VA-Vol-24-No-2-Feb-1996

EDITORIAL STAFF Publisher Tom Poberezny

February 1996

Vol. 24, No.2

VICe-President Marketing a Communications Dick M att

Editor-in-Chief

Jock Cox

Editor

CONTENTS

Henry G. Frautschy

Managing Editor

Golda Cox

1 Straight & Levell

Art Director

Espie "Butch" Joyce

Mike Drucks

2 AlC News/ H .G. Frautschy

4 Aeromail

Page 9

Assistant Art Director

Sora A Otto

Computer Graphic Specialists

Olivia l. Phillip Jennifer Larsen

Advertising

Mary Jones

Associate Editor

5 Vintage Literature/Dennis Parks

Norm Petersen

Feature Writers

George Hardie, Jr.

9 Swift 50th Anniversary/

Jim Koepnick Carl Schuppel

13 Pat Cargile's Clipper/ H.G. Frautschy

Isabelle Wiske

EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION, INC. OFFICERS

Norm Petersen

President Espie 'Butch' Joyce P.O. Box 35584 Greensboro. NC 27425 91O/393-D344

21 Pass it to Buck! E.E. "Buck" Hilbert Page 13

Jim Neuman

24 What Our Members

Secretary Steve Nesse 2009 Highland Ave. Albert Lea. MN 5tlXJ7 507/373-1674

Vice -President George Daubne! 2448 Lough Lone Hortford. WI53D27

414/673-5885

Treasurer E.E. 'Buck' Hilbert P.O. Box 424 Union. IL 60180 815/923-4591

DIRECTORS

are RestoringlNorm Petersen

John Berendt 7645 Echo Point Rd. Cannon Falls. MN 55009 507/263-2414

26 Mystery PlanelH.G. Frautschy 28 Welcome New Members

Gene Chase 2159 CarHon Rd. Oshkosh. WI 54904 414/231-5002

29 Vintage Trader Page 17

30 Calendar

Mike Steineke

Donna Bushman

Editorial Assistant

17 Ray Johnson's HAC Chief!

22 Lend Lease Stinson!

Dennis Parks

Staff Photagraphers

Phyllis Moses

FRONT COVER . .. The Piper PA- 16 Clipper features four seats and can cruise along at 110 mph with its 115 hp Lycoming 0-235 sipping 6 gph. This Clipper was recently restored by Pat Cargile. Chapin. SC and his friends. EAA photo by Mike Sleineke. Shot with a Canon EOS-1n equipped with a 7(}'2OOmm lens. 1/250 @ f8 on 100 !>SA slide film. Cessna 210 photo plane flown by Bruce Moore. BACK COVER .. . The Aeronca 11AC Chief was the sporlplane offering presented by the company in the post-war years. Recently restored by Ray Johnson. with help from the gang in EM Chapter 304. this Chief was picked as the Class I (0-80 hp) Classic Chompion at EAA OSHKOSH '95. EAA photo by Phil High. Shot with a Canon EOS-1 n equipped with a 7(}'2OOmm lens. 1/500 @ f6.3 on 100PSA slide film. Cessna 210 photo plane flown by Bruce Moore.

e

Copyright 1996 by the EAA Antique/Classic Division Inc. All rights reset'Ved. VINTAGE AIRPlANE (ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusivety by the fAA Antique/Classic Division. Inc. of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published roonthIy at fAA Aviation Center. 3000 Poberezny Rd., P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WISCOIlSOl 54903-3086. Second Class Postage paid at Oshkosh, WISCOIlsin 54901 and at additional mailing offices. The membe<ship rate for fAA Antique/Classic Oivisioo, lnc. is $27.00 forrurent fAA members for 12 month period ofwi1ich $15.00 is for the pubIicatioo of VlNTAGE AIRPlANE. Membership is open to aI who ..., nterested in aviation. POSTMASTBI: Send adttess cIalges to fAA AntiqueICIassic Oivisioo, Inc., P.O. Box 3086. Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. FORBGN AND APO ADDRESSES - Please aI<Jw at least two months for deiveIy of VINTAGE AIRPlANE to foreign and APO addresses via SLfface mail. ADYERTlSING - AntiqueICIassic Oivisioo does oot ~ee or endorse any product oflered ttYotql the advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of nterior rnen:Imdise obtained ttYotql 0lI" advertising so that corrective measu-es can be taken. EDITORIAL POUCY: Readers ..., encouaged to _ stories and photographs. Policy opinioos expressed in articles ..., solely those of the authors. ResponsiliIity for acctr.ICY in reporting rests entirely with the contributor. No ~ is made. Material should be sent to: Editor, VINTAGE AIRPlANE, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Phone 4141426-4800. The words EM, ULTRALIGHT, FLY WITH THE FIRST TEAM, SPORT AVIATION and the logos of EM, EM INTERNATIONAL

CONYENTlON, EM ANTlOUEiClASSIC DMSION, INTERNATIONAL AEROBATlC CLUB, WARBIRDS OF AMERICA are 速 registered _ _ THE EM SKY SHOPPE and logos of the EM AVlA110N FOUNDA11ON and EM ULTRA1..tGHT CONVEJmON ..., tradernaI1<s of the above associations and their use by any person other than the above associatioo is strictly prohibited.

Robert C. ' Bob' Blauer

9345 S. Hoyne

Chicago. IL 60620

312/779-2105

John S. Copeland

28-3 Williomsburg CI.

Shrewsbury. MA 01545

fIJ8/842-7867

Phil Coulson

SlanGomoU

28415 Springbrook Dr. Lawton. M149D65 616/624-<>490

104290th Lane. NE Minneapolis. MN 55434 612/784-1172

Charles Harris 7215 East 46th St. Tulsa. OK 74145 918/622-8400

P.O. Box 328 Horvord, IL 60033 815/943-7205

Jeannie Hin

Dale A. Gustafson 7724 Shady Hill Dr. Indianapolis. IN 46278 317/293-4430

Robert D. ' Bob' Lumley 1265 South 124th St. Brook1ield. WI 53005 414/782-2633

Robelt Uckleig

Gene Manis

1708 Bay Ooks Dr. Albert Lea. MN 5tlXJ7 507/373-2922

115C Steve Court, R.R. 2 Roanoke. lX 76262 817/491-9110

Geoff Robison 1521 E. MacGregor Dr. Ne w Hoven. IN 46774 219/493-4724

GeOfgeYork

181 Sloboda Av.

Mansfield. OH 44906

419/529-4378

S.H. ' Wes' Schmid 2359 Lefeber Avenue Wauwatosa. WI 53213 414/77 1- 1545

DIRECTOR EMERITUS S.J. WlHmon 1904- 1995

ADVISORS Joe Dickey 55 Ookey Av. Lawrenceburg. IN 47025 812/537-9354

Dean Richardson 6701 Colony Dr. Madison. WI 53717 608/833-1291

STRAIGHT & LEVEL

by Espie "Butch" Joyce

Those of you who read last month's Straight & Level will recall that I talked about the fact that an event had come to pass that caused me to realize what a friendship can mean in your life. How had I come to this realization? It was the impending loss of my good friend, Brad Thomas. Brad was a past president of your Antique/Classic Division and a long­ time EAA volunteer and, most of all, he had been a friend for a long time. It was some six to eight months ago that Brad called me and said he bad some bad news. He had lost weight and was not feeling well, so he went to see his doctor. They discovered he had cancer. After the lab test there was what we thought was good news - the type of cancer Brad contracted had a good track record of being cured by chemical treatment. After a couple of months of treat­ ment, it seemed he was on the road to recovery and every­ thing was upbeat. In September, the EAA B-17 tour was coming to Win­ ston-Salem, North Carolina. Brad was very involved with this visit, in charge of selling rides in the EAA B-17. To his credit, this B-17 stop came very close to selling the most rides, if not the most, of any of the stops for the B-17 tour. I went over to Winston on the Friday that the -17 ar­ rived. Brad was there, and while I was talking to him, he informed me that he had gone that day for his last treat­ ment, but the doctors would not give the treatment to him - they had discovered his cancer had spread to other places. At this point there are a number of individuals who make the decision to live out their life as comfortably as they can. Then there are some people who choose to fight. Even after some thought, I can't tell you what my decision would be if I were put in that position. Brad chose to fight, and he did it like no one I had ever seen fight cancer before. He told me that he had no other choice but to fight it, because he wanted to go flying with his friends again. He went into a coma before his death, certain in his own mind that he was going to beat his cancer. If his body had been up to his will, he would have won. Brad has gone on to the final fly-in to fly with his buddies who have gone on before him. The other day at a local EAA Chap­ ter meeting, everyone got up and told a Brad story. One of the guys said that when we go through those pearly gates, Brad would be there with his parking paddles, showing us where to park; then we can all go flying to­ gether again. I sure am going to miss my good friend Brad. Brad Thomas, owner and operator of Pilot Hosiery Mills, Inc., Pilot Mountain, North Carolina; U .S. Army pilot during WW II; speed boat racer, ham radio opera­ tor, aviation promoter, is survived by his wife Ferne; three daughters , Karen, Marcia, and Elise ; two sons,

David and Walt. Brad was also a volunteer at EAA Oshkosh, most recently helping Jerry Strigel, EAA's VP. of Finance. One of the better things to happen this fall occurred during the first part of December. Norma and I traveled to just north of Key Largo, Florida where we attended the "Vintage Weekend " held at the Ocean Reef Club. The weekend was a show for antique boats, cars and airplanes. The weather was great with sunshine, a temperature in the mid-80s and a light wind. The Ocean Reef Club is a com­ munity within itself, with a number of restaurants, shop­ ping areas, golf course, beaches, marina, hotel and airport. You must have prior permission to land at this airport, but it usually just requires a telephone call. Denny Moore is the airport manager and is a Swift owner; he was a most gracious host to all of the airplane people who flew in . Friday night they held a cocktail party at a private home. It was very well done, I might add. Saturday was the big day for viewing and voting for the best boat, car and air­ plane. There were some of the most impressive boats that I had ever seen. These older wooden boats, some up to 55 feet in length, were restored to new condition. One of the boat's captains had been commanding the same helm for 45 years; he was 83 years old. A highlight on Saturday was a ride on the original African Queen, from the movie of the same name . The African Queen is now owned and operated by Jim Hendricks of Key Largo, FL and is nor­ mally based at the Holiday Inn there. One of the other highlights was a chance to look over the area from the air via a ride in Fred Kirk's beautiful Howard DGA-15. Jimmy Leeward showed up on Satur­ day in his P-51 "Cloud Dancer." We all had a great time. On Saturday night we all gathered for a cocktail party, followed by a Maine lobster bake and entertainment. Sunday morning we got together for eggs, coffee and the awards. Each person who brought an antique was given an award for attending, with a "Grand" award given to a boat, car and airplane that was chosen by a vote of the viewers. Dr. John Nordt won the Grand Award for his PT-22. After this, everyone was free to head home. Any­ one who enjoys seeing antiques would certainly enjoy this weekend at the Ocean Reef. Weather seems to be dealing us a blow again this year with all of the snow, wind and flooding. You need to take extra care protecting your aircraft. Keep a close watch on your hangars and tiedowns; don't depend on others to look after your investment. Cold weather also seems to cause people to rush a preflight inspection. Let's be extra careful out there. As an EAA Antique/Classic member you can help your Division by asking your friends to join up with us . Let's all pull in the same direction for the good of avia­ tion. Remember we are better together. Join us and have it all! ... VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1

A/C NEWS compiled by H.G. Frautschy ADDITIONS TO SKY KING For a number of years, the EAA A via­ tion Foundation has had 44 episodes of the 1950's television program "Sky King" available for purchase on videocassette. Now, in cooperation with Flying Crown Enterprises, the Foundation's Paul Har­ vey Audio- Video Center has been able to compile the last existing episodes into 5 new tapes, comprising 20 more of the programs. These "new" programs have not been seen by the public in over 30 years. The complete set, 64 episodes, are believed to be all of the known existing Sky King programs. For vintage airplane enthusiasts, Sky King is a real " bonanza ," featuring con­ temporary aircraft of the day, and star­ ring a Cessna T-50 Bobcat and then a Cessna 310 as Sky's aerial mount, "Song­ bird " and "Songbird Il. " Individual tapes can be purchased from the EAA Aviation Foundation for $24.95. The entire 16 volume set is priced

at $355 .95, plus shipping - you save over $43 over the cost of individual tapes. If you've already purchased the previously released 11 tapes, the five new tapes are available for $110.95, plus shipping. You can order by calling EAA Membership Services at 1-800/843-3612. Major credit cards are accepted.

AIRCRAFT SPRUCE BUYS ALEXANDER AEROPLANE In an press release dated January 15, Aircraft Spruce and Specialty has an­ nounced the acquisition of all the assets of Alexander Aeroplane. The purchase of Alexander makes Aircraft Spruce one of the largest suppliers of aircraft parts and components in the world. The for­ mer Alexander facility in Griffin, GA will continue to operate, and the warehouse inventory in Griffin will be expanded to include products such as radios, wheels and brakes, tires, batteries, and many of the other items stocked by Aircraft Spruce in their west coast facility. One immediate benefit will be the reduction of time it will take

HARDLY ABELSON TAKES SHAPE ATEAA Pat Packard is seen as he dili­ gently continues work on his non-flying rep lica of Steve Wittman's "Hardly Ableson" the first airplane constructed and flown by Steve in 1923 (see the August 1995 issue of Vintage Airplane for more on this air­ plane). All of the major parts of the airplane have been completed - in fact, the replica is now ready for cover. Pat is doing the construction in the Cessna Restoration Center in the EAA Air Adventure Museum so that mu­ seum visitors can watch the construction progress and ask questions if they want. A 112 size radio controlled flying model of the Hardly Ableson is being constructed by the Oshkosh R/C Flyers model airplane club . The model, which will have a wingspan of 10 feet , is to be flown during the dedication of the Wittman Hangar at EAA's Pioneer Airport in May of this year We'll keep you posted on the progress of both the replica and the model, along with a re­ port on the exhibits planned for the new hangar.

2 FEBRUARY 1996

for a customer east of the Mississippi to receive hi s merchandise, and in most cases there will be a reduction in the freight charges, particularly on oversized items. If you live in the Griffin area , a new store is being added for walk-in traf­ fic. Poly-Fiber, Inc. , which is owned by Ron Alexander, was not part of the sale. Ron, who founded Alexander Aeroplane, will continue to operate the Alexander SportAir Center in Griffin, GA, as well as the Aeroplane Builder's Work shops , teaching aircraft building and restoration ski ll s. T he Workshops are presented jointly with the EAA. For in formation on the Workshops, call 770/467-9490. You can reach Aircraft Spruce at these two addresses:

Aircraft Spruce & Specialty West P.O. Box 424 201 W. Truslow Av. Fullerton, CA 92632 Phone: 800/824-1930 Product Information : 714/870-7551 Fax: 714/871-7289

Aircraft Spruce & Specialty East P.O. Box 909 809 S. Pine Hill Rd. Griffin, GA 30224 Phone: 800/831-2949 Product Information: 770/228-3901 Fax: 770/229-2329

EAA PUBLICATION INDEXES For many years, John and Alice Bergeson of Mich igan compiled and sold an index to EAA monthly publica­ tions. They've discontinued this service, and have kindly donated the remainder of their stock to EAA, along with the computer and program they used to compile the information. If you 'd like to purchase a copy of the index guides, they are now available, whi le they last, from EAA Membership Services. The guid e covering 1953-1989 is $20 , plus shipping and the guide for 1990-1994 is $10, plus shipping. Call 1-800/843-3612 to order.

CULVERS GET TOGETHER AT TULSA FLY-IN The Culver Aircraft Association's celebration of the 55th anniversary of the Culver Cadet is held in conjunctio'n with the Tulsa Regional Fly-In. Forums were held, including one on the care and feeding of the landing gear retraction mechanism. In the photo below, Culver restorer Mallory Selfridge of Eastford, CT dreams of the day when his NC37832 will be able to attend a fly-in. Dan Nicholson, president of the CAA, reports there were 4 Culvers at tbe Tulsa Fly-In - 3 Cadets and one "V".

Above - These three gentlemen were the award winners. Form left to right, they are, Gene Hentsel, Collinsville, TX, (the AI Mooney Award), Dr. Dave Conoley, Midland, TX (Longest Distance), Charles Harris, Tulsa, OK (Club Choice).

changes in your Type Club list in the De­ cember 1995 issue of Vintage Airplane. A new newsletter has been started by Ria Donovan for Lockheed lovers:

Once again, our thanks to Alice and John for providing an invaluable service.

WITTMAN CRASH NTSB REPORT RELEASED The NTSB has published their findings in the crash of Steve Wittm an's 0 & 0 Special, which claimed the lives of Steve and his wife Paula last April. Briefly, the cause was attributed to "Aileron-wing flut­ ter induced by separation at the trailing edge of an un bonded portion of wing fab­ ric at an aileron wing station. The debond­ ing of the wing fabric was a result of im­ proper installation." The flutter induced by a seemingly innocuous fabric flaw was severe enough to cause an extremely rapid and violent failure of the wing structure. For a detailed explanation of the find­ ings, please read the article on page 7 of the February issue of Sport Aviation. If there was ever any doubt in your mind as to why it was important to exactly follow the processes set forth in an STC'd cover­ ing procedure, please read tbat article - it could mean the difference between an airworthy installation and one that could have a potential fatal flaw.

AlC SURVEY RESULTS BEING TALLIED Our thanks to the over 900 Antique Classic members who sent responses to the A/C Survey included in the Decem­ ber 1995 issue. We are in the process of correlating the information and com­ ments sent in, and we plan to have a re­ port to the members within the near fu­ ture, in either tbe March or April editions of Vintage Airplane.

TYPE CLUB INFO For Taylorcraft owners on the central east coast, here's a club just for you: Virginia/Carolinas Taylorcraft Owners Club Jack Pettigrew, President 8325 Audley Ln . Richmond, VA 23227 804/266-6672 Newsletter: Quarterly Dues: $10 per year

We also have an update for both the Ercoupe Owners Club and the Cessna 1501152 Club. Skip Carden called to ad­ vise us that the dues for either club are $25 per year, not $20 as their older list­ ings quoted. Please make a note of the

Lockheed Owners Association

Ria Donovan, Editor

3521 NW. 70th 51.

Seattle, WA 98117

206/782-2964

206/782-3873 (fax)

Newsletter: Quarterly

Dues: $25 U.S ., $30 Foreign

SUN 'N FUN '96 INFO Planning a trip to Sun ' n Fun '96? One new way you can obtain information about the spring EAA get-together is via the Internet. An Internet home page bas been created for information on Sun ' n Fun activities, and a link has been created between the EAA and Sun 'n Fun home pages. You can access it at: http://lakeland.tsolv.com/-sunfun

*'

BRAD THOMAS We were saddened to hear of the death on December 27,1995 of former Antique/Classic Division president Brad Thomas of Pilot Mountain, NC. As detailed in the article about the restoration of his beloved Staggerwing, N35E, Brad's life was filled with aviation as his passion­ ate avocation, while he was busy earning a living as the owner of Pilot Hosiery Mills. Brad also served as the mayor of his home town from 1959 until 1963, and was the chairman of the Mount Airy-Surry County Airport Authority at one time. In aviation, he was just as active - not only did he serve as the president (and before that, Secretary) of the Division from 1979 until 1983, he has also served as presi­ dent of Antique/Classic Chapter 3, and as the Chief Classic Judge at EAA Oshkosh as well. He served as an Division advisor and on the A/C Board of Directors from 1976 until he became an officer in 1979. The Staggerwing Museum Foundation was another of the many interests Brad maintained , and his family asks that any donations be made to the Staggerwing Foundation in his memory. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3

VINTAGE

Aero Mail

VINTAGE LIT NOTES Dear Mr. Frautschy: Dennis Parks' article on ea rl y American aviation magazines prompts these observations. Although it lasted but one year (12 issues), without a doubt the earliest aviation magazine in America, possibly the world, was one tilted Aeronautics. It appeared monthly during 1893/94. Published by the American Engineer and Railroad Journal, this magazine was the out­ growth of an earlier section on aero­ nautics which had appeared in the rail­ way publication. I am familiar with these details be­ cause I am the proud owner of several issues of this exceedingly rare periodi­ cal. It would be interesting to know if other copies survive elsewhere. Mine were a fortuitous " find" among similar publications abandoned in a remote house once occupied by one of our earliest aviation pioneers-in the hill country of eastern Kentucky! Serendipity at its best. Some years ago the Library of Con­ gress published a review of all avia­ tion periodicals in America which had appeared up to that time. This is said to give details of publisher, dates of is­ sue and whether it merged with an­ other magazine or simply ceased to appear. Although Dennis Parks doesn't mention it , I wonder if the EAA library has a copy or any furt her information. Incidentally, for those interested in such things, EAAer Charles Gokey of 2307 Burrell Drive, Louisville, KY 40216 privately publishes a newsletter for the Aviation Magazine Collectors Association. Very sincerely, Edward Peck Louisville, KY Dennis Parks advises us that the Boe­ ing Aeronautical Library at the EAA Air Adventure Museum does have access to a copy of the Library of Congresses "Aero­ nautical and Space Serial Publications: A 4 FEBRUARY 1996

World List." Over 4500 titles from 76 countries are cata loged in this listing, published in 1962.

FROM ONE OF OUR 1995 HALL OF FAME HONOREES ... Dear Mr. Frautschy: The lovely award, the tapes, and all the rest of the ceremony was over­ whelming! An d now I ca n sha re a ll this with all my friends. Won't they be surprised! Speaking of friends, I have to label "Buck" Hilbert as one of the very best-I cou ldn 't have done it without him! I thank everyone in the organ iza­ tion for making this all happen; it is quite a " happening" in my life , an d I glow all over just thinking of it! Now I must go out and share my happiness with others-especially those who were such a great help to me in my time of need. May health and happiness be with everyone of you always. Sincerely, Joseph P. Juptner Laguana Hills, CA

LOOKING FOR A FAIRCHILD Gentlemen: For some time, I have been collect­ ing information on the Fairchild F-24, my interest focusing on its use as "UC­ 61" during the Second World War. The acq uisition of a restored F-24/UC­ 61 is my long-term goa\. In my search for historical and tech­ nical information, I h ave obtained manuals from ESSCO, become a mem­ ber of the Fairchild Cl ub an d of the Antique Aircraft Association, corre­ sponded with Ken Wakefield (a uthor of "The Fighting Grasshoppers"), con­ tacted potential F -24 se ll ers on bot h sides of the Atlantic, etc. And, yes, I did contact in 1994 yo ur associa tes at

the "EAA Warbirds of America" (copy of reply annexed) and , of course, followed the advice received. Not to m en tion a review of my rather extensive library on the air war 1939-1945. T he conclusion is as could be expected: the UC-61 is not the B­ 17; interest and information both are limited ... However, it may be that I have mi ssed something significant in the way of books and/or articles. Any help in that respect would be much appreci­ ated. Also, as mentioned above, having in mind the possible acquisition of such a n aircraft, technical advice from cur­ rent owners of F-24s would be useful. If there are such owners/operators in the membership, I would like to con­ tact them . Thank you for your assistance. Sincerely, J. A. De Kerchove

CP2070 AMS

1002 Lausanne

Switzerland

Anybody who is interested in helping J.A. can write him at the above address. Perhaps someone out there has a lead on a Fairchild UC-61 or F-24. - H.G. Frautschy ...

Have an article you'd like to submit? We're particularly looking for good technical and "how to" articles. Share your experieiJces with your fellow members! Send your materials to: H.G. Frautschy, editor,

Vintage Airplane

EAA

P.O. Box 3086

Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086

Need more information on format, photos, etc.? Ca ll 414/426-4800 and ask for the Vintage Airplane editor ­ he'll put you on the right path! Please. see the "Editorial Policy" printed in the box at the bottom of the "Contents" page.

VINTAGE LITERATURE

by Dennis Parks EAA Library and Archives Director

james Means' Aeronautical Annuals (1 895-1897)

The Wright Brothers Search the Literature When the Wright brothers decided to pursue a systematic study of the problem of mechanical flight, their first step was a literature search. After exhausting the re­ sources of their local library , Wilbur Wright wrote to the Smithsonian Institu­ tion in Washington, DC requesting "such papers as the Smithsonian has published on the subject, and if possible a list of other works in print in the English lan­ guage." He explained to them, "I am an enthu­ siast, but not a crank in the sense that I have some pet theories as to the proper construction of a flying machine. I wish to avai l myself of all that is already known and then if possible add my mite to help on the future worker who will attain final success." (Wilbur Wright to the Smithso­ nian Institution, May 30, 1899.) The Assistant Secretary of the Smith­ sonian Richard Rathburn replied on June 22,1899, enclosing a list of works related to aeronautical progress. This List included the three volumes of the AERONA UT/­ CAL ANNUALS, edited by James Means of Boston. The ANNUALS were one of the most cited early American aviation publica­ tions . James Means, like his contempo ­ rary, Octave Chanute, was determined to spread as much information about me­ chanical flight as possible. His vehicle for doing so was his series of volumes of the AERONAUT/CAL ANNUAL. In the three issues published during the 1890's he edited and issued significant pa­ pers on current developments in aeronau­ tics, prepared by experimenters in the field . James Means ' interest in flight be­ gan with a sea voyage during which he be­ came fascinated with watching gulls fly. This led him to consider the possibi lities

..

I

James Means, 1853-1920. Drawing by Pietro Pezzati. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

his ex pe rim en ts . H e lac ked t he know l­ edge to go further. The literature of others co uld build a body of knowledge to help o th e rs. Wh at was still a lso lacking was tru e " resea rch ," the scien ti fic method, HORIZONTAL

AEROPLANE

wh ich t he Wrig ht broth e rs b ro ught to (T a.i Iplane) MAIN AEROCURVE bear so we ll on the proble m of man ned (Winq)

To keep the era-it flight. on a. nor",onta.1

frame of uml)Tella.. Yibs The first volume begins with Leonardo and brac.. 5 with trailinq ed~e of taut corel . da Vinci's treatise upon the flight of birds Covered with va.rmshed. a nd hi s d es ign fo r an o rni t hopter. .,ilK· ,side., inclined­ u.pWard at di\1ed ,al angle V(P.TIC.AL AEROPLANE Le on a rd o re mar ke d o n t he soa r ing of ot abou.t 105 de,rees. ( FIN) bird s an d th e power of wind needed to To kup the c.raft keep birds aloft. headed '101"o the A repr int of Sir G eorge Ca ley's " O n wind . , Aerial Navigation" fro m N ICHOLSON'S JO UR NAL of November 1809, February and March 1810 as the second article. Ca­ ley, the "Father of British Aeronautics," be lieved that it was futile for man to ex­ pect to fly by fla pping artificial wings, an id ea l t ha t he ld for a long ti me and hin­ dered aero nautical development. He also ...sPAN 48" disc ussed the aerodynamics of the con­ Leoqth 4,3" cave shape of bird wings and the effect of angle of attack on performance. T he first issue a lso included a reprint of Francis Wenham's speech given before the Royal Aerona utical Society in J une 1866. Wen ham also disc ussed bird flight. L[A~[H WEIG\lT a dju..ta.bl. bacl< and.­ H e had discovered th e principle of the forth onth_ metal rod.· high-aspect wing. T here were also many short pieces in­ cludi ng a selection of letters between Ben­ ja m in Fran kl in a nd Joseph Banks. F ran klin had wit nessed the first manned balloon flight in France during 1783. In a concl uding editorial, Means gives ELEVATION detai ls of his mode l gli der designs. He concludes the volume with, "No one dares , . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ' - - - - - , to set a limit to man's achievement; we are now on ly in the earliest He stated that the "best lines for stages of the science of aerial navi­ investigators to follow are very clearly of mechanical flight. gation." marked out." These were: He expanded his interest by collecting 1896 saw the appearance of the aeronautical literature, mai nly from Eu­ second volume. It contained 19 ar­ 1) Development of the self­ rope. He shared his thoughts in a few pop­ ticles, 16 plates, now including pho­ ular publications. One in January 1893 ap­ tograp hs, many illustrations and propelled aerodrome 158 pages. In response to the first pearing in FRANK LESLIE'S WEEKLY, (Langley's term). declared his idea that it was wiser to first vol u me , this one now contained 2) Development of the motorless develop a small unmanned mode l than original contributions. The major­ air-sailer. risk the lives of men and that "any mea­ ity of the articles were by Lilien­ sure of success with full-sized apparatus thal, Maxim and Chanute. Lilien­ 3) The development of the motor. thal's 18 page article was entitled must be preceded by complete success with flying models." "Practical experiments for the de­ Copies were sent to every experimenter velopment of Human Flight." In 1893 Means retired from his busi­ ness of shoe manufacture and devoted he could locate and to public libraries in The German pioneer Otto Lilienthal himself full time to experimenting with the larger American cities. It was avail­ had also studied bird flight and published model gliders. By the end of 1894, having able for sale to others for $1.00. Produc­ a book about it in 1889. He decided that built a fair glider model , Means asked tion costs were from Means' own pocket one had to conquer the air by actually fly­ himself "What next?" It occurred to him as there were no advertisers. ing. He thus embarked on gliding experi­ that there were others around the world There were 16 articles and an editorial ments and in the years before his death in who were experimenting like him, in igno­ in the first issue of 172 pages. It also in­ a glider during 1896, he made over 2,000 rance of others work. He decided to gather cluded 16 plates of illustrations. The title flights. the best of the world's literature and pub­ page described the annual as being "de­ In this article he stated that " the jour­ lish it. This led to the publication of the voted to the encouragement of experi­ ney in the air without the use of the bal­ AERONAUTICAL ANNUALS, the first ment with aerial machines and to the ad­ loon is absolutely necessary in order to vancement of the science of aerody­ gain a judgment as to the actual require­ of which appeared in 1895. namics." ments for an independent flight." He rec­ Having no contributors for the first is­ Means had gone as far as he could with ognized the need for aircraft stability and sue, Means made it an historical volume.

A soaring machine designed by James Means, 1894.

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6 FEBRUARY 1996

stated, "It is in the air itself that we have to develop our knowledge of the stability of flight. " Lilienthal's death saddened Means, es­ pecially so since he had argued for the use of fly in g mo d e ls fo r ex pe rim e nta ti o n , minimizing the risk to human life. Hiram Maxim's 30 page article "Natu­ ra l and Artifici al Flight" is very interest­ ing. It cove rs his inte res t in bird fl ight and his design and construction of a fly ing machi ne. U nlike others who worked wi th flying models and those who experimented with gliders, Maxim decided to plunge right in "to make a large machi ne heavier than air that could lift itself from the earth by dy­ namic energy generated by the machine itself. " His machine was not just large, it was huge. Of biplane configuration , the main pla nes were 110 feet lo ng, wi th a total area of 5,500 sq. feet, had a 350 hp steam engi ne pulli n g twin 17 ft. p rops, and weighed 3-112 tons. H is effort was not intended to provide free flight or build a practical airplane, it was just to show that his pro pulsive de­ sign co ul d lift a heav ier t ha n ai r craft from the grou nd. It did just that in 1894. At a speed above 42 mph, it Lifted clear of the tracks it was o n, but it got fo uled on the retaining guard rails placed above the supporting rai ls, which were put in place to prevent a complete takeoff. Breaki ng through the retaining rails, and lacking di­ rectional controls, it crashed. Octave Chanu te, the great A merican gl idi ng pioneer a nd av iat io n hist oria n, provided a 15 page article "Sailing flight" in which he examines the conside rable lit­ erature on bird flight. H e did no t find in any of it precise measurements that would be necessary to test the author's theories "by numerical examples." He said he was dete rm ined to gather such data for him­ self. In the re maining short pieces were six papers re lated to ki tes, including one by Alexander Bell on his tetrahedral cellular kites. In an editorial, Means issued an in­ vita tion to "Experimenters in all parts of the world to send in concise accounts of their experiments." In the introduction to the third and fi­ nal volume of 1897, Mea ns after bemoan­ ing the loss of Lilienthal, went on to state that "The advance toward the full solu­ tion of the problem of fl ight whi ch was made in the year 1896 as greater than that of any previous year. " He stated that the " best li nes for investigators to fo llow are very clearly marked out." These were: 1) Development of the self-propelled aerodrome (Langley's term). 2) Development of the motorless air­ sailer. 3) The development of the motor. T his volume of 178 pages included 14 articles, a misce ll a ny a nd a n ed itorial.

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AA, rod rigidly attached to the fra me of the machine . B. C. D. aeata rigidly attached to rod A . Each of these leats ha. a pai r of loot.rests (not s hown in drawi ng ), rigIdly aUached to it. ' EEEEFF. These memOers a re all rig id ly attached to the fr~me of the machine. KK. sleeve revolvable about rod A. L. b~ vel g ea r, indicated by dotted line, meshing with Kears M and N. Gear L is rigidly allached to slee\'e K . T, lIexible s haft. 0, P, lateral rudders movable simultaneous ly ill oppos ite directions. H, long itud ina l rudder. S, vertical rudder .

The above drawing shows the James Means Control arranged for one, two or three persons. The number of seats and steering handles may be increased as desired. If there is a single aviator he occupies seat Cj if there are two they occupy seats Band D, C being vacant. It is obvious that when the seat C is occupied by a pupil and seats Band D by expert aviators the pupil may receive instrucfion and at the same time be prevented Irom making mistakes. The pupil will profit in a two-fold manner: visually by observing and following the motions 01 the expert in seat D, also by feeling and following the motions given to the handles by the two experts. The movements of the several pairs of handle-bars are necessarily similar and simultaneous. The balancing motions of the aviator are natural , that is to say, in actuating the later"l and longitudinal rudders the movement of the handle-bars is in the direction which the swaying of the aviator's body would take if he sought to correct by his weight the rolling or pitching. In examining the drawing it will be seen that there are three kinds of movement of the handle-bars: (a) Both hands forward or aft. (b) Both hands right or left, and also, (c) the ordinary bicycle steer which moves the vertical rudder. . her independently or simultaneously . These movements may bt: rna de etl To illustrate the former: Both hands aft elevates bow. Both hands forward depresses bow . Both hands to t he right elevates port side. Both hands to the left elevates starboard side. When it is desited to move all the rudders si multaneou~ly the number of possible combinations is infinite. It will be noticed that the swaying movement of the upper part of the body assists the rudders by favorably changing the centre of gravity of the whole. It is also obvious that if several persons fiy in one machine by this method they are not carried as dead weight, but are mov ing harmoniously accord ing to the requirt:ments of equilibrium anti they a re in position to offer the least possible air-resistance.

This Invention Is patented In the United State&. ' Patents are pendln, In forel,n -wuntrlu.

For Information concerning licenses to manufacture, please address

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An Advertisment for Means' Flying Machine Control. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7

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There were 18 plates of illustrations and pho­ tos. The lead article was a 24-page art icle by Samuel Langley "Story of Experiments in Mechanical Flight." The article covered Langley's experime nts in powere d models from 1887 to 1896 culminating in the success­ ful flight of Aerodrome No.5. Following was an article by Chanute " Recent Experi­ ments in Gliding Flight" in which he tells of the work done a long th e Lak e Michigan dunes near Chicago durin g the summers of 1896 and 1897. Another article was by Chanute's collabo­ rator , Augu st Herring , called " Dyn amic Flight." Percy Pilcher, a glider experimenter from England who was to meet the same fate as Lili e nthal , contributed a pap er on hi s work. Mean s in hi s editorial again makes a strong plea on behalf of flyin g models for re­

(Above) Proposed aircraft of Thomas Walker, 1810. (Right) The Wenham glider, 1866. (Below) A Hargrave Kite, 1893.

search . "We have reached the stage of ex­ periment where it is necessary to use all pos­ sib le persuasion to keep reasonably near terra firma those persons who have nothing but the courage of ignorance to equip them for ventures in the air." The three volumes of 1895, 1896 and 1897 providing accounts of such famed contempo­ rary experimenters as Lilienthal , Langley and Chanute represents the best collections of the results of aeronautical experiments available at that time, and one of the best of all time. Means stated in his first volume , " If this compilation should happily bring new work­ ers into the field of aeronautical experiment, the hop es of the editor will be amply ful­ filled. " That such hopes were fulfilled is evi­ denced by a letter from Orville Wright dated January 5,1908 conta inin g the following: "The old Annuals were largely responsible for the active interest which led us to begin experiments in aeronautics." The EAA Foundation Library and Archives is fortunate not only to have photo­ copies of all the annuals, but has been able to obtain original copies of the 1895 and 1897 ... editions. 8 FEBRUARY 1996

SWIFT

(Above) This smiling threesome of (L to R) Erin Arbeau, Denis Arbeau and Bill Stein are all on their way to Denton to enjoy the festivities at the 50th Anniversary Celebra­ tion of the Swift at Denton, TX.

CONVENTION

Denton, Texas September 18-24,1995

by Phyllis R. Moses

Fifty years have passed since the first Globe Swift rolled off the line and out of the factory door near Fort Worth , into the bright Texas sunlight. This spectacu­ lar airplane was introduced publicly in January 1945 amidst oohs and ahs of ad­ miration and praise. The newly re­ designed all metal taildragger, a depar­ ture from its original prototype wood/tube/fabric composition, had sleek, modern lines. Now half a century later, Swift owners and pilots brought them back to Texas to commemorate their 50th anniversary. A birthday party was held for a sparkling beauty, as pretty to­ day as she was when she first rolled out of that factory door. One of the many things that makes life rich and exciting is the fulfillment of ambitions and dreams. It has long been a dream of Charlie Nelson, founder and president of the International Swift As­

sociation, to arrange a party for the peo­ ple who built the Swifts to honor them for their accomplishments. The Associa­ tion was founded in 1968 and is dedi­ cated to the preservation and apprecia­ tion of the Swift airplane. Following a year of intense planning and anticipation for this once-in-a-life­ time party in Denton , Texas, the time came for the reunion but the skies were heavy with blankets of clouds. Some came in early, scud running and deviating through the widespread fronts that accompanied the seasonal weather change. By Friday, 98 Swifts were lined up on the concrete aprons and grass fields awaiting the festivities. Even though 300 airplanes had originally been expected, it soon became apparent that some planes would not be able to fly all th e way into Texas; consequently, air­ planes were left parked in many cities

and states in safe harbors, waiting for the weather to break so they could come in later. Nevertheless, in spite of these de­ lays and postponements, a party atmos­ phere prevailed among those who had come to celebrate. The plans were all set to honor the airplanes as well as the 300 plus retired assemblers and workers who had been responsible for the Swift being produced. Finally, the big day arrived on Saturday - the morning dawned clear and cool; the weather was glorious. In looking out across the field, those painted and polished Swifts were a beau­ tiful sight. They sparkled in the sunlight, their mirror-like finish polished beyond brightness. Now after much anticipation, the hour had come. A typical Texas barbecue luncheon was served. After that, a spe­ cial program was presented by Charlie Nelson. He introduced Mr. Robert McVINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

(Left) Robert Dixon, Bud Brown, Bill Shepard and Mark Holliday brief before the Saturday airshow.

Culloch, president and founder of TEMCO (Texas Engineering and Manu­ facturing Company, later known as LTV - Ling-Temco-Vought) who was involved when the Globe Aircraft Company went bankrupt. TEMCO took over the tool­ ing and the contracts to keep the Swift line going. Mr. McCulloch, in his 90s, is still going strong. His pride in the com­

pany is evident ; his employees greeted him enthusiastically and he knew many by name. Many events were planned for the re­ tired employees of Globe and TEMCO, which included up close inspections of the aircraft, and for those who wanted to go in the Swift, eager owner/pilots gave them a tour of the area. A 20 piece nos­ (Left) Dorothy Goulding of Marion, TX with her Swift, selected as the 1994 Swift Convention Grand Champion. Dorothy is one of about 20 women who fly a Swift, and one of about six who own her own lit­ tle low-winger. (Below) Four of the five T-35 and T-35A Buckaroos were at the Convention (the fourth, owned by Geoffrey Crawford, is just out of the picture, on the left). The airplane closest to the camera was do­ nated to the Swift Association by the country of Saudia Arabia to the Swift Mu­ seum and Foundation, who restored it to mint condition.

10 FEBRUARY 1996

talgia-type band played songs from that era ; many were eager to get out on the floor in the hangar and do the boogie­ woogie to Glenn Miller's "In the Mood," as well as "Tuxedo Junction" and "String of Pearls." The old, familiar music trans­ ported them back to those days in the postwar era when after a long day at work in the airplane factory, they danced their cares away. After lunch , the air show began. The dramatic opening was an awesome event featuring a Swift owner/parachutist, Wes Liu , jumping with an American flag. The flag, handmade by Swifter Ann Daly, is 40 feet by 60 feet and was brought to Texas from New Hampshire especially for this event by Ann and Wes in their airplane. Hearts were stirred as the band played the national anthem and the parachutist with the flag drifted slowly down to the runway . Ann, who usually does the jumping, had injured her ankle so Wes substituted for her. It was an enormously patriotic and emo­ tional moment. As the audience stood in response to the playing of the " Star Spangled Banner," it was difficult to hold back the tears of pride. Among the airplanes that took off in small groups were three Buckaroos. These were flown by Robert Dickson, Jr., Geoffrey Crawford and Kelly Ma­ hon . This military trainer version of the Swift has become even more rare than the classic Swift. Only five still exist and four were at this fly-in. The fifth one, owned by Bill Vandersande who lives in Diamond Bar, California, started out from California but had to turn back be­ cause of the weather. Geoffrey Craw­ ford of California owns the prototype Buckaroo; another belongs to Robert

Dickson of Charlotte, North Carolina; one is owned by Charlie Nelson of Athens , Tennessee, plus the Saudi Buckaroo that was restored from parts of several others that lay rusting and cor­ roding in the hot Arabian desert. They were discovered by Bill Kientz, then fly­ ing for TWA and based in Saudi Arabia. He was the key figure in the process that eventually brought the one they man­ aged to salvage to the Swift Museum at Athens, Tennessee. Following the Buckaroo flyby, about 20 Swifts led a "Parade of Flight," taking off in groups of threes and fours. Then an aerobatic segment was performed by Mark Holliday in his 1945 stock Swift. All would agree that Mark doing triple loops in this airplane is an incredible demonstration of what the Swift bird will do. Mark has owned approximately 45 Swifts, restoring some of them, making modifications, and retaining some in their basically stock condition. There is always a market for a good Swift, so he usually resells them. Immediately following Mark's act, a formation aerobatic team comprised of Lowell Sterchie, "Magic 1," Michael Kennedy, "Magic 2," and Dewayne Up­ ton, "Magic 3," known as the "Swift Magic Team," thrilled the crowds with their high speed, super tight aerobatic routines. Their spectacular precision acts are unique, with names like " Abra­ cadabra," "Top Hat," the "Wizard Scis­ sors," and the "Sleight of Hand." All are original maneuvers, based upon split-sec­ ond, razor edge timing. Their three iden­ tical Swifts are painted a brilliant black and red. Put through extraordinary paces, these airplanes demonstrate their superb flying qualities and what a rugged little gal (or guy) the Swift really is. Bill Shepherd, long-time Swift Associ­ ation member, demonstrated his skill as well as the airplane's ability in an im­ pressive aerobatic routine in his 200hp Swift. Following his performance, the four plane "missing man" formation did a flyby accompanied by a bugle playing "Taps." Fittingly, this moving ritual was done in honor and in memory of all Swift members who have "gone west." Then after the breathtaking perfor­ mances of the air show, the final mo­ ments were spent in reviewing the low passes by the various groups of Swifts that had participated in the afternoon's show: the three Canadian Swift birds, flown by Canadian pilots John Northey, Rick Scott and Bill Findlay; the three Buckaroos, and the groups of Swifts that had initially started the show. It was a special "thank you" to the audience, es­ pecially the Globe/TEMCO employees who had come to be honored. Just for the record, it can be reiter­ ated that Swift owners are fanatical in their admiration for the airplane. This is

(Above) John and Gay Northey flew their Swift from Canada to Denton. (Right) The late Robert McCulloch, Founder and CEO of TEMCO with his daughter, Sheila England.

made evident by the amount of money they are willing to spend on it. The origi­ nal ones cost $3,250.00. Today's prices range up to $100,000.00 and more! Orig­ inal advertisements describe the Swift in glowing terms that still hold up today: "You'll be proud of your new Swift ­ and you'll find new comfort and luxury you've never known in a low-cost per­ sonal airplane - all the conveniences you enjoy in your car. Plenty of elbow, leg and head room for two broad shouldered six footers . Soft, deep foam rubber leatherette cushions- ultra modern trim and appointments." Out of 1,521 Swifts that were origi­ nally manufactured, 800 plus are cur­ rently registered with the FAA. While not all of them are flyable , the majority of them are. The Swift has given owners virtually thousands of hours of enjoy­ ment and pleasure. Those who fly these airplanes praise their controllability and ease of operation; their wide gear config­ uration makes landings smoother. A let­ ter that Globe sent to new owners and prospective customers stated: "TO ALL PROGRESSIVE AMERI­ CANS: Ahead of you are many hours of flying pleasure. The more you fly your new Swift, the more you realize that SWIFT flying is a stimulating new sensa­ tion that will never grow old . You see, the SWIFT is designed and built to give you the airplane you've always wanted. It's fast and fleet and easy to fly- yet no light airplane ever built is safer than the SWIFT. Its sturdy all metal military­ type construction means you won't have to pamper your Swift to enjoy long years of trouble free service." This is just as true today as it was 50 years ago; the proof is in the modifica­

tions, polishing and the loving care that these owners lavish on their Swifts . Without question, the pride they feel about their aircraft is unrivaled. On one occasion, Mr. McCulloch stated it this way : "There will always be Swifts, as long as there is sheet metal." Again, looking back at old advertisements and photos, we read: "You can order your new SWIFT with floats or skis instead of the regular landing gear. The SWIFT's balance and controllability are not af­ fected by the use of these special types of landing gear. There is no appreciable loss in cruising speed with your SWIFT equipped with floats or skis. Sturdy, all metal construction makes the SWIFT well adapted to dependable, trouble free service as a seaplane or for operation in snow covered regions." The success of the 1995 convention and birthday party was a result of many months of planning. However, plans can be made, minds and hands kept busy with the preparations, but what actually lies at the heart of a celebration like this is the people. People whose hands and hearts are motivated by their mutual loves and interests. At this fly-in certain personalities stand out. Singling out just a few are those who flew the furthest in their Swift, Fern and Lynda Villenueve from Ontario, Canada, Francois Bougie from Quebec, Win Findlay, Rick and Tracy Scott and son, Connor were among VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

(Above) Bill Stein and his modified swift negotiate the Guadalupe Pass near EI Paso, TX enroute to Denton for the Swift Convention. (Left) Lana Stroud of Huntsville, AI is also another lady pilot/owner of a Swift.

the Canadians represented . Folks flew in from northern Oregon, Washington and southern Florida, and as far east as New York state. Swift owners came from all over the United States and Canada as well as France and England. There are two Swifts now based in Aus­ tralia and one in Germany. The conven­ tion became global in scope very soon. There was one couple who without question made a most significant effort to attend the convention - Jurgen and Con­ nie Harck, Vancouver, British Columbia. Jurgen has owned his Swift for almost 20 years, and from that time to this he has been an active Swift Association member. Just this past year Jurgen developed a se­ rious illness, ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig 's disease . While his somewhat fragile health has severely limited his ac­ tivities, he has set certain personal goals. Subsequently, his major goal was to make it to the 50th anniversary party , and he did. Because of his illness most of his routine activities have been drastically curtailed. His wife Connie has become his continuous care giver. At best, travel­ ing that distance is an energy consuming effort. J urgen credits Connie and her strength for making this trip possible. "This particular fly-in was the best I have ever been to. Everything was won­ 12 FEBRUARY 1996

derful, the people, the planes, the food. I cannot describe how very special this is to me." When asked what he liked best about it, he replied: "Seeing all the Globe/TEMCO employees, hearing the band at the Saturday air show, going to the meetings and the forums, watching the planes come in and, of course , seeing old friends again . You know, these Swift people are among the best people in the world. Swift airplanes do attract the nicest people; they are my long-time bud­ dies; they are family. " Unquestionably , the pinnacle of Jurgen's experiences at the fly-in was the ride in the SwiftFire, flown by Rex King, Houston , Texas. It was an incomparable experience for Jur­ gen and the memory will remain with him for a long time to come as a reminder of his passion for the airplane and his friends. Most important of all, those who were with Jurgen at Denton couldn't help noticing that a happy smile never left his face; it seemed to personify the determi­ nation that brought him there. Certainly it was a peak experience for Rex as well to be able to provide this opportunity for J urgen to once again take to the air. Other outstanding personalities attend­ ing the convention were the women who fly Swifts. Three teams of "his and her" Swifts came to Denton. The first pair to arrive were Duane and Dorothy Golding from San Antonio. A short time later, Denis and Erin Arbeau flew in from Cali­ fornia. Then Buzz and Barbara Winslow from Ohio arrived. Other women who fly the Swift and who attended the fly-in were: Jeanie Collins, Nancy Seguine, Bonnie Erickson, Lana Stroud, Amelia

D' Antonio, Emeli Shepherd Saur, as well as Nanette Haumschild. There are ap­ proximately 20 women who fly the Swift airplane; they are all experienced pilots. Now the party's over and the guests have gone away. However, this party will not soon be forgotten. There were many happy retirees of Globe/TEMCO who had another look at an airplane they helped to build; pilots and owners had an opportunity to meet and talk with those who built it and to thank them for doing a superb job. The magic of flight and romance of yesteryear made a perfect combination for the successful afternoon . An after­ noon filled with sweet memories, tear filled reunions and great entertainment. As the re tirees prepared to leave , many made comments about what fun they had; seeing coworkers they hadn ' t seen in many years; renewing acquaintances of other years, but most of all to see this beautiful aircraft that had brought them all together one more time; probably (sadly for some) the last time. No one could recall that it had ever been done before; it may never happen again, but for one splendid Saturday in September 1995 a historic event took place. Builders and the owners celebrated together. It was a time of remembrance. Yep, it was some party all right, done up Texas style. Give folks lots of good food, bright, blue skies and a "swarm of Swifts," that's a good enough reason to get together and have a fly-in. As Char­ lie Nelson said: "This party not only commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Swift, but it is our way of saying: 'Here's a toast to the past-with a look to the future. ' Just wait ' till the next 50 year anniversary!"

EPILOGUE After this article was written, Mr. Robert McCulloch, founder of TEMCO, died No­ vember 30, 1995 at the age of 92. His life was a testimony to the accomplishment of the American Dream. He immigrated to the US from Scotland at the age of 24, with $20.00, his toolbox and his Bible in his pocket. He rose through the working ranks of North American Aviation, setting production records for the P-51 while he served as NA's general plant manager. His ability to bring out the best in people came to the forefront when he set up his own company, Texas Engineering and Manufacturing Co. With the mergers that created L TV, Mr. McCulloch became the corporation's CEO. Mr. McCulloch com­ pleted the final sentence in his journal only one week before his death. He stated: " I have taken a long time to write this story and as I come to the end, I have one expression in my mind - what a great country the United States of America has been to me!" ...

B y the middle of 1948, the PA-15 Vagabond, intended to use up the inven­ tory of raw material stocks Piper had on hand, had been established as a winner. Sales were up, and it appeared that Piper might just weather the post -war air­ craft sales slump. Still, a two­ place airplane was not solely what the market needed at that time, and Howard "Pug" Piper knew it. When he and his brother Tony, along with Walter Jamouneau and Dave Long, were given the order to design a cheap, two -place side-by-side airplane that would use up existing stocks of raw ma­ terials, Pug was thinking about 4 seats from the very beginning. He envisioned a design that would al­ low the basic airplane to be expanded, without a lot of new engineering work. Slab sided and short winged, the new air­ plane, dubbed the Vagabond, has over the years become a darling to those who enjoy the airplanes with the Piper name. There was plenty of life in the short wing Piper line , and the next installment would be quite an improvement over the

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utilitarian airplane built to convert in­ ventory material to sales dollars. Even while the pencils were being laid to the vellum on the drafting tables in Piper engineering, thought was given to methods that could be used later to spruce up the basic airplane. The first days of 1948 saw the start of Vagabond production, and by the time fall had ar­ rived, production had been authorized and begun on a new version of the Vagabond, to be called the PA-16 Clip­ per. The Clipper was the first breath of "luxury," so to speak, since the eco­ nomic fuel of sales had been drained from the tanks of the lightplane industry

PA-16 CLIPPER

by H.G. Frautschy

/t's amazing how many terrific airplanes have been born out of expediency. The Piper PA-16 Clipper is exactly that.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

in March, 1947. A redesigned landing gear, with shock cords included for ab­ sorbing the bumps of landing, was incor­ porated, and so was the cabin extension that had been thought of from the early design stages of the Vagabond. An extra 1',5-1/2" was built into the fuselage, and the aft cabin redesigned for a second bench seat. The right side forward seat's door was supplanted with a door aft of the struts on the left side of the fuselage, for the rear seat passengers use. The engine compartment also got something new - a 115 hp Lycoming 0-235-C1 engine was put in the engine mounts. To start it, in­ stead of hopping out and giving the prop a flip, all you had to do was push the starter button, located on a bracket under the left seat cushion. The gross weight was pushed up to 1,650 lbs., yet the empty weight only went up 230 lbs . - empty, the Clipper weighed in a 820 lbs., meaning the little four-place airplane could haul nearly its own weight into the sky! It was able to cruise at a respectable 112 mph , and with one aboard on a cold 14 FEBRUARY 1996

January day, Air Facts editor Leighton Collins reported an exceptional rate of climb on takeoff - almost 1,000 feet per minute. In the March 1949 issue of his magazine he wrote: " ... for at 80 mph you are climbing certainly a good solid 1,000 fpm, and with your nose way up there. Maybe it is all in what you are used to, but that much climb in a small airplane is going to be a most invigorat­ ing experience to a lot of pilots." You could easily fly with two 170 pounders and a full load of fuel (12 gal­ lons up in the fuselage tank, with another 18 in a tank mounted in the left wing) and still have 280 lbs. left to go ' til you got to its gross weight. Unless you feed them too much (ie, teenagers), you could load up the kiddies in the back seat , throw a small bag or two into the bag­ gage compartment and still come out ahead. The Piper brothers and the engi­ neering staff in Lock Haven knew their market, and wanted to give them some­ thing they'd want. You could even haul cargo with your Clipper, by folding down

the rear seat, which gave you room for 400 lbs. of whatever you could fit in the door. Again, Leighton Collins said it well: "Other items could be mentioned , but the point is that as you keep looking around you keep finding refinements that you just wouldn't expect in the low­ est price four-place. Not expensive things - just little things that make you feel that the man who built the airplane intended using it himself." On the instrument panel a Safe Flight Indicator stall warning came as standard equipment, along with the required in­ struments for visual flight, an airspeed in­ dicator, altimeter, oil pressure and oil temp gauges and a compass. The right side stick could be easily removed if your flying companion was not inclined to par­ take of your aeronautical adventure ­ heck, there was even a little bracket on the right side of the cabin to keep it in! Wheel pants and a two-way radio were available as options, and for an extra hun­ dred bucks, you could buy the Deluxe edition, complete with nice interior trim

(Above) A panel bedecked with ba­ sic IFR instruments is installed, but the rest of the cockpit is very origi­ nal, except for the lambswool seat cushion. (Right) A pa ir of original metal wheel pants, complete with steps on top (don't you dare!) distinguish the Clipper from its older brother the Vagabond.

and upholstering, extra foam in the seat cushions and carpeting, all wrapped up in a pretty cream col­ ored fabric with a red stripe. Piper began merrily producing Clip­ pers in Lock Haven in 1949, priced ini­ tially at $2995, the least expensive four­ place airplane on the market. They managed to put out over 700 of the air­ planes before it was replaced by the PA­ 20. The exact number produced has been published as 726 by two sources, and 736, including the prototype, NC4000H, by a third . As an aside, that first Clipper is still around - Clyde Smith, Jr., noted Piper restorer and historian, is '4000H's registered owner. When the newly revised version of the PA-16 was put in production, the name of the airplane was changed as well when the corporate lawyers for Pan Am let in be known that the airline was not amused by Pipers use of the name "Clipper" ­ Pan Am had registered the term with the Patent office as a trademark description of their aircraft used in overseas flig hts.

Piper was to "cease and desist" from the use of the name. Rather than argue the point, Piper simply changed the name. The new P A-20 would be called the Pacer. We'll leave the rest of that story for another article: Pat Cargile, (EAA 2400696) of Chapin, SC is one of the fortunate few who owns one of the 399 PA-16s left on the FAA registration rolls. He's no stranger to Piper prod ucts - members may recall the Cub he, his brother J eff and their friend John Baker restored as a surprise gift for Gordon Cargile, Pat and Jeff's dad. T his little Piper was one that had bee n simmering in the back of his mind since he was a yo u nger man in A&P school. He was always on the look­ out for the fo llow-on version of the PA­ 16, the PA-17 Pacer. Later, somebody told him "H ey, one's got a stick and it's called a Clipper."

That perked up his ears! An airplane he remembered from his past, but just couldn't put his finger on - the Clipper was what he had been looking for all these years. Another fellow members may recall is Donald" AI" Smith, Val­ dosta, GA - remember the gold plated rocker box covers on his Cub in the May 1995 edition of Vintage Airplane? Al is a EAA Designee and an A&P, and he had a Clipper he was willing to sell ­ space had become tight, and so Pat had the solution! For about four years he tooled around the south in his "Stick Pacer", having a grand time while cruis­ ing around at 110 mph and only burning 5 to 5-1/2 gph. By October of 1990, time and rust had caught up with the little Piper. An AD concerning rust in the door channels, along with the results on an inspection of the lower longerons made the decision easy - it was time to rebuild the PA-16. Working in the mezzanine of the cor­ porate hangar owned by his employer, Pat and his friends got to work stripping off the fabric. It had been covered in Razorback, but the plan was to recover with the Stits (now Poly-Fiber) system. T he mezzanine became a bit too crowded, and keeping the hangar clean duri ng the rest of the project would be a major headache, so a small warehouse VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

was rented that was just the right size. Pat, John Baker and Al Smith pooled their tools and made a shop area that was just what was needed. Everything was removed and cleaned, including a lot of wing parts that were replaced. The wings were in pretty good shape, but parts simply showed their age. A bent up butt rib was replaced on each wing, and new leading edges were installed, along with a landing light - a flight or two at evening convinced him that he really would prefer a light, even if it was not legally required. One of the challenges to be met while rebuilding the Clipper was a dearth of information regarding that particular model. The parts manual does not in­ clude any illustrations, just a list of parts and their quantities. Pat and his bud­ dies would look and make note of any items that were original. By putting to­ gether this data , along with help from noted experts like Clyde Smith, Jr. they were able to pin down the things to keep the airplane very original appearing. Still, Pat intended it to be a useful air­ plane for himself, and to that end he had a list of instruments and radio gear that he wanted in the panel. The nice thing about today's electronics is that they don't take up too much panel space. A good radio, a loran, transpon­ der and a GPS filled out the nav/com aids, while the flight and engine instru­ ments are comprised of a needle and ball, attitude gyro, DG, airspeed, tach, and combination oil pressure/oil temp gauge, along with a EGT, vertical speed indicator and ammeter. While it's not certified as IFR, Pat was toying with the idea, if for nothing else to help get above the top of a 3000 ft. overcast or other "soft" IFR endeavors. The interior was finished out as close to original as possible, with a new set of headliner bows made up by Pat: "You just start bending it around anything in the shop, paint buckets, garbage cans, anything to get the radius to kind of take your patterns off of the old ones." A new wool headliner tops out the upper half of the cabin, while a fabric interior finishes out sections of the lower cabin. The seats are covered in the hickory brown leatherette, but it used to get Pat so sticky and sweaty dur­ ing the summer fly-in season that this time he was determined to fix that prob­ lem. A lambskin wool seat cover added to his cross-country comfort. All of the sheet metal in the airplane has been replaced, and if it had a curve in it anywhere, one man made it possi­ ble. If I'm speaking of metal shaping in the Southeast, you know I must be talk­ ing about the one and only John Neel of Georgia Metal Shaping in Griffin, GA. Everything with a curve, be it radical or 16 FEBRUARY 1996

gentle, went under the hammer at John's shop. Sometimes, such as when a nice looking pair of wheel pants looked pretty good but felt pretty heavy, a bit of cutting, welding and filing was needed as well. One of the pieces Pat is most proud of is the one piece bottom lip on the lower portion of the boot cowl. More often than not, you find these pieces riveted in place. A new stainless steel firewall was built by Pat, replacing the original gal­ vanized piece. It weighs only one pound more than the Piper built part. Throughout the airplane, Pat was able to take advantage of the fact that the Piper J-3, Pacer and the like are blessed with pretty good support from a number of sources, most notably the folks at Univair in Aurora, CO. A new endless loop trim cable was installed, and so was a new trim system, with a Zerk fitting on the torque tube so the fitting can be greased. New tubing was installed in the fuel system, and all new wiring, with the help of Tony Brunson, his friend and electrical whiz. The Lycoming engine came out look­ ing good too, with a new set of baffling and the same treatment the rest of the airframe got - if it looked bad or even suspicious, either dimensionally or "just 'cause," it got replaced. Towards, the end, the Spring of '95 was quickly coming to an end, and the finish line known as Sun 'n Fun '95 was fast approaching. Still, it was no time for rushing the job. A carefully planned weekend covering party was organized, but what do you know, when the wing envelopes were checked against the wing, they came up three feet short, on a short wing Piper! Time to panic? No! A quick call to Alexander Aeroplane was made , and John was on his way in his Cessna 140. The gal at Alexander added the needed fabric to the enve­ lope, and the covering could continue without a hitch.

The finish is Poly-Fiber Aerothane, on both the metal and fabric. (All of the finish is from the Poly-Fiber sys­ tem.) Pat likes that way the two differ­ ent surfaces age well together. All up, Pat's airplane came in at just over 950 Ibs. , about 100 pounds over the air­ plane's original gross weight, which didn ' t include the wheel pants. In the middle of the final push, Pat had to move the airplane up to Columbia, SC, his new home for a new corporate flying job he had just started. The front seat was completed just in time, and after being reassembled the week before Sun 'n Fun, Pat was ready to head on do,,!n to Florida that Saturday, whe ~ we caught up with him. People were point­ ing and murmuring all week. Those who know the airplane would nod ap­ preciatively, while the rest bubbled over with questions, which often started with "I didn't know Pacers came with sticks!" It was then that Pat got to spend a little time explaining what he had and where it came from. Sounds like a pretty typi­ cal fly-in, where pilots get to have fun talking about their airplanes. A Clipper is a deceptive airplane, one of those sleepers that not too many people will notice, but it certainly war­ rants a second look. Hmmm. A four­ place airplane with a 50 pound baggage allowance and nice range, while flying 110+ mph and sipping a little less than 6 gph. Sounds pretty useful. Hey Pat, where can I find one of those? ...

Absconding with the Class I (0-80 hp) trophy in the Classic Aircraft judging at EAA Oshkosh '95 was a very nice 1947 Aeronca llAC Chief, NC3469E, SIN llAC-1764, flown in by Ray John足 son (EAA 159826, A/C 5728) and his lovely wife, Judy, of Marion, Indiana. Believe me when I say the trophy was earned. This Aeronca Chief was originally purchased in partnership with Wilbur Hostetler (EAA 94013) back in 1979. Wilbur was Ray Johnson's instructor and had taught him the fine art of flying an airplane in 1978. Together, Ray and Wilbur enjoyed a beautiful partnership and logged many hours in the 65 hp Chief until 1984. By then, the old girl was showing signs of aging and was ready for a rebuild. Close up photo, left, reveals two fuel tank caps, one ahead of the windshield (15 gallon main tank) and one near the trailing edge of the wing ( 8 gallon auxiliary fuselage tank). Ray and Judy Johnson, below, endured the detailed restoration, yet continue to smile when speaking of their Aeronca Chief.

SECOND

TIME AROUND

Ray Johnson's '47 Aeronca Chief, NC3469E by Norm Petersen

Under the watchful eye of Jim Howren (A & P with AI), the Chief was taken down to the bare bones and slowly restored to new con足 dition . This entire process was carefully detailed in the April 1987 issue of VINTAGE magazine, pg. 10. (The beautiful Chief was featured on the front cover of the magazine that month.) At EAA Oshkosh '86, the Aeronca ran off with the "Best of Type" award and the Johnson 's and Hostetler's were one happy group. The pretty restored Aeronca served the two families well as the years went by and in 1993, Ray and Judy flew the airplane to the EAA Con足 vention in Oshkosh and enjoyed a really rme week. On August 4, 1993, they took off from Oshkosh heading north to go around the north end of Lake Michigan and come down the eastern shore of Michigan to visit Judy's father, Howard Henry, at Shelby, Michigan. Ray spent a full day giving rides to many of the local people and towards evening, he refueled the Chief and loaded his father-in-law on board for a local flight. At 2,000 feet, the Chief was cruising along nicely at 85 mph when a loud bang VINTAGE AIRPlANE 17

(Left) This neatly completed gear instal­ lation features the fiberglass wheelpants described in the article. Eventually. a re­ stored set of metal whelpants will be in­ stalled to complete the restoration by Ray and Judy Johnson.

was heard and the engine quit. (Num­ ber one cylinder had swallowed a valve). There was a four-lane highway off to one side , but Ray knew he couldn't reach it from 2,000 feet. The only possi­ ble spot below was an asparagus patch with waist high plants. Ray slipped over the fence and greased the Chief into the tiny field. The heavy plants and grass 18 FEBRUARY 1996

slowed the airplane and Ray kept the tail down with full aft yoke. Suddenly, the right wheel hit a large rock and the right wing dropped into the dirt. It was the only rock in the field! The right­ hand gear was washed out and there were wrinkles where they shouldn 't be. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Perhaps the hardest part for Ray was explaining the mishap to his longtime partner, Wilbur Hostetler. However, Wilbur calmly assessed the situation and not wanting to go through another rebuild, offered his half of the Chief to Ray for a reasonable price. A buyout was negotiated on terms favorable to everyone and Ray and Judy began the long road to once again owning a flyable Aeronca Chief. An offer from members of EAA Chapter 304 in Jackson, MI, to help

rebuild the Chief was too good to re­ sist - the airplane parts were hauled to Jackson and the rebuild commenced under the watchful eyes of Denzel Williams and Russ Borton , Chapter 304 President. Every weekend, Ray would drive the 164 miles to Jackson , MI, and work for two solid days on the rebuild. Jeff Perkins of Chapte r 304 worked his magic touch on the metalwork and Wayne Crawford of 304 handled the fabric covering details . Luckily , the entire airplane did not have to be cov­ ered. They were able to remove old fabric back to the seams and add new Stits fabric from there. After a care­ full inspection, the right wing needed a new bottom cover and the left wing was merely repainted with Stits Aerothane - the final finish chosen for this time around (instead of Stits Poly­ tone) using the original colors of Champion Yellow with Newport Blue trim. When the fuselage was uncovered, it was discovered that more tubes were bent from the accident than originally

·

,

The highly polished McCauley propeller is set off by the original metal spinner that flows into the cowl (see story). Metal props were shipped with Aeron­ cas for a short period of time when the wood props were in short supply. The large spinner originally faired in a McDowell mechanical starter when the Chief was first delivered.

~1

anticipated. T hese be nt tubes were carefully heated and straightened with necessary patches and re-welding where required . Again, Jeff Perkins was the master welder and his work­ manship is impeccable. After rebuild­ ing the badly bent right landing gear, he proceeded to rebuild the left land­ ing gear also, just to be absolutely sure they were perfectly matched pair. While all this was going on, the in­ strument panel was sent to "Wood­ grain by Estes" in Florida for re-finish­ ing to original woodgrain design as used in 1946-47. The results are beau­ tiful. Even the fiberglass wheel pants were redone to final perfection. Ray has recently purchased a set of genuine Aeronca Chief metal wheelpants that will eventualy adorn the Aeronca. Ray Johnson's brother-in-law, Butch Walsh, noted Stinson restorer from Virginia , hauled the metal McCauley 74 X 43 polished propeller along to his favorite prop shop for overhaul and yellow tagging. In addition, Butch lo­ cated a serviceable crankcase for the A65 engine rebuild.

Magnificent interior caught the judges eye, espe­ cially the original wood grain instrument panel and the super detailed upholstery, right down to the map pockets in both doors. The hanging heel brakes on the pilot's rudder pedals are visible in this photo.

Back in 1987, when I wrote the orig­ inal article o n NC3469E, I mentioned that the airplane was in dire need of a metal prop spinner, as the o ld one had torn itse lf loose a nd self-destructed . (Few original Aeronca spinners have sur­ vived the test of time - soft material, cou­ pled with a thin aft bulkhead and no for­ ward mount, meant that most have sucummbed to excessive cracking. - HGF) Lo and behold, Ray received a call from Tom Harvey in Sandborne, NY, who had a genuine metal spinner for a metal prop on a Chief and was willing to sell it to Ray. As Ray says, "The neat thing about these old airplanes is the peop le. As a result of getting to know Tom, we ended up with a pol­ ished meta l prop and the origina l metal spinner. Many thanks again, Tom Harvey." A new lower cowl was located to upgrade the bashed in one on the air­ plane. Much work was also accom­ plished under the cowling, polishing, cleaning, fixing and straightening. Jeff Perkins built all new engine baf­ fles which make the engine compart­ ment shine like a new airplane. Paul Cline of Michigan majored the Conti­ nental A65-8 engine back to new con­ dition and it was returned to Jackson and insta lled. Wih everything back together, things were looking pretty sharp up front.

T he two year restoration was quite an e m otio n a l roller coaster fo r R ay an d Ju dy, however, D enzel W illiams was t h e man of the h o u r who held R ay's hand during the entire two years and continually added encouragement - a necessary ingredient in a two year project. Other members of Chapter 304 added their expertise to the project, helping in many, many ways to move the restoration along. The painting was done by Jeff Perkins' right hand man, Kevin, who really knows how to handle a spray gun . In addition, many of the smaller parts were painted by Denzel Williams. The Stits Aerothane works well in the spray gun and leaves a bright shiny finish that lasts for years. Ray said, "We are well pleased with the overall paint scheme including the large wing numbers that we did not have on the 1986 restoration. This time, Chapter 304 would not allow us to leave their premises without the large numbers on the top of the right wing and the bottom of the left wing, just as the Chief had in 1947 when it was built." Jeff Perkins worked over the nose­ bowl which looked like it had been hit with a basketball. Without using an ounce of fille r, Jeff worked out the dented and wrink led material until it was back to its origina l shape and VINTAGE AIRPlANE 19

(Left) Above the green fields of Wisconsin, the bright yellow Chief cuts a pretty picture with its 36­ foot wing carrying the 1947 regis­ tration numbers. This was a deluxe airplane back in 1947 and sold brand new for $1995. (Below) The welded handle is used for moving the Aeronca on the ground - a strict necessity to avoid manhandling the airplane by the stabilizer. Note correct fas­ tening of the tail brace wire with washer and cotter pin .

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smooth as a brand new nose bowl. As Ray mentions, "The guy is a genius with metal." The second time around, Ray learned that you don't paint all the trim screws. They are left in their original shiny plated finish and (very) carefully in­ stalled with all slots lined up with the "line of flight." To quote Ray, " When you fly an old Chief, you need to get rid of all the drag you can." Eventually, the perky side-by-side Aeronca was completely assembled with all the fairing strips installed and numer­ ous small details taken care of, one by one. On January 7,1995, the time came for everyone to see if their efforts had been in vain. The airplane was wheeled outside and fuel was added to the tank. A few blades were pulled through on the propeller to load up the cylinders and the mag switch was turned on. On the (Below) Familiar side view of NC3469E reveals extremely well done original paint scheme, original Scott tailwheel and a door handle that actually lines up with the "line of flight." Both doors fea­ ture sliding windows.

20 FEBRUARY 1996

next pull, all four cylinders fired up and the overhauled A65 ran like a new engine! The sweet sound brought forth many shouts of joy and happiness and every­ one present felt the tingle of success run through their tender bod­ ies. What a day! When queried about the weight of the finished airplane, Ray explained that they finished up at 835 Ibs. without gasoline or oil. This compares to an ad­ vertised weight of 790 Ibs. when new. However, this was without wheelpants and metal prop which add about 20 Ibs. In addition, when Ray and Wilbur re­ stored the Chief the first time, they re­ placed the wing leading edges with .020 aluminum versus the original .016. Sure, its a bit heavier, but the leading edges on the airplane are immaculate and pro­ vide a very true airfoil. The Chief cruises at 85 mph, lands at 60 mph and stalls at 48 mph. It gets off the ground nicely and is very respectable in climb, so Ray and Judy are pleased with the overall performance. They would especially like to thank

all the many, many good people who helped in the rebuild of the Aeronca Chief during the two year stint. This would include the Chapter 304 mem­ bers, Denzel Williams, Russ Borton, Wayne Crawford, J eff Perkins, Earl Scott, Steve Mathews and many of Ray Johnson 's relatives in the Jackson area (both in-laws and out-laws) who spent hours helping out when it was really needed. Every single bit of help and as­ sistance is sincerely appreciated as Ray and July readily admit that without the extensive help, the restoration could never have been completed. One name that continually pops up when the Johnsons are talkillg about the Aeronca is Wilbur Hostetler, Ray's part­ ner for so many years and the man who taught Ray how to fly. To be held in such high esteem by your friends is an honor indeed, and Wilbur Hostetler wears the honor well. Besides being a pilot and a CFI, he is aviator from the word "Go" and his enthusiasm is quite contagious. A very special "Congratulations" to Ray and Judy Johnson for having the tenacity to restore a "bent up" former Oshkosh award winning Classic airplane to even better condition than before ­ and then go on to win the Class I A ward at Oshkosh '95. This is quite an achieve­ ment, however, Ray and Judy are very special people who enjoy a challenge. Next to the front door of Ray and Judy 's house is a special rock that is specifically placed to remind Ray of the rock in the asparagus patch. As Ray says, "It's not that big of a rock, but it ... surely keeps me humble!"

PASS db

BUCK

by E.E. "Buck" Hilbert EAA #21 Ale #5 P.O. Box 424, Union, lL 60180

Renewal? Is there ever such a thing as auto­ matic renewal? We all tend to surge and wane in our ambition and avoca­ tion. I guess each time Trade-A-Plane comes, and that's three times a month, I must buy (dream on Bucky!) at least five or six airplanes. I'm also fortunate enough to get most of the Type Club newsletters. These are a constant source of renewal. Reading about the Luscombes , Ercoupes, Cessnas, Beeches, Aerostars, MaJibus, Aeroncas, Pipers is renewal enough, but every once in a while I get a real charge out of reading a first encounter message. Now there is a renewal if ever there was one! When a person finds aviation , when he falls in love with an airplane, whe n he catches the same "airplane disease" I've had since I was four years old, that's "renewal!" Reading about the person's first ex­ perience, the sheer joy of flight , the feelings expressed in print as he bares his soul and his innermost feelings, it's ME all over again! I relate to people you wouldn't believe. It doesn't make any difference what kind of an airplane it is. The whole ex­ perience can happen whether it's a glider, a jet, an ultralight, an antiq ue, or a warbird. It happens! It's a friendly disease, albeit expensive, that one can never live down. There is no cure! The only thing that can be done is to "scratch" that itch often enough to keep yo urself happy, to enjoy having a spe­ cial disease that is so personal, so keen, so enjoyable, that gives feelings of free­ dom and expression kin to no other. You want to shout it from on high, share it with anyone who will li sten, spread the word and talk, eat , breathe

and live aviation. It's a terrible, yet wonderful disease to have . It sets you apart from the mundane everyday peo­ ple, puts you in a world where only air­ plane talk is the language you want to use. It may narrow your worldly sphere, but it'll sure increase your awareness of the horizon of flight. All of this may so un d corny to the uninitiated, but it happens! I worked for years to get my neighboring farmer up for a ride. He gave me every excuse in the world. I kept after him and one day caug ht him in a receptive mood. We took the old Champ and he rode in the front seat. He was hooked! Here was a man approaching 80, on his first airplane ride! There was noth­ ing I could do with him after that first experience. Although he never got a li­ cense, he took enough dual from me to so lo the Ch amp , and eac h and every time I got an airplane out, there he was to he lp and to litera lly beg for a ride . Until the day he went west at the age of 83, I had an airport kid on my hands. I'm sure th ere are others out there who have had similar experiences. We all have known people who made ca­ reer changes after experiencing their first flight. Should we empat hize with them? You bet! W e're all in this to­ ge th er, we a ll love av iat ion and air­ planes, a nd we a re n' t abo ut to take a back sea t or hid e it. We have some­ thing mere mort a ls don't have! Let's be proud of that fact! L e t 's sho ut it out loud and let's tell the world! We're a fortunate minorit y! R eve l in o ur "airplane disease!" Wallow in it! And " noise" it around th at we have so me­ thin g NO ONE can ta ke away fro m us! The "survey" shee ts are coming in. I'm getting calls ask ing abo ut mUltiple ow ners hip (yes, make copies a nd fill

out one for each airpl ane if you want to), and more often than not the guy wants to know whether he can supply information other than what the ques­ tionnaire asks. In other words, can he make remarks or additional comments. You bet - go ahead and do it! Write a little explanatory note or include ad­ ditional data if you want to. We'll in­ gest it into the statistics somehow , if I have to correlate all the information myself. (No problem.) An item of interest is that we have also received comments from " Bob" Tay lor, executive vice president of the Antique Airplane Association. He questions the format of the question­ naire, and made several comments as to validity of the questions and their appli­ cation to " o ld " airplanes, type clubs and having fun. His comments about the type clubs blossoming and then waning is valid. It goes along with the renewal theme I've written about. There are times when renewal isn't pos­ sibl e, whe n you begin to fee l you are the lone voice wailing in the wind , when everyday living takes priority, when one gets so far into a thin g he's out of it. This happens! Burnout is always a con­ sideration, and one has to ad mire those who have hung in there all these years (take a bow Bill Hodges of the National R yan Club) , a nd maintain a fresh o ut­ look towards each and every member who has found aviation for the first time. The AAA has done a lot for antique airplanes and will continue to, I know, but I can' t seem to convince them to come on board to make us one un ani­ mous voice. Over to you.

f(

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Lend-Lease

GULLWING

by Jim Newman

One of Fairchild's Finest Served During World War II I found H al Coonle y's article on the Stinson Gullwing fascinatin g, more so for the reaso n that it saw British mili­ tary service-but NOT in the Royal Air Force as Hal and Chuck think, and they can be fo rgiven for their supposition, as the comments and makeup of the air­ craft's service record would easily mis­ lead those not in the know. The Flee t Air Arm, (FAA when ab­ breviated) in those early days of WW II used the R.A.F. Form 700 as their main­ tenance log , and in the top right hand corner of th a t imposing, blue covered docume nt was printed " R .A.F. Form 700 " so it is ve ry easy for the unin ­ formed to suppose that an airc raft in their care had served with the R.A .F. The fact that the log is full of entries me ntioning FAA, or Ro ya l Naval Air Se rvice (RNAS) station s is th e real giveaway. DonibristIe, Abbotsinch, etc., informs us of its service no rth of the border (of Scotland). Later in its ca­ reer it was flown south to nea r my own neck of the woods-Naval Air Fighte r Squadron Yeovilton , (not Yeo uiIton ) nea r the littl e West Country, Somerse t town of Yeovil , on th e b a nk s of the River Yeo. For those unfamiliar with our quaint way s, Y eo vilton is generally pr o­ nounced YOH (As in " Yoh! Mama... !) viIton , while the river is the Yeeh-Oh! If Yeovil is a familiar name to those whose interest leans in the direction of vintage British aircraft, yes, it is th e (Above) During wartime, frills such as wheel pants or "spats," as they are called in Britain, were removed. The RN matelots, doing their best to keep them in the air, would tell you "Too much bloody trouble, mate!" 22 FEBRUARY 1996

home of the o ld W es tl a nd Aircraft Compa n y a nd birthp lace of th e Wid­ geon, Wapiti , Ly sa nd e r , Whirlwind , e tc ., while H .M.S. H e ron (RNAS Yeovilton) is the current ho me of the not to be mi ssed F lee t Air Arm Mu­ se um should the read e r find him o r , herself in the U.K. Th e re is a noth er quaint o ld British custom for yo u. We nam e our "co ncr e t e s hip s" (Royal Navy shore bases) just like ships a nd , during WW II we Briti s h we re left " rolling in the a isles" when th e Ger­ mans claimed to have sunk one .... !!! In column three of the article it states that the R .A.F. se ri a l numb e r was 42­ 46770, but that numbe ring format does not fit in with British practice. That tail number is a USAAF numbe r, with the 42 indicating the year of production, al­ though I do not claim to be an expert on U .S. numberin g systems. Be th a t the case th e n I am a littl e mystifi ed as to why th e article states that th e Stinson, " .... was born .... September 30, 1943. " Not to be picky but , in the British military, we did not refer to our aircraft as " SIN " or " Serial Number. " She would have been unpretentiously plain " Stinson FK944 " no matte r which ser­ vice she operated under whe th er it was the Senior Service, as the Roy al Navy was known, the Royal Air Force or the Bombay Welsh! Although the Stinso n now looks re­ splendent in her Eastern Airline colors it is inte resting to ponder just how she probably looked in 1943. When she arrived in England , possi­ bly Liverpool or Glasgow, her crate was trucked to a civilian Maintenance Unit (M .U.) where she was uncrated , set on her wheels a nd jacked up . She would not have been alone- far from it. She

had 499 sisters to keep her in good com­ pany . Since she apparently carried a USAAF number most likely she arrived wearing her factory dress of Olive D rab FS 34087 (pre 1956 FS 595), with white stars and bars on a blue ground, and her tail number in yellow FS 33538, in which case she would immed iately have been res prayed prior to havi ng her British equipment fitted. She would have been painted in the FAA temperate scheme of Green Grey FS 34258 and D ark Sea Grey FS 36270 on her to p a nd sides, skillfully sprayed with soft edged shadow sha din g to a clearl y defin ed regulation pattern. H er undersides would defi ne her role to trig­ ger happy Briti sh and American ack­ ack gunne rs who waited poised to deal with any marauding enemy aircraft. In an effort to m ake peaceful pro gress around the British Isles she would have been spraye d a bright Trainer Yellow FS 33538 on her undersides, signifying a trainer or communications (Liaison) air­ craft to one and all. Rounde ls o n the top surfaces of the wings would have been red and blue but , on the fuselage sides they wo uld have been red, white and blue outlined with a narrow yellow circle, the white being e qu a lly narrow. On th e low er surfaces the ro undels would have been red , white and blue, with a very narrow white and no yellow of course. Her serial number FK944 would have been painted just ahead of the stabilizer in black , six inch tall characters while the legend ROYAL NAVY would have been immediately above the serial num­ ber in black eight inch tall characters with round ed tops where applicable . Obviou sly th e la rge r characters pro­ claimin g to whom she belonged indi­

cates that the Senior Service was not shy of bragging about ownership! The serial number would also have been painted in black below the wings, the tops of the characters being adjacent the leading edge of the right wing but reversed on the left wing-so that you could read it coming or going! All paints would have been semi-matte, with a slight sheen at this stage of the war. However, there would have been a curious anomaly in her number styles , just as there was on all her sister ships. While her fuselage numbers and letters complied with the regular British ser­ vice styles, her large wing numbers were executed in the US style , square with the 45 degree corners! As for the black engine quoted in the article, well-that was standard for en­ gines and accessories of that period and nothing to do with night service at all. Since this was wartime she, along with her sisters, would be devoid of all frills. Spats (wheel pants), like white tie and tails, were out for the duration. In an­ swer to your question the Air Mechanic checking the tires , without looking up and pausing only to wipe his cold nose with the back of his greasy hand would tell you, " Too much bloody trouble , mate!" RN matelots were men of few words and had little time for ceremony. Too much trouble for her hard pressed maintenance crews in that war torn era. Besides, she would spend much of her time hopping in and out of often wet

and muddy, grass fields. Gone, too, the spinner-another time saver if propeller problems arose. In her role with the Royal Navy she quite likely would have been employed as a " flying classroom, " teaching various branches of tha t service the skills of Wireless Operator, Navigator or Aerial Photographer and , if employed in the latter role, a little surgery would have been performed so that like the prover­ bial glass bottomed boat she too, would have had a large window in the under­ side of her rear cabin through which to survey all that she over flew. Most likely there was also a second window in her lower right corner for more oblique photography exercises. She might even have been used as a squadron "hack," ferrying people hither and yon, around anyone of the 12 naval squadrons to which she might have been attached. If '944 was very lucky she might possibly have had an easy time working as an Admiral 's Barge, (What an unflattering title for a grand old lady!), ferrying "scrambled egg and fruit salad" bedecked admirals to meetings and junkets and , for her pains , she would have been coddled and polished quite unlike a regular squadron aircraft. That she survived the war is a bless­ ing, for so many wonderful old classics did not. Only some 350 of her sisters re­ turned home to the land of their birth. Like their human counterparts many made the supreme sacrifice, but not for

them a marble memorial or a medal; they live on only in the memories of you and me. Perhaps Captain Chuck Pease will recall my name. On September 6, 1986 he generously allowed me to relive a lit­ tle of my misspent youth by giving me stick time in his D. H. Chipmunk WP861 a.k.a. N861 WP, at Louisville, Indiana some 34 years after I, as a young cadet, had soloed one for the first time. After several years of steerable tail wheels I did find steering on brakes alone quite a demanding chore . Thank you again , Chuck. I salute you for your courage in turning this glider pilot loose in your precious machine. Incidentally- following that flight my bottom did not feel quite the same for several weeks, after Chuck informed me that my derriere had occupied the same seat as Royalty once had, for '861 was the very same Chipmunk in which the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen's "Pot'n'Pan" (London Cockney slang for Old Man) had gained his wings. Now there is something to brag about!

'*

Hal Coonley's Stinson Gul/wing, de­ scribed in his article in the September 1995 issue of Vintage Airplane, would have looked like this during its wartime service in Great Britain, as depicted in this beautiful pen and ink rendering by member Jim Newman . For an added bit of fun , he has drawn in three more British aircraft near the hangars. Can you identify them? The answers are on page 28.

·1

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~.---....

Sf VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ by Norm Petersen

ground-up restoration including moving the main landing gear forward and overhauling the Continental C90-12 engine. The Poly­ Fiber process was used for covering and the panel was upgraded with a navlcom , transponderlencoder and GPS . The two duster pilots have been teasing their friends that they plan on dusting with the Champ! Even their wives like the pretty Champ so much they want to take flying lessons. Con­ gratulations on a very nice looking restora­ tion. The FAA register has only 17 Cham­ pion 7FC's remaining.

1957 Champion 7FC converted to 7EC These photos of a converted Champion 7FC, N7541B , SIN 7FC-44 , were sent in by the owners , Jim Looloian

(EAA 391421 , NC 19513) and Jim Webber (EAA 427492) of Arvin, California. They report the Champ was origi­ nally owned by Hill's Flying Service in Sacramento, CA, where it flew 100 hours per month for many years as a training aircraft. It last flew in 1968. In 1992, the two Jims bought the airplane and spe nt three years doing a

Bob Murra's Bellanca 14-13-2 This pretty blue and white 1946 Bellanca Cruisair 14-13-2, N74424, SIN 1537, is the pride and joy of Bob Murra (EAA 506696, AIC 25167) of Derby, Kansas. It was totally rebuilt in 1991 by Jeff Clausen and

Ken Mueller of Lincoln, Nebraska. Bob Murra bought the airplane in 1993 and has had a most enjoyable time ever since. With a 165 Franklin (six cylinder smoothness) and a fixed pitch metal prop, the Bellanca will haul four people at 150 mph on 9.5 gph. To keep the pi­ lot in good physical shape, the landing gear is hand-crank operated and so are the flaps! Two additions that Jack Cox spotted are disc brakes and a steerable tailwheel- two items he wished he had had on his 14­ 13-2. Bob re ports there are 1583 hours IT on the airplane with 199 hours on a top overhaul on the Franklin. There are 17614-13-2 Bel­ lancas remaining on the FAA register.

Steve Kruer's Stinson 108-1 Complete with a fancy white, yellow and red paint scheme, this Stinson 108-1, N8880K, SIN 108-1880, is the "Sunday afternoon escape vehicle" for Steve Kruer (EAA 441948, A/C 20995) of Floyds Knobs, In­ diana. The pretty Stinson was restored from the frame up by Steve and his father, veteran EAAer Mar­ vin Kruer (EAA 25462) , over a period of four years. All covering was done in Stits and the final colors are painted in Stits Aerothane . In addition to the air­ frame , the Franklin 150 hp engine received a top over­ haul to bring it up to perfection . With its origina l wheelpants and snappy paint scheme, the Stinson cuts a pretty picture on the ramp. There are presently 550 Stinson 108-1 aircraft remaining on the FAA register. 24 FEBRUARY 1996

Mark Lund's Piper J-3 Cub Neatl y parked in the winter sunshine is Piper J-3 Cub, NC92613 , SIN 16990, mounted on a set of Federal A1500 skis and waiting fo r its owner, Mark Lund (EAA 330783) of Jewell, Iowa, to jump in and go ski flying. This particu­ lar 1946 Cub was restored from a basket case over a five year period by Mark and his brother, Luke, working un­ der the eve r watchful eye of veteran EAAer, Don Pe lle­ greno (EAA 11853) of nearby Story City, Iowa. (Don re­ stored th e Fa irchild XNQ military trainer). T he Cub feat ures a Conti nent a l A65-8 e ngine a nd a wood prop along wit h or igi na l large wing numb e rs a nd small tail numbers - all properly positioned. T he workmanship ap­ pears to be first class and we look forward to seeing the Cub at Oshkosh (that's a subtle hint, Mark!).

Charles Zinn's Stinson Stinson 108-2 T hese " before and afte r " photos of a Stinson 108-2, N9711K, SIN 108-2711, were sent in by Charles Zinn (EAA 295035, A /C 15966) of Harrisburg, PA. H avi ng owned the Stinson fo r 19 years, Charles reports the teardow n and rebuild req uired about one and a half years of dedicated work. The engine was rebuilt by Bill Snavely in Florida. The Stits Po ly-

Fiber process was used for the recover and the re­ sults speak for themselves. Notice how much cleaner the airplane looks without the large numbers on the side of the fuselage. Congrats on a really fine job, Charles. There are 472 Stinson 108-2's remaining on the FAA register with a grand total of 2319 airplanes of the entire 108 series still listed on the register.

Bob Curtin's Tiger Moth Open cockpit flying at its very best ­ this is de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth, N71lJP, SIN T-4160 , flown by longtime EAA member Bob Curtin (EAA 168837, A /C 6280) of Scottsdale, Arizona . Bob reports the Tiger Moth was damaged in a hangar collapse a t C rysta l Lake, IL, in 1984 and was completely rebuilt by Gene Coppock with Ed C lark, H awthorne, CA, rebuilding the Gypsy Major 145 hp engi ne. Since completion in 1986, Bob has enjoyed about 140 hours of "wind-in­ the-face" flying with the airp lan e presently based at Deer Valley Airpark in Arizona. The logbooks wend their way back to 1941 in South Africa. At present, there are 88 DH-82A's and nine DH-82C's on the FAA register. Con­ grat ul ations Bob, on flying a very nice piece of aviation history. Working on a project of your own? Send your photos along with a short story

about your airplane to: H.G. Frautschy, EAA, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

ystery Plane by H.G. Frautschy

The February Mystery Plane comes to us from the Wally Norman collection, part of the EAA Foundation photo archives. It takes us back to the time when corrugated airplanes were king , and were being thought of as the latest in aeronautical technology. Answers need to be in no later than March 25, 1996, for inclusion in the May issue. Every now and again we receive an answer that comes from somebody who should know ­ the airplane's owner! In this case, it's Roy P. Williams of McAllen, Texas who writes: "The Mystery Plane is a Babcock All-Ameri­ can Cadet, Model LC-ll, 2 POLM. See the en­ closed copy of Bureau of Air Commerce 'Unli­ censed Aircraft Identification Mark Assignment' certificate. You will note that I purchased the air­ craft July 16, 1935 from a Mr . McLaughlin of Akron, Ohio. Your picture of the Mystery Plane 26 FEBRUARY 1996

was taken by the hangar at Akron, Ohio, the same airport that Goodyear built the big Air Dock in which the Akron and Macon airships were constructed . "The plane in question had a Detroit 'Air Cat' 5-cylinder ra­ dial air-cooled engine, 65 hp. Later they were known as LeBlond engines. Go back about three or four years in the SPORT AVIATION magazine; you will find a very interesting article on the evolution of the engines which followed the 'Air Cat' engine. "The fuselage is made of plywood. Wings were semi-can­ tilever, with short wing struts. Tail wheel is part of the rudder which caused the aircraft to be steerable. On the left control stick was the brake lever which applied braking to both wheels. You will note also the twin headrests being streamlined. The aircraft was a bit heavy. My photos show its final day. Numer­ ous parts and the engine were salvaged for another plane. "To the best of my knowledge only two were manufactured, and further it is believed these planes were built in Akron. That

city later was the home where the early Funk brothers aircraft were created. Th e Babcock was on ly a fair flying plane. As I previously sta ted, it was in need of more power due partly to its weight. "The information which I have provided shou ld clear up the identity of the Mystery Plane." The Babcock LC-l1 was built in 1928 by Ve rne C. Bab­ cock, an Early Bird who was born in Be nto n Harbor, MI in 1885. Verne came by his aeronautical curiosity quite natu­ rally - his mother, Della, was a balloonist in the 1890's. By the age of 19 he had flown a Wright-style machine on two flights, the first covering an estim ated 180 feet, and th e seco nd e nding in a wash-out of th e airplane. Undeterred, Verne B abcock co ntinued his aviation career, gai ning experience in both fly­ ing and buildin g aircraft. H e instructed Navy stu­ dents at Pensacola, FL, flying Single float C urtiss N-9 's. Knocking abo ut in the industry, he worked for a number of fir ms, a nd then in th e late 1920's he began work on the small two-place, side-by-side monoplane. In the November 1928 edition of Aero Digest the engine is listed as a three cylinder, 55 hp Clark. A later photo shows the 65 hp Detroit 'Air Cat' 5-cylinder radial air-coo led e ngine installed . Construction was wood, with a plywood coveri ng for the fuselage, and fabric covered wings and tail

... :!:!:..~:!!~a;;~:;;! In tbe alra'alL

UNITED STATES OF . AMERICA DEPA RTM ENT O F COMMERCE

UNLICENSED AIRCRAFT IDENTIFICATION MARK ASSIGNME NT

7997

DESCRIPTION OF AIRCRAFT

BABCOCK A LL- .~MER I CAN CADET LC-l1

Model

2 POLM

501

Engine LE BLOND The aircrart described above is an unlicensed aircraft and has been assigned the number indicated lor identification only. This aircraft is NOT licensed or registered as airworthy by the Secretary of Commerce.

Serial No.

It is recorded as owned as follo\':s:

WILL IAM P MCLAUGHLIN 2189 23RD ST S W AKRON Uoleosooooer.

oded

OHIO

0' "".ok~m ent

AlJiJtant Direct2!J"

~

expirel

JULY

1 1936

_

NOTE.-AI! provWIQIU of lb. Air Corumtret' RO!fUlniom are mad. l put of lb. terms hereof as thou;b 1ITittm bneiA.

9- 28

surfaces. 19 ft. lo ng, it had a wingspan of 30 ft., and a use­ fulload of 500 lb s. A top speed of 100 mph was claimed , with a landing speed of 30 mph . Verne Babcock was active in a variety of other areas, in­ cluding ma nufac turing early radios for the general public, a nd afte r WW II , the des ign a nd building of catamaran boats. Other correct a nswe rs were received from Marty Eisen­ mann , Alta Lorna, CA; Charley H ayes, New Lenox, IL, and ... Jack McRae, Huntington Station, NY.

(ovrn)

(Above and Below) Two local smart alecs hammed it up for Roy Williams' camera while he taking a picture of his broken Babcock All American Cadet LC-11. Roy didn't know the name of the local kid who also was getting some stick time in the broken bird. After buying the Babcock in July of 1935 (see the copy of the registration) he flew it for a short while. Then, after what felt like a normal landing, the fuselage fractured on roll out. Roy said he certainly didn't see any evidence that there was anything wrong with the airplane that day. and the the fuselage failure was quite a surprise! One of the interesting features of the Babcock was the tail­ wheel mounted at the bottom of the rudder (imagine the rudder hinge loads with this arrangement, similar to the Ford Flivver tailwheel).

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

New

Munds Park, AZ J. W. Craig Basin, WY Wilson D. Crane Owasso, OK James R. Davis Sheridan, OR Leslie N. Davis Solange Galante De Jesus Sao Paulo, Brazil J. V. R. Dick Pillarton Piors, Warwicks, England Eugene F. England Caldwell, ID Bill D. Ergenbright Katy, TX Attilio Faccinato-Ferrari New York, NY John D. Ficklen St. George Island, FL M . J. Franklin Knysna, South Africa John Frothingham Collinsville, OK Frederick T. Gear Farmington, CT Ronald M. Gilbert Prescott, AZ Jim Graham Phoenix, AZ Bruce A. Grassfield Englewood, CO Timothy A. Groleau Escanaba, MI James W . Heintskill Thiensville, WI Roy Hermansen Sewell, NJ Carol L. Hilyard Kennesaw, GA Daniel Hoffman Dallas, TX T. J. Hood Jamestown, IN Jack Howard Cartersville, GA Justi ce, IL Charles Huenecke William J. Jaeger Round Top, NY Mike Kellogg Oxford, NC Harper Kirby M anassas, VA Frank Klenawicus Shelter Island, NY Mike Klopfenstein Portland, OR Paul W. Knoll Memphis, TN James F. Kucaba Orange, CA Charl es M. Kuell Silver Creek, NY Robert W . Ladd East Troy, WI Roger M. Lang Garden City, NY R. C. Lee Prescott, AZ Bob K. Lehr Cardston, Alberta, Canada Little Rock Public Library Little Rock, AR Mich ael H. Magee Lebanon, MO Willi amson, NY Anthony C. M angos Tom McAdam Boca Raton, FL Walt McFadden Daytona Beach, FL Bradford H. McNutt Tucson, AZ Richard M . Melnick Wetherford, TX Richard G. Miller Dallastown, PA Rulon Miller Redmond, UT Northport,AL Guy E. Moman, Jr. Dave Munger Jenner, CA David Neidlinger Vicksburg, MI J. M . Nei lson Norristown, PA

Members

Charles F. Adams Pine Plains, NY Richard A. Alt Carson City, NV Brian E. Amiss Laurel, MD Barry Avent Bennettsville, SC Aviation Engine Specialties Beaverton, OR Carmel, IN Neal J. Baird Brooklyn, OH Joseph E. Barrett Perkasie, PA Richard E. Behrmann, Jr. Sean T. Bickerton Chatham, NY Graham R. Bitner Williamson, GA Bill Bohannan Carefree, AZ Basley, SC Doug P. Bracken Gary Bradly Sloan, NY Henry F. Brandenberger Kresgeville, PA Greenville, PA Jay F. Bridenbaugh Lance Brill Breckenridge, CO R. Paul Brooks Annandale, VA Patrick Brown N. St. Paul, MN Seattle, WA Vincent Jay Broze Chris Brunton Carmichael, CA Jim Burroughs Calgary, Alberta, Canada Bob V. Burt Port Townsend, WA Willard Byrom Jasper, TN Gary Callendar Brighton, MI Richfield, MN Joe Casey Curtis E. Clark Scottsdale, AZ Fred P. Clark DeLand, FL Raymond M . Cole Tucson, AZ Absecon, NJ Howard A. Coles, Jr. Robert Colling Camarillo, CA

GULLWING ANSWERS to the Caption Quiz on page 23:

The three airc raft in the back足 g round of jim Newman 's drawing are, from left to right, a Fairey Sword足 fish , Fairey Barracuda, and an Air足 speed Oxford. 28 FEBRUARY 1996

Jerry Neilson Altus, OK

Axel Nogard Pine Knoll Shores, NC

Con Oamek Lancaster, CA

Jack E. Ogilvie Fallon, NV

Martin Olivier Puidoux, Switzerland

Jim Osterling Ft Myers, FL

William Papich Boston, NY

Ithaca, NY

David C. Parkins David E. Parsons Englewood, OH

Rodney Payne Apalachin, NY

William J. Prechtl Islip, NY

William Privett Texarkana, TX

Lev Prystupa Parker, CO

Frank A. Quackenbush Prescott, AZ

Cooperstown, ND

Robert D. Ramey Fred Reese Las Vegas, NV

Alfred Romaszewski Eagle River, AK

Doug Ropp Albany, OR

Bob A. Ruskey Lake Geneva, WI

James V. Semrad Tucson, AZ

Charles H. Shaw Thousand Oaks, CA

William Simpkins Yorba Linda, CA

Alex E. Smith Waunakee, WI

Homer P. Smith Mifflintown, PA

Bob E. Snider Stockbridge, GA

Paul W. Sparks Monterey, CA

Dag Staavi Rugdefaret, Slependen, Norway Mark W . Steele Desoto, TX Benedict J. Strafuss Columbus, IN Roger K. Stubbs Tucson, AZ Petteri Tarma Kourakuja, Espoo, Finland Roscoe, IL Greg A. Terwee Michael L. Thomas Coeur d Alene, ID Joseph S. Torma West Redding, CT Gregory L. Trebon Tacoma, WA Beau Walker Bellevue, WA Jeff W alker Arlington, TX Marty W elden Sharpsburg, GA Thomas A. Wells Globe, AZ Lance E. W erst Berwick, PA David H. Wiley Lake Oswego, OR Dean Wil son Grangeville, ID John Wolfe Greenland, NH B. Dennis Wood Reseda, CA Fay W . Wood West Swanzey, NH Thomas H. Wood Fort Worth, TX Daun E. Yeagley Wilmington, OH Thomas A. Yenser Kutztown, PA Carl Yunker Elba, NY Robert C. Ziegenhals Wharton, TX

MEMBERSHIP

INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is $35 for one year, including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION. Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually. Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually. All major credit cards accepted for membership.

Something to buy, sell or trade? An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part. .40¢ per word, $6.00 minimum charge. Send your ad and payment to: Vintage Trader, EAA Aviation Center, P.O. ANTIQUE/CLASSIC Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086, or fax your ad and your VISA or MasterCard number to 414/426-4828. Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for Current EAA members may join the Antique/ insertion in the issue the second month following (e.g., October 20th for the Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIR­ December issue.) PLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year.

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1939 STINSON SR-10 (Reliant) - 10434 TT , 598 SMOH , 265 SPOH , KX 175B Current EAA members may join the International Trans. , KI208 OBS, KT-76A Xponder, ELT. Aerobatic Club, Inc. Division and receive SPORT Call John Hopkinson 403/637-2250, FAX AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 403/637-2153. (3-3) per year. EAA Membership, SPORT AEROBATICS maga­ zine and one year membership in the lAC 1943 G- 44 WIDGEON - 3000 TT, 200 Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT SFOH, 200 SPOH , Oshkosh "Outstanding AVIATION magazine not included). Achievement :" Award winner. John Hopkinson & Associates Ltd. , 403/637­ WARBIRDS 2250, FAX 403/637-2153. (3-3) Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WAR­ 1940 Miles Magister M14A Hawk BIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year. Trainer III - 130 hp DeHaviliand Gipsy EAA Membership, WARBIRDS magazine and Major I. Performance max speed at 1000 one year membership in the Warbirds Division is ft. 132 mph. Cruising 123 mph . Initial available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included). climb 750 ft.lmin . Range 367 miles, ceil­ ing 16,500 feet. First monoplane trainer EAA EXPERIMENTER to be used by R.A .F. All original. Complete overhaul in 1994 (+$120,000). Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine for an additional $18 Offers in excess of $120,000 , per year. trade/ exchange possible. Tel/Fax France EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER 011 33 1 42 05 05 49 , Tel/ Fax England magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT 011441757228838. (2-1) AVIATION magazine not included).

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Flying Field - by James Haynes can be purchased by mailing your check to Robins Nest Company, 21 Sunset Lane, Bushnell, IL 61422-9739. Flying FIeld is about the historic Monmouth, Illinois airport, "the old­ est continuously operated airport in Illinois." And , does it ever have good stories! 250 pp - 133 photos. $19.00 includes tax, shipping and handling . An excellent gift anytime of the year. (1-1)

Plans - Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Pietenpol , Pitts , Heath , Church Midwing . Plans $70. Brochure $3. 312 Gilstrap Drive, Liberty, SC 29657. (9/96) New Sensenich W72CK-42 Propeller ­ Unused , under warranty, still in shipping carton. $825.00. Steve McNicoll, 1851 Sunkist Circle, DePere, WI 54115-3732, 414/336-9163. (2-1)

This & That About the Ercoupe, $14.00. Fly­ About Adventures & the Ercoupe , $17 .95 . Both books, $25.00. Fly-About, P .O. Box 51144, Denton, Texas 76206. (ufn)

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos. How to, building and restoration tips, historic, flying and entertainment titles. Call for a free catalog . EM, 1-800-843­ 3612. Curtiss JN4-D Memorabilia - You can now own memorabilia from the famous Curtiss "Jenny," as seen on "TREASURES FROM THE PAST. " We have T-shirts , posters , postcards , videos, pins, airmail cachets, etc. We also have RIC documen­ tation exclusive to this historic aircraft. Sale of these items supports operating expenses to keep this "Jenny" flying for the aviation public . We appreciate your help. Send SASE to Virginia Aviation, P.O. Box 3365, Warrenton, VA 22186. (ufn) Aviation Books and Magazines ­ Dating back to 1922. Approximately 40 pounds. Send SASE for listing. Robert Bushby, Rt. 52 , Minooka, IL 60447. (2-1)

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New 4130 chromoly tubing throughout, also complete fuselage repair. ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC. (J. Soares, Pres .), 7093 Dry Creek Road , Belgrade, Montana 59714, 406/388­ 6069 , FAX 406/388-0170. Repair station No. QK5R148N.

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Fly-In Calen~a~r~~:~\1"--"" _ The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval, sponsorship, involvement, control or direction of any event (fly-in, seminars, fly market, etc.) listed. Please send the information to fAA, Att: Golda Cox, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Information should be received four months prior to the event date.

FEBRUARY 24-25 - RIVERSIDE, CA - EAA Chapter 1 Annual Open House/ Fly-In.

Flabob Airport. 25th Anniversary of the Marquart Charger. 909/686-1] 18. FEBRUARY 24-25 - MINNEAPOLIS, MN ­ Minnesota Sport Aviation Conferen ce and Flig ht Expo , Minneapolis Convention Center, 9 a.m. - 10 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sunday. Aviation speakers, exh ibits, workshops. Sponsored by the Minn. Office of Aeronautics, FAA and Minnesota pilot groups and associations. Call 6 12/296­ 8202. FEBRUARY 25 - WARROAD, MN - 18th An­ nual Ski-Plane Fly-In/ Breakfast. 218/3 86­ 1818. MARCH 1-3 - CASA GRANDE, AZ - 38th An­

nual Cactus Fly-In, sponsored by the Arizona Antique Aircraft Association. For more infor­ 30 FEBRUARY 1996

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mation call John Engle 602/8]0-9670 for more information. MARCH 6-7 - NASHVILLE, TN - Tennessee Mid-South Aviation Maintenance Seminar. Contact TN Dept. of Trans., Office of Aero­ nautics, P. O. Box 17326, N as hville, TN ]7217. Ca ll 615/741-]208. APRIL 13-14 - NACOGDOCHES, TX - East Texas Airshow ' 96 WW II, A/e, Experimentals, Aerobatics, Skydivers etc., Airport Camping, Concessions, Nearby Motels (specia l rates). Contact Bob Dunn, 409/564-7212. APRIL 14-20 - LAKELAND, FL - 22nd Annua l Sun ' n Fun EAA Fly -In and Convention. 813/644-24] 1. APRIL 28 - HALF MOON BA Y, CA - Pacific Coast Dream Machines Fly-In and Show, to benefit th e Coastside Adu lt Day Health

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!¥ Center. For info ca ll 415/726-2328. MAY 3-5 - ROANOKE RAPIDS, NC - Annual

Spring Fly-In sponsored by EAA Antique/Classic Chapter]. All welcome, major speaker, vintage aviation films, tro­ phies in many ca tegories . For info contact Ray Bottom, Jr. , 804/873-3059. MAY 17-19 - COLUMBIA, CA - 20th Annual Gathering of Luscombes. Aircraft judging, spot landing and flour bombing contests, and the 4th Annual Great Luscombe Clock Ra ce. For info, contact Doug Clough, ]60/89]-6623 or Art Moxley, 206/ 6]0­ 1086. AUGUST 1-7 - OSHKOSH, WI - 44th Annual fAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention. Wittman Regional Airport. Contact John Burton, fAA, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. 414/426-4800.

SKY KING FLIES AGAIN!!!

"Out ofthe clear blue ofthe western sky... " You grew up knowing that famous line meant it was time to watch Sky King and Penny fight for truth and justice. Now, a nearly forgotten friend has returned. EAA, in cooperation with Flying Crown Enterprises, has assembled the entire 64 existing SKY KING episodes into a 16 volume video tape library. These shows were saved from a tragic fire and were hidden away in a vault for years. Each SKY KING volume includes four uncut episodes complete with a Nabisco速advertisement. To help you select your favorite episodes, we have assembled a SKY KING episode summary. This collection lists the program titles, together with a description of each show. Call 1-800-843-3612 to request a copy.

Order your SKY KING videos today!!!

Single Tape $24.95 + $6.50 shipping and handling

Complete 16 volume set, 64 episodes $355 .95

+ $14.00shipping and handling.

Call EAA at 1-800-843-3612 Major Credit Cards accepted

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