when he died of a heart attack in 1981. His lifelong aviator friend and partner, Ray Schey, who was still flying at the time, was a pallbearer at his funeral. Johnny loved airplanes his whole life and attended the annual EAA Oshkosh fly-in the 1970s.

He credited aviation as playing an important role in his early years and greatly influencing his direction, skills, knowledge, and experiences in WWII and beyond. His interest in aviation rubbed off on his great-aunt, Florence

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Gregory, who became a pilot in the 1950s. She had no children and was close to Johnny until he died. After her death in 2000, her trust fund became a large annual benefactor to EAA in support of women in aviation.

Johnny remained a natural and meticulous mechanic throughout his life. He could literally fix anything.

Being widely read and traveled, he could hold an interesting discussion with anyone, and through his business he taught many young men how to fix things with proper technique. His early experiences and his personal qualities helped him become a successful businessman, husband, father, and meaningful person, who loved freedom and America. By following his passion and dreams, Johnny had a full, well-lived, adventurous life. Without a doubt, his beloved first airplane, that ageless and historic Arrow Sport that he learned to fly after receiving only five hours of instruction, played an important part in his formative years as a young man.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF DON ETCHISON

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT EAAVINTAGE.ORG

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Just Like Haven

Hunter Havener’s antique fleet

BY CHRISTINA MARSH

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

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FOR HUNTER HAVENER, aviation has always played a major role in his life. Born into an aviation family, Hunter was airborne for the first time at just 6 months old.

For Hunter, aviation isn’t just a hobby; it’s his life. In 22 years, he said he’s never missed an EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, which he affectionately refers to as a “summer thunder over in Oshkosh,” except for 2020 when we all missed it due to the pandemic.

In 2009, Hunter really caught the aviation bug.

“When I was 9 years old, my dad purchased an Aeronca Champ, and for some reason my interest kind of just went through the roof, and I couldn’t get in the airplane fast enough,” Hunter said. “I started flying with him pretty much every day, and by the time I was 10 years old, I was taking off and landing from the back seat of the Champ.”

Hunter said ever since his dad purchased that Champ, he’s been drawn to vintage aircraft. Despite his young age, he’s owned and repaired 13 vintage airplanes. At the age of 14, Hunter purchased his first airplane for just $250.

Like Father, Like Son 1946 Aeronca Champ Hunter’s first airplane purchase was none other than a 1946 Aeronca Champ. While Hunter would eventually go on to become the custodian of his father’s Champ, he couldn’t wait to get his hands on one of his own.

“I was actually sitting at an EAA meeting, and I heard this guy talking about an Aeronca Champ that the family was getting ready to throw away or scrap it if nobody bought it like next week because they were cleaning out the house,” Hunter said. “And I said, ‘Well, I might be interested in it,’ and he goes, ‘How much money is in your pocket?’ and I told him 250 bucks. And I bought it for 250 bucks.”

While Hunter’s father wasn’t an A&P mechanic, he was mechanically inclined and taught Hunter everything he knew about restoring old airplanes.

“It didn’t have an engine on it, but everything else was there,” Hunter said.

So, at 14, he started working alongside his dad on his first restoration.

Just two years later at the age of 16, Hunter was already purchasing his second aircraft — a 1959 Cessna 172.

“The next year after I bought that plane, I’d taken all the fabric off it and was getting ready to start doing some repairs and work to it, and I get a phone call from the guy whose dad used to own the airplane, or at least got his license in it or something like that. And he said, ‘I see that your name was just registered with this tail number. I want to buy it from you,’” Hunter said. “So, he ended up buying it from me, and I then bought a 172.”

As Hunter was building his flight time in high school, he was also setting himself up to earn his A&P mechanic certificate down the road.

“I traded working for a mechanic for flight lessons,” Hunter said.

“So, when I got to college, I kind of started looking into how I could flip airplanes and build time, and not spend a crazy amount of money as if I would by renting airplanes to build time. So, what I would do is I would look for airplanes that have been sitting for four, five years and buy them for a fairly reasonable price. Then, work on it with an IA mechanic and bring the airplane back up to airworthiness condition,

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and then put about a hundred hours on the airplane and then turn around and sell it, so I would break even or profit on what I had invested in the airplane and the gas.”

Over the years as Hunter’s skills got better, the more aircraft he purchased and flipped. To date, he’s owned 13 vintage aircraft: a 1946 Aeronca Champ, purchased when he was 14 years old; 1959 Cessna 172; 1946 Aeronca Champ, purchased from his dad; 1956 Cessna 172; Smith Miniplane biplane; E35 Bonanza; Cessna 150; Pitts S-1C; Pitts S-1S; Cessna 150; 1946 Aeronca Champ; 1953 Cessna 170B; and a 1962 Cessna 150B. In addition to those 13 airplanes he’s personally owned, he’s also assisted on five other restorations owned by his instructor/mentor, Phil, four of them being vintage airplanes: a 1980 Great Lakes Biplane; 1961 Comanche 250; 1943 Boeing PT-17 Stearman; 1962 Comanche 250; and a 2000 Steen Skybolt.

“I got to give it to the engineers for just having a simple, mechanical, almost fail-proof system on pretty much all of them. Everything’s just so simple. You look at the part, and it does this. There’s no question. There’s no 18 different parts and electrical pieces and whatnot to do the same job that this one mechanical piece is doing on this old airplane.

And they’re just a lot more fun to fly.”

Drawn to Vintage Aircraft Purchasing older aircraft has its advantages, cost especially being one of them for someone Hunter’s age.

“Anything that’s new nowadays, it’s got a glass panel in it, air conditioning. And they are still building the Great Lakes, but they want $250,000 for them.”

But it’s not just about the cost for Hunter; it’s having a deep appreciation for classic aircraft and the joy of keeping them flying.

“I got to give it to the engineers for just having a simple, mechanical, almost fail-proof system on pretty much all of t h e m ,” H u n t e r s a i d .

“Everything’s just so simple.

You look at the part, and it does this. There’s no question.

There’s no 18 different parts and electrical pieces and whatnot to do the same job that this one mechanical piece is doing on this old airplane. And they’re just a lot more fun to fly.”

Of all the aircraft Hunter has either owned, worked on, or both, he said his favorite and most memorable projects were the Cessna 170 and the Great Lakes project.

1953 Cessna 170B “So, the way I find most of these airplanes is I just kind of wander around and go to all these little Podunk airports, and just kind of

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF HUNTER HAVENER

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mosey around and peek in open hangars and things like that,” Hunter said. “So, my dad was actually wandering around the airport in Leesburg and happened to see the airplane parked in the corner of the hangar, and someone just happened to actually be at the hangar selling the airplane, and so that’s how we ran into that [the 170].”

Prior to Hunter purchasing it in August 2020, the aircraft had been sitting in a barn for 20 years.

“The previous family that owned it, the husband had passed away,” Hunter said. “They took it apart, parked it in their garage. And then in 2015, this IA mechanic from Leesburg, Florida, purchased the aircraft from that family, and it was kind of his retirement hobby to restore airplanes to a crazy-nice condition. He went above and beyond with it, and he put new fuel tanks, fuel lines, new interior, overhauled the engine, the prop. I mean just absolutely everything, and then he actually passed away and I purchased it from his estate.”

When Hunter got the airplane, the interior had been gutted, the old wiring was hanging all over the place, and the engine was on a box.

“So, I pulled the wings off it, and then under the supervision of my IA friend, put the airplane back together, and I test-flew it in January of last year. And I’ve got about 120 hours on it since then,” Hunter said.

Hunter’s motivation for purchasing this aircraft goes back to when he was just 6 years old.

“I’ve heard of it literally as long as I can remember,” he said. “It’s all I’ve ever heard my dad talk about; his dream airplane was a 170B.

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When we finally found it, he was like, ‘Yeah, we’ve got to have this airplane.’”

This purchase became the father-son project his dad had always wanted for the two of them.

“It’s definitely very special to be able to do that with him, and something I’m definitely going to keep forever because of the memories made in it,” Hunter said.

For Hunter, the best part about doing the restoration on this airplane was that it was in good condition when he purchased it — which allowed him to go in and spend more time fine-tuning rather than fixing.

“It was actually in crazy-good condition, believe it or not,” Hunter said. “Pretty much the way I got the airplane was everything was in boxes. All the new parts that the previous owner had ordered, all the stuff that he had sent out and had overhauled; the airplane was actually intact. And if I had lived closer to it, I probably could have mounted the engine on and thrown a radio in it and made it airworthy to get it to my airport. So, I could really perfect the restoration and do it the way I wanted it done, but being an hour-and-a-half drive from where the airplane was located, it made more sense for me to pull the wings off and bring it home.

“The most challenging part was the Florida heat and just trying to work on it without just dying of heat exhaustion,” he said. “I mean, I got it in August, so the airplane was just in my plain old T-hangar, no air conditioning or anything. So, it was unbearably hot to work on it throughout the summer.”

To tolerate the heat, Hunter would pull all-nighters, working from 6 p.m. to 3 the next morning, taking advantage of the cool summer nights. By doing that, he was able to complete the project in four months.

While going through the logbooks left behind in the purchase of the 170, Hunter came across a rather interesting bit of EAA history connected to the airplane.

“Paul Poberezny … his signature is actually in the book,” Hunter said.

Prior to the owner whom Hunter purchased the airplane from, it was owned by the Blake family.

“They were good friends of the Pobereznys,” Hunter said. “They had it for 30 years. So, the father bought the airplane — I believe it was in the ’60s — and then handed it down to his son, which was the family that sold it to the guy that I bought it off of that was restoring it.

“According to the logbook, the 170 was leading the Spirit of St. Louis for part of the flight, and Paul Poberezny’s signature is in the book,” he said. “The 170 accompanied EAA’s Spirit of St. Louis from Opa-locka to Jacksonville, with a stop in Melbourne and Daytona [Florida]. And it looks like Johnny Leeward was flying the Spirit, and then there’s Poberezny’s name and that also says Spirit pilot. It looks like one of the Blakes was flying the 170. That was October 15 of 1979.”

Hunter said it’s an honor to be the custodian of an airplane that has so much history behind it.

“I guess the best way to put it: It’s you and the airplane. There’s no control towers.

There’s no fancy glass screens.

You just go out and fly it.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

EAAVintage.org

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Hunter, right, poses with his mother and father in front of the Cessna 170.

“It’s kind of funny,” he said, “every airport I go to, somebody knows the airplane because it’s actually gone to Oshkosh at least 30 times just being owned by the Blake family.”

1980 Great Lakes Biplane T21A Hunter said while the restoration on this biplane was relatively simple, it’s still one of his favorite projects simply because of how much he enjoys flying it.

“I ought to be a spokesperson for Great Lakes; that’s how nice of a plane it is,” he said.

While Hunter was attending college at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2017, he came across something that sparked his interest.

“So, I live in a flying community in Daytona, and every night I’d like to go on a cruise on the golf cart and try to peek in hangars and see what’s around,” Hunter said. “I peeked inside of this hangar, and I saw it sitting in the corner of the hangar, covered in dust. A lot of the panels were off of it; there were some blankets thrown over it. And I walked into the hangar and asked the guy what it was, because I had never even seen a Great Lakes before. I had no idea what kind of airplane it was. And he told me and got talking.”

In that moment Hunter thought back to a conversation he had with Phil and remembered him saying how much he really wanted to purchase a Great Lakes biplane.

“I immediately called him and said, ‘This is the airplane that we have to get!’” Hunter said.

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November/December 2023

The airplane had been completely restored in 1988 with a new engine, new fabric, everything.

“They flew it three hours, and then they never touched the airplane again,” Hunter said. “It had sat for close to 20 years untouched, and we came to an agreement and bought the airplane from him, and I took the next month to get it back up to airworthy condition and make it fly.”

Getting it up to airworthy condition was a simple task, according to Hunter.

“It was basically just doing a very thorough annual on the airplane,” he said. “Go through the engine, replace all the hoses, replace the tires, flush the fuel system. I think it took about a month to do the test flight on it for the first time in 20 years. Then, I put about a hundred hours on it in just two or three months before I flew up to New York where Phil lives.”

Hunter quickly went from knowing nothing about a Great Lakes to it becoming his favorite aircraft to fly.

“It’s a joy to fly. It’s simple. It’s fun,” he said.

“There’s nothing better than just cruising along.”

Hunter said getting to own and fly as many vintage aircraft as he has is special to him.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

“Not many people get to fly anything that old,” he said. “I guess the best way to put it: It’s you and the airplane. There’s no control towers.

There’s no fancy glass screens. You just go out and fly it. The cool part about having airplanes that are so old is it’s so simple to work on. I know every single inch of those airplanes inside and out. So, I know exactly how it needs to be treated.

I know exactly what’s been done to it.”

Giving Back Hunter said it’s important to him to keep antique airplanes flying and to share his passion with younger generations.

“I definitely want to kind of keep the old traditions going of the old antique airplanes,” he said. “I’ve had a really, really, really crazy opportunity to fly a ton of old airplanes. I have a bunch of time, and it’s special. So, what I’d really like to do is get my CFI finished up and do rides and give transition training for those specific airplanes that not many people get the opportunity to fly. The typical flight student nowadays, they go to college and they’re really kind of just, they’re doing the factory student scenario. They

fly out of this airspace, they fly this one airplane, they never land on grass, and ‘When’s the next checkride?’ and ‘Oh, man, I got a flight at 5 a.m. tomorrow.’ And it kind of takes the fun out of it, the way it’s structured nowadays.”

Hunter said his best advice for young folks wanting to break the “factory student scenario” is to go out with friends and find that passion and joy again.

“I think you can get way more experienced by just going out and having fun with friends and doing camping trips on the weekends,” he said. “You’re going somewhere interesting. You’re meeting new people. You’re having fun while you’re out building that time towards your next rating. … These out-of-the-box experiences that not many people get to do anymore, they all count. All your hours count, and the more the experience the better.”

Hunter said his goal is to be an inspiration to other young aviators.

“Aviation is kind of going away, because there’s not many people to replace the old-timers that just have this old, beat-up biplane in their backyard and they just fly it for fun once in a while,” he said. “There’s not many people taking their place anymore, and it’s just kind of cool to get people to have those experiences while logging flight time and just making those connections. I actually keep full gear in the back of the airplane just for whenever. If I just aimlessly want to stop somewhere for the night, I keep the tent and sleeping bag and everything in the back of the 170 just for whenever the opportunity pops up.”

RELIVE THE GOLDEN AGE OF AVIATION Visit FLYTHEFORD.org for a complete schedule! flights available thursday 2-5pm and friday-sunday 9am-5pm Visit flytheford.org or call 1-877-952-5395 to reserve your flight.

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The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK

Teaching a Nation How to Fly The Lon Cooper story, Part 2

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

HAVING RECEIVED HIS PRIVATE pilot certificate, Lon Cooper continued his flying by entering the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) Secondary Flight Training. Lon remembered, “The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, fully involved the United States in World War II. As promised, CPT students volunteered for the Army Air Corps, and many were enlisted for service — except me.

My history of asthma as a child excluded me from service in the AAC. However, with my flight experience, I was placed in the AAC Enlisted Reserve and continued my flight training under Army supervision. Wartime security at Albert Whitted required admission only with approved identification. We were photographed, fingerprinted, and issued airman identification credentials by the Civil Aeronautics Administration.”

Only six students from Lon’s original primary class continued into the secondary CPT flight-training program. Classes began June 22, 1942. Ground school included advanced study of theory of flight, navigation, meteorology, CAA flight rules and regulations pertaining to commercial flight, instruction, and radio procedure. Since radios would be used, an FCC radio-transmitting license was required, which was issued after completion of a simple written test.

Flight training continued at nearby Whitted Airport but under the direction of Beard’s Flying Service. Owner Otis Beard was an interesting study and had gained much flight experience. His commercial certificate number was 1054, which would indicate a very early issuance of the certificate.

Beard was an early airmail pilot, which allowed him to log many hours of flight plus give much experience in cross-country flying. As a flight instructor, he taught flying at the Piper-Fuller Field in St. Petersburg before relocating to Albert Whitted Airport. Amelia Earhart had been one of his students.

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November/December 2023

The Wright-Morehouse two-cylinder engine.

Otis Beard was ready to join the CPTP and provide flight instruction to students enrolled in St. Petersburg Junior College. This is where Lon started his flying instruction.

Otis Beard and his brother, Louis, had once built a small airplane in 1927 that they named the Model B. It was a single-place monoplane with a wingspan of 19 feet, 11 inches, and a length of 16 feet, 6 inches. A Wright-Morehouse Model B engine of two cylinders, developing around 29 hp, powered it. There are no pictures of the airplane, but it must have been similar to the Aeronca C-2 and C-3 ships. A story from the December 13, 2008, issue of the Tampa Tribune regarding the death of Edward Hoffman indicated, “Mr. Hoffman was a bit of a daredevil, raised just five blocks from Albert Whitted Airport. As a teenager, he worked as a line boy learning how to build planes. He sold tickets for rides with pilot Otis Beard in exchange for rough and tumble evening flying lessons in Beard’s Aeronca C-3.”

Lon recalled, “Flight training continued at Albert Whitted Airport. The secondary phase of instruction was for a commercial flight certificate and instructor rating and was taught by Beard’s Flying Service. Mr. Ellis instructed navigation and cross-country flying, and Mr. G.W. Lindsey (Certificate No. C69202) instructed all maneuvers, including acrobatics. Mr. Lindsey had flown several years as a crop duster pilot in Mississippi. Safety and precision were the key points he stressed in all maneuvers. To improve precision control of the aircraft, he

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ROBERT G. LOCK

added eight-point stop rolls (a slow roll stopping rotation at every 45 degrees) to our curriculum.

And from his crop-dusting experience, he taught us wingovers for a quick turnaround, and side slips into short fields for emergency landings.”

On page 62 is the aerodynamics textbook published by the CAA in September 1940. This textbook is Civil Aeronautics Bulletin No. 26. It is a very in-depth study of aerodynamics and the atmosphere and basic physical properties.

As has already been discussed, the CPTP was highly structured and standardized so instruction across the country would essentially be the same.

The CAA published a handbook designated as Civil Aeronautics Bulletin No. 30, titled Ground Instructor’s Manual and published in September 1940. This manual was used by faculty who took part in the CPTP project as ground instructors and would be used for both primary and secondary training. This manual was divided into six parts as follows: Part One, Lesson Planning and Classroom Management; Part Two, Meteorology; Part Three, Navigation; Part Four, Aerodynamics; Part Five, Airplanes; and Part Six, Powerplants.

The manual stated, “It is expected that specific lesson plans will be worked out by the individual instructor who must of necessity take into account the ability and preparation of his students as well as the resources of library and laboratory which are available. Detail lesson plans are therefore not included.” The final statement in the preface sums up using instructors not prepared for this type of instruction. “As a result of setting up the Civilian Pilot Training Program, numbers of pilots who have had no training or experience as classroom instructors have been confronted with the problem of giving classroom instruction. On the other hand, many experienced classroom instructors have been confronted with the problem of teaching subject matter with which they have been heretofore unfamiliar. The Ground Instructor’s Manual has been prepared specifically to meet the needs of these two types of instructors insofar as those needs can be anticipated.”

Otis Beard had several training aircraft that would make a modern-day antique airplane collector drool. His fleet included the following seven airplanes: Waco UPF-7 (NC32130), Waco UPF-7 (NC32028), Waco EQC-6 (NC16506), Waco EGC-8 (NC2312), Monocoupe D-145 (NC12360), Piper J-5 Cruiser (NC35275), and a Piper J-3 Cub (NC31117).

Three of the above aircraft are still on the FAA aircraft registry, and one, the Waco AGC-8, is flying again and located only a few miles from Lon Cooper’s home.

ROBERT G. LOCK

Aeronca C-3 powered by an Aeronca E-113 two-cylinder engine developing 35 hp.

On page 62 is the Pilots’ Radio Manual published by the CAA in September of 1940. This textbook is Civil Aeronautics Bulletin No. 29.

Cross-country and navigation were taught by Mr. Ellis using the Waco EQC-6 or the AGC-8 aircraft. Lon’s class of six was divided into two groups of three. The instructor would take three students up at a time and allow each to fly a leg of a cross-country flight. Lon recalled his days of flying cross-country trips in the Waco: “Our cross-country flights were conducted over South Florida to avoid congestion from the many military fields then in operation. [There were many transition bases in the area — P-51s in Bartow, B-26s in Lakeland, B-17s and B-26s in Tampa, and a Navy base in Sanford]. At that time, radio communication was usually limited to major airports and commercial aircraft. Flight plans were filed with Albert Whitted Airport. Navigation was by dead reckoning using a magnetic compass heading derived from charts and weather information. Visual observation of identifiable objects and geographic features along the desired flight path were used to maintain a true course.”

Before radio navigation for small civil aircraft was refined, the only way to get from Point A to Point B on a chart was to draw a line, compute compass heading (correct for deviation and variation), add in wind component, get in the airplane, and go. Always looking out to the ground to verify checkpoints along the way.

Students were taught to use an E-6B to calculate for wind drift, but navigation was clearly by the seat of the pants. During flight instruction in the cabin Waco, Lon recalled, “Our Waco was equipped with an AM radio receiver using a loop antenna. Rotating the loop antenna allowed us to establish compass headings for the AM radio stations from which our position could be established by triangulation. Instrument landing approaches were practiced without a hood. Finding an airport under instrument conditions in 1941 required the use of a radio range station. This was a very complicated procedure, and rough air in the summer in Florida did not make it any easier.”

The below image shows a loop antenna mounted on a North American B-25.

The actual antenna was a loop that was mounted inside the teardrop-shaped housing and rotated to sense the strongest signal from a ground AM radio station.

When a person gives thought as to how well the World War II combat pilots navigated with almost no precision navigating equipment like we have today, it is truly amazing that they could find their way back to home base or an aircraft carrier.

On page 62 is Waco AGC-8, NC2312, restored by Mike Araldi of Lakeland, Florida. This is the airplane that Lon flew his cross-country and radio-navigation dual instruction in back in 1941.

Imagine being reunited with an aircraft you flew 69 years ago. That happened to Lon recently as he was able to fly the Waco again, thanks to owner Mike Araldi.

A loop antenna mounted on top of the fuselage of a B-25.

EAAVintage.org

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The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK

Otis Beard had two Waco UPF-7 aircraft to teach an advanced course in acrobatics. The UPF-7 was built to compete for the military primary trainer contract in 1940 that was won by the Boeing Wichita Division with its PT-13/PT-17 trainer.

However, the PT-14 CAA Aerodynamics for Pilots textbook. was such a good flier that it was designated UPF-7, and flight schools involved with the CPTP snatched them up for their advanced course in acrobatics. The CPTP Wacos were painted with a blue fuselage and yellow wings with a red- and white-striped rudder.

Lon recalled, “With ailerons on both CAA Ground Instructor’s Manual. upper and lower wings, it was a great airplane for acrobatics. Added maneuvers were loops, chandelles, 720-degree steep turns, lazyeights, snap rolls, and on-axis slow rolls.”

By the time that Lon was deeply involved in the CPTP, the United States was deeply involved in CAA Pilots’ Radio Manual.

WWII. Lon completed his secondary training January 9, 1943, adding 63 hours of dual and 85 hours of solo flight to his logbook. Written examinations were taken and passed. On January 11, 1943, CAA Inspector E.J. Ulrich flew over to Whitted Airport for the checkrides of all six applicants approved by Otis Beard. After a 50-minute checkride, Lon’s private pilot certificate was upgraded to a commercial certificate for single-engine-land ships from 0 to 330 hp with an instructor rating.

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November/December 2023

MIKE ARALDI

Waco AGC-8, NC2312, originally flown by Lon Cooper, now owned by Mike Araldi, Lakeland, Florida.

It is interesting to note here that Lon’s solo time was in the Piper J-3 and J-5 ships, plus the Monocoupe D-145.

Regarding solo time during the secondary phase of CPTP flight instruction, Lon wrote, “I flew [solo] in all the planes listed except the EQC and the AGC cabin Wacos. We always flew them with three students and the instructor, even on our checkrides. The Monocoupe was Otis Beard’s favorite airplane.

We were thoroughly checked out in it by Mr. Beard, three hours dual, before 3:15 hours solo! In a preflight check on the Monocoupe, we found a slight wobble in the prop. Examination found the crankshaft broken inside of the propeller-fastening nut. The front of the crankshaft came off with the prop.”

As Lon completed his CPTP training by passing the commercial/flight instructor checkride on January 11, 1943, his logbook showed the following times:

Training

Dual

Solo

Totals

Private

23

16

39

Secondary 63

85

148

187

Note that Lon’s total flight time was 187 hours — 86 hours of dual instruction and 101 hours of solo flight. This flight experience was to qualify for a commercial/flight instructor certificate. Times were much different then, compared to now!

As the United States entered WWII and on December 7, 1942, the name of the Civilian Pilot Training Program was changed to the War Training Service (WTS), and operation was put under direct control of the military.

Lon was now ready to launch to the next challenge. He recalled, “Upon completion of CPT, the Army Air Corps Enlisted Reserve ordered me to report on January 15 [1943] to Atlanta, Georgia, for a checkride.

Satisfactory performance was for required acceptance into the Army Air Forces Central Instructors School, which was being formed in San Antonio, Texas. The purpose of this school was to supply top-quality instructors for civilian contract schools and standardize flight-training maneuvers. Early in the morning of January 15, 10 of us anxiously waited for approval from Mr. H. Porter as he checked us in his Waco UPF-7. My checkride was the last of the day, and only two applicants had been Copy of original Monocoupe factory approved. I was given a sequence in which to brochure showing the type of airperform every maneuver we had been taught. craft flown by Lon Cooper during his At the end of the sequence, Mr. Porter told me CPTP days.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ROBERT G. LOCK

Lon Cooper with CPTP Waco UPF-7 at Albert Whitted Airport, St. Petersburg, Florida.

to do the maneuver I liked best. I did an eight-point slow roll. Mr. Porter abruptly took over the controls, flew back to the airport, and landed. As he was getting out of the plane, he asked me, ‘Who taught you to fly?’ My heart sank; I named my instructors, none of whom he knew. He then said, ‘Of all I have flown today, you are the only one that has really flown the airplane.’ That was a great compliment

to my instructors and me. I was approved for Central Instructors School. Orders were given to me to immediately report to Maxwell Field in Montgomery, Alabama.”

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Message From the President SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA PRESIDENT

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

manager of the Tall Pines Café temporarily until a full-time replacement could be found. Steve agreed to take the position for “a year or two.” And, as I mentioned earlier, Steve has finally retired from his temporary job as the manager of the Tall Pines Café after 20 years of volunteer service in that position.

In his tenure, Steve and his cadre of volunteers went from operations in a rented tent using rented equipment to what you see today. Today the Tall Pines Café is an attractive building with a fully functional kitchen attached and is owned and operated by the Vintage Aircraft Association. It serves our membership well during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, both as a meeting place for

breakfast with friends and during the evening hours as an events center for our volunteers, members, and other organizations such as type clubs.

Many thanks to Steve for his part in moving the Tall Pines Café forward to become the fine facility we have today.

Every year two VAA volunteers are chosen to receive awards because of their exceptional service to the organization. This is almost an impossible task because of the outstanding quality of all of our Vintage volunteers. Chosen this year were Mary Wendorf as the VAA Behind-theScenes Volunteer of the Year and Paula Gruizenga as Flightline Volunteer of the Year. Congratulations to both!

Blue skies!

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

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

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

Earl Nicholas Libertyville, IL 847-504-6945 eman46@gmail.com

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

Joe Norris Oshkosh, WI 920-279-2855 wacoflyer@gmail.com

Kathy McGurran Brighton, CO 303-829-4808 kmcgurran@aol.com

Charlie Waterhouse Dayton, OH 260-385-0851 charles.e.waterhouse@gmail.com

ADVISERS Jesse Clement jesseclement1@gmail.com

Vaughn Lovley pa11pilot@yahoo.com

AC Hutson achutsonjr@icloud.com

Kevin McKenzie kevinamckenzie@yahoo.com

Luke Lachendro avidaviator98@gmail.com

Marla Simon Boone msimonboone@yahoo.com

Maxwell Wenglarz waco20900@gmail.com

COPYRIGHT © 2023 BY T HE E AA VIN TAGE AIRCR AF T A SSOCIAT ION. ALL RIGHT S RE SERVED. VINTAGE AIRPLANE (USPS 062-750; ISSN 0091-6943) copyright © 2023 by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association, Inc., is published bimonthly and owned exclusively by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association, Inc., EAA Editorial Department, 3000 Poberezny Road, Oshkosh, WI, 54902. Periodicals postage is paid at Oshkosh, WI, 54901, and additional mailing offices. U.S. membership rate for the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association, Inc. is $45 per 12-month period for EAA members, and $55 for non-EAA members.

DIRECTORS EMERITUS David Bennett antiquer@inreach.com

Phil Coulson rcoulson516@cs.com

Robert C. Brauer photopilot@aol.com

Ronald C. Fritz itzfray@gmail.com

Jerry Brown lbrown4906@aol.com

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

Dave Clark davecpd@att.net

Tim Popp tlpopp@frontier.com

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to EAA MEMBERSHIP SERVICES, P.O. 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, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Phone 920-426-4800.

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November/December 2023

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Amy Lemke alemke@eaa.org

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