VA-Vol-8-No-7-July-1980

STRAIGHT AND LEVEL

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When we look back on Oshkosh 79 and the won­ derful weather, tremendous crowds, the hospitality and fellowship generated, we often wonder if there could be any possible improvement for the 1980 Con­ vention. The answer is yes , definitely , and with gusto! Each year we attempt to correct the errors and mistakes made in previous years. Our goal is to pre­ sent the most enjoyable Convention of all, for you, your family and friends. The Antique/Classic Division schedule for Oshkosh '80 is basically the same as those of previous years, but we are proud to announce that some changes have been made including the addition of new and interesting events. The forum tent will be located with the other forum tents in the area adjacent to the Commercial Display Area. In the past the general public has been prohi­ bited from attending Antique/Classic forums because a flight line pass was needed to get to the location near the Red Barn. Now, all who attend the Conven­ tion can also attend forums on the older aircraft. The Antique / Classic Division Forum schedule will be posted daily on the bulletin board outside the Divi­ sion headquarters barn. The annual Division picnic will again be held in Ol­ lie ' s Park, with the festivities beginning about 7 p .m . on Tuesday , August 5th. Be sure to purchase your tickets early for the picnic bash. Bring the family and your friends and enjoy the fellowship. The attendance at the annual picnic has increased each successive year. The annual Parade of Flight will be flown on Wednes­ day, August 6th and will be part of the daily air show. Many of you will be contacted to participate in this enjoyable venture. The Parade of Flight Committee will start programming the event on the first day of the Convention and we request that each of you who are asked to participate make a concerted effort to attend the pilot briefing and have your aircraft available for this fantastic event.

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• On Friday evening , August 8th , the Convention awards presentation will again be held at the new outdoor pavilion in Ollie' s Park. Plans ar e underway this year to assure that the presentations are of sig­ nificant importance to the recipients and of special in­ terest to the audience. Now that the main entrance for EAAers entering the airport from the campgrounds has been moved to the northeast corner of Ollie's Park, a tremendous in­ crease in pedestrian traffic past the Red Barn has been noted. We need to capitalize on this exposure in ways to benefit both the Division membership and the EAA membership in general. Often, we have overheard EAA members expressing their thoughts that the area around the Red Barn wa s an exclusive area for antiquers only. How wrong this is. We need to invite all EAA members to visit with us , browse around the Barn and join in the fellowship we cherish so much. Let this be a challenge to each Antique / Classic Division member to extend our hospitality to all visitors in the area. A glance through an issue of The VINTA GE AIRPLANE should entice many of our visitors to become' a member of the Division . Something new will be added to the area this year . Occupying the space where the forum tent previously was will be a tent for use as our Division hospitality area. It will be available for members of the OX-5 Aviation Pioneers , QBs, old timers , or any group that wishes to use the facility for informal gatherings con­ cerning antique and classic aircraft. The information bulletin board wil: also be placed in the hospitality tent and chairs will be available . We need to pass the word around that this facility will be available. Your personal contact with the various groups as listed above will be the only communication w e will have to advise them of this hospitality facility. How many times have you heard an interview over the Convention PA system and wished you were there to see as well as listen to the proceedings? Usually , by the tim e one gets to the Interview Circle ,

the program has ended. We have now been allocated an area across the paved road east of the Red Barn for use as our own Antique/Classic interview area . We will have our own PA system and the use of this new facility should enhance the prestige of the Division and draw further attention to our special activities. Saturday , August 9th will mark the annual member­ ship meeting of the Antique / Classic Division. The meeting will start at 10:30 a.m. in the hospitality tent adjacent to the Red Barn headquart ers . All Division members are urged to attend and we wel come the guests of our active members. The floor will be open for pertinent business concerning the management and activities of the Antique/Classic Division. We look forward to seeing and visiting with each of you at Oshkosh this year . Fly safely , have fun and enjoy your Convention .

Editorial Staff

TIl~ VI~TAt3~ AIl2VLA~~ OFF IC IA L MAGAZIN E

EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC

DIVISION INC.

Publisher Paul H. Poberezny

Editor

Gene R. Chase

Chase)

Readers are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Associate Editorships are assigned to th ose writers who submit five or more arti cles which are publi shed in THE VINTAGE AIR足 PLANE d urin g th e current year. Associate s receive a bound volume of THE VINTAGE AIR足 PLANE and a free one-year membership in the Divisio n for their efforts. POLICY-Opinions expressed in artic les are solely those of the au thors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with th e contrib utor. Directors

VICE揃 PRESIDENT JACK C. W INTHROP ROUTE 1, BOX 111 ALLEN , TX 75002 2141727-5649'

Morton W. l es ter

Claude L. Gray. Jr . 9635 Sylvia Av enue Northridg e. CA 91324

Martin sville , VA 2411 2

Dale A. Gustafson 7724 Shady Hill Drive In dianaooli s, IN 4627 4

Arthur R. M o rgan 3744 North 51st Blvd . Milwau kee. WI 532 16

Richard H. Wagn er P.O. Box 181 Lyon s. WI 531 48

John R. Turgyan 1530 Kuser Road Trent o n . NJ 08619

P.O. Box 3747

(On The Ba ck Cover.

Outstanding example of a Waco UPF-7. N29368 was manufactured in 1940 and

is owned by Arnold Nieman, Oca la , Florida. Photo by Gene Cha se.)

TABLE OF CONTENTS Straight and Level by Brad Th o mas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. A/ C Hot Lin e by Gene R. Chase . .. ... . .... , . .... , . . . .. . .. . ... . .. . . . .. . . . . .... . .. . PT-23 ... Easiest Plan e To Fly by Edward Earp, Jr. ........... . . . .... .. ...... . . ... .. Dou glas DC-4 Giant Of The Air by Edward D . Williams . . .. . .. . . . . .. . ... . . . .. ... ... Jesse Orval Dock ery .. . 'A Flying Silver Eagle' by Robert G. Elliott ..... ... .. . . . . ... Th e Cunningham-Ha ll GA-36 by Gene Chase .. .... . . . .... . ... ....... . ...... . .. . .. . Rebi rth Of A Taylor craft by Bob Moo re .................. . .... . . . .. _... . . ... . .... . Szekely Aircraft And Engine Company by Phil Mi chmerhuizen ...... . .. . . . . .. ..... . Calendar Of Events .. . ....... ... ........ ... .. ..... ..... . ... ..... .. . .. . ... .. .. .. . Borden's Aeroplane Posters From Th e 1930's by Lionel Salisbury .. .. ..... . ... .. ....

2 4 5 6 12 17 18 20 23 24

EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION MEMBERSHIP o NON-EAA

MEMBER - $22.00. Includes one year members h ip in the EAA Antique/ Class ic Divi sion , 12 monthly is su es of THE VINTAGE A IRPLANE ; one yea r mem足 bership in th e Experimental Aircraft Associ ati o n and se parate membershi p cards. SPORT AV IATION magazin e not includerl .

AI Kelch 66 W . 622 N. Madiso n Avenue Cedarburg . WI 53012

SECRETARY M . C. " KE LLY" V IETS

7745 W. 183RD ST.

STILWEL L, KS 66085 913/681-2303 Hom e 913/782-6720 Office

NUMBER 7

VOLUME 8

(On The Cover. 1942 Fairchild PT-23, N54375 owned by Ed Earp, Jr ., of Houston , Texa s. See story on Page 5. Photo by Ed Earp .)

Associate Editors: H. Glenn Buffington, Edward D . Wi lliams, Byron (Fred) Fredericksen, Lionel Salisbury

W . BRAD THOMAS, JR.

301 DODSON M ILL ROAD

PILOT MOUNTAIN , NC 27041 919/368-2875 Home 919/368-2291 Office

P.O. Box 229, Ha les Corners, W I 53130 Copyright4l 1980 EAA Antique/Classic Division , Inc., All Rights Reserved .

JULY 1980

Nick Rezich from Rockford, Illinois announ c ing one of th e dai ly air shows at Lakeland, Florida's Sun 'n Fun '80 Fly-In .

PRESIDENT

of THE EXPER IMENTAL A IRCRAFT ASSOC IAT ION

Advisors John S. Copeland 9 Joanne Driv e W es tborough. MA 01 581

o

Stan Gomoll 1042 90th Lane . NE Minneap olis, MN 554 34

Gen e Morris 27 Chandelle Drive Hampshire. Il 601 40

Rob ert E. Kese l 455 Oakridge Drive Rochest er . NY 14617

George 5. York 181 Sloboda Av e. Monsfield. OH 4490"

EAA MEMBER - $14_00. Includes one year membership in the EAA Antiq ue/Classic Division , 12 monthly iss ue s of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE AND MEMBERSHIP CARD. (Appli ca nt mu st be current EAA member and mu st give EAA membership number .)

TREASURER E. E. " BUCK" HI LBERT P.O . BOX 145 UN ION, IL 60180 815/923-4205

Ronald Fril z 2896 Ro osevelt SI. Conklin . MI 49403

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..' ;.~~ .L""""""'" .

THE VI NTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 0091-6943) is owned exclusively by EAA Antique/Classic Division , Inc., and is published monthly at Hales Corners, Wiscon si n 53130. Second class Postage paid at Hales Corners Post Office, Hal es Corners, Wisconsin 53130 , and additional mailing off ices. Membersh ip rates for EAA Ant ique/Classic Div ision, Inc .. are $14 .00 per 12 month period o f whi ch $10.00 is for the publication of THE VIN TA GE AIRPLANE. Membership is open to all who are i nterested in aviation .

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PIPER WING STRUT ASSEMBLIES The National Tr ansportation Safety Board has r ec­ ommended to th e FAA that immediate insp ection be made on all lift strut forks on Piper mod els PA-12 , PA-14 , PA-16, PA-18, PA-19, PA-20 and PA-22. Also all )-4, )- 5, AE-1 and HE-1 series aircraft. In th e past two years th er e have been two fatal accidents as a resu It of the failur e of cut threadbolts on these forks. Re­ placements should use rolled threadbolts.

ril, they held th eir First Annual Oregon Aviation Film Festival and in May, their Annual Maint enan ce Clinic and Designer 's Forum . A lawyer has been co ntacted rega rding the filing of incorporation papers for the new group, and when the paperwork is in order, a chapter charter will be issued from EAA H ea dquarters. Thos e interested in joining th e n ew group should contact the Oregon An­ tique and Classic Aircraft Club, P. O. Box 613, Cres­ well, OR 97426 . NO 80 OCTANE FUEL AT OSHKOSH

NAVY ALERTS GENERAL AVIATION PILOTS TO

COLLISION HAZARDS CREATED BY

SAN DIEGO TCA

Officials of North Island Naval Air Station at San Di ego are concerned that the tunnel through th e new Terminal Control Area is in direct conflict with the approach path to the primary arrival runway at the Naval Air Station as well as to Outlying Field Imp erial Beach. The Navy objected to the FAA about the loca tion of ~;,e tunnel, b eca use they felt it would crea te a dangerous mid-air collision potential. There hav e already been two mid-air collisions in a similar tunnel through the Los Angeles TCA .

NEW ANTIQUE/CLASSIC CHAPTER IN

EUGENE, OREGON

EAA m embers in Eugene are in th e process of form­ ing a new Antique/Classic Chapter. They 've h eld th eir in itial m ee ting, elected officers, selected a name, and started work on a res toration proje ct. Th e project is a rare 1934 Stinson SR-5E Reliant which was donated to the group la st sp ring. Most of th e m e mb ers belong to Eugene 's EAA Chapter 34, which is a large and active group. In Ap­

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Basler Aviation reports that an adequate sup­ ply of fuel is available for Oshkosh '80, but that no 80 octane fuel will be available. Payment will be accepted only with the following credit cards: Shell, Master Charge, or Visa. (Ph oro by Don Pratt)

Pretty in-flight sho t o( Howard Twib ell, EAA 3343 1, o( O skaloosa, Kansas fl ying his 1942 Cu lver LCA Cadet, sin 393 over th e fl at Kansas (arm coun try.

CESSNA 170 CONVENTION TO BE IN MILWAUKEE Th e Inter nation al Cessna 170 Association, In c., has scheduled its 12th Annual Convention for August 10 ­ 16 at the Red Carpet Inn across the street from Mil­ waukee's Mitch ell Fi eld . The event features forums , a flight rally, and tours including the Miller Brewery, the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard facilities and the Paul H. Poberezny Air Museum . For furth e r information, contact: Ri c hard To­ masello, 1333 Wagner Drive, EI Cajon, CA 92020. CESSNA 120/140 CLUB TO OSHKOSH '80 Re ce nt issues of the monthly newsletter published by the West Coast Cessna 1201140 Club have con­ tained information which should be useful to all pilots making their first flights (except via airlines) to the EAA Convention at Oshkosh. As noted in the March , 1980 issue of Th e VINTAGE AIRPLANE, this club is planning a mass fly-in to the Convention from Northern California. They extend an invitation to others to join them along the way. They've rec eived confirmation from several airports along the way, assu ri ng th em that "red gas", ti e­ down and camping facilities will be available . In past issu es of their newsletter , based on previou s experi­ ence, they've list ed specific items to bring along, in­ cluding clothing , tools, camping equipment, and per­ sonal gear. For thi s information, se nd $2 .00 to Oshkosh Package , P. O. Box 891, Menlo Park, CA 94025 . For information about the mass flight to Oshkosh, contact: Barker and Williams, 25636 Franklin #1, Hayward, CA 94544. Telephone 415/581-7083. *.': ...

PT-23 ...

Easiest Plane to Fly

by Edward Earp , Jr .

EAA # 33228, A IC # 3 480

P. O . Box 2 766

Hou ston, TX 7700 7

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE AUTH O R

!, Fro nt cockpit of th e PT-23 . Windshield ha s tinted glass .

I purchased thi s aircraft in 1975 from a friend in Houston . At that tim e, N54375 was a Fair child PT-19 and I had known of it for over 20 years, never dream­ ing that one day I would own it. Right after I bought the Fairchild , I stumbled upon a PT-23 engine mount , engine, and just everything from the firewall forward that I would need to co n­ vert a 19 to a 23. As you know, a PT-19 and 23 are identical from th e firewall back . I had the conversion done by Chuck Nichols in Brenham, Texas. Originally the plane had an inertia starter and I knew that as long as I could wind it up, I co uld ce r­ tainly pass my flight physical. After watching me go through thi s windup one hot summ er day, my wife had an electrical sys tem in stall ed which I mu st sa y I think is pretty keen. Ed Earp , Jr. , in his winter flying togs. Surely this mu st be one of th e eas iest aircraft in the world to fly. It has no bad habits but there is no mess­ ing around when it quits flying .. . it really se ttles. I have slow rolled it , snap roll ed it , looped it and spun it but I don 't do this anymore. Let's face it , the old bird was built in 1942. About all I can sa y is that it is a joy to fly. In the summertime my standard uniform is a para chute , swimming trunk s and tenni s shoes. Flyin g in the winter requires a ski jacket , gloves, boots and blue j ea ns and you are ok in the front cockpit but forget about the back one! Th e Fairchild is based in Hou ston at Genoa Airport which is right n ex t to Ellington Field. In fact w e are so close that we fly a 400' pattern . At the prese nt time , I have more than enough parts to build at least thr ee more PT-23s and I hop e to start constructing one of them this coming year. I have a Ed Earp, Jr ., enjoying flight over th e South Texas coun­ complete set of plans for all models of PT-19 and tryside in his b ea utiful Fairchild PT-23. PT- 23 aircraft, including all modifications.

I h e 220 Con tin ental eng ine is' ex trem ely low tim e.

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ou Forty-one years ago a one-of-a-kind airplane went on a coast-to-coast tour and gave the American publi c a view of the advan ce d aviation te chnology of the day. The plane was a giant air transport, with a re­ volutionary tricycle landing gear never before used on a plane that size, and it ushered in a new era in air transportation. But that historically significant plane is not visible today in any museum or collection of antique aircraft . It rests ignominiou sly on the bottom of Tokyo Bay . The plane was a triple-tail prototype of the Dou g las DC-4 , which was destined to serve this country well as th e C-54 and R5D Skymaster military transport of World War II before donning civilian livery with man y of th e nation 's airlines . In 1935, when the famed Dougla s DC-3 wa s queen of th e skies, William C. Mentz er , a United Airlines

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s engineer, was assigned by United 's president, William A . Patt erson , to prepare specifications for a super air­ liner. Th e new aircraft was to have four engines and carry three or four times as many passengers as the transport planes then in use. After Mentzer worked out his sp ecs, they were pre­ sented to various aircraft manufacturers for consider­ ation. The Dou'gla s Aircraft Company became in­ ter es ted in building the air giant, and four other air­ lines - TWA , Eastern , American and Pan Am ­ join ed United in splitting a $300,000 engineering cost to get the project underway. It was a noteworthy col­ lectiv e effort by the airlines involv ed. United's " Pat " Patterso n later explained how he had gotten the other airlines to cooperate in the ven­ ture . At a meeting with hi s competitors' top manage­ ment, he explained, " I said United we fly and divided w e lose money. "

GIANT OF TH E AIR by Edward D. Williams, Associate Editor

EAA #51010

713 Eastman Drive

Mt. Prospect, IL 60056

Mentzer, meanwhile, moved to Santa Monica, California , in March , 1936, and took an office in the Douglas factory . He remained there until November, 1938 , watching and participating in day-to-day build­ ing of the new plane , which was rolled out of the fac­ tory in June, 1938. When United took it over for flight tests on its coast-to-coast system in May, 1939, he ac­ companied the plane , noting its performance . The plane showed itself to be well ahead of its time in 1939. But the triple-tail giant was never to make it into airline service. After a number of design changes , the DC-4 became a smaller airplane with one a single rudder instead of three, and the unwanted prototype , designated the DC-4E , was sold to the Japanese gov­ ernment as a VIP transport.

A n ea rl y tes t flight of th e proto type D ouglas DC-4 . Pro­ p ell ers are fea th ered on engin es 3 and 4. Note th e in teres t­ ing wire stru cture b elow th e ventral fin , probab l y to w arn th e pil o t in case of over-ro tation on takeo ff.

O n its first tes t fli ght by Jap an ese pil o ts, th e pro­ to typ e plun ge d int o To kyo Bay wh ere its ru stin g hulk r em ain s to thi s day. Exp ectati o ns had run hi gh fo r th e u se of th e giant D C- 4 in a irlin e se r v i ce, M auri ce Ro dd y, av ia tion edit or of th e Chi cago Tim es, w ro te o n April 30, 1939: " Ever y lesso n and experi en ce ga in ed b y th e comm er­ c ial transp ort op erators in th e countr y have b een in corpo­ ra ted in to th e am az in g sk y g iant , w hi ch h as a g ro ss w eight of 32% to ns. "One hundred and sixty-fiv e stru ctural tes ts requiri ng 2 1,000 engin eerin g and shop hours w ere m ad e. More th an 5 00,000 engin eering ho urs are represented in the comp l eted plan e. " To ta l cos t of d eve l opm ent w as appr ox imat e l y $ 1,500,000, and m an y tes ts centered around th e tri cycle l anding gea r d eve lop ed to g ive this trem endous ship a sm ooth er landing. Th e third wh eel is l oca ted in front of th e center o f gravit y, a nd th e plane ca n b e brought into a landing fi eld at a steep er angle and taken off mo re rapidl y th an th e familiar type. Luxuri ous app o intm ents are fea­ tured througho ut th e plane, whi ch has also a bridal suit e. Th e pro to typ e airplan e had a win g span o f 138' 3" and a f use lage 97' 7" lon g and 24' 4" h ig h. Its crui sing range with a full load w as 2,200 mil es . It had a to p sp eed of 240 mil es p er ho ur , a cr ui se sp eed o f 2101 mil es p er ho ur and a gross w eight of 65,000 p o unds. Its se rv ice ce ilin g was 22 ,900 fee t , and its absolut e ceilin g 24,500 fee t. It w as abl e to m aintain flig ht o n its two Pratt and Whitn ey R-2 180 e ngin es at 8,000 fee t ab ove sea leve l . Th e u se ful loa d was 20 ,000 p o und s, and i t ca rri ed three to ns of m ail , exp ress and baggage in additi o n to th e passe nge rs. O n e of i ts outstandin g featur es was th e inn o vativ e tri cycl e landing gea r. In additi o n to th e m any techni­ ca l adv ant ages, thi s typ e o f landin g gea r prov id ed ex tr a co mfo rt for th e pa sse nge rs b y ass urin g leve l landing of th e ship- and makin g it p oss ib le to se t th e pl an e d o wn at ni g ht with o ut aw ak enin g th e occu­ p ants in th eir b erth s. Th e D C-4 was b or n w ith a co ntract da ted M arch 23 , 1936. Parti cip ants we re th e D o ug las A ir cra ft Co . , In c., U nited A ir lin es Transp o rt Co rp ., Transco ntin ental and

W es tern A ir , In c. , Am eri ca n Airlin es, In c., Pan Am eri­ ca n A vi ati o n Suppl y Co rp ., and N o rth Am eri can Avi a­ ti o n, In c. D o u g las A irc raft C ompan y e ng in ee rs and o p er a­ ti o ns executiv es o f th e airlin es held m o nthly confer­ ences durin g th e constru ction o f th e pl ane. Valuable di scu ss io ns o f eve ry con ce ivabl e r equir em ent to o k pl ace at th ese conferences, and o ft en th e ideas wer e in corp o rat ed i nt o ·the plan e. Nin e th o u sa nd para­ graph s m ad e up th e contra ct und er whi ch th e plane w as built. Th e D C-4 E wa s d es ig ned for 42 p asse ngers· by day (and 30 by ni g h t) and a crew o f f iv e - two pilots, a fli ght engin eer , a stew ard and a steward ess. Ca ll ed th e " Fl yin g H o tel " , it b oasted of a co mfor tabl e ladi es ' lo un ge , m e n 's dress in g room , a pri va te co mpartm ent up fr o nt ca ll ed th e " bridal suite" and a lu xuri o u s gal­ lery amid ships. Its fo ur Twin H o rn et engin es, with a to tal of mor e th an 5,600 ho rsep ow er , took its pamp ered pa sse ngers alo ng at a sp eed g reater than th at of any bo mb er of th at era. Th e year s required in th e develo ping o f thi s giant airlin er - it too k 18 month s ju st to build - fr o m th e drawin g boa rd to th e fini sh ed · p ro du ct, rep rese nt ed no t so mu ch th e diffi culti es and pr o bl em s o f bu ildin g a large airpl ane as th e ca reful resea rch and tes ting of pa rt s and n ew fea tur es. A tes tin g labo rato ry and o ut­ standin g en gi nee rs we re k ept bu sy fo r m o r e th an two yea rs d eve lo pin g info rm ation o n th e new pro bl em s e n co unt e r ed in th e co nstru cti o n o f t h e pr o to typ e D C-4 . Pa rt s w er e tes ted for every poss ibl e co ndition and m any o f th em w ere tes ted to d estru cti o n to d e­ termin e th e limit of th eir endurance . Sp ecial expen­ si v e m achin ery w as co nstru cted fo r th e tes ts. Th e D C-4 E' s ges tati o n w as lo ng - and ex p ensiv e. M o re th an 500,000 hours w ere sp ent in e ngin eerin g and d es ig n and ano th er 100,000 ho urs in g ro und and labo rato ry tes tin g . More th an 20,000 d iffer ent pi eces of m etal w er e m ad e in diff er e nt shap es , and m o re th an 1,300 ,000 riv ets w ere used in its co nstru cti o n. Th e to tal cos t w as a wh o pping $1,634 ,612. Of th is, $992,808 was for labor and engin ee rin g and $641 ,804 fo r m ate ri als and ove rh ead . Th e re w er e m an y n ew pr o bl e m s of d esig n. The press u rized fu se lage from th e p i lo t' s co ntro l ro om to th e rea r-m os t to il et compartm ent required th e most ca reful d es ig n . Wind shi eld , w ind ow s, and d o ors car­ ri e d th e pr ess ure differ e nti al r es ultin g f ro m an al­ titud e pr ess ur e o f 12,000 f eet in side th e ca b in at an ac tu al altitu de o f 20,000 f ee t. Th e bl o w e r s, saf et y va lves, and auto m ati c pr ess ure r eg ul ato rs - fo r main­ ta inin g th e press ure in sid e th e ca bi n at a littl e m o re

th an half o f that o utside - had to be d es ign ed and thor o u ghl y tes ted . H y dr auli c c ontrol surfa ce lo c k s h ad t o b e de ­ velo p ed whi ch would preve nt wind gu sts actin g on th e hu ge surfaces and overp ow erin g th e pil o t during tax iin g and yet w o uld permit him to o p erat e th e con­ tr o ls eas il y und er normal w eath er co nditi o ns. Po w er units w ere d evelop ed for furni shing 110 volt electri cal cu rr e nt to op erate if1stru m ents, radio, cook­ in g, and li ghting and for th e d evelo pm ent of entirely new and improved radio equipm ent. Fro m th e b eg innin g, th e size o f th e D C-4E ca used pr o bl em s. A whol e n ew engin e co ntro l sys tem had to be d ev ised b eca u se each of th e two o utboard engines w as 70' fr o m th e co c kpit . Th e n ew sys t e m u sed pu sh-pull ro d s and ca bles whi ch ran through th e in­ sid e o f th e win g . A n ew f uel sys tem al so w as d es ign ed whi ch gave th e pl an e extr a pow er - ab out th e sa m e ho rsepower as two d iesel locomotives - fo r takeoff. Th e system includ ed a 100-gallon tank of tak eoff fu el and a 300­ ga ll o n tank fo r c rui se for ea ch e ngin e . And to d ay ' s ai rlin e pilot s can th ank D o ug la s en ­ gin ee rs fo r an innovation for th e D C-4 , th e fli ght en ­ g in ee r's stati o n . Th e d esig ners put dupli ca te engine co ntr o ls and h ydrauli c sys tem contro ls o n a second co ntro l panel ju st behind th e pilots' stati o n , and the f li ght engin eer wa s born . Th e size of th e D C-4E is illu str ated by th e fa ct that it s co ntr o l surf aces, it s ail e r o n s, rudd e r s and elevato rs, w ere bi gge r than th e win gs o f tr ainin g air­ craft D o ug las w as bUildin g. But D o ug las gav e DC-4 pil o ts fin ge rtip co ntrol by applyin g co ntr o l boosters. It re pl ace d th e standard contro l ca bl es with small di am et er h ydrauli c lines and electri c m o to r s diving pump s. Th e di stin cti ve tripl e-tail o f th e pr o t o t yp e wa s necessa ry for th e D C-4E for gr eater lateral stability. But th e id ea w as abandon ed fo r th e sm all er, produc­ ti o n m o d els of th e D C-4 . To redu ce dr ag in fli ght , f lu sh ri ve ts w ere perf ected fo r all exte rn al skin surfa ces . Int ern ally, even th e seats w ere th e res u It of m o nth s o f th e m os t intensiv e design to provid e th e ea sily ad­ ju stabl e seat and th e r eclinin g and reversin g ba ck that are so esse nti al to th e ease o f th e passe ng er on a lo ng f li ght. Th e seats al so had th e ca pability of being fo ld ed with a minimum of effo rt int o b ed s. Full size m oc k-up s w e re used t o p erfect th e ar­ range m ent o f th e pil o ts' co mp artm ent and co ntrols , p asse nger acco mm od ati o ns, and p o w er pl ant in stalla­ ti o ns. Pain stakin g and alm os t endl ess d etail s of the w ind tunn el m o d el tes ts w ere r ecord ed , and every

7

aspect of the new design had been thoroughly studied. The strength of the structural design had been demonstrated by complete tests of many important structural parts , and by a proof test of the assembled experimental airplane before the first test flights . Loads totaling 60% of the ultimate design load had been applied to the airplane by means of jacks and lead weights distributed as nearly as possibl e like the actual weights and air loads. By this m ea ns the most severe loads likely to be encountered in se rvice had actually been placed on the airplane and it had shown that it was eas ily capable of withstanding such loads . The tricycle type of landing gear had n eve r before been used on an airplane of that size, and a program was carried out involving tests on a scale model car towed by a truck, and later , tests on a twin- engined Douglas Dolphin airplane. These tests showed that this type of gear offered the advantages of better con­ trol on the ground through its inherent rolling stabil­ ity. It also was free from rebound during landing re­ sulting from the sudden drop in wing lift caused by the reduction of the angle of attack at th e m o ment of contact as the airplane settles on the nose wheel. And it eliminated the possibility of nosing over with 'sudden application of the brakes. The design of the tricycle landing gear proved suc­ cessful from the start. A United Airlines report on June 15, 1938, states: "On the first take-off the plane had a gross weight of approximately 53,000 pounds , or about 12,000 pounds under what is expected to b e its maximum gross weight. The take-off appeared normal in every respect. The nose wheel was pulled off of the ground approximately 500 feet after the start of th e run and the airplane was in the air after a total run of approx­ imately 1',000 feet. The landings made with th e tricy­ cle landing gear proved very satisfactory." Although it was the largest plane in th e air at the time, the DC-4E was a pilot's dream. United t est pilot Benny Howard (designer of the "Mis t er Mulligan" aircraft) said that " Flying the DC-4E is about as excit­ ing as a game of solitaire." In a t es t flight at Cheyenne, Wyoming, Howard head ed down the runway - with an elevation of 6,200 feet - ca lmly cut two engines on the takeoff, and th e plane took to the air as if it didn't know the differen ce. A United official wat ching the demonstration smiled broadly and said, " That's the plane for us ." Und er its con tract with Douglas , United had the option of purchasing the prototype (NC18100, ser ial number 16010). The plane, with four Pratt and Whit­

8

ney R-2180 engines , was test flown by Douglas for six months before being awarded its Approved Type Cer­ tificate in May, 1939. Then , painted in United co lors , it began another five months of rout e tes ting flights by United.

No passenger s were carried, but demonstration flights were mad e across the country by Douglas and United flight crews. While the prototyp e proved to be a great technical success, the route t est ing showed that it was too larg e for economical operation. Con­ sequently, the prototype was return ed to Douglas, who sold it to the Japanese in October, 1939. Meanwhile, the DC-4 design was red u ced in size , left unpres su ri zed and repowered with a mor e de­ pendable Pratt and Whitney R-2000-2SD engin e and redesignated the DC-4A. Most notab le of th e design , changes was the us e of a single vertical tail instead of three with th e initial orders from Eastern and United, the highly-improved DC-4A was now ready for pro­ duction . But it now was scaled down to a wing span of 117' 6" and a leng th of 93' 11". On January 2, 1940, the Douglas Aircraft Company proudly announced at Santa Monica, California, that "Co mm ercial aviation in the United States will begin the new year with th e largest and most signifi ca nt

(United Air Lines Photo)

Th e prototype Douglas DC-4 fli es over th e Ca lifornia countryside. H ere it carri es an NC numb er in place of th e original NX. Note th e change in th e shape of th e ventral " fin " .

airplane order in th e history of pea ce-tim e flying." Douglas announced it was starting construction of 40 production-model DC-4 aircraft valued at $14,000,000. Thirty-nin e of these modern , four-engine, sky giants already were covered by contract in the final stages of negotiations with leading airlines in this country and in Europe. With understandabl e pride, Dougla s once sa id th e DC-4E design " r ep res e nts Douglas ' co ntribution to the science of aeronautics. " Th e performance of the production DC-4 was ex­ pect ed to surpass that of the prototype DC-4E airplane. The forty DC-4 airplanes ordered into pro­ duction at the end of 1939 were faster and mor e co m­ fortable than the prototype that pav ed th e way for their appearance. Th e story of the production of th e DC-4 was not to end until August 11, 1947, when DC-4 number 1242, th e last of th e famous Skymasters to be built, rolled

off th e D o u glas asse mbl y lin e and was d eli ve red to So uth Afri ca n Airways. Th e d elivery mark ed th e conclu sio n o f a five-yea r m anufac turin g prog ram whi ch pr odu ced 1163 military and 79 pos t-w ar co mm er cia l tr ansp o rt s o f th e DC-4 typ e . Th e D C- 4 in 1947 o utnum be r ed all o th e r fo ur ­ e n gin ed tr ansp o rt s abo ut seve n t o o n e, a D o ug las surv ey di sclo sed , and th ei r se rvi ce record o f on e bil­ lion mil es o f d ep end abl e fli ght w as un approached by any o th er air craft in that category . With m o re th an 1,000 in u se in 1947, D o ug las se r­ v ice anal ys ts pr edi cted th at D C-4s wou Id b e f lyi ng fo r at l east an o th er 10 yea rs. H o w eve r , so m e D C-4s are still fl yin g tod ay . Th e fir st pr odu cti o n Skymaster , a military C-54, ac­ tuall y fl ew eight w ee ks after Pea rl H arb o r . Wh e n th e Unit ed States w as plun ged int o w ar , D o ug las h ad start ed pr o du cti o n of D C-4 s f o r comm ercial airlin es. Nin e air craft w er e in adva n ce d stages of co nstru cti o n wh e n th e Arm y decided th e D C-4 , with f ew m o difi ca ­ ti o ns, w o uld m eet its requirem ents fo r a lo ng-range troo p and ca rgo ca rri er. Chan ges w e re m ade dur ing pro du cti o n and th e Arm y C-54 and Navy R5D we re b o rn .

Th e DC-4 proto typ e a t Ne w ark , New Jersey being in­ sp ected by th e publi c durin g i ts coas t to coas t tour in 194 9.

During WW /I D ouglas modified th e DC-4 to meet the military's need fo r large transports. Th e plexiglass dome behind th e l oop anten na over th e pilots' compartm ent serv ed th e naviga tor while h e took sun and star shots for celes ti al nav iga tio n .

(U nited Air Lines Photo)

Th e origin al D C-4 w ith its distin ctive tripl e tail , is sh own above in a rar e photograph amid a lin e-up of D ou glas DC-3s . Th e prototyp e later w as designated th e D C- 4 E when th e sin gl e tail D C-4A w ent into production .

It wa s necessa ry to install th e tailskid p edestal assembl y b efore loa ding or un loadin g th e C-S4 IRSD aircraft as it w as p oss ibl e to get an aft cg co nditio n while handli.ng h ea vy militar y equipment.

Wartim e C-S4 taking off a t Guadalcanal in 1944 . Plan es i n the background include 3 8-24 s, a Noordyn Norseman and a Stinson L- 1.

9

Because of the war, early service of the four­ engined sky giants, then the largest mass-produced transport plane, was veiled in secrecy. But confiden­ tial reports reached Douglas from scattered points of the globe indicating that the C-54 was proving the Army's faith in the aircraft was well justified . As the war progressed, production was stepped up at the Santa Monica plant and later at a new factory established in Chicago on the present site of O'Hare I nternational Airport. Shattering previous concepts of time and distance, the C-54 and R5D proved the feasibility of global air transportation by land-based aircraft. Skymasters made more than 20 round-trips a day for months over the stormy north Atlantic. They conquered sand and heat to maintain an African supply line. They flew over the treach erous " hump ". In the China-Burma­ India theater of operations they carried precious plasma and whole blood to battle-scarred Pacific atolls and returned to the United States with the wounded . They accomplished this with an amazing record of safety. Figures compiled by the Army Air Transport Command and the Naval Air Transport Service showed that in making 79,642 war-time ocean cross­ ings, only three C-54s were lost. One was a deliber­ ate " ditching" and the other two were unexplained. Because of their record of dependability , DC-4s were used to carry top Allied statesmen and military leaders to historic conferences which shaped the course of victory. They were used as personal planes by such notables as General Douglas MacArthur, General Dwight Eisenhower, General " Hap " Arnold and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. It was a C-54, with a special interior , which became world famous as the personal airplane of President Franklin D . Roosevelt. Until it was succeeded by a Douglas DC-6 , the same plane served as the Flying White House for President Harry Truman . One of ihe most spectacular jobs the C-54 was called upon to do was to transport two divisions of oc­ cupation troops from Okinawa to Tokyo in ten days. Taking off at five minute intervals , 250 C-54s made 1,400 flights of five hou rs du ration withou t a si ngle mishap or casualty. Air Transport Command records show that between January, 1944 and April, 1947, C-54s had flown a total of 350,049,900 miles. No accurate records were kept before 1944 . The Naval Air Transport Service had logged, 68,000,000 mil es on Douglas R5Ds in four years with only one fatal accident. 10

Pil ots' cockpit of th e D C-4A. Th e wh eel mounted hori­ zo ntall y on top of th e instrum ent p anel is th e rudd er trim co ntrol.

The DC-4 with a single vertical fin and rudder instea d of th e triple tail as o n th e prototype w ent into servi ce with th e airlin es aft er WW /I duty as th e C-S4 and RSD mili­ tar y transport<; .

During 1946, the Pacific Division of the ATC flew C-S4s the equivalent of 1,200 times around the earth without a single passenger fatality. Thi s perfect safety record involv ed the transportation of nearly 110,000 pass engers on approximately 20,000 separate Pacific crossings. Converted C-S4s and new DC-4s flew over global airways daily as commercial .airliners. Of the more than 500 surplus C-54s sold o'r leased by the govern­ ment, more than 220 entered the service of sched­ uled domestic airlines. For example, of the 47 air­ craft operated by United Airlines, only one (N10204) was a DC-4 . The others were C-54A, Band G air­ craft. The so le DC-4 was a postwar civilian plane produced by Douglas. Recognizing the outstanding record and the as­ sured future of DC-4 type transports, the U . S. Post Office Department in 1946 pictured the four-engined Douglas airliner on the five cent airmail stamp. A nu mber of foreign cou ntries have given the plane similar recognition. In a final analysis, the name "S kymaster " was a most appropriate one. And it all is owed to a triple­ tail giant which possibly is interred forever in a salt water tomb near Tokyo, Japan .

N

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11

JESSE ORVAL DOCKERY . . 'A FLYING SILVER EAGLE' Wh en a stra nger vi sits with j .O. Dock ery , he is im­ m ediate ly en gul fed in So u thern hospitality , al l t h e wh i l e e n thral l ed w i th Dock 's ea sy co u ntry -styl e humor . H is ' escapades', as he re fers to his flying experi ­ ences , encompass the fath e rin g of c rop du sting tech niqu es, togeth er with a life-time of flying , coun­ try and city living, a host of aviator friend s from over the yea rs . . . al l broug h t to th e fore by a needle sharp memory , sa lted with wit. j .O. is easy goi ng, a family man , proud fath er and still flyi ng at ag e 71 , f rom hi s o ld ai rport in Stuttgart, Arkansas . The take-offs and landi ngs of his career since he was born on February 26, 1909 have award ed him with a dedicated wife, Iren e, and two daughters, Bunny Carol yn Scott and joyce DeMain e. Th e fa ct that Bunny w as M iss Arkansas in 1977 and 1978 wa s frosting on the cak e. Two Cessna Skyhawks pr.ovid e the mea ns for Dock to sch edu le sin gle and multi-engi n e ch ec ks, a mo dest numb e r o f charte r f li g ht s and o cca sion al stud ent trainin g . Though retir ed , he hasn 't stopp ed flyin g .

" j .O., " 1 as ked , " wh en did yo u f ir st beco m e in­ t eres ted in avi at io n? " " W ell ," h e dr awl ed , " I w as bo rn in Texas in th e year 1909. M y fa th er was a Texas land baro n. H e had 700 acr es of th e m os t barr en land in Texas. Th en , ab out tli e tim e o f WWI , in 1916 and 1917, my fo lks m oved to Lawton , Okl ahom a, and of course, Pos t Fi eld at Ft. Sill was nearby. At th e time i t was o ne of th e f ew airp ort s in th e co untry.

Two H a rley Dav idson m o to rcycle buffs in Pin e Bluff, A r­ kansas . D oc, with pin stripe suit in fro nl, age 74 a nd Freeland M eyers, mechani c for H a rl ey D avi dson . A t this age D oc rode fro m Pin e Bluff to Stullga rl, A rk ans as to fl y WW 1 p l anes for a m echani c-own er . Th e pilo l, Joe C lass b ein g afraid to fl y th em for tes t o r deli ve ry to th eir new o wn ers w as encourag ed wh en D oc vo lun teered to do so . . . a nd collected h is rightful pa y for th e oppo rtunit y.

12

PART I (p ho to s From Th e Co ll ection O f /. O. D ockery)

b y Ro bert C. Ellioll EAA #85 14 5, A IC # 3296 7227 O a kwood Avenu e D ayto na Bea ch , FL 32074

of gas in the rear, and tied on behind was my bike. We hid the bike in some mesquite clumps and got aboard . "He sez . . . 'Well, we'll run over to Alice, Texas', so he started the thing up and we took off heading for Alice. "He had dual controls in it so I followed him through all the way. Now bear in mind, I had learned a lot about planes at Ft. Sill so I knew pretty well what he was doing. We got to Alice, landed in a field, and again he asked me to watch the plane while he went into town. He stayed a little while . . . I'm out there making sure the cows and people stay away ... and back he came. We took off and flew down to McAllen . . . that gave me another hour, hour and a half dual time." "By the way, if you've ever flown a Hall-Scott 4 Standard cross country, you can build up a lot of time going practically nowhere. As a matter of fact, I've made the remark in later years, I watched one farm woman throw out three dish waters before passing out of view. Another time I watched a man plow a ten-acre field with a single horse turning plow . . . and if you didn't watch yourself, you'd be going the other way, backing up. "But anyway . . . we made this tour from Corpus Christi, down to Alice, over to McAllen, then Har-

"My father owned two cafes there as well as several jitneys . . . now known as the airport limousines. The jitney that ran to the airport passed right by my school, so every evening when I got out of school I'd hail one of the drivers and go to Ft. Sill. "Well, in as much as the jitneys were running in and out so often, the guards let me pass right on through and I'd get off out at the hangars. There were times when I'd stay the whole evening. It wasn't long before I was considered a mascot by some of the pilots. "I learned about the airplanes, their parts and the workings inside and out. Often I would be asked to crawl back in close places when the mechanics were stringing cables, in places too small for them to reach. ''I'd hate to tell you how many left handed monkey wrenches and buckets of compression I toted for those guys, but I'd wander off to find them .. none-the-Iess." Interrupting his line of thought for a moment, asked . . . "What were the types of planes there at the time?" "Oh, Jennys, Cannucks, DHs, Tommy Scouts, Barl­ ing bombers, the old WWI airplanes," responded J.O . . . . "and as I say ... I learned all the parts, but they couldn't take me up for a ride. I was just a kid and a civilian. "It was pretty hard to get a ride, fact is .. . I never did get a ride during the time I spent helping out at Ft. Sill. "But the folks moved us all down to Corpus Christi later, and it was in 1921 that I got my first ride. My fascination with airplanes continued, but they being so scarce, I didn't see one often. Then, this one day, just coming out of school, I saw a plane flying over town and I watched it till I saw it descending over the south side of town. I jumped on my bicycle and hur­ ried out to have a look. "The pilot was Barney Flowers and he said . . . 'Son, if you'll stay here and watch this airplane and keep the cows off it, I'll give you a ride, providing you loan me your bicycle to ride into town.' "I said, 'that's a deal' . . . but you know . .. he didn't tell me he'd be gone three days. It got right cold down there in south Texas at night, but I wrap­ ped up in the motor cover and my brother was kind enough to bring me some food. Anyway . after three days Barney came back and he sez .. . 'you ready to take that ride?' and I sez 'Yes sir.' "Man, I was quivering with anticipation.

" Barney had returned in a Model T truck with cans

Charli e Hays in light plus-fours and Doc, leaning on an OX-5 Wa co used to adverti se Fargo Foods in 7927 . Char­ li e wa s a form er WW I fighter pilot.

Two new short-nosed American Eagles at Meridian, Mis­ siss ippi in February, 7928. Standing at Doc's left was the Pres ident of M eridi an Airways, who w as also th e local Ford dealer. Do c had quit Meridian Airways before he soloed the boss in order to be home for the birth of his first daughter . Th e boss th en decided he'd had sufficient du a l in struction so he soloed himself one day and promptly spun in.

M ~ R j IJ iAN<I4IR WA o Ii ¥A J.... [) 0 ed- e I( 11 UF-. p/~ II

,

lingen and back into Corpus Christi . . . and we hadn't been there but a few hours when he sez .. ' Son, I' m gain' to ask ya another favor ... said . .. I want you to watch this airplane while I run up to Houston . I' m going up to get an airplane and when I get back I'll give you another ride.' " Yes sir. I' ll be glad to do it ," so I stayed there another couple of days. Now during that wait . . . my brother came out with some of my friends and we were talking about the plane and my flying with Barney. I no doubt bragged a bit about my ability to fly, cause my brother said . . . " Whyn't ya stop telli n' people that sort of thing ... you cain ' t fly no airplane!" "Oh-h-h yess I can too," . . . I said . . . " If you'll just pull that prop through for me ... I' ll show you ." "Well, I'd learned that you turned on the switch and hit that booster when you rocked the prop . . . and it started. I was a mite surprised because I didn ' t think he could pull it through. " But it was ticking over, so I yelled out . . . 'Come on, get in,' . .. and he shouted ... 'Oh no, you fly it ... lemme see you fly it first .' "Well, I thought, I'd just taxi down to the end of the field and taxi back claiming some mechanical problem, which would get me off the hook. So I got moving down the field and with my weight, about 120 pounds wringing wet . . . and little gas . . . I got off the ground .. . and the first thing I knew I was tree­ top high. "I made a big turn way round to the south and got lined up with this big pasture when it quit. Only thing in my way was a few mesquite clumps and Texas longhorns. I hung onto the stick and it landed by itself. My brother came running down and said .. . 'What's the matter?' and I said . . . 'Alfred, I'm out of gas,' ... so he went and got me a couple of buck­ ets which we put in. With that, I knew I'd have enough for a couple of swings over town, which I made. "You know , I had forgotten about how people would run out to the field if there was an airplane flyin' over, and the first thing I knew, I had three or four hundred spectators out there waiting for me to fly some more. "Along about this time Barney came in from Hous­ ton with an OX Standard and I thought .. . 'Whoa, he's gonna wonder who ' s puttin' on the air show.' So, I went over to Barney' s plane and said, 'Barney, I want to tell you this before somebody else does I've been flying your airplane: "He sez, 'You have?'

14

"He got right out of the back seat of that OX Stan­ dard, got up in front turned around and sez . . . 'Giv e me a ride.' "I took off with him, flew around the field and then began to worry about landing , and how good it would be ... but I didn't drag it, and made the most beautiful landing you ever saw. "He unbuckled his belt, turned around in the seat on his knees and sez ... ' Who taught you to fly?' . . . I sez .. . 'You did,' ... he sez ... ' I did?' ... I sez, 'Yes sir, I followed you every step from her e to Alice, McAllen, Harlingen and back to Corpus Christi.' "He sez . . . ' Well you do a pretty good job .. . give me another ride ' ... "So we took off and I went around the field again and fortunately I made another good landing. "Next day we went over to Kingsville and carried passengers ... all day, Saturday and Sunday." J.O . and I were recording a few of the early events in his aviation career while sitting comfortably inside the mobile home at Bob White's airport near Zellwood, Florida . We had to stop now and then when a plane took off, but after things became more quiet he continued. " About 1922 after flying about a year fish spotting with the OX Standard, near Corpus Christi over the Gulf of Mexico, the folks moved back to Pine Bluff . Course, I was still in school there too, but there were no airplanes around. This made me pretty fidgety . I knew of one at Little Rock that Carroll Cone had. He ran for Governor and he owned a Jenny. Then, there was a fellow in Little Rock, named H. C. Alexander . . . so I hopped on my motorcycle and sped over to work up a deal to fly his airplane, but he'd hired Rolly Inman. "During the summer vacation I went out to Ok­ lahoma City and worked for Burl Tibbs . .. this was in '23 as I recall. When I first talked with him, I told him I could fly, and he sez . . . 'Well, I'll give you a job as helper.' "What it really amounted to was being baby-sitter for his two little girls to keep them out of the spin­ ning props . " After maybe two weeks, I finally said . . . 'Burl, I want to fly'. Ole Burl was an easy going sort of big fella and he sez .. . 'Come on over here, Orval, and we'll go fly. I've got to fly this Cannuck ... you can take me for a ride .' " Well . . . after I flew him around for a while he sez ... ' By golly ... you really can fly, can't you?' So Burl let me start doin' all the flight instruction . Earlier, when I'd told him I'd done this and that, ole Burl had

'-t.

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{\,

Three cronI es at Jackson, Miss iss ippi in in dark suit, Doc and Martin Jensen. taken it all with a grain of salt, but after I flew with him, he became fully confident in my ability. I was only around fourteen years old at the time. As a you ng kid I never did play tops or marbles ... I rode motorcycles and learned about airplanes. Nothing else inter ested me very much. After this surprise be­ ginning, I spent two of my school vacations working for Bu rl. "In the Spring of 1924 , Alan Scott and I were down at Finklea Brothers at Leland, Mississippi. They owned a Hisso Standard which we were flying . The General Manager of the Delta Pine and Land Company , the largest cotton plantation in the world . .. a Mr. Young . . . came by and wanted to know if we could pour some poison on the worms that were coming out of the small grain and eating up the cotton . They had twenty-four thousand acres of young cotton , anywhere from one to two inches abov e the ground.

Th e worm s w ere eatin g it up and th ey didn ' t w ant to r epla ce it all with th e turnin g plows u sed ba c k in those days. " G enerally th eir m eth o d o f fi g htin g th e w o rm s w as to su spend a hi c ko ry pol e ov er th e bac k o f a mul e. H elp ers would hang gunn y sac ks full o f du st o n th e end s and th e jos tlin g w o uld fl oa t th e du st d own ont o th e worm s. Mr . Young thou g ht that if w e could pour thi s poi son out of a sac k fr o m th e plan e h e'd hav e b e tt e r c ov e r age, but w e t o ld him , ' th at w o uldn ' t work , it' d go in th e pilot' s face.' "S o Alan Sco tt proposed th at . . . 'If you ' ll guaran ­ tee us enou gh work , w e' ll pull th e front sea t o ut and put a gin-bell . . . or a hopp er . . . in its pla ce.' " H e agreed to a d eal , so w e took th e sea t o ut and put in two M o del T gas tank s in th e center section , cove red th e m ove r with fabri c and put th e h o pp er b elow with a bi g six in ch pip e goin ' o ut thr o ugh th e b o ttom with a ga te slip valv e ... you kn ow . .. with a shov el handl e o n it. Of course, lik e two kid s w o uld d o . . . w e' d m atched to see wh o' d fl y it fir st. W ell , I w o n . .. so I f lew it fr o m Leland up to Scott wh er e th e pl antati o n headquart ers w as. " Th ey imm ediately put 500 po und s o f du st in it and told m e to go ov er to th e b end in th e riv er. Th ere w er e 200 acres o f cotton with th e worm s eatin g it up. W ell , I got th e Standard in th e air and after findin g th e bend in th e riv er , w ent down ove r th ose bi g cy­ press trees and pull ed th e shovel handl e ... and that wa s the last tim e I could find it. Th e prop w as h puffed th e du st ri g ht up into th e coc kpit so I w as finally standing up , tl yin g in a circl e ov e r that half moon shap ed fi eld . Wh en I got thr o ugh th ere w as a d eep fog settlin g in th e re and th at ti c kl ed Mr . Yo un g no end . " I h ead ed back for our landing fi eld , my eyes and m o uth full o f du st and spittin g mud and co tt o n it see m ed lik e. Ab out that tim e, Alan cam e up drivin g th e old Mod el T, hollerin ' .. . ' I' m next : and I sez ... ' Yep , you ' r e n ext .' I figur ed th er e w as n o u se ex­ plainin g to him , let him find o ut him se lf what w as th e matte r. " So the y put anoth er 500 p o und s of du st in th e h o pp er and to ld him to go o ut th ere al o ng th e front o f th e strip and put it out. H e ca m e divin g in , o p ened th e gate and pull ed up abruptl y. H e wa sn' t as tall as I w as, and couldn ' t get up o ut of th e swirlin g coc kpit du st. H e couldn ' t find th e h andl e eith er , so h e pull ed up and dumped it from a pr etty hi gh lev el. Wh en h e ca m e down h e to ld Mr. Yo un g, 'W e've go t to seal thi s thin g up so m e way .'

" Aft e r som e f ig urin g w e put in a bulkh ea d and seal ed around it whi ch improv ed th e op erati o n co nsid er­ abl y. With thi s and oth e r m o difi cati o n s, w e w e r e abl e to w o rk th e r e ov e r a m o nth puttin g o ut th at p o ison . To th e b es t of m y kn o wl ed ge th at w as th e beginnin g o f cro p du stin g w ith an airpl an e. N o w th e Gov ernm e nt h ad run so m e tes ts with sa ddl e g un s hun g ov er th e si d e . . . cranking it o ut. Dr . B. R. Coa d at Talul ah w as in ch arge o f th eir so-ca ll ed ex­ pe rim ental stati o n and p es t co ntr o l. H e had a coupl e o f Arm y DH s with nets th at hung betw een th e win gs. H e' d f ly ar o und th e country sid e and scoop up th e bu gs in th ese n ets fo r hi s lab o rato ry ex p er im ents. " I' ll nev er fo rget . . . h e had Sergeant' s An gel and Mit chell fl ying th ose DH s. W e found o ut th at H enry Elli o tt and Do ug Culv er had bo ught th e m anufactur­ ing ri ght s and ji gs to build th e o ld Huff-Pu ffe rs. Th ey had start ed du stin g ove r in Georgi a, but th ey rea li zed in th e Summ er of 1924 th at th ose p ea pat ch sized f ield s w ere no pl aces fo r airpl an es . .. so th ey mov ed to M o nroe, Lo ui5iana th at fall. Th ey set up a bu sin ess in an o ld WWI ca m o ufl aged tent hanga r. By 1925 th ey w ere read y to du st , but th ey we re bro ke. The fa rm ers wo uldn ' t l et th e m w as te th eir p o iso n fl yin ' ar o und and dumpin g it. " So a f e ll o w ca m e al o n g and pr o m o t e d a new co mp any. H e go t so m e bank ers, so m e ginn ers, som e ch emi ca l co mp ani es and start ed by takin g in H enry El­ li o tt and D o ug Culv er . H enry and D o ug go t sto ck in

t he n ew co mp any fo r th eir airp lanes and equi p m e nt , b esides ge ttin g a yea r-round job . That w as th e beg in­ nin g o f D elt a Air Co rp o r ati o n . Th ey di d th ei r fir st cro p du stin g in th e Sprin g of 1926 and w ere th e o nl y co mp an y exclu siv ely equipp ed for crop du sti ng. Th en in 1928 th ey start ed th eir first airlin e w ith J6- 9 Trave l A irs f lyin g fr o m M o nroe to Dall as and Atl anta. M o n­ roe w as headqu ar ters. Later th ey got a few Tri -m o to r Stin son 'T' s, and th ey also had o ne o r tw o Stin so n l o w -win g ' A 's with re tr ac tab l e gea r . O nl y a sh o rt whil e later th ey add ed seve ral ten-twelve pl ace Lock­ h ee d El ectr as. Later o f course , th ey g radu ated to th e D C-2's , D C-3 's and have g rown to th e ren own ed air­ lin e o f tod ay." D oc and I th o ught it tim e for a br ea k in th e tapin g sess io n , so w e visited fo r a whil e with two cro ni es of hi s, Clem W hittenbec k and O lin ' Papp y' Lo ngcoy. O n t h is day a num ber of m em bers of th e Fl o rid a Sp o rt Av i ati o n A nt i qu e a nd C l ass i c Associa ti o n w e r e ga th ered fo r a fri endl y fly-in p icni c. Wh en he had hi s seco nd win d, J.O . co ntinu ed hi s re mini scen ces.

}. O . Do ckery with foo t on lower wing of OX-5 Eaglerock with wife, Irene, lea ning on lower wing.

"I had a forced landing with an OX-Swallow about 1926. The engine iced up . .. well . . . that is , I thought it iced up ... it was quittin '. When I landed in a corn fi eld . . . it was too little to land i"n, I fell in ... The ole boy who was with me , Rowe Soward, the Assistant Manager of the Long Bell Lumber Co ., of Pine Bluff, immediately started g ettin g chills and fever . I did too, but it didn't show. " The funny part was . .. he was so sick , we put him on a train for the trip back home. I w ent back to the plane and found I had a troublesome magneto, so after getting that fixed, we had to pull the plane over to th e road and up a hill to a field . I took off down the hill, round the curve, up through some pine trees and came on out. I then landed at Smoot Field at Monroe and got some gas from Henry and went back to Pine Bluff. I got there in time to meet the train , got Rowe Soward off the train with his chill and fever and took him home. " Back in those days, there was no such thing as a steady job in aviation. You had to create on e. So naturally, we had created the crop dusting, but that only lasted about sixty days out of the year. We ' d dust for boll weevils and worms but the farmers just hadn't taken to it yet .. . the dustin' . . . they couldn 't feature anyone flying around dumping out their poison and having such methods be effective . Of course, we were getting ten cents a pou nd or a minimum of two dollars an acre for doin ' it. But we couldn ' t rig our planes for just dustin ' and have them idle the rest of the year . We ' d clean them up for barnstorming , air shows and passenger rides, picking up what money we could . " You know, back in 1927 they came out with the first rules and regulations . .. called themselves the Department of Commerce, Aeronautics Bran ch . . . and they gave me a license to fly. None of us be­ lieved that it would stick ... who was gonna enforce rules in the air? Shorty Cramer was the first inspector. He came out to Houston and gave Benny Howard, Frank Hawks , Bert Pitco, Bert Eison , Bozo Moore and myself our licenses. " Like I said . .. Shorty Cramer was the first inspec­ tor in the field. He had Letters of Authority numbered from 101 to 200. Eleven of us took our transport examination after which he issued numbers 190 to 200. When we learned he had numbers 101 to 200, the first to be iss ued to any pilots except government pilots . . . we asked if he would issu e us numbers from 101 up. But no ... he wouldn 't do that because he wanted tho se in his portfolio so that aft er taking them off th e top , he could tell right off how many he had left.

16

" It didn ' t make any difference, be cau se he took mine back anyway. Later, I found my first number was re-is su e d the next week to Bill Berry in Shreveport , Loui siana . All the in sp e ctors , one hundred of them , had gone into the field with one hundred numbers , so you understand why not many were issued in numerical order . " A short tim e later an incident occurred relating to my former comm ent that Shorty took my li ce nse back anyway. " "Shorty had to make a flight to Houston, San An­ tonio, Wa co and back, and when he was landing at Houston , I was right behind flying a Super LeRhone Standard . He wa s flyin ' this ole J-4 Stinson biplane , the first airplane I ever saw with brak es . Soon as I had my plan e shut down , I got out and walked over to talk with him and asked .. . ' Shorty , how you doin '?' " He said .. . ' Doc , I'm fine, but what'r e you doin' flyin' that unli censed airplane? ' "Right off, I said ... 'Well , I' m a married man and I've gotta make a livin ' , an this is the only job I can find around here .' "He sez ... 'Why you're a licensed pilot and that's an unlicensed airplane and you ' re subject to a year and a day in the Federal pen and a thousand dollars fi ne or both .' " I countered ... ' Now wait just a minute,' ... and I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Letter of Authority and said . .. ' You know what you can do with this piec e of paper don ' t you? ' ... and I gave it back to him and went on flyin ' that Super LeRhone Standard which had an old rotary engine converted to a stationary engine . "I won ' t tell you what we called those engines in those days because each time we'd start on e of 'em, we'd have to fill a suction gun full of castor oil and squirt it into the hollow crankshaft and hope to God it'd hit on all cylinders when we got off the ground. In thirty days of flyin ' those Super LeRhone Standards I had fou rteen forced landings. " At that time I was flyin ' for J. C. Tipps and Co ., and I told ' em that I thought I was gonna qu it. Cap­ tain Tipps didn ' t know why I wanted to quit , and asked me why . . . to which I said . . . ' I don ' t think I' m gonna liv e long enough to spend another thirty days at this sort of thing,' .. . so I quit and went to work for Captain V. C. and Phoebe Omlie at Mem­ phis, Tennessee. " First thing Captain Verne did was ask if I had a license. I said . .. 'Well-I-I . . . I had on e,' . . . and then told him th e story .

" So he said . . . ' Well , it's not goin ' to stick any­ way. " I went ah ead and flew for him . He had a couple ole OX and Hisso Standards , but he also had a brand new Waco 7, fully licensed. I' d been ther e about two weeks wh en some guy came out and wanted to fly to Lou isville , Kentucky. " Verne sez .. . ' D()c , you'd better take the Waco , you won ' t get up ther~ in those Standards .' " So I took the man to Louisville, let him out and came back to Memphis, landed and two men walked out from th e hangar. They introduced themselves as Mr. Sandy Willets and Mr. Bettenger .. . and then request ed my li cen se. " I told th em the story and then heard . .. 'Mr. Dockery, you 're subject to a year and a day in the Federal pen and a thousand dollars fine or both . You ' re flying a licensed airplane and you ' re an un­ licensed pilot ... but they continued .. . 'We ' re not gonna press thi s pilot violation, we want you to take the flight examination over again .' " Well . . . as I told you, each inspector went into the field with a hundred Letters of Authority. For in­ stance . . . Sandy Willets . . . I found out later . .. had numbers 401 to 500 and Mr. Bettenger had num­ bers 2401 to 2500. " He gave me the examination over again and is­ sued me number 2418 , and that' s the one I have to­ day, becaus e by that time , I figured the rules were goin ' to stick." Doc and I had to take a break for a minute while I changed tape in my tape recorder and during these moments he mentioned that also during 1927 he was chief test pilot for Clyde Cessna for a while . Editor's Note: Robert Elliott's story about J. O. Doc­ kery will be concluded in the August issu e of The VI N TAC E A IRPL ANE. Iren e D oc k er y l ea ns aga inst short-nosed O X A m eri ca n Eagl e. No ti ce th e b ea utiful burnished cowling and wh eel covers.

~,

"

THE CUNNINGHAM-HALL

GA-36

....... - '

b y Gene Chase (Ph o to Courtesy of Bob Kes el)

Th e 1935 Cunningham-Hall GA-3 6 was a ra c y looking m achine. Som e of th e STOL d evices on th e wing are visi­ ble in this photo. Company tes t pilot, Otto Enderton is at th e controls.

(Ph oto b y R. Straub)

Th e GA-36 as it lay in th e weeds fo r man y yea rs at th e Tecumseh, Mi chiga n Airport.

In the mid-thirties the Cunningham-Hall Aircraft Corporation of Rochester, New York designed and built a good looking low-wing aircraft which proved to be far ahead of its time . Designed by Randolph F. Hall it was to have both high and low speed capabil­ ity. The GA- 36 built in 1935 was the outgrowth of pre­ vious designs . It was powered by a Warner Super Scarab engine and had full span flaps plus other high lift devices on the wing. It was flown by several pilots who all spoke well of the craft. The GA-36 was fully aerobatic and had ex­ cellent slow speed flight ability. Apparently it was overbuilt and overweight, however , and did not fare well when its climb and top speed was compared with the performance of other 2 place planes of the day. It could have made good use of a controllable pitch propeller but one was never fitted. The project was not continued and when the Cunningham-Hall Aircraft Corporation failed to bid successfully on government plane contracts, they manufactured aircraft parts and gun mounts during VVW II. In the meantime , the GA-36 sat in a hangar at the Rochester, New York Airport until 1941 when the Meyers Aircraft Company in Tecumseh , Michigan purchased the plane for its engine . Among the pilots who were flying at the Rochester Airport at the time was a you ng man named Robert E. Kesel . Bob greatly admired the GA-36 and he and his friends considered it to be the " absolute epitome of a sport plane " .

Bob is now an active member of Antique /Classic Chapter 6 of Rochester and through the years had never forgotten the plane . On June 28, 1978, quite by chance, Bob and some of his friends learned that the GA-36 still existed and was located at the Tecumseh, Michigan Airport where AI Meyers, of Meyers Air­ craft, had removed the engine some 37 years previ­ ously. The aircraft was obtained along with a complete set of factory drawings and now is the restoration project of Antique/Classic Chapter 6. This group is actively making the airplane airworthy and they are in need of donations. A major item needed is the Warner en­ gine , either 145 or 165 hp. They have located two for sale, but the prices are beyond the group's means . For donation purposes the group has formed a non-profit corporation called the GA-36 Association, Inc. The purpose of the restoration is " to insure that Rochester regains its proper place in the history of aviation during the days when real pioneering work was being done ". Bob Kesel and other Chapter 6 members will be promoting their project at Oshkosh '80 by manning booth number J-7 in the North Exhibit Building. They will display photos of the original plane as well as the current restoration. They will also have scale models of the GA-36 on display, and kits for sale for building 1/24 scale paper models of this beautiful aircraft. For those interested in more details of the GA-36, the Summer , 1971 Journal of the American Aviation Historical Society contains a story of the Cunningham-Hall Aircraft Corporation by Randolph F. Hall, who was vice president and chief engineer of the company. 17

1M

In the Summer of 1969 I heard that there were two planes for sale at the airport in Beaumont, Texas. One was a )-3 Cub and the other was a Taylorcraft , both in need of rebuilding . I fell in love with the T-craft when I saw the round control wheel and big tachometer . The owner wanted $1 ,200.00 for the Cub and $500.00 for the T-craft. While checking over the logs I fou nd that the latter had only 442 total hou rs on the engine and airframe . Also , it hadn 't been flown since 1965. Thi s Taylorcraft, a BL-65 was man­ ufactured on February 10, 1940, and powered by a Lycoming 0-145-B2 of 65 hp . At the time I owned a Volkswagen Van, which made an ideal platform for carrying wings safely. My family and I loaded other parts inside the van. By re­ moving the tail wh eel and using a big bolt through the tail spring and the trailer hitch on the bumper , the fuselage towed nicely. This caravan attracted a lot of attention.

..,.

We stored the T-craft behind my garage as I was in the proces s of covering a Piper Colt. I am an Airframe and Powerplant mechanic and hold an I.A . rating . Since 1967 I have reb uilt and covered 30 planes and 88 Stearman wings. The oldest plane I have worked on was a 1935 German Focke Wolfe 44 Biplan e. I work on planes as a hobby. My main job for the past 25 years has been with BF Goodrich Chemicals in Port Neches , Texas . I receiv ed my aviation training in the U. S. Navy. I attended Aviation Structural Mechani c School at Memphis, Tennessee. My duties included working on all parts of an airplane, except the engine, electrical system, and radios. My first duty assignment was with the Blue Angels, from April, 1952 to February , 1954. Besides doing airframe work I was sq uadron painter. I n February of 1954 I was tran sfe rr ed to Fi ghte r Squadron VF-111 at the Naval Air Station in Miramar, California. I served four month s with them. Th e rest

...

REBIRTH by Bob Moore EAA # 773726, A l e # 38 08

18

of my time in the Navy was spent with Fleet Air Ser­ vice Squadron Twelv e at Miramar. I was Petty Officer in charge of the aircraft paint shop. While in the Navy I painted at lea st one of the fol­ lowing types of aircraft; Grumman Panther , Cougar , Bearcat, McDonnell Banshee , Phantom, Beech 18, and finally a Grumman TBF Avenger. I really enjoyed the chance to work on the military aircraft, but my first love is the old fabric planes. As the years went by I worked on my T-craft as well as seve ral planes. The fuselage needed to be sandblasted . Some nut painted the wing spars with zinc chromate and thi s had to be stripped off. As the fuel tank had some l ea ks I sloshed the tank with sloshing compound. I replaced th e following items: co ntrol cab le s, shock cords, windshield, windows, sea ts , seat belts, and prop. The wings and tail sur­ faces were covered with Grade A cotton . Th e cover material came with the ship. The fuselage was cov­

976 South 72 Street Nederland, TX 77627

F

A

ered with Stits da cron. Th e first tim e I paint ed th e plane it end ed up white with blu e and gold trim , and w ith bi g numb ers o n th e win gs. I didn ' t lik e thi s so I r e- painted it o range/yell ow with whit e trim and blac k pin stripin g. I m aj o r ed th e eng in e and eve rythin g w e n t bac k standard . Th e bi gges t pr ob lem w ith th e eng in e jo b w as th e pri ce I had to pa y fo r parts. Th e o nl y p lace I could f ind any parts w as in O kl ahom a. Th e rod b ear足 in gs cos t $99. 00 in 1975. Th e T- craft f in all y f lew in 1976, after eleve n yea rs of b eing g ro und ed . Th e fir st f li ght w as un eventful b ut ye t a rea l thrill fo r m e. Aft er about fo ur h o urs f lyin g tim e th e e ngin e q uit o n takeoff w h en I was ab o ut 100 fee t up . Th e run way h ere is ove r 5,000 fee t lo ng so I w as abl e to land safe ly . Boy, did it ge t qui et - I could h ea r m y h eart p o undin g ! Thi s w as m y fir st f o r ce d landin g . Th e fu el line w as p lu gged w ith th e slos hing comp oun d w hi ch w as sh eddin g fro m th e sid es of th e

TAYL

fu el tan k . N eedl ess to say I purcha sed a new tank . I h ad to d isasse mbl e th e fr o nt of th e pl an e to install th e new tank . In th e m ea ntim e, I h ad starte d wo rk o n a Stea rman and th er e w as n 't mu ch tim e to fl y my p lane. Th e new tank b ega n to leak aro un d th e fittin g o n th e bott o m w hi ch I had install ed usin g teflo n tape . It see m s th at thi s tap e all o w s yo u to over ti ghten th e fittin g w i th o ut you bein g aw are of it. Lat er , so m eo ne to re th e fabri c o n b o th win gs by dr aggin g ano th er p lan e over it. Th e Taylo rcraf t th en sa t fo r 26 m o nth s w hil e I m ad e a Stea rm an o u t of thr ee. Nex t I recove red a Citab ri a, a PA-11 and a 7EC Champ . It was n ' t u ntil Ap ril of 1979 th at I f in ally got bac k to m y own p lane. As th e engin e h ad to co m e off aga in to r epair th e leak in g tank , and th e fab r ic o n th e w in gs h ad t o be re pl ace d , w e b r o ug ht th e pl an e h o m e . W hil e th e engin e was off we in stall ed br ak e ped als o n th e ri ght sid e of th e plane. Th ese were d es ig ned

and w elded up by To mmy Fo nt eno t , th e Pres id ent of EAA Chapt er 223. To mmy i s b uildin g a So nerai Two, and does so m e of th e b es t we ld ing I have see n . I go t a o ne tim e approva l fro m th e FAA o n thi s i nstall ati o n . The m ain reaso n we in stall ed th e new bra ke syste m is th at m y so n s w a nt to l ea rn t o f ly. Al so, To mm y need ed so m e tai ld ragge r ti m e. N ex t I r ecover ed th e w in gs and tail su rfac es w ith Stit s dacro n . Th e p lan e i s n o w pa in te d wi th Stit s A er o th ane int ern ati o nal o range wi th whit e trim and b lack pin stri pin g . I in stall ed an air d r ive n ge nerato r and a Ge nave rad io , and w h ee l pa nt s. I w eig h 225 Ib s., and th e T- craf t w ill d o 90-95 mph with m e alo ne . The engin e burn s 3-4 ga ll o ns of gas an h o ur. It ' s a lo t of f un to f ly and cheap eve n at today's pri ces.

RCRAFT

Photos b y W ayn e M oore

19

...

~

Szekelv

AIRCRAFT AND

ENGINE COMPANY

The Szekel y Fl ying Du tchman, NX9450 under th e wing of a Stou t Airli nes Ford Trimo tor, poss ibly at th e op en ing of Sze k e l y's a irp o rt a t Holl a nd, Mi c hig a n. Th e Flying Du tchm an was fl , ·", '11 to Los Angeles, Ca lifo rni a wh ere i t was d ispl ayed Jt ;,·e I nt ern ation al Aircra ft Sho w. Th ere, Charl es Lindr. ' gi l I, 'sp ected th e plane for 20 minut es and prai sed it.

HOLLAND, MICHIGAN

h y Phi l Mich merhuiz en 18 6 Suns et Dri ve Holland, M I 494 23 (Ph o tos Court esy Of Th e Au th or)

20

It wa s whil e r ea din g " Mr. Pip e r and Hi s C ub s", about 1953 th at I ca m e fa ce to face with th e fac t th at airplan e e n g in e s w e r e ac tuall y built in H o ll a nd , Mi chi gan . A d eterm ined and l engthy trip to o ur li­ brary pr odu ced new sp ap er clippin gs givin g th e hi sto ry of th e fa cto ry and also th eir dr eam s.

Otto E. Sze k ely (pr o noun ce d ZAY-KI ) was d escrib ed by o n e o f hi s H o ll and e mpl oyees, Co nr ad G . Lohm ann , as " a ve ry sm art e n gin ee r but a l o u sy bu sin ess m an ." Mr . Sze kely g radu ated f ro m sch oo ls in V ienna and Berlin and ca m e to th e Unit ed Stat es aft er World W ar I. H e j o in ed Vil ey M o t o r Co rp o rati o n , M o lin e, Illin o is, w h ere h e d es ig ned fr o nt wh eel driv e vehicl es fo r a m an wh o later b eca m e hi s bro th er-in­ law. A few yea rs lat e r h e beg an hi s own eng in ee ring firm a nd d es i g n e d small g as o li n e e n g in es for Cu shm an o f Lin co ln , N ebraska , and o th er firm s. H e also ent ered th e p isto n rin g bu sin ess. On e of th e firm s h e did w ork for w as th e Maytag w as h er co m pa n y in Iowa. H e al so drew th e atte ntion of H o lland Furnace Co mpan y o ffi cial s w h o inv est ed in a w as hing m ac hin e firm in H o lland , Mi chi ga n ca ll ed Vac-A- Tap . Szek ely was talk ed into m ovin g hi s engin ee rin g and p is t o n rin g firm t o H o lland wh e r e h e b ega n work w i th Vac-A-Tap o n H o ward Avenu e. Am o ng th ose Sze k ely e mpl o yees m ov in g to Hoi­ land from M o lin e in 1925 was Fritz Li edtk e; now 87 and livin g in Bea tri ce . N e bra ska . Mr . Li edtk e still work s fo r a ba nk. Li edtk e recall ed tho se ea rl y years. " Th ey (Vac- A-Tap) made a good m ac hin e. I sent o ne ho m e to my m oth er in N ebraska." But co mp an y o ffi cia ls di sag re ed ove r p o li cy and Vac-A-Tap was aband o ned , but no t b ef o r e Sz e k ely turn ed t o a p et pr o jec t , d eve lopm e nt o f a three­ cy li nd er ai rcra ft engi n e. Li edtk e sa id th e pi sto n rin g divi sio n ex pand ed and million s we re so ld to Ram sey A ss o ciates o r Ram co of 51. Lo ui s and later through jobbers such as NAPA. Li edtk e and Lo hmann r ecalled h o w Sze k e ly de­ veloped sp eciali ze d pi ston rings, includin g the re­ voluti o nary inn er rin g. Szekely al so pro du ce d a few machin es th at m ad e th e pi ston ring s. In 1928 Sze ke ly acquired the Burk e En g ineering C o mpan y in H o lland and b egan produ ci ng engines of 25 to 200 ho rsep ow er for Continental Motors, Gould Pump Co rp o r ati o n , El ec tri c Wh ee l Corp o ration , Cu shman M o t o r W o rk s and W es tin g hou se El ectric Co mpany. But still h e w o rk ed o n th e thr ee-cy linder aircraft engin e. Lohmann w as hired to work on th e igniti o n syste m for th e e ng in e whi c h included Scintill a M ag n etos from Switzerl and . Th e Szek ely SR-3 air- cooled radial engin e wa s pre­ view ed in Avi ati o n m agaz ine , M ay 28, 1928 whi ch re­ p o rt ed it rated at 40 hor sepo w er at 1,800 revo luti o ns p er minut e and w eigh ed 148 pound s.

These early ('28) overhead valve engines differed from later production engines in several ways. The mounting flange for the engine consisted of a round machined pilot fitting into the engine bracket on the plane. The engine was held together with six thru bolts, and the cylinder and head were cast as one, with spark plugs on the sides and the exhaust pro­ truding out the front of the cylinder. A Holland Sentinel clipping of june, 1928 notes, " The company's airplane motor set a record when it

Phil Mi chmerhuizen and his Sz ekely engin e.

covered 920 miles in nine hours and 18 minutes at 38 mpg." By the Fall of 1928 Szekely was producing small planes at the 12th Street factory overlooking Black Lake. The aircraft called the "Flying Dutchman" was of tubular welded steel and the cantilever style wing was of wood construction. Both were fabric covered. Wing span was 26' length was 18'. Test pilots flying the plane were familiar sights as they zoomed in the skies over Holland, waving to persons on the ground. One of the Sentinel clippings stated that one of the first Holland-made planes, carrying the name of "Fly­ ing Dutchman" flew to California under the direction of james R. Williams , manager of the company, where it was exhibited. Apparently only one or two airplanes were actually built, and these may have been other airplanes with Szekely engines. The FAA files do not record a "Fly­ ing Dutchman" airplane and I assume it was never certified. Liedtke, who was superintendent of the local plant, remembers Szekely as a fine man . "We used to go a long time without wages but we liked him and we worked for many weeks and finally he paid us our wages," said Liedtke . Lohmann, on the other hand, became disenchanted with Szekely and in the Fall of 1928 left the firm. He now lives in Florida in retirement. " Szekely's decision to build a five-cylinder radial engine was a big mistake," wrote Lohmann in 1972. "The required tests with the government ate up lots of money." Production of planes, engines and piston rings in­ creased and an addition to the 12th Street plant was start ed in February, 1928. The story-and-a-half addi­ tion with arched roof to the west of the existing building allowed for the fuselage department on the ground floor and the wing department in the bal­ cony. A sales brochure stated that by july, 1929, with the new addition in operation, the plant was produc­ ing 24 planes a week and 72 complete engines. In june, 1929, Szekely Aircraft & Engine Corpora­ tion dedicated its own airfield north of Holland along 136th Avenue, boasting two 2,200 foot runways and two " ,500 foot ru nways. Sales offices were opened in San Francisco, Kansas City and New York to meet the expected demand of the private aircraft industry. Within months the stock market collapsed and the great depression set in. In july, 1930 Szekely attempt­ ed to quiet rumors of financial ruin, but declined to offer any details. At that time the plant listed 150 employees.

The Zek e making sw eet music. Pusher prop is blowing oil and grease away (rom th e op erator,

Szekely travel ed to Eu rope, retu rni ng in janu ary, 1931 to assure local people his aircraft plant would remain in Holland. He also made plans to go to In­ dianapolis to confer with parties interested in affiliat­ ing with Szekely. The Vice President of the Szekely Company, jack Whitaker, went to New York, Detroit, and the Cleve­ land National Air Races in 1931 to promote the engines and planes. But the company did not prosper and on May 10, 1932, Szekely Aircraft & Engine Company filed voluntary bankruptcy in Federal court at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Liabilities were placed at $129,859.24 with assets of $136,784.60. The liabilities included $1,868.45 in unpaid taxes and $6,396.63 in unpaid wages. Szekely moved his family to Elmira, New York and then to Philadelphia where he became connected with the Navy. In 1950 he operated a factory in Com­ merce, Georgia which produced secret items for the Navy. Later Szekely moved to Florida where he died a few years ago. It is interesting to note the various engines the company hoped to produce. "jane's All the World's Aircraft" of 1929 lists three Szekely engines, the three-cylinder at 40 hp; a five­ cylinder at 70 hp; and a seven-cylinder at 100 hp. One year later, "jane's All the World's Aircraft" of 1930 again listed three engines, a two-cylinder at 22.5 hp; a three-cylinder at 40 hp and a five-cylinder at 70 hp. The seven-cylinder engine was not mentioned .

21

AIRCRAFT POWERED WITH SZEKELY ENGINES Ref: "U. S. Civil Aircraft" by Joseph Juptner - Vol. 3,4, 5 Aircraft American Eagle "Eaglet" Curtiss Wright " Junior " Buhl " Bull Pup " LA-1 Rearwin " Junior" 3000 Alexander "Flyabout" D2 American Eagle ­ Lincoln "Eaglet" B-31 Rearwin " Junior 3100" Taylor " Cub" H-2

A.T.C. No. 380 397 405 434 449 450 481 572

The 1932 "Aircraft Yearbook" shows front and side views of the 3-35, 3-45 and 3-55 series of Szekely en­ gines. It can be seen from these views that the 55 hp has the valves and rockers enclosed in aluminum covers cast with the head. I doubt that the two-cylinder or seven-cylinder ver­ sions were ever built; and after talking with men who worked at the Szekely plant it appears that only five or six of the five-cylinder engines were built and test run, trying for certification . Besides , the above mentioned engines , all of which used overhead valves, the company was supposed to have built both three and five-cylinder L-head en­ gines. I have never seen the L-head version but 80 American Eagle "Eaglet" airplanes A.T.e. No. 380 used th e SR-3L-30. It is difficult to come up with exact production fig­ ures for Szekely engines . One reference source is "U. S. Civil Aircraft" by Joseph Juptner, Volumes 3, 4, and 5. Assuming that all of the following aircraft were delivered with Szekelys installed 645-plus engines can be accounted for in the chart above . I know that some engines went overseas to power light planes in Europe. Other en&!nes were used on prototype airplanes such as the first Funk and the twin-engined Fuller-Hammond. Both aircraft were powered with 45 hp Szekelys. In my search for a Szekely engine, I spent about three and a half years of writing post cards and mak­ ing long distance phone calls chasing down rumors and leads, only to find out I was anywhere from a couple of days to five years too late. Then one day I received a post card from someone who heard of my search for an old airplane engine. He wrote that about five years ago he had heard a rumor in upper Michigan of a three-cylinder and a seven-cylinder engine in a shed. I called fellows in

22

Engine SR-3L-30 SR-3-0 (45 hpj Szekely 45 Szekely 45 SR-3-0 (45 hpj Szekely 45 Szekely 50 Szekely SR-3-50

Production Run 80 270 100+ 17 14

13 2 149

Holland who go fishing up north and they gave me the name of a man who worked up there. I called him and he didn't know who would have one, but he would check around. About a week later I received a call from a Jim Hammel. " I hear you are looking for an old three­ cylinder ' Holland' engine. Well, there's one in the shop that hasn't run for seventeen years. Yeh, I guess I'd sell it, don't know what I'd do with it, had it on a snow sled. Three days later my wife and I started out for upper Michigan . We found Jim ' s place, waited for him to come home from work, then trudged through knee­ deep snow to the shed. Sure 'nuff, there was a "Zeke"! It turned over, looked fair, had no car­ buretor or data plate but we agreed on a price then carried the little engine to the truck! Oh yes, I checked there were no airplanes around, or the seven­ cylinder engine rumored to be there too! Back home, because I had run ads in the Sentinel and over the radio requesting Szekely information I thought I would stop by and show my friends with the news media what I had found. Later, when an ar­ ticle came out in the newspaper, one former factory employee, Ed Scholten , had to see that engine the very next morning. He told stories of working in the new plant in March with no glass panes installed in the open windows. John Emmons, a good friend and experienced mechanic (though not on Szekelys) and I were suc­ cessful in getting the engine apart without breaking anything. We found the engine to be in surprisingly good condition internally. The cylinders had only .005 taper, and the rings had very little wear. We had the cylinders honed and magnafluxed along with the crankshaft and rods. I made new gaskets. Gene Mor­ ris sent a valve stem end and valve retainer clips for use as patterns and Carl Kallunsrud made six more .

Chet Miller was good enough to make an aluminum cap and gave me the thrust bearing number I needed for the oil pump assembly. I also had three new exhaust valves made. Then another exciting trip took place. In October, 1978, I was paging through Trade-A-Plane and noticed a " Zeke" to be auctioned off on the following Satur­ day in Columbus, Ohio. Friday evening after work we headed for Columbus, arriving at a motel at 2:30 A.M. I was up at 7: 00 A.M. and one of the first at the auction. By 12: 30 P.M. the engine was mine and another "Zeke" was on its way back to Holland. This 45 hp engine had a data plate, 3/8"cable around the jugs; and other needed parts, including a carburetor, carb spacer, oil lines and oil tank. I doubt if the engine mount was "aircraft" as it was built of angle iron and tubing; the splintered Sensenich prop was from an American Eaglet, B-31 and was nailed to­ gether at one tip! I had the recently acquired carburetor and mags overhauled , then built a test stand for the engine. At last John and I were ready to assemble the first "Zeke". As this engine had been used on a snow sled up North, it had really been abused when compared with aircraft standards . John had to solve many little problems as he went. The previous owner had used an old tractor carburetor and had stripped several of the mounting holes. Then, as we were priming the oil pump before starling the engine, oil was running o.ut of the front of the crank. I know that many old radial engines slobber oil, but this was too much. Sure enough, someone had used a wheel puller and had driven the welsh plug right into the crank. If anyone can fix it, I thought, John can, and three hours later we were ready once again, to try to make the "Zeke" run. I wish I could say that it started on the second or third pull. The truth is, we worked with it about an hour on a Friday night, a couple of hours on Saturday morning, and finally on Saturday afternoon John and I were all smiles - the little "Zeke" was running. It' s a good thing the engine had a pusher prop or John and I would have been covered with grease and oil. Sud­ denly we didn't notice our sore arms, with that sweet sound coming from all three cylinders. And best of all , despite the rumors about Szekelys, the engine didn't even throw a jug. Now I'm looking for a plane on which to mount the Szeke ly, such as a Curtiss Wright Junior or an Alex­ ander Flyabout - or even a Fuller-Hammond! I do have two engine~, remember! Up to now I don't have a single hour flying behind a Szekely, but I hope to remedy that situation.

CALENDAR

OF EVENTS

JULY 3-6 - BOWLING GREEN, OH IO - Ercoupe Owners Club Na­ tional Fly-In, Wood County Airport . For further information, please contact: Carl Hall, Bowling Green State University, School of Art , Division of Design , Bowling Green , OH 43403. Telephon e: 4191 372-2640. JULY 4-6 - ALLIANCE , OHIO - 1980 Tay lorcraft Reunion , sponsored by th e Taylorcraft Owners Club at Barber's Fi eld. For further in­ formation, please contact: Allan Zollitsch, 37 Taft Av enu e, Lan­ caster, NY 14086. Telephone: 716/681-1675. JULY 4-6 - COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA - lAC Contest - Sponsored by lA C Chapter 80 for the Sportsman and Unlimited ca tegories. For further information , please co nta ct: Earl Sanford , 5416 Pacific Street , Omaha , NE 68106. JULY 4-6 - HUNTSVILLE , ALABAMA - lAC Contest - Sponsored by lAC Chapter 44 for th e Sportsman ca tegory only. For further information , pl ease co ntact : Robert Austin, 701 Fagan Springs Drive, Huntsvill e, AL 35801. Telephone: 205/534-8146. JULY 4-6 - GA l NESVI LLE, GEORGIA - 13th Annual " Cracker" Fly­ In. AAA North Georgia Chapter. For further information , please co ntact : Jim Clarkson , 1649 Avon Av enue , Tucker , GA 30084. JULY 11--13 - ACME , ALBERTA , CANADA - EAAC National Co nven­ tion . Contact G. W. Le May , 5003 Bulyea Rd. , NW, Calgary , Al­ b erta T2L 2H7 or T. Fitzgerald, 33 11 Ca ribou , Alberta T2L OS4. JULY 11-13 - OWOSSO, MICHIGAN - lAC Contest - Sponsored by lA C Chapter 88 for the Sportsman and Unlimited categories. For further informati o n , please contact: David E. M cKenzi e, 21141 H. C. L. Jackso n , Grosse IIl e, MI 48138 . Telephon e: 313/67 1-1837. JULY 12 - TECUMSEH , MICHIGAN - M eye rs OTW Reunion - Back to Factory. For further information , pl ease contact: Di ck Martin , Rt. 3, Aerodrom e Road , Green Bay , WI 54301 or Haro ld Losser , 41 5 Eighth Street Pla ce, Des Moines, IA 50313. JULY 13 - EASTON , PENNSYLVANIA - 4th Annual Aeron ca Fly-In, Easton Airport. For further information , please contact: Jim Polles, 2151759-3713, nights and weekends. JUL Y 17-20 - OnOWA , KANSAS - lAC Contest - Sponsored by lAC Chapter 15 for th e Sportsman and Unlimited ca tegories. For further information , please co ntact: Patri cia G. Brown , 10614 West 108 Terrace , Overland Park , KS 66210. Telephone : 913 /492-7581. JULY 18-20 - MIDDLEFIELD, OHIO - lAC Contest - Sponsored by lA C Chapter 34 for the Sportsman and Unlimited categories . For further information, please contact: John T. Meyers, 9089 Sky­ lane Drive , Wadsworth , OH 44281. Telephone: 2161336-7479. JULY 18-20 - MINDEN , NEBRASKA - The National Stinson Club Fourth Annual Fly-In will be held at Pioneer Field. For further in­ formation, please contact: Bob Near , 2702 Butterfoot Lane , H ast­ ings , NE 68901 . Telep ho ne: 402/463-9309. JULY 19-20 - LEWISTOWN, MONTANA - 3rd Annual Montana Chap­ ter AAA Fly-In at Beacon Star Antique Airfield. For further informa­ tion , please contact: Frank Bass, Star Route, Moore, MT 59464. Telephone: 406/538-7616. AUGUST 1 - HARVARD, ILLINOIS - Vintage Ultralight Fly-In at Dacy Airport. 1941 or ea rli er , 60 hp or less. To conclude with a group flight to Oshkos h on August 3. For further information, please contact : Richard C. Hill , P. O. Box 89, Harvard , IL 60033. AUGUST 2-9 - OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN - 28th Annual EAA Con­ vention and Sport Aviation Exhibition - the world's larg est and most exciting aviation event. For further informati on, please con­

tact: Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), P.O. Box 229, Hales Corners , WI 53130. Telephone: 414/425-4860. AUGUST 10-16 - FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN - The International Aerobatic Club's annua l aerobatic competition. Biggest field any­ where for an aerobatic contest plus greatest variety of aerobatic aircraft. For further information , please contact: Herb Cox , Con­ test Chairman, 812 Taylor Avenue, Mt. Vernon , IL 62864. AUGUST 10-16 - MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - 12th Annual Co n­ vention of the I nt ernationa l Cessna 170 Association at General Mitchell Field. For further information, please con ta ct: Richard Tomasello, 1333 Wagner Drive, EI Cajon, CA 92020. AUGUST 17-30 - OS HKOSH , WISCONSIN - World Aerobatics '80. For th e first tim e ever, the U. S. will host the World's Aerobatic Championships. Fourteen countries will participate. Don ' t miss this historic event. For further information , please co nta ct: World Aerobatics '80 , P.O. Box 229, H ales Corners, WI 53130. Telephone: 414 /425-4860.

AUGUST 22-24 - COFFEYV ILLE, KANSAS - Funk Fly-In. For further information, please contact: Ray Pahls, 454 South Summitlawn , Wichita, KS 67209, or G. Dale Beach , 1621 Dreher Street , Sacra­ mento, CA 95814 . AUGUST 24 - WEEDSPORT, NEW YORK - Fly-In sponsored by EAA Chapter 486 at Whitfords Airport Field. Airport closed from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. for air show. For further information, please contact: Herb Livingston, 1257 Gallager Road, Baldwinsville, NY 13027. AUGUST 30 to SEPTEMBER 1 - CALHOUN COUNTY , TEXAS - Port Lavaca-Calhoun County Chamber of Com merce sponsors an air show at Calhoun County Airport. For further information , please co ntact: Preston Van Hanken , Port Lavaca Chamb er of Commerce , P. O . Box 528, Port Lavaca , TX 77979. Telephone: 512/552-2959. SEPTEMBER 5-7 - MARION, OHIO - 15th Annual Mid-Eastern Re­ gional EAA Fly-In at Marion MuniCipal Airport. For further in­ formation, plea se contact: Mr. Louis Lindeman, 3840 Cloverda le Road , Medway, OH 45341. Telephone : 513/849-9455 . SEPTEMBER 12-1 4 - CALGARY, ALBERTA - Alberta ' s 75th Anniver­ sa ry as a Provin ce, the Airdrie Country Club of the Air is sponso r­ ing a " Diamond Jubilee Antiquel Classic Fly-In ", at Airdrie Air ­ port. For furth er information , pl ease co ntact: George B. Pendle­ burg, Vice-President, Publicity Chairma n , 304 Manora Road, N.E. , Calgary, Alberta T2A 4R6. Telephone: 4031272-4383. SEPTEMBER 12-14 - DELANO, CA LIF ORN IA - lAC Contest - Spon­ so red by lA C Chapter 26 for the Sportsma n and Unlimited cate­ gories. For further information , please contact : Jack Gladish , 120 South Ham Lanek , Lodi , CA 92540. Telephone : 209/369-5768. SEPTEMBER 13 - GREEN BAY , WISCONSIN - Chapter 651 is spo n­ soring a fly-in at Plainview Airport. For further information , please contact: Dave Fri sbie, 414/336-3257. SEPTEMBER 13- 14 - OSCEOLA, WISCONSIN - lAC Contest - Spon­ sored by lAC Chapter 78 for the Sportsman category on ly . For further information , please contact: James G. Taylor, 119 Comanche Drive, Webster, MN 55088. Telephone: 507/652-2607. SEPTEMBER 14 - EASTON , PENNSYLVANIA - Antiqu e & Classic Piper Fly-In. For further information , please co ntact: Jim Polles , 299 Nazareth Drive, Nazareth, PA 18064 . Telephone: 215/759­ 3713 (nights). SEPTEMBER 14 - LANSING, ILLINOI S - The Lansing Police Cadets will sponsor their 2nd Annual Fly-In and Air Show at LanSing Municipal Airport. For further information , please contact: J. P. Fish , P.O. Box 411 , Lemont , IL 60439. Telephone: 312 /257-7.552. SEPTEMBER 19-21 - KERRVILLE, TEXAS - 16th Annual Southwest Regional Fly-In , sponsored by the Texas Chapters of EAA. For further informati on, p lease conta ct : Bob Reese , Rt. 4, Box 305, San Angelo, TX 76901. Te lephone: 915/658-4 194 or 915/949-2886 .

SEPTEMBER 19-21 - VINCENTOWN, NEW JERSEY - lAC Contest ­ Sponsored by lAC Chapter 94 for the Sportsman and Int ermediate categor ies . For further informati on, please contact: Fred Weaver, Himmel ein Road, Box 9E, Medford , NJ . Telephone: 609/654-7867. OCTOBER 1-5 - TULLAHOMA , TENNESSEE - 2nd Annual EAA Na­ tional Fall Fly-In. Don't miss this o ne. For further information , please co ntad: EAA Fall Fly- In , P.O. Box 229, Hal es Corners , WI 53130. Telephone : 414/425-4860.

CLASSIFIED ADS Aero II Plans The new 2-place aerobatic train er an d sport bip lane, 20 pages of easy to follow detailed p lans. Complete with isometric drawings, photos, exploded views, Plans - $85.00, In fo pack - $4 .00, Send check or money order to : AeRO SPORT, INC., Box 462, Hales Corners, W I 53)30 ._414 /425-4860 .

Classic owners! ~~'t

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DOG DRESS IT UP WITH A NEW

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II~ INTERIOR!

All Items READY-MADE for Ea~y DO-IT·YOURSELF INSTALLATION

Seat Upholstery - Wall Panels

Headliners - Carpets - etc .

Ceconite Envelopes and Dopes

Send $1 .00 for Catalog and Fabrics Selection Guide

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259-15 Lower Morrisville Rd. Fallsington, Pa. 19054 ( 215) 295 - 4115

23

BORDEN'S AEROPLANE POSTERS FROM THE 1930'S Article N umber 18, Poster N umb er 9, Series Number 2 THE FA IRCH ILD 45

,

This is th e eight ee nth poster in our series. When we originally started reproducing th e poster s which had been offered by the Borden Company in Canada, it was ex pected that this would be the final one. This was th e las t from the original collection provided by Mr. Glenn Inch of Brampton , Ontario , who had col­ lect ed th em in 1936, when he was a young man. However , as th e series began to appear on the pages of The VINTAGE A IR PLANE, w e start ed to re­

24

by Lionel Sa lisbury EAA #114 523, A IC # 3207 Seven Harp er Road Brampton , Ontario L6W 2W3 Ca nada

,;2.j

ceivemail from th e readers, indicating that there had indeed bee n additional posters offered by the Bor­ den Company in the United States in 1933 and 1934 . Mr. Cedric Galloway of California came forward with three from hi s collection that had not been made available in Canada. A few months later, Mr. Marion McClure , who resides in Illinois, sent in his entire collection. From that source we will be able to offer an additional six posters for inclusion in our se ries .

Therefore , we will continue next month with Mr. Galloway's first offering, the Borden Poster that fea­ tured the Boei ng Tri-Motor, a very attractive pictorial of a most unique aircraft. This month 's poster has, as usual , the line drawing taken from the back of the original and the descriptive notes that were also pro­ vided with the drawing. N EXT MON TH - Th e Boeing Tri -Motored Transport

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leFT. III....

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FAIRCHILD .... S..- SEDAN OF THE AIR

FAIRCHILD " 45" -

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" SEDAN OF THE AIR "

Mad e at H agerstown, M ary land, by th e Fair child Aircraft Corporat ion, The Fairchild "45" is a fiv e-p lace low-wing monop lane with a Wright Whirlwind engin e. The int erior of th e ca bin is built to rese mb le th at of stream lined motor ca rs.

Specifi ca tions

Perform ance

Win g span , 39 feet. Len gth o verall , 28 feet, 11 in ch es. H eight ove rall , 8 feet. Mot or, Wri ght Whir lwind . Power loadin g, 15 p o und s p er h o rse power. Wing loading, 14 .75 pound s p er sq uar e foot. Gross w eight , 3,600 pound s. Pay load , 880 pound s.

Hi gh sp eed , 170 m i les per hour . Landin g sp eed, 48 mil es per hour . Cruising speed , 156 mi les per h o ur . I nitial rat e of climb, 64 0 feet p er minut e. Cruising rang e, 600 mil es.

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FOR SALE

Nord 1203-3 " Norecrin " , manufa ctured in Fran ce in 1956. This 4 pla ce, all metal, retractable tricycl e gear aircraft is power ed with a 145 hp SNEC7A " 4LOO" engine. 1000 hours on the airfram e and 3 50~' hours on the engine . Paint scheme is camouflage , similar to Me 109. Contact : Mr. Jeane-Claude Paillard , No. 5 La Marinere rue Alb ert camus , Br etigny sur Orge 91220 , France .

AVAILABLE BACK ISSUES OF

Th e VINTAGE AIRPLANE

1973 1974 1975 1976

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1977 1978 1979 1980 -

March through December All Are Avai lable All Are Available January through May , August through D ecem足 ber All Are Available January , March through June, August, O ctober , November February through December January through June

Back issues are available from Headquarters for $1 .00 each, postpaid, except the July 1977 (Lindbergh Com足 memorative) issue, which is $1 .25 postpaid.

1928 STEARMAN C3B b y Gene Chase (P ho ro by H al Ko stk a)

The above photo is one of several sent to us by Antique/Classic member Ha l Kostka of Valparaiso, I n足 diana. The airc r aft is an extremely accurate scale model with a 35" wing span. Hal is a golf professional who has enjoyed antique aircraft since he was a kid growing up on the north side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin . Obviously , he is also a highly skilled modeler. A ll of th e controls on the Stearman are operable from the cockpit including the elevator trim . The finis h is 10 to 12 coats of hand rubbed dope. The model was built from a Flyline kit. ' To scale modelers the name Fly li ne is synonomous with Hurst Bowers who designed the Stearman mode l as well as most of the others killed by Flyline. Hurst is also an EAA member.

26

H al Kos tka's Stearman C3 B. U rsch el Fi el d was th e nam e o f th e airpo rt at Va lp ara iso, Indiana.

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FLYING AND GLIDER MANUALS

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1929, 1930, 1931 1932, 1933, 1929-33 Miscellany

2.50 ea. or 6 for $12.50 SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO :

EAA Air Museum Foundation , Inc.

Box 469 Hales Corners . WI 53130

Allow 4揃6 Weeks For Deliv ery Wisconsin Residents Include 4% Sales Tax

(Photo by Gene Chase)

Two new production Creat Lakes at Sun 'n Fun '80, Lake足 land, Flo rida. Th e one on th e left i s owned by Dr. Robert Tob er, Napl es, Florida and th e o th er by Marty Lowe, Hid足 den River, Fl orida.