OCTOBER 2010

Where did the summer go? It seems as though I just got done with B-17 training a few weeks ago, and that

happened in late March! Thirty-plus days on the B-17 tour (so far) took me to tour stops from Washington state to New Jersey. Then I attended multiple work weekends in Oshkosh, the spring board meetings, and mul-tiple Young Eagles events; provided transportation to the Air Academy for some of our chapter-sponsored youth; and spent two weeks in Oshkosh for EAA AirVenture. What a whirlwind of activity in a short few months.

It has also been a really interest-ing year for the Vintage Aircraft As-sociation (VAA). The term intense is appropriate, as well as the terms fun, exciting, rewarding, and amaz-ing. We are now into the fall of the year, and with that comes the plan-ning and execution of the VAA fall board meetings.

Later this month we will meet and discuss many aspects of the business of the association, as well as the per-formance results of the 2010 AirVen-ture event. It is typical for the VAA board to review and discuss newly proposed capital projects for the fu-ture, as well as the areas in which we can develop potential improvements. We also discuss and review the high-lights of the many new initiatives you observed at AirVenture this year.

One of those new offerings at the 2010 event was the new personal elec-tronics charging facility, which proved to be a big hit with the VAA member-ship and other EAA guests and mem-bers. This enterprise was much more successful than I ever imagined. We are already discussing some improve-

ments to this area that would further enhance this popular member benefi t.

We had good reviews from the Type Club representatives on the up-graded lighting and the wireless In-ternet service in the Vintage Hangar. We are also working hard on a reso-lution to the noise levels in the han-gar that are being generated from the workshop area.

Many thanks to Paul Poberezny for assisting our volunteers with the gathering of some of his personal ar-tifacts to create an old-time workshop area in the Vintage Hangar. It looks great, Paul.

As many of you know, the VAA took on the responsibility of produc-ing our own Awards Program last year. With the new Vintage Hangar being large enough to host the event in the Vintage area, we saw a posi-tive reaction from the membership with a good number of AirVenture attendees and award winners in at-tendance. Apparently the word got out this year because we experienced a large increase in attendance at this special event. Almost 75 percent of those members whose airplanes won were personally able to accept their reward, a wonderful increase over the past few years when that number hovered around 50 percent.

We are already planning a num-ber of enhancements to this program for the 2011 event. It’s an enjoyable program that the members seem to greatly appreciate. You really need to come and experience this event held Saturday evening during AirVenture.

Many other committee meetings are on our agenda for the fall board meetings as well, such as Develop-ment, Executive Finance, Hall of

Fame, Convention, and Editorial. I will be sure to report any signifi cant results of these many meetings to you in a later edition of Straight & Level.

I am particularly excited about these upcoming meetings because it will be the first series of meetings that the VAA board will experience under the leadership of our new EAA president and CEO, Rod Hightower. I had the opportunity to meet Rod just prior to the formal announce-ment of his selection as the first non-Poberezny to lead this great or-ganization. My immediate impres-sion of Rod was very much positive. He is one of those people who pos-sesses a unique and engaging person-ality, and he is a genuinely nice guy. One of the unique qualities the EAA board was looking for in a candidate was someone who has the culture of EAA in his blood, and Rod certainly possesses that qualifi cation. Rod also has a background in vintage aircraft restoration (he restored a Stearman PT-17), which will likely make him particularly popular with the mem-bership of the VAA. Welcome aboard, Rod! Be sure to check out the EAA video of Rod’s early days at the helm of the EAA: www.EAAvideo.org/video.aspx?v=605761337001.

I may have mentioned earlier that we fi nally saw the fi nishing touches completed on the C-120. It was a long road, but we now have a com-pletely refreshed panel; all new in-terior, including headliner and new skylights; and recertified avionics. She’s sure a pretty girl!

Join us and have it all.

GEOFF ROBISONPRESIDENT, VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

STRAIGHT & LEVEL

Intense, fun, exciting, rewarding, and amazing

IFC Straight & Level Intense, fun, exciting, rewarding, and amazing by Geoff Robison

2 News

4 Sparky’s AirVenture Notebook Conjuring camaraderie while preserving aviation history by Sparky Barnes Sargent

12 One Classy Rearwin Cloudster Carefully restored with character by Sparky Barnes Sargent

16 Light Plane Heritage The Sperry Messenger by Jack McRae

20 Batman: The Prequel French aviation pioneer Clément Ader’s Avion III by Gilles Auliard

26 My Friend Frank Rezich, Part I Growing up ‘aviation’ by Robert G. Lock

30 The Vintage Mechanic Elementary weight and balance by Robert G. Lock

34 The Vintage Instructor A tale of three ‘fi rst’ fl ights by Steve Krog, CFI

36 Mystery Plane by H.G. Frautschy

38 Friends of the Red Barn

39 Classifi ed Ads

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1

A I R P L A N E O C T O B E RC O N T E N T S

S T A F FEAA Publisher Rod HightowerDirector of EAA Publications Mary JonesExecutive Director/Editor H.G. FrautschyProduction/Special Project Kathleen WitmanPhotography Jim KoepnickCopy Editor Colleen WalshEAA Chairman of the Board Tom Poberezny

Publication Advertising:Manager/Domestic, Sue AndersonTel: 920-426-6127 Email: sanderson@eaa.orgFax: 920-426-4828

Senior Business Relations Mgr, Trevor JanzTel: 920-426-6809 Email: tjanz@eaa.org

Manager/European-Asian, Willi TackePhone: +49(0)1716980871 Email: willi@fl ying-pages.comFax: +49(0)8841 / 496012

Interim Coordinator/Classifi ed, Alicia CanzianiTel: 920-426-6860 Email: classads@eaa.org

C O V E R S

Vol. 38, No. 10 2010

FRONT COVER: The rare Rearwin Cloudster (there are 24 of them on the FAA Registry) is an attractive high-wing monoplane that is sometimes called a “Baby Howard.” This wonderful example was restored by Ed McKeown with help from Roger Shadick and Kent McMakin. Read more about it in Sparky Barnes Sargent’s article beginning on page 12. The photo was shot during the annual members’ invitational fl y-in at the AAA’s Antique Airfi eld near Blakesburg, Iowa. Photo by Gilles Auliard.BACK COVER: This month’s Mystery Plane answer is the diminutive Sperry Messenger biplane. This example, owned by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, was restored by the Museum of the United States Air Force. The Air Force included the bracket and hook used to operate a Mes-senger from U.S. Army blimps during trials with the blimps TC-3 and TC-7 in 1923-24. U.S. Air Force photograph.

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VAA NEWS

2 OCTOBER 2010

EAA Bleriot ProjectNears First Flight

September 23 marked the 99th anniversary of the fi rst offi cial air-mail fl ight in the United States, and in preparation for the 100th anni-versary celebrations next year, the 1911 paint scheme used by Earle L. Ovington has recently been added to EAA’s Type XI Bleriot reproduc-tion. EAA’s chief mechanic John Hopkins reports that the aircraft should fl y within the next month.

The EAA Bleriot project has been underway for the past four years and includes an original three-cylinder Anzani engine acquired from a French museum, dated to 1910. Volunteers are making final mechanical and paperwork prepa-rations for the fi rst fl ight.

This included the recent appli-cation of a paint scheme derived from Earle Ovington’s famous Queen’s Bleriot of 1911. Ovington was sworn in as a postal carrier by the postmaster general just before he departed from Grand Estates, New York, on September 23, 1911, with a mailbag containing 650 let-ters and 1,280 postcards. He then flew the 5-mile route to Mineola, New York, where he made a perfect drop on a predetermined spot out-side the post office. However the 500-foot drop split the bag, scatter-ing mail everywhere. Ground han-dlers were able to gather the letters, and each piece of mail was sent on its way with the “Aeroplane Station

No. 1 - Garden City Estates, N.Y.” postmark. The mail route was tem-porary, part of an air show going on in Garden City Estates. Oving-ton spent the rest of the week de-livering at total 37,470 pieces of mail from the show to post office in Mineola.

Hopkins said the conditions have to be perfect for the first flight, “We’ll wait for a really, re-ally, really nice day to fl y it—proba-bly from Pioneer Airport.” Hopkins said. “In the meantime we hope to have it on display in the AirVenture Museum while we complete the re-quired FAA inspections.”

EAA’s Bleriot will help commem-orate the 100th anniversary of the first airmail flight during AirVen-ture 2011, which is planned to in-clude a major gathering of historic airmail aircraft. For more on the EAA Bleriot project, see the article in the July 2009 issue of Sport Avia-tion and view the videos on the air-craft and its unique original Anzani engine at www.EAAvideo.org.

EAA Announces All-StarFall Webinar Lineup

EAA webinars are back for a se-ries of fall seminars. EAA webi-nars are offered free of charge to EAA members, but space is lim-ited to the fi rst 1,000 registrants for each session. To view the we-binars, your computer (Mac or PC) must have audio speakers or headphones, and a broadband connection is recommended. Up-coming webinars, scheduled for 7 p.m., include the following topics and presenters:

October 5—Is Your Two-Stroke Engine About to Fa i l? ; Br ian Carpenter

October 14—The Zodiac CH 650; Sebastien and Mathieu Heintz

October 19—Flying Marine One; Lindy Kirkland

November 3—Q&A With Kermit Weeks; Kermit Weeks

November 9—Just Say No to Use-less Maintenance; Mike Busch

November 16—AeroVee Engine and AeroInjector; Jeremy Monnett

December 2—Owning and Fly-ing a Homebuilt; Joe Norris

December 16—Flight Before the Wright Brothers; Adam Smith

January 5, 2011—Building a Ble-riot XI; Fred Stadler

For more information about EAA’s webinars, visit www.EAA.org/webinars.

Get Your ComplimentaryAirVenture 2010 SouvenirProgram—Digital Edition

EAA members can now view the digital edition of the EAA AirVen-ture Oshkosh 2010 Commemo-rative Souvenir Program. See 194 pages of exclusive features and stunning photography, including the DC-3, B-17, electric aircraft, the history of AirVenture, and much more, right on your com-puter screen! To view the AirVen-ture 2010 program now, visit www.AirVenture.org/program.

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3

COPPERSTATE Fly-InCasa Grande Municipal Airport (CGZ), Casa Grande, ArizonaOctober 21-23, 2010www.COPPERSTATE.org

Southeast Regional Fly-InMiddleton Field Airport (GZH), Evergreen, Alabama October 22-24, 2010www.SERFI.org

U.S. Sport Aviation ExpoSebring Regional Airport (SEF), Sebring, FloridaJanuary 20-23, 2011www.Sport-Aviation-Expo.com

Sun ’n Fun Fly-InLakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL), Lakeland, Florida March 29-April 3, 2011www.Sun-N-Fun.org

AERO FriedrichshafenMesse Friedrichshafen, Friedrichshafen, GermanyApril 13-16, 2011www.AERO-Friedrichshafen.com/html/en

Virginia Regional Festival of FlightSuffolk Executive Airport (SFQ), Suffolk, VirginiaApril 30-May 1, 2011 www.VirginiaFlyIn.org

Golden West Regional Fly-In and Air ShowYuba County Airport (MYV), Marysville, California June 10-12, 2011www.GoldenWestFlyIn.org

Arlington Fly-InArlington Municipal Airport (AWO), Arlington, Washington July 6-10, 2011www.ArlingtonFlyIn.org

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Wittman Regional Airport (OSH), Oshkosh, Wisconsin July 25-31, 2011www.AirVenture.org

Colorado Sport International Air Show and Rocky MountainRegional Fly-InRocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC), Denver, ColoradoAugust 27-28, 2011www.COSportAviation.org

Upcoming Major F ly - Ins

EAA Calendar of Aviation Events Is Now Online

EAA’s online Calendar of Events is the “go-to” spot on the Web to list and fi nd aviation events in your area. The user-friendly, searchable format makes it the perfect web-based tool for planning your local trips to a fl y-in. We invite you to access the EAA online Calendar of Events at http://www.eaa.org/calendar/

Accreditation Puts EAA

AirVenture Museum in Top Tier

EAA’s AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, one of the na-tion’s premier aviation museums, again earned accreditation from the American Association of Museums (AAM), recognizing its com-mitment to excellence and high professional standards. The latest ap-proval marks the third consecutive time the AirVenture Museum has earned the AAM’s seal of approval.

The EAA facility was the fi rst aviation museum in the United States to earn accreditation in 1988, and one of fewer than 10 aviation muse-ums in the nation to hold the rating. The museum was accredited for 15 years, increased from the 10-year terms approved twice previously.

The AAM accreditation process took more than a year to complete. It includes substantial documentation of a museum’s current programs and operations, as well as a site visit by a national panel of museum professionals. Among other characteristics reviewed by AAM are gov-ernance, collection stewardship, institutional planning, code of ethics, mission, and risk management.

Among the publicly visible upgrades made by the AirVenture Mu-seum over the past decade was the effort to make exhibits more in-teractive and family-friendly. In addition, exciting new exhibits have been introduced in recent years, including such one-of-a-kind displays as SpaceShipOne, the world’s fi rst successful civilian spaceship.

The AirVenture Museum also became a major value for EAA mem-bers, as a free-admission policy for EAA members was established, and the organization’s 160,000 members could also visit several hundred other science and technology centers nationwide at no charge as part of the Association of Science-Technology Centers’ Passport Program.

“EAA members and the Oshkosh community can be very proud of the AirVenture Museum and the standards of quality that are main-tained here,” Museum Director Alan Westby said. “This facility is not only the home of EAA’s history and the story of personal fl ight. It is a resource for all to be used to discover more about aviation, and it’s a showpiece for our community.”

4 OCTOBER 2010

Sparky’s AirVenture NotebookConjuring camaraderie while preserving aviation history

ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

As you walk toward the entranceway to the Vintage area and glance up toward the sky, you’ll see the Vintage Aircraft Association’s warm welcome, embracing all who venture into the Red Barn and the grassy fi elds beyond. Pause for a moment to contemplate the message: “Preserving Aviation His-tory for Future Generations.” It’s a mission in which we all play a part—whether pilot, airplane owner and/or restorer, or armchair enthusiast.

Without the devotion, talents, and energy of thousands of individuals who passionately treasure vintage airplanes, current and future generations wouldn’t be able to personally appreciate our col-lective winged roots by seeing and hearing these old airplanes fl y or be able to walk right up to them on the fl ightline and talk with the owners, pilots, and restorers.

Perhaps best of all, one of the most enjoyable perks of being involved with old airplanes—besides fl ying them—is experiencing the camaraderie conjured by gatherings of like-minded aviators. The vin-tage fi elds of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh provide a great opportunity for folks to swap fl ying tales, share restoration tips, ogle airplanes, and enjoy the company of friends new and old.

This year, we again strolled through row after row of interesting aircraft—all told, there were 635 vintage airplanes on the grounds. We stopped to chat with aviators by their planes, and we photo-graphed many aircraft we hadn’t previously seen. Some folks were busy cleaning and polishing their airplanes, others had a gaggle of merry folks gathered around, and others were peacefully relaxing beside their cherished fl ying machines—but everyone we found was friendly and willing to share a bit about themselves and their aircraft.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

Pilot Tim Cannady has been fl ying on and off for about 30 years and has been coming to Oshkosh since 1979. He was industriously cleaning N31346’s wood prop as the sun’s beaming rays seemingly spotlighted his already-glowing 1946 Aeronca 7AC Champ. Tim, who hails from Propwash Airport near Justin, Texas, described his fl ight to Oshkosh: “I made it as far as Watertown, Wisconsin, on Friday night, and nobody knew what was go-ing on in Oshkosh with all the rain, so I spent Saturday at Watertown. I fi gured if I got out early Sunday morning, some water would have dried up overnight. Even then, we were parked on the taxiway, and I just now [midday

Tuesday] moved it into the fi eld—so I want to clean it up before I put a ‘judge me’ sign on it. I’ve only had this airplane about four months; the previous owner, Tom Hartman, passed away, and we wanted to keep the airplane on the airport. When Tom fi rst brought the Champ to Propwash from Seattle, ev-erybody encouraged him to take it to Oshkosh, but [he never did], so now it’s here for Tom. The air-plane is about as original as you can get—it even has the non-sensitive altimeter without the Kolls-man window, a non-recording tachometer, and the original hubcaps and fuel cap. The engine has the forged rocker box covers instead of the stamped covers.” The judges took note of the Champ’s origi-nality and awarded it the Class I (0-80 hp)-Bronze Lindy in the Classic (September 1945-1955) category.

Jim Clark of Chapman, Kansas, fl ew his 1939 Waco EGC-8 to Oshkosh, accompanied by his grandson, Brody. N61KS is powered by a supercharged 350-hp Wright R-760E-2 and cruises at about 130 mph. When originally owned by the Civil Aeronautics Author-ity (CAA), the airplane was based in Garden City, New York. “Three or four years ago, I star ted looking for a cabin Waco,” said Jim with a smile, “because I wanted a big fl ying SUV that could carry all my stuff! So I star ted going all over the country looking and could not fi nd one that I wanted to buy or restore. This airplane was lo-cated only 15 miles from my home, and I knew the owner, EAA member Chuck Hall. It hadn’t fl own for about 18 years, but it had been stored properly. I bought it, and Raven Aero Service in Junction City, Kansas, did the restoration.”

some water would have dried up overnight. Even then, we wereTithotbe[phmofcnLc

hp Wright R-760E-2 and cruises at about 130 mph. When

John Maxfi eld of Northville, Michigan, was at Air-Venture with a longstanding member of his family. In fact, the 1948 Funk B85C was already part of his family before he was a year old. “This airplane be-longed to Joe and Howard Funk for 10 years, and it’s arguably the last serial number that they built. Dad bought it from them when I was 10 months old in 1958. It’s what I grew up around and learned to fl y, and I had my fi rst solo in it,” shared John, chuckling and adding, “My diapers were actually changed on a table under the wing in the hangar!” NC1654N was restored in 1994 and was awarded Reserve Grand Champion at Oshkosh in 1995. John joined the An-tique/Classic Division of EAA back when Buck Hilbert was president. This year, the judges presented John

with the Preservation-Small Plaque award in the Classic (September 1945 through 1955) category.

Bob and Barb Perkins fl ew N20908, their recently purchased Jacobs-powered 1939 Waco AGC-8, from their home at Long Island Airpark (NC26), North Carolina, to Oshkosh this summer. Bob is an EAA volunteer, and he and Barb were busy polishing the prop as rays from the morning sun continued dry-ing the once-soggy fi eld. Smiling happily, Barb com-mented, “We got up early this morning to come out and clean her—it was all nice before the rain.” Bob chimed in, “We came to Oshkosh a long time ago, but our friends Margy and Ron Natalie encouraged us to start coming back. This Waco is a 20-year-old restoration, and it was repainted about 10 years ago. It was about a year ago when I decided I wanted a round-engine airplane, and Larry Harma-cinski, who owns a Waco UEC, said, ‘You have to have a Waco!’ He found this for me on the Internet,

and I went out and checked on it and bought it. Larry taught me how to fl y it.”

Terry Bolger of Schaumburg, Illinois, was all smiles as he shared a little bit about NC788V, his Fleet Model 7. He bases the airplane at the Walworth, Wis-consin, airport, and has owned it about 10 years. “The restoration is 5 years old, and after it was completed in 2004, it was on the back cover of Vintage. Budd Davisson wrote a nice article on it,” com-mented Terry, adding, “I like the Fleet for a couple of reasons. Number one, it’s unique. Number two, I restored the whole thing myself. It took me fi ve years, and that makes it fun! It handles phenom-enally, and it really is a neat little plane. It doesn’t go fast—only about 80 mph—but it’s really a hoot to fl y. It was the fi rst

airplane I restored; I did a Champ, and before that I built a kit Buccaneer amphibian. I’ve learned a whole lot, and fortunately there are a whole lot of guys at the airport and I was able to draw from their knowledge; theyreally helped me out. The best thing about being at AirVenture is savoring the ambience of the vintage era, the history of it all, and the wonderful camaraderie—we always have a great time here!”

with the Preservation Small Plaque award in the Classic (Sept

and I went out and checked on it and bought it Larry taught

airplane I restored; I did a Champ and before that I built a kit Buccanee

6 OCTOBER 2010

EAA Vintage members Phil and DeAnn Riter of Stryker, Ohio, are regular attendees at AirVenture. They’ve been coming since the early 1980s and have only missed a few years. Phil explained why they came despite the weather, “This year was challenging! But if you restore airplanes you’ve got to be here and see what the competition’s do-ing—and you always pick up tips on how to do better.”

He bought his 1948 Cessna 170 (N4182V) in Novem-ber 1987, and DeAnn accompanies him on most of their cross-countries in the Cessna. “We travel a lot—I’ve logged about 2,800 hours in that airplane; she’s probably been in it at least 2,500 hours. We’ve had it to Alaska twice and to the Canadian Maritimes a couple of times. In fact, this past February we went to the Turks and Ca-

icos Islands with this airplane and two other 170s, which was kind of neat. I’ve also got a Champ, and we do short trips in it, and I’ve got a Waco straight wing that we do really short trips in!” They both enjoy fl ying to AirVenture and camping with their airplane and reuniting with many friends whom they see only once a year.

Left: Ben Scott of Reno, Nevada, is devoted to preserving antique and vintage airplanes. He left his 1930 Stearman 4E Speedmail Junior and 1944 Howard DGA-15P at home to bring N663G, his recently restored 1945 Grumman G-44A Widgeon, to AirVenture for its debut this summer. Powered by Lycoming GO-480 series engines, it cruises at 160 mph and lands at 60 mph. This exquisitely detailed amphibian re-ceived the Gold Lindy in the seaplane category.

Seventeen-year-old Zac Weidner grew up with airplanes, and he’s been going to Oshkosh with his family since 2007. He was often seen relaxing by his family’s spiffy cream and red Piper Tri-Pacer during AirVenture and was happy to share a little bit about its restoration. His father, Kevin, purchased the 1958 PA-22-160 as a basket case three and a half years ago. It hadn’t fl own since 1968 and had been sitting in a garage for more than 20 years. Fa-ther and son hauled it home to Bunker Hill, Illinois, from Carbondale on a hog trailer, and together they restored it to award-winning condition. Members of the Short Wing Piper Club proved most helpful as they answered many of the Weidners’ restoration questions via the club’s website.

“Restoration takes a lot of determination—and sometimes frustration—but it’s worth it. We used the Poly-Fiber process, with Poly-Tone on the fabric and Aerothane on the aluminum,” explained Zac, adding matter-of-factly, “I soloed this airplane about two weeks ago, and I’m going to fi nish my lessons in it. I’ve got about 20 hours now. We fl y out of a farm strip at home, and it’s just neat to be able to go up whenever you feel like it and look around and have a view of everything.”

As for the future, Zac said he sees aviation as a hobby. “I’m going to farm and fl y out of our strip. This is a great airplane for looking at crops and a pretty decent cross-country airplane as long as the sun’s out and it’s not IFR. The fi rst fl ight after restoration was June 10. It’s a lot of fun to fl y!” And fl y it they do. Before the restoration the aircraft had only 354 hours; now it has more than 400. The Tri-Pacer is also fun to behold—the judges awarded it the Class I Single Engine (0-160 hp)-Large Plaque in the Contemporary (1956-1970) category.

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7

8 OCTOBER 2010

A pilot since 1976, Jim Graham of Hilliard, Ohio, was happily camping with his Ercoupe 415-C in the “south 40.” A semi-retired U.S. District judge, he’s been going to AirVenture on and off for a long time. Now that he has a bit more time on his hands and is fl ying as a sport pilot, he’s attended the show for fi ve years in a row. “This is the second time I’ve fl own into Oshkosh, and it was a great fl ight! It was a real thrill fl ying through the VFR corridor around the lakefront at Chicago—just a spectacular view. I made good time, cruising about 105 mph and burning about 5 gph. Air-Venture is the only reason I’d ever camp,” remarked Jim, laughing heartily and adding, “but I somehow got myself in that little tent, and I also somehow went to sleep! I like the camaraderie with the other airplane

people here—in fact, I had breakfast this morning with a whole group of folks that just invited me in; I’d never met them before! Of course, we all have something in common that we can talk about, and that’s fun, too. There are also marvelous airplanes you see here, and the air show’s great. I guess the thing that I get really excited about, in addition to all these other things, is all of the vendors who are here. They choose AirVenture for announcing new products, so I’m always spending time in those big hangars looking at all the fabulous stuff.”

Left: This 220-hp Continental-powered 1929 Cur-tiss Robin is owned and fl own by David Mars of Jack-son, Mississippi. N3277G was the “leading aircraft” in the recently released and award-winning movie Pearl. The movie was produced by the Chickasaw Na-tion and Media 13. Pearl Carter Scott, “a daredevil who dared to dream,” grew up in the 1920s in Mar-low, Oklahoma. As a young Chickasaw, she started learning to fl y in a Robin when she was just 12 years old, and the next year, she became the youngest li-censed pilot in the United States. A free screening of Pearl was held on Friday night during AirVenture.

Left: NC15244 is an eye-catching, Jacobs-powered 1935 cabin Waco YOC, emblazoned with the Phillips 66 logo. It’s owned by Jeff Skiles of Oregon, Wisconsin—the fi rst offi -cer during the Miracle on the Hudson US Airways fl ight and EAA’s current co-chair of the Young Eagles program.

Right: This pretty 1946 Stinson 108 (NC97607) is registered to Ross Sea-brooke of Clarksville, Michigan.

people here in fact I had breakfast this morning with a whole

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

NC16522 is a 1939 cabin Waco YKS-6. Bearing the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company logo on its fuse-lage, the Waco is registered to John Thomason of Sonoma, California.

Left: NC84149, a handsome 1946 Aeronca 7BCM, was selected as Best Custom Runner-Up–Large Plaque. It’s owned by Kevin Bower of Oldenburg, Indiana.

Left: This 1957 Piper PA-23 Apache is registered to N2287P Inc. of Hudson, Wisconsin.

Talk about standing out in a crowd—this 1947 Consoli-dated Vultee L-13, N2538B, stimulated many conversa-tions. Powered by a 300-hp Lycoming R680, its nose art depicts a redheaded nurse and the words Intensive Care Unit. Owned by Clu Colvin of Big Cabin, Oklahoma, it re-ceived the Outstanding Limited Production–Small Plaque.

NX15429 is owned by H. “Cam” Blazer of Leawood, Kansas. Powered by a 165-hp Warner (hence the “X” in the registration number), this 1936 Monocoupe 90A received the Silver Age (1928-1936) Champion–Bronze Lindy in the Antique (1903 through August 1945) category.

NC16522 is a 1939 cabin Waco YKS-6. Bearing Talk about standing out in a crowd—this 1947 Consoli-

NX15429 is owned by H. “Cam” Blazer of Leawood, Kansas. Powered by a 165-hp Warner

10 OCTOBER 2010

Brett Lovett of Liberty, Missouri, had his 1948 Piper PA-17 Vagabond, N4821H, looking pretty. Powered by 65 horses, this Vagabond cruises at 87 mph. It received the Custom Class A (0 - 80 hp)–Small Plaque in the Classic (September 1945 through 1955) category.

Here’s the Mister Mulligan replica built by Jim Younkin of Springdale, Arkansas. NR273Y is powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1340.

NC9277K is a good-looking 1947 Stinson 108-2, regis-tered to Lee Lane of Valparaiso, Indiana. According to EAA volunteer Tim Fox, 54 Stinsons were originally signed up for the camping area, but only 28 arrived on the grounds due to the challenging weather-related conditions.

Leon Whelchel of Vinton, Iowa, brought his 1942 de Havilland Tiger Moth DH.82A to the convention.

Bill’s Dream, a 1938 Beech F17D Staggerwing (NC18781),is owned, fl own, and maintained by the late Bill Morrison’s sons, Mark and Ron. Powered by a fuel-injected Jacobs 330, the biplane has quite a history, having been in the Morrison family for 35 years. It won a Bronze Lindy in 1991.

Brett Lovett of Liberty, Missouri, had his 1948 Piper Here’s the Mister Mulligan replica built by Jim Younkinn

NC9277K is a good-looking 1947 Stinson 108-2, regis-

Leon Whelchel of Vinton Iowa brought his 1942

Bill’s Dream, a 1938 Beech F17D Staggerwing (NC18781),The 1929 Hamilton Metalplane H-47 (N879H) is

registered to Mr. Wright’s Pole Pass Airways of Se-attle, Washington. Restored by the late Jack Lysdale back in the 1970s, it was last in Oshkosh in 1975! It was awarded the Antique Transport Category Champion–Bronze Lindy and was on display in front of the Red Barn.

The 1929 Hamilton Metalplane H-47 (N879H) is

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

Past award winner N2988T, a 1966 Meyers 200D, was looking sharp despite a few raindrops. The airplane is owned by Ross Warner of Benton Harbor, Michigan.

This outstanding Lycoming R680-powered Stinson Model O replica (NC12817) of the only open-cockpit air-craft built by Stinson is based largely upon photographs of the original 1933 airplane. The replica was painstak-ingly engineered and built by Evergreen Aviation Services and Restoration at the Scappoose Airport near Portland, Oregon. This unique two-place parasol airplane received the Antique Replica Aircraft Champion–Bronze Lindy.

N6874W is one highly polished 1965 Cherokee PA-28-140. Its shiny status attracted many a passerby. Powered by a Lycoming O-320, the airplane is regis-tered to Claene Corp. of Chicago, Illinois.

N7557B is a perky 1957 Champion 7FC Tri-Traveler, registered to Joe Wiegand of San Francisco, California.

The Candler Field Express from Georgia and the Flabob Express from California were on hand to help cele-brate the 75th anniversary of the DC-3 this year.

Past award winner N2988T, a 1966 Meyers 200D,

This outstanding Lycoming R680-powered Stinson

N6874W is one highly polished 1965 Cherokee PA-

p g ,

N7557B is a perky 1957 Champion 7FC Tri-Traveler,

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

The Candler Field Express from Georgia and the Flabob Express from California were on hand to help cele-

Right: N77661, a 1947 Fairchild 24-R46 was featured on the cover of Sport Aviation in November 1974. It’s a former Antique Grand Champion winner.

In the early summer of 1940, Rearwin test pilot Billy Miller gave NC25552 (s/n 828) a thorough prefl ight, as sunlight glinted from its lustrous, hand-rubbed vermilion and indigo-trimmed finish. Climbing into the elegantly appointed cabin, the clean scent

of new wool upholstery enveloped him, and the gracefully curved, chrome-plated control stick felt cool to his touch. He engaged the electric starter, and the seven-cylinder, 120-hp Ken-Royce radial rumbled to life. Then he taxied the three-place airplane out for takeoff, and the Cloudster quickly climbed away from the runway. Miller gained suf-fi cient altitude above the Fairfax Airport in Kansas City, Kansas, to put the airplane through the prescribed series of test maneuvers and recorded the data from his fi ndings in a detailed report.

A copy of that report, along with the build sheet from the factory, fi ltered down through seven decades and now rests in the hands of the airplane’s current caretaker, Ed McKeown of Village of Lakewood, Illinois. So when Rear-win Aircraft & Engines Incorporated advertised that “the Cloudster is built to last,” its statement was a bit more pro-phetic than it might have imagined.

A brief glance at Rearwin history reveals that, in 1937, Rearwin Aircraft acquired LeBlond Aircraft Engine Com-pany and renamed it Ken-Royce Motors, after owner Ray-mond Andrew Rearwin’s two sons, Ken and Royce. In 1939, Rearwin’s companies came together as Rearwin Air-craft & Engines. By then Rearwin was already known for several of its airplanes, including the Speedster and Sport-ster—in fact, it advertised the popular Sportster model in

the first issue of Trade-A-Plane Service in 1937. Rearwin manufactured around 125 Cloudsters under Approved Type Certificate No. 711, and today, serial number 828 is one of only 24 Rearwin Model 8135s listed on the FAA Registry. By 1942, the company was sold to Empire Or-dinance, which continued manufacturing operations as Commonwealth Aircraft.

‘Cloudster Is Tops!’The Cloudster has sometimes been affectionately

dubbed a “baby Howard,” since its round engine and tall vertical stabilizer are similar to the larger Howard DGA of the same era. Rearwin had its own creative promotional slogans, and one was “by any yardstick you choose, the Cloudster ‘measures up.’” One such “yardstick” was that of performance: “The Cloudster is powered with the time-tested, dependable Ken-Royce motor, which assures plenty of power and pep for top-notch performance under all conditions. . . . Just tap the throttle and the Cloudster is off with full load in 700 feet—up like a rocket, off like a bullet!” Another was economy: “ . . . sky-high in value, yet down to earth in price . . . . And the Ken-Royce motor, with its new automatic overhead rocker box oiling system . . . eliminates hand greasing . . . .” Yet another measure was beauty: “ . . . see the fl ashing, streamlined styling of the Cloudster. . . . Outside and in, the Cloudster has a personality of its own, for its looks are as distinctive as its performance.”

Another ad touted the Rearwin’s features by describing: “Thrills for Three—A real three-place airplane, with room

12 OCTOBER 2010

One Classy Rearwin Cloudster Carefully restored with character

article and photos by Sparky Barnes Sargent

to spare and power to burn… Cloudsters Go to Iran—. . . the Iranian Government picked Rearwin 120 hp Cloud-sters – twenty-fi ve of them – for its Aero Club. . . . These air-planes are being used half way around the world on fi elds a mile or more above sea level and over high, mountainous country. They have to be good . . . Service With a Smile—. . . The Cloudster’s newly designed two-piece engine cowl-ing … can be raised in three minutes for quick and easy engine servicing. There’s a special opening which saves additional time in checking the oil level. . . . Appointment with Beauty— . . . Placement of sticks well forward enables women fliers to wear conventional dresses with perfect freedom . . . Inside and out, the Cloudster is tops!”

Construction and SpecsThe Model 8135 measured 21 feet 6 inches from nose to

tail, and its fuselage was composed of welded steel tubing with spruce fairing strips. Its wings had a span of 34 feet 1-3/4 inches and were built of spruce spars and truss-type ribs with plywood gussets, with duralumin leading and trailing edges. The ailerons were of metal construction, and the tail group was composed of welded tubular steel spars with steel channel ribs. Ball bearing control pulleys were used throughout the flight control system, which provided the pilot with smooth, fluid control. Its main gear incorporated hydraulic shocks, and its tail wheel was a combination full swivel/steerable with a hydraulic pneu-matic shock absorber.

A 17-gallon fuel tank in each wing provided a 600-mile range, since the seven-cylinder, 120-hp Ken-Royce engine burned about 7 gph at a 120-mph cruise. The Cloudster weighed 1,140 pounds empty and had a useful load of 760 pounds and a gross weight of 1,900 pounds. Its maximum speed was 135 mph; its landing/stall speed was 50 mph. The price at the factory started at $4,495.

Cloudster ChronicleSerial number 828 went through a long chain of owner-

ship, enduring a few mishaps through the years. Following are just a few highlights gleaned from its aircraft records. The Coffeyville Airway Corporation of Coffeyville, Kan-sas, sold NC25552 to the Defense Plant Corporation of

Washington, D.C., in March 1943. The Defense Plant Cor-poration was created by the Reconstruction Finance Cor-poration pursuant to Section 5(d) of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act, as amended, to aid the govern-ment of the United States in its National Defense Program. During the brief period of time it owned the Rearwin, it was badly damaged during a forced landing.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Inspec-tor’s Report stated that the accident occurred at South Coffeyville, Oklahoma, on July 6, 1943, at 4:45 p.m. The pilot, Jack Howard Graham of Sioux City, Iowa, was an instructor who was associated with the Coffeyville Airway

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

Owner Ed McKeown and Roger Shadick of Noble Aviation.The 1940 Rearwin Model 8135 Cloudster taxies out for takeoff.

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company. “The engine quit on the takeoff, necessitat-ing a forced landing. Damage to aircraft: propeller bro-ken; motor mount bent; right side landing gear buckled; right lift struts bent; vertical fi n and rudder demolished.” The inspector further reported: “After intensive investiga-tion, it was determined that a cotter key was missing from the throttle arm on the carburetor and the retaining nut was loose. This would allow the butterfly to operate in-dependent of the throttle if the nut were loose enough. The spring on the butterfl y would then shut the butterfl y valve, causing the engine to drop back to idling speed and be thought to be ‘windmilling.’ The reason the butterfl y would close is because the spring is hooked up to work in this manner. The spring should be arranged in such a way as to open the butterfly instead of closing it. Since the manufacturer overhauled the complete engine and it’s [sic] accessories the last time, it is assumed that they at-tached the spring in this manner.”

The Cloudster was repaired, and the Defense Plant Cor-poration sold NC25552 to James Emmett Combs of Kansas City, Missouri, in April 1944. Omar Midyett of East St. Louis, Illinois, purchased the Rearwin in June 1949 and sold it in September 1950. Interestingly, Midyett was well-known for operating a fl ight-training school and establishing Lakeside Airport near Granite City in southwestern Illinois.

Those in the antique community may well remember NC25552 (now N4404W) as Noel and Mary Gouldsmith’s airplane. Noel, of Independence, Missouri, owned the airplane in the early 1960s and restored it. He also re-placed the original Goodyear 3LNBM wheels by installing 800x4 wheels and Hayes brake assemblies from a PA-12. Painted in an unmistakable Daytona white and forest green scheme, the airplane was a regular visitor to the fl y-ins at Ottumwa, Iowa, where it won several awards.

William Kloek of St. Paul, Minnesota, purchased the Cloudster in May 1971, and Ed McKeown recalled, “He landed it in a tree after running out of fuel. Then Frank Hay [of Nisswa, Minnesota] bought the airplane in April 1992.”

Ed first learned about the availability of the airplane from Roger Shadick, owner of Noble Aviation in Eagle River, Wisconsin. “Roger heard about this plane down in Racine, Wisconsin, and I knew what it was, so I called

Frank Hay. He had it stored in a garage on his property, and all the parts scattered around there, along with the engine,” said Ed. “He was just plain tired of the project, and it needed a lot of work. He also had another Cloud-ster, N25451, minus its prop and engine. I purchased both airplanes from him in May 2002.”

RestorationSerial number 828’s restoration began in earnest when

Ed and Roger moved both Rearwins to Eagle River, Wis-consin, in September 2002. Roger acquired NC2551 from Ed, and Ed and Roger started a slow-but-sure restoration on N4404W.

As sometimes happens with dormant airplanes, Ed dis-covered that his Cloudster’s original CAA identifi cation mark, NC25552, had been forfeited when the registration wasn’t kept current. Frank Hay registered the airplane after he bought it in 1992, and thus it received N4404W as its new registration number. When Ed acquired the project, he recalled with a chuckle, “I found the original number on a Piper Cherokee in Michigan, so I called the owner, and he was willing to give me the N number—if I bought the airplane for $35,000!”

Roger fabricated all new sheet metal, which was a bit of a challenge. “The skins look relatively simple, but in fact they’re really not, because one skin tucks into another one to hold it together,” he described, “and the parts that Ed had were wrinkled-up masses of junk. I rolled them out fl at to see if I could determine where the bend started and ended, and the general shape of them, and then we went from there.”

Ed recalled, “The cowl was unbelievably destroyed. Roger reworked the original, because it was either do that or try to get a new one. I thought that if he got it as good as he could, it would look like it was original for the plane, rather than a brand new piece—and that was good; we wanted that kind of character in it. We did the same thing with the wheelpants. We wanted to maintain some au-thenticity and the character of the plane.”

The tail wheel assembly also offered a challenge. “It’s ‘original,’ except I made it all new, because it was corroded and rotted,” declared Roger. “That’s the most complex tail

Serial number 828 came from the factory with a wind generator.

The original glove box neatly conceals a modern transponder, radio, and engine analyzer.

wheel system I’ve ever seen in my life. There are cables go-ing everywhere, an oil spring, and steel tubing.”

Roger progressed steadily on the project for a while…or so they thought. “Frank had covered the fuselage and the wings while he owned it, and they looked okay, so we assumed they were. We did all the fi nish coats and sanding, wired in the lights, and were all set to go,” Roger explained, adding, “and then we opened up the inspection holes on the wing and started seeing some really scary stuff in there. So then the wings had to be redone, and my shop didn’t allow the time for us to re-ally tear into it.”

That’s when they enlisted the services of Kent McMakin of Rockton, Illinois, who repaired both wings by fabricat-ing new components. He replaced a total of 11 cracked ribs, as well as the left and right rear spars.

Roger re-covered the fuselage with Poly-Fiber and used a high-volume, low-pressure system to apply the finish coat of Poly-Tone to the entire airframe. One of his em-ployees, Randy Block, completed the new wool headliner and upholstery, and the control sticks, rudder pedals, door handles, and other cabin hardware were freshly chromed. Roger made a new instrument panel by forming metal around a block of wood and welding it as needed; then it was sent to a company in California to receive its walnut veneer. The panel neatly conceals a transponder, radio, and engine analyzer inside the original glove box. The electric fuel gauges, Ford ashtray, and Carwil T61 wet com-pass also help retain the originality of the panel.

Ken-RoyceThe Ken-Royce radial was overhauled by Dick Weeden

of Brodhead, Wisconsin. It has a few modifications, ac-cording to Roger, including an oil recapture system in the lower rockers, which was added by a previous owner. “That works really well, and we also installed an Airwolf fi lter. Plus we did the conversion to use Continental valve springs, because there was a real issue with breaking valve springs,” explained Roger. “This engine has an ignition booster, which is operable, but really not necessary be-cause the engine starts really nice without it.”

Another mod was the installation of a J.P. Instruments EDM-700 EGT-701 engine monitor scanner, to simultaneously display ex-haust gas temperature and cylinder head temperature for all seven cylin-ders, as well as displaying oil temper-ature and system voltage. The wind generator, which was a factory option, is now in good operating condition, and is used to power the wing’s re-tractable landing light.

Roger is pleased so far with the Ken-Royce engine’s performance. “I fl ew down from Eagle River to Poplar Grove to Blakesburg,” he said, “which was about 330 miles, and it probably

used a quart of oil—so it does really well.”

Flying the CloudsterThe Cloudster’s initial test fl ight was fl own by Joe Nor-

ris of Oshkosh, and it was quickly evident that the airplane wasn’t rigged correctly. Then Ed and Roger received check-outs from Mike Weinfurter of Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Ed, a Stearman pilot who is no stranger to tailwheel flying, recalled his turn in the left seat: “I would say for me, dur-ing the fi rst hour of fl ight, I found it to be the most squir-relly airplane I have fl own. The takeoffs were every bit as exciting as the landings, without a doubt! It has minimal rudder authority at low speeds,” he shared, adding with a chuckle, “so it was certainly fun to acquire the necessary skills to get more confi dent. Now we know that some of it was that its rigging just wasn’t tweaked yet.”

Roger explained, “We got a hold of Gary Van Farowe, who was the Cloudster guru, and I asked him if he had any kind of setting [for the angle of incidence] on these wings, because the build manual that I have says nothing on that. We had set it up fairly neutral, and then started adjusting the wings a little bit, trying to make the airplane climb better. Gary couldn’t fi nd any information either, but he measured a whole bunch of rear struts, and they ranged in length from 100-3/4 inches to 101 inches. At that point we felt we had a good number to go by, and we were at the high end of that length, so I adjusted it by 1/4 inch less in the back of the strut—and the airplane really fl ies nicely now!”

Ed said, “I fl y 80 mph on downwind and 70 mph on fi nal and across the threshold to a full three-point land-ing. It’s really behaving beautifully now that ‘all the bugs’ have been worked out. At fi rst, it was a learning experi-ence, and right now I think we’re both very comfortable with where we are and the performance of the airplane. The control pressure is as smooth as you could hope for, and you get almost 1 mile for horsepower out of this en-gine. I think those are two of the more impressive things for me.”

Congratulations to Ed and Roger for a job well done in preserving a bit of Rearwin history for others, as well as themselves, to enjoy.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

16 OCTOBER 2010

Light Plane Heritagepublished in EAA Experimenter May 1990

Editor’s Note: The Light Plane Heritage series in EAA’s Experimenter magazine often touched on aircraft and concepts related to vintage aircraft and their history. Since many of our members have not had the opportunity to read this se-ries, we plan on publishing those LPH articles that would be of interest to VAA members. Enjoy!—HGF

THE SPERRY MESSENGERBY JACK MCRAE

The Sperry Messenger was the best known of a number of light airplanes procured by

the U.S. Army Air Services and the U.S. Navy in the 1920s. The Messen-ger was designed by Alfred Verville of the Engineering Division of the U.S. Army Air Services at McCook Field. It was reportedly designed in response to a suggestion by Gen.

Billy Mitchel to substitute small air-planes for motorcycles for messen-ger duties and for training purposes.

Lawrence Sperry Aircraft Com-pany of Farmingdale, Long Island, New York, was contracted to build the airplane. Lawrence Sperry was the son of inventor Elmer Sperry of Sperry Gyroscope fame. James Fa-hey, in his book U.S. Army Aircraft

1908-1946, states that six of the M-1 model were purchased, 20 of the M-1A, and six of the MAT, a modifi ed M-1, aerial torpedo, during the 1921-23 period.

The Messenger was a single-seat biplane of 20-foot span, powered with a three-cylinder Lawrance 60- to 65-hp engine. Wood was con-structed throughout the airplane.

JIM MORROW/AMERICAN MODELER, JUNE 1962

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The fuselage had four longerons and was covered with mahogany plywood. The wings, which were the same upper and lower, were braced by two lift struts of round steel tubing on each side with wood fairings and N-type inter-plane struts of wood. The USA 5 airfoil was used. The wing spars were of spruce with mahogany plywood webs and spruce caps. The whole wing truss was in-tended for ease of assembly, and a minimum of rigging was required. Originally there was a single di-agonal wire on each side running from the lower front spar root to the upper rear spar at the N-strut. These seem to have been omitted on later models. It was reported that the wings were static tested

by the Army for a load factor of 7.0 positive and 4.0 negative.

Lt. J.A. Macready at McCook Field did the test flying with the following observations:

“The fl ying qualities of the Mes-senger airplane are very good. It is an exceptionally smooth and eas-ily handled airplane. Although re-markably small, there is a feeling of solidity and strength in the appear-ance and the handling in fl ight of the airplane that lends confi dence to the pilot.

“The airplane is easily taxied even in a strong wing, is steady and easily controlled for so small an airplane, and has a quick get-away and good climb, considering the comparatively low horsepower of the engine. The controls are re-

sponsive and normal in action. Lit-tle effort is required to maneuver quickly, smoothly and effectively. The airplane is well balanced. It side slips and stalls normally both with and without power. The pilot sits very comfortably with excellent visibility. Instruments and engine controls are within easy reach.

“A number of maintenance trou-bles were encountered on both the engine and the airplane, the ex-perimental three-cylinder Lawrance engine causing the majority of the diffi culties. The bolt in the master bearing, weakened by drilling out to lessen weight, broke, with a re-sultant breaking of the master bear-ing and all connecting rods.

“ V i b r a t i o n o f t h e e n g i n e cracked the engine mounting bracket. A stronger mounting of new design effectively replaced the one, which failed.

“The Philbrin ignition system did not function satisfactorily, caus-ing constant trouble throughout the test. With the exception of the present ignition system, all parts of the airplane are accessible and easily repaired. The maintenance is simple on both engine and air-plane. The engine mounting gives easy access to plugs, carburetor, etc.

“Some trouble was experienced with cracked fi ttings. A tendency for the center section and landing gear to weave because of looseness of the strut sockets could be cor-rected by cross brace wires in the center section and landing gear, instead of the present diagonal tubes, or by some other means that would compress the struts into the sockets.”

The landing gear and center-section diagonal struts were sub-sequently replaced by wires to prevent the looseness mentioned.

In 1921, Lt. C.C. Moseley, win-ner of the 1920 Pulitzer Trophy Race, reported on a trip he made in a Messenger from Washington to Langley Field and back. The dis-tance was 138 miles each way, and two forced landings were made in small fields due to cracked spark

The two-seat Sperry Messenger.

Sperry Messenger P-152 on which performance tests were conducted.

18 OCTOBER 2010

plugs. Moseley said he flew at ap-proximately 500 feet altitude, made several other landings in good fields, and examined the fishing boats in the Potomac at close range. The return fl ight took one hour and 45 minutes, using 7 gallons of gas and 1 quart of oil.

Bert Acosta, winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Trophy Race, survived a spectacular crash in a Messenger on June 28, 1922. He made a dive on Mitchel Field followed by a roll at an altitude of about 50 feet. The engine and its gravity-fed fuel supply stopped in the inverted position. Acosta, barely able to complete the roll, hit the ground hard enough to completely wreck the airplane. He spent the next several weeks in the hospital.

In April 1923, a fatal accident oc-curred in a Messenger at Langley Field, which was officially attrib-uted to a failure of the control stick support, which made it impossible to pull the airplane out of a dive. The pilot’s seat, which acted as a support for the control system, was redesigned for greater strength.

Flight tests were made on a Mes-senger with several different wing sections, and also with various high lift devices.

Lawrence Sperry—an experi-enced pilot—saw the possibilities of promoting the Messenger as a sport airplane. He obtained per-mission from the Air Service to use the basic design for a commercial airplane, and took every oppor-tunity to publicize its use. One of his exploits was to use the Mes-senger as transportation from his Garden City home to the factory in Farmingdale, a distance of about 11 miles. One publicity shot shows Sperry receiving a ticket for land-ing on a street in Garden City. He also built a two-seater Messenger with tandem seating. This version had a length 9 inches longer and a span 4 inches greater than the sin-gle-seater. A slightly wider fuselage caused the increase in span.

The April 10, 1922, issue of Avia-tion magazine carried a new item

describing a “Remarkable demon-stration of the maneuverability of the Messenger,” in which Sperry fl ew the airplane from New York to Washington, D.C. He “performed short distance takeoffs and land-ings near the Munitions and Navy Buildings, landing with only a 50- or 60-foot run, and taking off again after a run of about 75 feet with a climbing turn.” He then landed in the long basin of the Reflect-ing Pool of the Lincoln Memorial, which was dry at the time. After disconnecting the ignition wires on one of the three cylinders, he took off to demonstrate that the engine would run satisfactorily on two cylinders. The following day he landed on the Capitol Plaza and paid a visit to Congress, taxiing the

Messenger part way up the steps of the Capitol to show that it was ca-pable of overcoming rough roads, curbs, stones, etc.

Sperry flew a Messenger to the St. Louis Air Races in October 1923, placing fourth in the “On to St. Louis Race,” and flying 900 miles from Garden City, New York. He evidently did considerable demon-stration at the races as he was cred-ited a total mileage of 2,500 miles, the greatest of any of the 102 civil-ian contestants listed.

In November 1923, Sperry took a Messenger to England for the pur-pose of promoting the airplane as a sport plane in Europe. On Decem-ber 23, 1923, he took off from Croy-don Airport for a flight across the English Channel. A few miles off

Specifi cationsEngine 3-cylinder Lawrance, 64 hp at 1880 rpm

Empty weight 623 pounds

Gross weight 862 pounds

Wingspan 20 feet

Chord 4 feet

Length 17 feet 9 inches

Wing area 152 square feet

Stabilizer area 11 square feet

Fin area 2.75 square feet

Rudder area 5.75 square feet

Maximum speed 96.7 mph at sea level

Landing speed 41 mph

Rate of climb 700 feet/minute

Ceiling 15,600 feet

Reproduction Sperry Messenger at the Cradle of Aviation Museum, Mitchel Field, Long Island, New York.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

the English coast, a successful wa-ter landing was made after engine failure. Although the landing was visible from shore and a rescue was being organized, Sperry attempted to swim to shore and drowned as a result. The airplane suffered only slight damage, was salvaged, and was used by Clarence Chamberlin for a lecture tour in 1928 after be-ing sent back to the United States.

As early as 1921, Sperry had sug-gested to the Air Service the idea of hooking a Messenger on to an air-ship for the purpose of using the airplane for scouting. It was not until October 1924, after his death, that a Messenger was carried aloft and released from a blimp. In De-cember 1924, a Messenger was hooked on to the TC-3 blimp in fl ight. In order to accomplish this, a special hook and support struc-ture was added to the forward fu-selage, which engaged a trapeze extending below the blimp.

At the present time there is only one known original Messenger. It was previously on display at the Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, and is now back with the Smithsonian. The Museum of the United States Air Force completed a restoration/con-version of the aircraft to the single-seat M-1 version with a skyhook after it was donated to the Smith-sonian by WWI ace Eddie Ricken-backer. It is now on display in the Pre-1920 Aviation exhibition sta-tion at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

During recent years, there was considerable interest in building re-production Sperry Messengers. The December 1974 issue of Sport Aviationdescribed a somewhat modifi ed Mes-senger built by Ray Parker of Den-ver, based on general arrangement drawings published in Air Progressmagazine. This ship had a steel tube fuselage, an M-12 airfoil, a split-axle landing gear, and a 150-hp Lycom-ing O-320 engine. It was described as a satisfactory personal airplane with a cruising speed of 115 mph.

Another homebuilt example is that of Graham Hansen of Alberta, Canada, whose 65-hp Continen-tal-powered Messenger was com-pleted and flown in 1985. This airplane was built from drawings published in American Modeler mag-azine in June 1962. [We’ve included that drawing by Jim Morrow in this article.—HGF]

Credit for making available com-plete construction information on the Messenger must go to Lloyd S. Gates of Norway, Maine. He wrote a page on the Messenger fairly regu-larly in WW I Aero magazine from 1984 to 1988. Gates received two rolls of microfilm of the original Air Service Engineering Division detail drawings of the Messenger from Harry Owen of Omaha. And after a huge amount of work, he re-constructed the 340 drawings into readable shape and a usable size, and made them available to Sperry Messenger enthusiasts. He is in the process of building a Messenger himself from the drawings.

The Messenger built by Paul Kotze and helpers at the Cradle of Aviation Museum at Mitchel Field, Long Island, New York, is most likely the first reproduction to be completed from these drawings. This example is equipped with a Lenape Papoose engine and would be flyable except for the restric-tions imposed by the museum. The photo shows it on exhibition re-cently before the engine cowling was installed. The Museum has a Lawrance L-4 engine that, unfortu-nately, is not complete.

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References: Air Service Information Circular,

Performance Test Report No. 61, (1921).

F a h e y, U . S . A r m y A i r c r a f t , 1908-1946

Aircraft Yearbook 1923, 1924Aviation, November 15, 1920,

April 20, 1922World War I Aero , Issues No.

96-117.

20 OCTOBER 2010

The Prequel

French aviation pioneer Clément Ader’s Avion III

ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY GILLES AULLARD

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

T h e C o n s e r v a t o i r e National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM)—Na-tional Conservatory for Arts and Trades—is an establishment of higher learning and of fundamental and ap-plied research. Located

in the heart of Paris, the CNAM and the “École Polytechnique” are two creations of the French Revolution designed to teach and promote en-gineering sciences.

Standing on the grounds of the Priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs, a religious school built in 1060 by decree of Henri the First, it is the longest continually operating edu-cational institution in Paris.

First proposed in 1794 by Abbot Henri Gregoire as a “depositary for machines, models, tools, drawings, descriptions and books in all the ar-eas of Arts and Trades,” the Musée des Arts et Métiers (museum of arts and trades) displays the collections of the CNAM. Since it opened in 1802, it has housed the collection in the deserted priory.

The museum underwent a ma-jor renovation starting in 1990 and reopened in April 2000, adding a new building adjacent to the abbey, while the larger artifacts stayed in the former church itself.

The museum has more than 80,000 objects and 15,000 drawings in its collection, of which 40,000 are displayed at the Paris site. Amongst its most noteworthy artifacts is an original version of the Foucault pen-dulum, made famous in Umberto Eco’s eponymous novel.

Most fascinating is the “Fardier de Cugnot,” the first automobile ever, designed by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, which, in 1770, propelled itself into history at a whopping 3

mph under the power generated by its own steam engine.

Amongst the marvels exposed, four unique machines are of the ut-most interest to the aviation enthu-siast. Covering the pioneer era of aviation, each one is authentic and paints a much different picture of this period than generally depicted.

The most intriguing exhibit is Clément Ader’s bat-like “Avion III,” displayed atop of the main staircase of the museum.

Born in Muret, in the south of France in 1841, Clément Ader was the son of a carpenter and showed great technical abilities at a young age. Fas-

22 OCTOBER 2010

cinated with flight, he spent count-less hours observing insects, birds, and bats. Bats made the deepest im-pact, as he designed a fl ying machine he named “Eole”—from Eolus, the Greek god of winds—using the struc-ture and shape of the bat wing.

On Octobe r 9 , 1890 , Ade r achieved a flying hop at Gretz-Armainvilliers. The machine, pow-ered by a surprisingly light steam engine of Ader’s design, lifted off the ground over a distance of 165 feet.

Apparently the Eole never flew again, but this early success was enough for Ader to land govern-ment funding for a military air-plane. As the project was classifi ed, little fact is known, and most of the information circulating on the Eole II is, at best, contradictory. However, one thing is certain: the design was abandoned in favor of the Avion III, a twin-engine version of the Eole.

The Avion III had a rudimentary rudder system that could be con-trolled by pedals attached on both sides of the fl ying machine. Each of the four-bladed feather propellers was powered by one steam engine weigh-ing 37 pounds and generating 20 hp. The visibility was absolutely horrible, and its pilot had to lean sideways out of the cabin to see ahead.

The maiden fl ight of the Eole III was scheduled to take place on Oc-tober 12, 1897, at the army camp of Satory, near Versailles, in front of representatives from the French war ministry. Despite unfavorable con-ditions, Ader decided to attempt to get his fl ying machine airborne. The Avion III crashed, and was almost entirely destroyed. After this acci-dent, the French government with-

drew its support for Ader’s research. Clemént Ader never asserted that

he actually flew. The polemic sur-rounding his experiments started when the Wright Brothers’ flight was announced. A small group of overpatriotic French individuals made the claim that Ader fl ew some 13 years before the Wright brothers.

Their position was later discred-ited, as it was obvious that Ader’s machine was a dead end, and his initial success most likely a fl uke. In any case, it could not fi t the notion of sustained, controlled fl ight.

Nonetheless, Ader’s achievements cannot be ignored, as even his worse detractor, an Englishman named Charles H. Gibbs Smith, conceded in his 1968 book Clément Ader: His Flight-Claims and His Place in History that he succeeded in taking off with a motorized machine for the first time in recorded human history on October 9, 1890.

In 1902, the Avion III was donated to the Musée des Arts et Métiers, where it is now displayed after being restored during the 1980s by a team of the “Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace,” under the watchful eye of General Pierre Lissarague, its director.

In 1911, in honor of Ader’s work,

the term “avion” became the offi-cial French word for airplane, re-placing the earlier aeroplane form dating back to the 1850s.

Ader died in 1925 at the age of 84. Dubbed “the father of French aviation,” another honor was post-humously bestowed upon him when the gigantic assembly hall of Airbus Industrie, in Toulouse, was named after him.

Another amazing fl ying machine can be found in the nave of the church: the 1906 REP.1 (or R.E.P.1), an experimental airplane designed by Robert Esnault-Pelterie, another fascinating pioneer.

Built during the winter of 1906-1907, the REP.1 was ahead of its time, as, in a biplane—or worse—era, it was an internally wire-braced monoplane. Its single-wheel, oleo-pneumatic landing gear was supple-mented by outriggers at the wingtips. It is also signifi cant that it was the fi rst airplane to use a multi-axis control stick, invented by Pelterie in 1905.

The REP made its first powered flight on October 10, 1907, over a distance of 350 feet and was donated to the CNAM on June 20, 1920.

Another unique airframe hang-ing from the ceiling of the Abbey

The Breguet RU.1, is a military versionof the CU.1. This is

serial number 40, built in 1911, and

was donated to the CNAM Museum in

1912. It is believed to be the oldest

military aircraft on display in the world.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

of Saint-Martin-des-Champs is the 1911 Breguet RU.1 (c/n 40).

Breguet Aviation was created in 1911 by aviation Pioneer Louis Charles Breguet. In 1971, it merged with Dassault Aviation to become the Avions Marcel Dassault-Breguet Aviation (AMD-BA) group, which still produces airplanes.

The first biplane designed and built by Louis Breguet was fea-tured at the 1909 Reims Interna-tional Air Meet. Originally named model III, the biplane became the CU.1 when equipped with a 120-hp 9-cylinder Canton-Unné en-gine. As such, Louis Breguet used it in a 1910 daring nonstop fl ight from Casablanca to Fès, Morocco, crossing the Atlas Mountains.

The Breguet RU.1, a “military” ver-sion of the CU.1, was produced in small numbers starting in 1911 and delivered to several air arms before the outbreak of World War I (WWI). Num-ber 40, built in 1911, was donated to the CNAM Museum in 1912, and is, to our knowledge, the oldest military airplane on display in the world.

Most amazing of all is the actual Blériot XI fl own by Louis Blériot dur-ing his July 25, 1909, English Chan-nel crossing that forever changed the face of history. Blériot left Les Barraques, on the French coastline, in the early morning in his Anzani-powered model XI, and he landed in Dover, England, 36 minutes later.

Following this record-breaking fl ight, the model XI became the fi rst commercial success in aviation, as 101 orders were passed in 1909 alone. Well into WWI, Blériot XIs were pro-duced in France and under license around the world, and the design was copied more or less legally by countless fl edgling manufacturers.

The original Blériot was donated to the CNAM Museum in 1909 and has not been restored since. It stands high in the nave, in its origi-nal state, with all its imperfections.

Seeing it in such a setting, so sim-ple and yet so signifi cant, is almost a religious experience. This would, in itself, justify a trip to Paris.

For more information on the lo-

cation of the museum, visit its web-site at www.arts-et-metiers.net.

The website does have an Eng-lish language button on the upper-right corner of the home page. We found it to be a bit variable in its effectiveness, and it never did suc-cessfully navigate to images of the

aircraft in the museum.At http://www.bleriot.arts-et-me-

tiers.net/, a block of photos of the original Blériot can be viewed. Click on the En coulisses link on the left side of the home page for access to photos and a French-lan-guage video.

24 OCTOBER 2010

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Billy ThompsonHeath, Texas

2,100 hours of flight time 75% in tail wheel aircraft

26 OCTOBER 2010

In early 1980 I was collecting needed parts for the restora-tion of my 1929 Command-Aire 5C3 biplane. I purchased

a Wright R-760-8 engine for $50 that included all accessories ex-cept the starter, generator, and fuel pump. My search was on for a Ro-mec engine-driven fuel pump, and I was having no success. A local FAA representative gave me the phone number of a fellow in nearby San Miguel, so I called and asked if he had any. He replied with an enthu-siastic, “How many do you need?”

I told him just one, and he coun-tered with, “New, military, over-hauled, or used?” I felt like I’d discovered a gold mine, and he was only a two-hour drive away. When the box arrived there was a business card inside (see it above). Naturally, my curiosity was aroused when I read “OX-5 to Mach 3 Jets.” How could that be?

That was the first meeting with my now longtime pal Frank Rezich. As of this writing, Frank is recuper-ating from a lung illness in Tem-pleton, a small city near where he lives, just inland from the central California coast. I fl ew west to visit Frank and spent 13 days in the area. I have always been fascinated with Frank’s background and had gleaned a few stories from him that were both interesting and funny.

Frank’s older brothers Mike and Nick have been profiled in print, but to my knowledge, Frank has remained in the background. I wanted to change this, so with Frank’s permission, I’ll share with you a multi-part series of articles regarding this aviation icon. Ask a young computer-oriented person what is the defi nition of an “icon” and they will most likely tell you it is a symbol on a screen. But to us “old-timers,” an icon is someone

who has achieved greatness in a long career—someone who is head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd. And that certainly describes Frank Rezich.

Frank was born the youngest of three sons to Rocco and Amelia Rezich, immigrants from Croatia who originally settled in the state of Washington. Rocco was a sta-tionary engineer working in steam-powered saw mills. One night, he won a large pot at a poker game.

My Friend Frank Rezich, Part IGrowing up “aviation”

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

PHOTOS COURTESY FRANK REZICH

ABOVE: Frank in the cockpit running up the Wright R-760-E2 powered Pit-cairn in front of Bluebird Air Service hangars at Chicago Municipal. The bright colors and trim were of Frank’s design. He even painted his car to match the ship. Photograph taken around 1940. Frank indicated they eventually took off the Kelsey wheels and installed low-pressure air wheels because of hard surface landings.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Guessing the lumberjacks would not let him walk out with their money, he snuck out the bathroom window. He ran home, collected his wife and newborn son, Mike, and jumped on a freight train that eventually took them to Chicago. Rocco had relatives in the Chicago area, and they settled on South Laf-lin Street, east of the Chicago Mu-nicipal Airport.

Frank’s older brother Mike was born in 1915. Nick came along in 1919, and little brother Frank was born in 1923. Since they lived so close to Chicago Municipal, air-planes became of interest. Both Nick and Frank entered the fi eld of aviation, but Mike’s career took an-other path, as he was more business-oriented. As we’ll see later, Mike became the “money man” for the aviation interests of Nick and Frank.

During the Great Depression, the family lost their home on Laflin Street and relocated to the “prai-rie” south of the Municipal Airport,

where some relatives had already located. The families lived together in the first house they built col-lectively, and then when they had enough resources they’d build an-other home. Basements were hand-dug, and the house erection was a group effort.

The Rezichs were fortunate to have boys with an interest in air-planes. They knew of a brick han-gar that had burned down at the

airport, a mere two blocks away. So, after the basement was dug, the boys would make nightly trips with wheelbarrows to the airport and bring back the bricks from the burned hangar, sorting and clean-ing them in the basement. Once they had enough bricks, a flat ce-ment pad was laid and a brick house erected on it. The basement would eventually be turned into the boys’ airplane workshop.

Walking home from a nearby high school, Frank would detour slightly to walk through the airport. As the boys grew up, big brother Nick was working at Bluebird Fly-ing Service, flight instructing and doing some charter work. The year was 1936 and the airplanes and aer-ial activities at the fi eld fascinated Frank. Instead of going directly home, he would linger in the han-gar, getting to know the mechanics.

Soon he was asked to “go get this” or “go get that,” thus becom-ing the Bluebird gopher. It was there he decided to become a mechanic and began buying his own tools. His wage was 50 cents per hour. Nick set up an interview for Frank with Mr. Malburg, Bluebird’s chief, for a me-chanic position at Bluebird.

Mr. Malburg asked, “Do you have your own tools?” Frank answered in the affi rmative, and he was led into

Above, (right to left), Mike, age 15; Nick, age 10 (standing center); and Frank, age 7 (standing left), with a model of The Spirit of St. Louis at their feet. This photo was taken in 1930 at the family home on Lafl in Street, just three years after Lindbergh landed in Paris. Obviously this fl ight made a huge impression on the boys.

Travel Air 2000, NC661H, in the Chicago area. With 17-year-old Nick as his fl ight instructor, Frank soloed in this ship in 1938 at the age of 14. Frank re-members that Nick was very demanding concerning Frank’s airmanship.

When asked why there

were two landing gears,

since the drawing only

showed one, which was

a right-hand gear,

Frank replied, “Because

you need a right- and

left-hand landing gear.

You simply read the

drawing 180 degrees to

build the other side.”

the hangar to a bench where landing gear parts were laid out, along with a drawing of the assembly. He was told to assemble the landing gear so it could be put on the airplane. About four hours later, Frank went to Mr. Malburg and said he was finished. When Mr. Malburg returned to the bench he found that Frank had as-

sembled two landing gears. When asked why there were two landing gears, since the drawing only showed one, which was a right-hand gear, Frank replied, “Because you need a right- and left-hand landing gear. You simply read the drawing 180 degrees to build the other side.”

Mr. Malburg said, “Go into the of-

fi ce and get the paperwork for me to sign. You’re hired!” Frank was only 17 years old, but the boss was probably never told. That was the end of high school for Frank—he did not com-plete his senior year. Airplanes and work were more important to him.

Mike Rezich was the boys’ finan-cier when it came to purchasing air-planes. The fi rst was a Taylor E-2 Cub, purchased in 1934 and based at the nearby Ashburn Airport. The second airplane was a Travel Air 2000, pur-chased by Mike Rezich from a man in Fredericksburg, Maryland.

The owner agreed to deliver the ship to Chicago. Upon reaching southwestern Pennsylvania, how-ever, the airplane suffered an engine failure and crashed into a mountain just east of Pittsburgh, causing some structural damage. The owner offered to refund the $400 purchase price, but Mike said to fix it and let him know when it was done.

Frank remembered, “Nick went to Maryland about a year later, the ship was rebuilt, even with an overhauled engine, and fl ew the repaired Travel Air back to Chicago. It was painted silver with red trim.” Nick was just 17 years old at that time. With Nick as his fl ight instructor, at the age of 14, Frank soloed the Travel Air in 1938. When asked how he felt, he said, “Elated! And I got the airplane back on the ground without damag-ing anything.”

Frank recalled, “Harlem Airport had about a half-mile dirt square so you could land in any direction, de-pending on the wind direction. The airplane had a tailskid and no brakes. After the solo Nick gave me more in-struction on slow flight…stay away from the spins; avoid stalls and what will cause the airplane to stall. I got a little cross-country training from Nick. In those days Chicago to Lake Michigan was a long cross-country flight. You always flew where there were open fi elds, because of the OX-5 engine—it had some inherent prob-lems, like the rocker arms, water pump, and leaking water lines. The water would boil and steam would come out—so you had to get it on

28 OCTOBER 2010

A very young Frank Rezich has just soloed in 661H at the Harlem Airport, 5 miles southwest of Chicago Municipal. Frank does not recall how much in-struction Nick gave him, but thinks it was fi ve or six hours. And, fuel was just 25 cents per gallon!

The old Harlem Airport, where the Rezich boys kept their E-2 Cub and Travel Air 2000 airplanes, on a cold snowy winter day. The Rezich fl eet of airplanes, now totaling two, was stored in the large hangar to the left in the photograph.

Frank’s fi rst airplane, an elephant-ear Travel Air 4000, NC9946. Because it had been used for skywriting, it had an extended exhaust pipe on the Wright J-5 engine.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29

the ground immediately. I had many forced landings fl ying to another air-port. After the landing I had to go get some water, pour it in the radiator, start the engine, and continue. And the magneto wasn’t very good.”

Frank describing his solo in the Travel Air as being “exhilarating” is the same feeling of solo fl ight that I felt in 1959 in a Cessna 120. Frank continued to gain experience as a mechanic and eventually obtained his aircraft mechanic’s license from the CAA.

Mike was working at the Ashburn Airport for Matty Laird but moved to the Harlem Airport, where there were large storage hangar facilities available. He continued to purchase airplanes, adding a Pitcairn PA-7M, NC876M, to the fl eet.

Frank remembered, “The ship was used by Eastern Air Lines as an in-strument trainer. It was sold to Mon-arch Air Service and Pierce “Scotty” O’Carroll to be used for instrument flight training. However, O’Carroll quit the instrument training and sold the airplane to Mike.

Mike fl ew the airplane to Chicago Municipal and moved it into the family shop for overhaul.

Franks said, “We stripped the air-plane, re-covered and painted it in a bright scallop trim. We even over-hauled the Wright R-760-E2. We took it to Bluebird and assembled it in their hangar and got it ready to go. The air-port was being expanded to double its size, so all the city people were out there to see the progress. Nick was going to test fly it, and he asked me if it was ready to go, and I said just get in and go! So Nick cranked it up and taxied to the end of the runway and warmed the engine up. We had a small radio installed because there was a tower there, and eventually he was cleared for takeoff. With 350 hp, the airplane climbed until it was over the center of the fi eld and, before the crowd of local dignitaries, the engine quit! Nick dead-sticked the ship back in and we towed it to the hangar. Nick asked, ‘What the heck did you do to the airplane?’ So I checked ev-erything in the fuel system and every-

thing was okay. Then I noticed that we had changed the gas cap to a nice new shiny chrome model that was not vented. When the new cap was removed, a large gush of air went into the tank; that [a non-vented cap] had caused fuel starvation to the engine.”

The boys fl ew the airplane around the area—Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois. Frank remembered, “When we put the air wheels on the airplane, you would just be in love with it. When you pulled the power off, with those air wheels, when the oleos touched the ground that was it. Forget it. It’s all done. We eventually had to put a tail wheel on it; then we moved it out to Willie Howell’s strip, where we had the other two Travel Airs hangared.”

The family home was just a block away from a 50-foot gate that opened onto 63rd Street, and there was a shop building at the house. That is where much of the restoration and repair work took place. I asked Frank what the neighbors said about air-planes taxiing down the street. He said, “We never asked. We just did it!”

At this time Frank also recalled, “There was a weather guy, Harold Alford, who owned two J-5 Travel Airs. Every night around midnight he would strap an instrument box to the outer strut, take off, and go straight up to around 10,000 feet above the airport; then he would come back down and they would take the

weather box in to analyze it. Well, one night he fell asleep and spun in. He survived and later became assis-tant chief pilot at Eastern Air Lines.”

Frank recalled details of the old Chicago Municipal Airport; “In the early days it had a little tower down on the east side, and we used to talk to them. Everybody knew the guys in the tower. Like when we brought our airplanes over to store ’em, we saw them [the tower guys] in the sa-loon and we told them, “Hey, we’re coming over in the morning so they could watch for us.”

Frank bought his first airplane at age 19 from a guy on the north side of Chicago. “I paid about $325 for the ship, which included a spare engine and prop. It was a Wright J–5 powered Travel Air 4000, NC9946. It fl ew very nice, and it was used for smoke writ-ing. It was an elephant-ear airplane. The J-5 was a big improvement over the OX-5. I used to like the sound of the engine on takeoff because it was putting out power, but you needed a long prop.” In the photograph of NC9946 the photograph of NC9946 on page 28, you can clearly see the extended exhaust tail pipe on the J-5 engine. NC9946 still belongs to Frank and is registered as NC9946H.

Next month, read about Frank’s move to Howard Aircraft at Chicago Municipal, where he experienced even more challenges.

James O’Brien in the front cockpit and Frank sitting in the rear cockpit of Travel Air D4000, NC8115, and the second Travel Air purchased by his brother Mike in 1940. At age 17 the familiar cigar is in his mouth. This was a Wright J–5 powered ship. Photo taken at Chicago Municipal Airport in 1940.

30 OCTOBER 2010

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

Elementary weight and balance

THE Vintage Mechanic

This edition will feature a discussion of an impor-tant subject: weight and balance. It’s of particular importance when it comes to aircraft stability and safety. I’ll focus on those issues that will aid in un-derstanding the dynamics of the subject. We will not discuss how to actually compute the empty weight and center of gravity location at this time. That data is readily available in many publications. The one I like to use is FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 43.13-1B, Chapter 10. In fact, I use the sample weight-and-balance report, including the equipment list and loading schedule as shown on pages 10-22 and 10-23 of the AC.

First on the agenda is a brief discussion of lon-gitudinal stability. This stability can be defined as movement along the longitudinal axis and around the lateral axis of the airplane, or stability in PITCH. Positive stability is when an aircraft tends to return to the state of initial equilibrium position (trimmed level fl ight) following a disturbance. Neutral stabil-ity is when an aircraft remains in equilibrium in a “new” position following a disturbance. Negative sta-bility is when an aircraft tends to move farther in the same direction as the disturbance that has moved it from the initial position. A good reference for sta-bility tests is FAA AC 90-89A, Chapter 5, Sections 1-3. This publication is titled Amateur-Built Aircraft & Ultralight Flight Testing Handbook. Reference data on weight and balance, test fl ights, and other perti-nent material is included. Figure 1 shows three types of static stability. Sketch (a) shows positive static stability; the marble tends to move toward the cen-ter and will fi nally come to rest as each oscillation gets smaller. Sketch (b) shows negative static stabil-ity. Once disturbed, the marble rolls off the surface. Sketch (c) illustrates neutral static stability, as the marble will move but will assume another position.

Dynamic stability is the time history of the move-ment of the aircraft in response to its static stability

tendencies following an initial disturbance from level fl ight. Figure 2 shows positive longitudinal dy-namic stability.

Dynamic stability is positive when the aircraft is dis-placed and tends to return to its original fl ight path in a reasonable amount of time. Sketch (a) shows the air-craft displaced along its longitudinal axis, and Sketch (b) shows the aircraft returning to its original patch with minimal oscillations. Compare this to negative longitudinal dynamic stability as shown in Figure 3.

FIGURE 1

FIGURE 2

Here the aircraft is displaced, and the oscillations tend to move it away from its original fl ight path as the os-cillations increase over time.

Good static and dynamic longitudinal stability de-pends on the size and location of the horizontal stabi-lizer, its location (distance) from the lateral axis, and a slight NOSE HEAVY condition of the aircraft. That NOSE HEAVY tendency is a most important factor in weight and balance.

Center of gravity location is given in inches within the center of gravity envelope established by the manufac-turer. The datum is an imaginary vertical plane selected by the manufacturer from which all horizontal measure-ments are taken with the aircraft in its level fl ight atti-tude. An example of the datum of a biplane could be the lower wing leading edge. Items of equipment forward of the datum would be measured with a minus (-) number, and aft of the datum would be measured with a plus (+) number. A NOSE HEAVY airplane would be expressed as a minus (-) moment, and a TAIL HEAVY airplane would be expressed as a plus (+) moment.

The center of gravity forward and aft limits (CG en-velope) is referenced to the datum line, but is actually a measurement on the mean aerodynamic chord (MAC). On a biplane, the MAC is an imaginary airfoil located between upper and lower wings that, if the airplane were a monoplane, would exhibit the same pitching and roll-ing tendencies as the biplane. Center of gravity ranges may be 27 percent to 34 percent MAC depending on the airfoil shape, but when translated to the datum line, it might be something like -3 inches to +4 inches relative to the datum line. If the datum line were the lower wing leading edge, then a typical center of gravity range would be 3 inches forward to 4 inches aft of the leading edge. Figure 4 shows the MAC of a biplane.

When weighing an aircraft for the purpose of com-puting the empty weight center of gravity (EWCG), all items of required and optional equipment must be installed, and all other equipment must be removed. With the aircraft on scales and leveled laterally and

longitudinally, the fuel should be drained, leaving only the residual fuel, or that fuel in the system that will not come out with the airplane in level fl ight. The oil should be drained, leaving only residual oil. The scale weights can then be recorded. Measurements taken should be the distance of main wheel centerline to datum, and main wheel centerline to tail wheel cen-terline. The aircraft is then removed from the scales, and the tare (any extraneous material such as chocks) weighed and recorded. Then, using AC 43.13-1B pages 10-22 and 10-23, compute the EW and EWCG location.

Occasionally the manufacturer will provide an EWCG range, and if the EWCG falls within this range, no further forward and aft computations need be made. An example is the Boeing Stearman Model 75 aircraft. The CG range is (-1.5 inches) to (+7.1 inches). The empty weight CG range is (-1.0 inch) to (+0.5 inch)—“when EWCG falls within this range, computation of critical fore and aft CG positions is unnecessary.” However, most older airplanes do not have an EWCG range, so critical forward and aft CG locations must be computed. Again AC 43.13-1B page 10-23 shows how to compute critical forward and aft CG locations. At this point one can compute on paper the entire weight-and-balance scenario for any loaded condition. I computed every loaded condition for the New Standard D-25 biplane I have been fl ying recently: full fuel/solo, full fuel/two passengers, full fuel/four pas-sengers as well as minimum fuel/solo, minimum fuel/two passengers, and minimum fuel/four passengers. By doing this, a pilot can see what the CG location is for each condition. You can also load the airplane to maxi-mum capacity, and if the weight goes over the maximum allowed, a loading schedule can be established. When I loaded the New Standard (on paper) to maximum gross weight, it exceeded the published limit. Therefore, I had to provide loading instructions within the operations limitations. The loading instructions read: “Maximum baggage weight is 60 pounds. Under certain loading conditions, no baggage may be carried. Restrictions for maximum gross weight (3,400 pounds) loading: When

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31

FIGURE 3

FIGURE 4

carrying 4 passengers, maximum fuel is limited to 31 U.S. gallons and no baggage is allowed.”

A sample loading schedule is shown in AC 43.13-1B page 10-23.

Once the EW and EWCG have been computed along with the critical forward and aft loading, the equipment list should be established. Again, AC 43-13-1B page 10-23 is a good source for information.

When I do a weight and balance, critical forward and aft loading, loading schedule, and equipment list, I use AC 43.13-1B as a guide for my paperwork.

If any of my computations don’t fall within the center of gravity range established by the manufacturer, it may be possible to ballast (if the aircraft is nose heavy). Here, AC 43.13-1B paragraph 10-22 and Figure 10-16 show how to compute for installation of permanent ballast in the aircraft. Here, ballasting a nose-heavy condition is easier than a tail-heavy condition.

Weight and balance is of great importance for estab-lishing good longitudinal stability for the aircraft. To have good stall/spin recovery tendencies, the CG must be located forward of the center of pressure (lift). When this relationship is established, if the airplane is stalled, the nose will fall below the horizon and recovery will be normal. If the CG is aft of the center of pressure (CP), it may not be possible to lower the nose to effect a positive recovery from the stall/spin. The aft CG is the most dan-gerous, because it is almost impossible for ballast to move the CG forward because the minus (-) arm is so short. The tail-heaviness tendency of an aircraft must be dealt with during the restoration process. However, for slight tail-heaviness tendency, one can adjust the stagger of the wings aft (decrease stagger), in an attempt to move the CP aft of the CG. But this is usually not effective because of the limited movement of wing stagger.

In my days of antique airplane restoration, I’d say that many of the airplanes produced in the early days by the factory were tail heavy. It’s nice to know this when the airplane is completely disassembled. Probably the most important factor in a good-fl ying airplane will be the length of the engine mount, which will locate the weight of the engine and prop far enough forward of the datum line to set the EW where it should be located. This is particularly true with the Travel Air 2000/3000/4000 series that were modifi ed from the original engine to the Continental 220-hp radial. In observing Travel Airs that have been modifi ed to the Continental W-670 engine, I fi nd various lengths of engine mounts; it’s almost like the original modifi er took a shot in the dark. Thrust lines also vary considerably. I always think that if the airplane is slightly nose heavy, I can easily ballast the tail post with a small amount of weight. But if the airplane is tail heavy, then I have a real problem on my hands, particularly if the airplane has just been completely restored.

When I was restoring my 1929 Command-Aire 5C3 I knew that the original factory airplane was tail heavy. You could tell because the large baggage compartment located

aft of the pilot’s seat was restricted to only 5 pounds of baggage. So I moved the engine mount forward 1 inch and installed a Wright R-760-8 engine, which moved the CG even farther forward. A preliminary weight-and-balance check with the airplane (fuselage uncovered) on scales and leveled showed the CG toward the forward limit.

The photograph below (Figure 5) shows the weighing of the Command-Aire with the fuselage uncovered to establish the preliminary EWCG location. So I placed the battery aft of the baggage compartment, which acted as ballast. Locating the battery box and battery aft helped move the EWCG to a better position. Figure 5 shows the location of the battery box in the aft fuselage.

When I was fi nished and test fl ew the airplane, the CG was perfect. In level fl ight the trim handle was in the center of its travel. The photo below shows one of the fi rst of many test fl ights of my Command-Aire over central Florida’s green swamp. Note the position of the horizontal stabilizer, with the elevators streamlined, which indicated that the center of gravity location is where it should be.

My efforts paid off with the fi nished product. The chief designer of Command-Aire, Albert Vollmecke, told me that the tail post of the fuselage structure was oversized so as to accept a window sash weight in case ballast was needed to restore the proper CG location on new airplanes. They used a single aircraft design and then installed different types of engines, whatever was available. That made weight and balance a critical issue—how does one get the correct arm on the various engine and prop installations? Sometimes they got it right, and sometimes they didn’t.

32 OCTOBER 2010

FIGURE 6

FIGURE 5

TERMINOLOGY:

Center of gravity (CG)—The point where the aircraft, if suspended, would balance perfectly.

Empty weight center of gravity (EWCG)—The point where the aircraft, if suspended, would perfectly balance minus its useful load.

Center of gravity range—The distance between most forward and most aft center of gravity location es-tablished by the manufacturer.

Useful load—The aircraft’s empty weight subtracted from the maximum gross weight.

Maximum gross weight—The maximum loaded weight of the aircraft, as specifi ed by the manufacturer.

Empty weight—The aircraft’s weight that includes all fi xed equipment, weight of the entire aircraft, fi xed bal-last, hydraulic fl uid, and residual fuel and oil.

Datum—The line established by the manufacturer from which all horizontal measurements are taken.

Arm—The horizontal measurement from the datum to the center of an item. A plus sign (+) is used when

an item is aft of the datum, and a minus sign (-) is used when an item is forward of datum line.

Moment—The product of the weight of an item multi-plied by its arm.

Mean aerodynamic chord (MAC) – Established by the manufacturer, a chord line of an imaginary air foil that has a leading and trailing edge.

Weighing point—A vertical line passing through the object (usually the wheels) that locates a point on the scales where all weight is located. When measuring the arm of installed equipment, such as a radio, measure to the center of the item.

Tare—The weight of excess material placed on scales to secure or level the aircraft for weighing purposes. Tare is deducted from the scale reading to obtain actual air-craft weight.

Minimum fuel—The weight of fuel in pounds used when determining critical forward and aft CG locations. METO (maximum except takeoff horsepower) horsepower divided by 2.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33

The center of gravity location is so important to me that I do a check of the EWCG location before cover-ing the fuselage if I have any doubts as to its position. When I restore my Travel Air 4000 I’ll do the same thing and get the CG located in the correct place on the MAC.

Next, a rare view of an aircraft being hoisted for a landing gear retraction check at Fantasy of Flight. The landing gear is about 4 inches off the ground at this point. Note how the ship is balanced.

Above, the Grumman Duck with its landing gear retracted by means of a hand crank in the left side of front cockpit. Note how the retraction of the gear did not change the center of gravity. These photos are courtesy of Andy Saulter. If anybody wondered how a ship would appear if balanced like a model airplane, these are the photographs that graphically demon-strate weight and balance! Thanks, Andy. I guess one could call this “Duck on a rope,” or “Dangling duck.”

I recall in my early days of building fl ying models, I was taught to check the balance of a model by placing my fi ngers at about one-third (about 30 percent) the wing chord and raising the ship. If it was nose heavy or tail heavy it was very apparent. You are doing some-thing similar when computing weight and balance of a real airplane.

In conclusion I would like to throw in a little theory of fl ight. Longitudinal stability is stability in pitch. The aircraft is designed to be slightly nose heavy in level fl ight. This slight nose-heavy tendency is offset by a lifting force down (download) on the horizontal stabilizer. When the aircraft is in cruise and trimmed for level fl ight, the amount of download exactly off-sets the nose-heaviness tendency. If the aircraft is pitched up, airflow over the aircraft is reduced and downward lifting force on the horizontal stabilizer is also reduced. With a slight nose-heaviness tendency, the nose will fall below the horizon, airspeed will increase, and the downward lifting force on the hori-zontal stabilizer will increase, raising the nose. When these pitch oscillations decrease and the aircraft re-turns to level cruise flight without input from the pilot, the aircraft displays positive static and dynamic stability. That’s what we really want for the best fl ying qualities. Extremes in forward or aft CG locations will alter the stability tendency toward neutral or negative stability, which is what we don’t want. For further in-formation on weight and balance, consult the Aircraft Weight and Balance Handbook, FAA-H-8083-1A. It’s very good.

So, folks, we need to get the center of gravity loca-tion on the money for good control. Pay attention to the details during restoration for best results.

FIGURE 7

34 OCTOBER 2010

I’ve had the pleasure of serving as an EAA Flight Advisor since the inception of the program nearly a decade ago. During that time I’ve enjoyed work-ing with a number of pilots who successfully com-

pleted their fi rst fl ight in a newly built, newly restored, or newly owned aircraft. I’d like to share with you a couple of experiences, but fi rst I’ll give a bit of back-ground on the Flight Advisor program.

Several years ago the EAA, in a proactive move, launched the EAA Flight Advisor program. Statistics at that time indicated an inordinate number of ac-cident/incidents were occurring on the fi rst fl ight of newly built, newly restored, or newly owned aircraft. The EAA, with the blessing of the FAA, launched the Flight Advisor program. It is designed to review with the pilot:

+ the pilot’s overall fl ight experience+ the pilot’s recent fl ight experience+ the pilot’s familiarity with the plane to be fl own+ the fl ight and handling characteristics of the plane

to be fl own+ the aircraft’s speeds and power settings Should the pilot be found to lack experience in a sim-

ilar aircraft, the Flight Advisor will usually recommend receiving some dual instruction to prepare the pilot for the fi rst fl ight. As a long-time fl ight instructor, I then take my Flight Advisor hat off and provide the necessary dual instruction in preparation for that fi rst fl ight.

The first pilot tale deals with an older gentleman whom I’ll call Tom. He had spent three years building an experimen kit-plane and was within days of making the fi rst fl ight. Tom didn’t have a lot of fl ight time but had fl own both tailwheel and tricycle-gear airplanes, accumulating about 250 hours of total time. However, it had been more than 10 years since he had last fl own a tailwheel airplane.

Tom’s airplane was built in the tailwheel configu-ration, and although he hadn’t flown any airplane in nearly two years, everything he had read about it indicated that it would be quite easy to fl y. Several of his airport friends began “suggesting” that it would be

wise to get a couple of hours of dual instruction in a tailwheel airplane before attempting the fi rst fl ight. At fi rst Tom balked at the suggestion, but then he gave in to the idea and came to see me.

We reviewed the speeds of his airplane and found them to be quite similar to that of my Piper J5 Cruiser, so off we went. After reviewing some slow fl ight and stalls, we headed back to the airport to try some take-offs and landings on a slightly frozen turf runway. Tom’s fi rst two landings were picture perfect—beauti-ful approach, great speed control, and a nice touch-down with good directional control. I began to think that maybe Tom was as good of a pilot as he thought he was. When it was time for takeoff and landing num-ber three, I altered the pattern and asked that he fly it at 800 feet rather than the normal 1,000 feet above ground level (AGL).

Almost immediately Tom was behind the airplane, struggling to catch up and fl y it correctly. The turn to final was sloppy and altitude control was the same. He was behind it all the way, the J5 bounced once, and Tom was at a loss for what to do. When it touched down the second time, he didn’t have the nose aligned with the runway, and the plane began sliding sideways on the turf. The J5 is a rugged air-plane and our speed was now quite slow, so I let him go to see what he would do. When we fi nally came to a stop, we had completed a beautiful slow-motion ground loop to the right, and we were now facing north rather than south.

I let Tom sit there silently and think about what had just happened. Finally, he said, “What did I do, and why did it do this?” Before I could respond he added, “I guess the guys were right, I could sure use some dual instruction before attempting to fl y my airplane.”

Over the next several days Tom and I fl ew together for three or four hours, at which point I pronounced him ready to make the first flight in his newly built airplane. Following the EAA Flight Advisor guidelines, I assisted him with his fi rst fl ight; it was both exhilarat-ing and uneventful.

BY Steve Krog, CFI

A Tale of Three ‘First’ Flights

THE Vintage Instructor

The second pilot tale involves Dick, a U.S. Air Force –trained pilot who hadn’t fl own in more than 10 years. As Dick was nearing completion of his experimental kit-built aircraft, he stopped by and wanted as much dual as was necessary to be both a safe and competent pilot. We fl ew a Piper J3 Cub and worked on all maneuvers, including a lot of cross-wind land-ings. After nearly 12 hours of dual accompanied by a fair amount of ground instruction, I pronounced him safe and current and signed him off for both a tailwheel check-out as well as a fl ight review.

It took several extra weeks before Dick’s airplane was finally signed off by the FAA. During that time Dick continued to fly the Cub to remain competent. On Friday, after fl ying the Cub, he stated that early Sunday morning would be the des-ignated fi rst fl ight. Prior to that, he planned to do some additional taxi tests. I firmly reminded him NOT TO FLY the airplane until I could assist him with the first flight. He wholeheartedly agreed.

On Saturday evening after I had left the airport, Dick proceeded with the taxi tests. All went well, but the “little devil” sitting on his shoulder kept saying, “Go ahead and fl y it.”

Dick gave in and decided to try fl ying his newly built airplane. The takeoff was uneventful as were two or three overhead circles around the airport. But when it was time to land, the nerves took over and he stalled the airplane about 20 feet above the runway. When the dust settled Dick realized he wasn’t hurt, but his airplane suf-fered major damage. It will take him another two years to undo and repair his now not-so-new airplane.

There are two lessons to be learned from this mis-hap. First, never make a first flight without having someone on the ground to observe what you’re doing, and second, don’t let that little devil on your shoulder convince you to do something for which you are not prepared. Had Dick waited until Sunday and worked with a Flight Advisor, the mishap may never have oc-curred, or at least it would have caused no more than a hard landing.

Tale number three has a very happy ending. Harry bought a used airplane, but before ever attempting to fl y it, he came to me and wanted to get some dual in-struction. We began a program that involved about 15 hours of fl ight time covering all maneuvers, all types of landings, and all types of balked takeoffs, followed by a number of simulated engine failures in the pattern and on landing. Harry soloed in the Cub and fl ew a couple more hours before we agreed he was ready to try fl ying his airplane.

The day of the fi rst fl ight was beautiful; bright sunny sky with light and variable surface winds. We talked about the fi rst fl ight at length and fi nally it was time to fly. I equipped Harry with a handheld radio and headset and did several radio checks with the airplane engine running.

Harry taxied to the end of the runway, completed his pretake-off checklist, and did one high-speed taxi run. Everything checked out. I positioned myself about halfway down the runway while he aligned the airplane with the centerline of the wide turf runway and moved the throttle slowly to full power. The takeoff was uneventful, and he climbed to 500 feet AGL before attempting a shallow turn back to the airport. I then instructed him to climb to 1,000 feet AGL and fl y three left-hand circuits around the airport. While doing so he read back to me the power settings, air-speeds, and temps. With everything in the normal operating range, I had him fly three more overhead

circuits, making right-hand turns to get the feel of the airplane’s handling characteristics.

After completing the circuits, he re-entered the left-hand traffi c pattern and reduced power to establish the desired approach speed and rate of decent, leveling off and making a go-around at 500 feet. As agreed to on the ground, he then made two approaches to land but exe-cuted a go-around at 100 feet. He reported that everything felt good to him, and he was ready to make a landing. I had him call out his power setting and approach speed to me every fi ve to 10 seconds while on the approach.

Three successful takeoffs and landings were made be-fore calling it a day. It was time to celebrate over a cup of hot coffee while reviewing fl ight characteristics, air-speeds, and power settings. Unlike Dick’s unfortunate experience, Harry’s fl ight was exhilarating and successful!

If you have built, restored, or purchased an air-plane you’ve never before fl own, you’ve invested a lot of money and sweat equity. Take a long moment or two and think about all you’ve invested before convinc-ing yourself that you can make that fi rst fl ight. Tom learned a good lesson without it costing him anything but a bruised ego. Dick learned a hard and expensive lesson. Harry had a great experience and thoroughly enjoyed his newly acquired airplane! There’s no room in our beautiful skies for macho pilots. Respect your airplane and what it can do while candidly reviewing your own capabilities.

Remember the old pilot’s saying: A good landing is one you can walk away from (like Dick’s), but a great landing is when you can use the airplane again tomorrow.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 35

…Dick proceeded with

the taxi tests.

All went well, but the

“little devil” sitting on his

shoulder kept saying,

“Go ahead and fl y it.”

by H.G. FRAUTSCHY

36 OCTOBER 2010

Send your answer to EAA, Vintage Ai rp lane , P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Your answer needs to be in no later than November 15 for inclusion in the January 2011 issue of Vintage Airplane.

You can also send your re-sponse via e-mail. Send your answer to mysteryplane@eaa.org.Be sure to include your name plus your city and state in the body of your note and put “(Month) Mystery Plane” in the subject line.

MYSTERY PLANEThis month’s Mystery Plane comes fromDuffy Thompston of Lakeland, Florida.

J U LY ’ S M Y S T E RY A N S W E R

We enjoy your suggestions for Mystery Planes—in fact, more than half of our subjects are sent to

us by members, often via e-mail. Please remember that if you want to scan the photo for use in Mys-tery Plane, it must be at a resolu-tion of 300 dpi or greater. You may send a lower-resolution version to us for our review, but the fi nal ver-sion has to be at that level of detail or it will not print properly. Also, please let us know where the photo came from; we don’t want to will-fully violate someone’s copyright.

July’s Mystery Plane came to us from EAA’s archives, and it was a toughie, as the foreign crates can be. This one was identified by just one of our regular contributor/read-ers. Wes Smith of Springfield, Illi-nois, identifi ed this one for us as the Lioré et Olivier LeO 6.2 (H-6). He dug up the information on it in Les Prototypes de Transport Civils Francais (Minidocavia No.8, by Pierre Gail-

lard). This photo in his book is sans undercarriage, and with tip floats. It is correctly pro-nounced “Lwray a Oliviay” or something to that effect. Gail-lard also wrote Les Multimotors de Servitudes Francais (Minido-cavia No. 14). Both are great little books.

The LeO 6.2 was built in 1919 by the French firm founded by Fernand Lioré and Henri Olivier. It was a tri-motor aeroplane pow-ered by one 260-hp Salmson CM9 and a pair of outboard 180-hp en-gines built by Hispano-Suiza, the model 8Ac.

38 OCTOBER 2010

Diamond Plus LevelGordon AndersonJonathan ApfelbaumCharlie HarrisEspie “Butch” JoyceNorma JoyceRobert “Bob” LumleyMark Morrison, MDBill & Saundra PancakeJohn PattersonWalter RossWes SchmidRonald TarrsonJohn TurgyanVAA Chapter 10, Tulsa, OK

Diamond LevelJohn W. Cronin, Jr.Susan DusenburyBrad PolingSally Ryan Ben Scott

Platinum LevelMark A. KolesarRichard & Sue PackerRene Shales-Ford

Gold LevelRonald ApfelbaumJudy BelcherRaymond BottomJames C. GormanA. J. HugoEarl NicholasBob SchjervenSteven and Nancy TaftC.E. Tom Thompson

Silver LevelRonald R. AlexanderDennis & Barbara BeecherJerry and Linda BrownDave and Wanda ClarkSteve FarringerTim and Sherri GreeneMalvern GrossTom HildrethPeter N. Jensen, Jr.John KephartWilliam McSwainSteve MoyerCharlie Nelson, Swift Museum FoundationLarry NelsonDan and Denise OsterhouseRoger RosePeggy StraughnVictor TylerJamie Wallace

Bronze LevelLloyd AustinL. Tom BakerLt. Col. (Ret)Hobart BatesLogan BolesGary BrossettCol. Harvey BrowneThomas BucklesRobert “Rob” BuschSteve BussPerry ChappanoGene ChaseGeoffrey ClarkSydney CohenJohn and Marge CookeJack CopelandDan Dodds

Cheryl and Chris DrakeJames E. FischerDavid G. FlinnTerry Griffi nRed & Marilyn HamiltonRichard HeimDaniel S. HenryCarl HigginsAllan JanesBob KellstrandRich KempfLynn LarkinRAF GR 45 L LC; Jimmy LeewardBallard LeinsBarry LeslieJoseph LeveroneGerald LiangRuss LuigsThomas LymburnHelen MahurinSarah MarcyGene MorrisRoscoe MortonLynn OswaldSteven OxmanSandra PerlmanTim and Liz PoppRon PriceRoy ReedJerry RieszJohn Rothrock, Jr.Gene RuderJohn SeiboldArt SerequeJeffrey L. ShaferBob Siegfried, IIDavid SmithDean StokerDon Straughn

Mary and Donald ToeppenButch and Pat TortorigeDwayne and Sue TrovillionThomas VukonichBob and Pat WagnerDonald WeaverJeanne WilliamsRoy WilliamsJan Douglas WolfeMichael WotherspoonBrian WynkoopDennis Zander

Supporter LevelJesse BlackDenis BreiningCharles BurtchDon ColemanCamille CyrMax and Rene DavisSal DiFabioGeff GalbariRandy GilletteArthur GreenRed Halloway; Louisiana Midland Transport Co.Keith HowardWalter KahnPeter KaralusGlenn KinnebergJames LockwoodCharles LukeDon NelsonKeith PlendlBob StaightMajor Dick StarkeAlan C. ThielConstantine VlahakisEdward WarnockMichael Williams

Friends of the Red Barn - 2010Thank you for your generous donations!

Our thanks to every member who stepped up and made a donation to help make the VAA area one of the highlights of AirVenture Oshkosh 2010. Your selfl ess contributions benefi ted your fellow VAA members and volunteers, as well as the general public who came to be educated and entertained. The contributors are listed on this page, and we thank you all! H.G. FRAUTSCHY

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 39

AIRCRAFT

Stinson 108-2, Restoration. New Interior, oil cooler etc. Float fi ttings $22,500. Ph/Fax: 218-723-1126. Duluth

MISCELLANEOUS

Flying wires available. 1994 pricing. Visit www.fl yingwires.com or call 800-517-9278.

AIRPLANE T-SHIRTS 150 different airplanes available. WE PROBABLY HAVE YOUR AIRPLANE! www.airplanetshirts.com or call 1-800-645-7739. We also do Custom T-shirts and Caps for Clubs.

www.aerolist.org, Aviations’ Leading Marketplace.

PARTS

Parting out Piper J5. Wings and other parts fi t J4. Ph/Fax 218-723-1126 Duluth

SERVICES

Always Flying Aircraft Restoration, LLC: Annual Inspections, Airframe recovering, fabric repairs and complete restorations. Wayne A. Forshey A&P & I.A. 740-472-1481 Ohio and bordering states.

Biplane Builder Ltd. Restoration, fabric, paint, fabrications, paperwork with 53 completed projects, Wacos, Moth’s, Champs, Pitts etc. Test flights and delivery. Indiana 812-343-8879 mike@biplanebuilder.com, www.biplanebuilder.com.

WANTED

POBJOY ENGINE PARTS WANTED. Any restorable items considered for Niagara series 1 especially BTH M.1/2 magnetos. Please contact John on (27) 12 460 8337 or john@boyshigh.com

VINTAGE TRADERSometh ing to buy, se l l , o r t r ade?Classifi ed Word Ads: $5.50 per 10 words, 180 words maximum,

with boldface lead-in on fi rst line.Classifi ed Display Ads: One column wide (2.167 inches) by 1,

2, or 3 inches high at $20 per inch. Black and white only, and no frequency discounts.

Adver tising Closing Dates: 10th of second month prior to desired issue date (i.e., Januar y 10 is the closing date for the March issue). VAA reser ves the right to reject any adver tising in confl ict with its policies. Rates cover one inser tion per issue. Classified ads are not accepted via phone. Payment must accompany order. Word ads may be sent via fax (920-426-4828) or e-mail (classads@eaa.org) using credit card payment (all cards accepted). Include name on card, complete address, type of card, card number, and expiration date. Make checks payable to EAA. Address advertising correspondence to EAA Publications Classifi ed Ad Manager, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086.

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION (Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685). 1. T itle of Publication: V intage Airplane 2. Publication No.:062-750. 3. F iling Date: 9/30/10. 4. Issue Frequency: Monthly. 5. No. of Issues Published Annually: 12. 6. Annual Subscription Price: $36.00 in U.S. 7. Known Office of Publication: EAA, 3000 Poberezny Road, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3806. Contact Person: Kathleen Witman, Telephone: 920-426-6156. 8. Headquarters or General Business Office of the Publisher : Same as above. 9. Publisher : Rod Hightower. EAA, 3000 Poberezny Road, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3806. Editor : H.G. Frautschy, EAA, 3000 Poberezny Road, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3806. Managing Editor : None. 10. Owner : Experimental Aircraft Association, 3000 Poberezny Road, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3806. 11. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amounts of bonds, mortgages or other securities: None. 12. Tax Status: Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months. 13. Publication Title: Vintage Airplane. 14. Issue date for circulation data below: September 2010. 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation (Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months/ No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date): a. Total No. of Copies Printed (7,585/7,262) b. Paid Circulation (By Mail and Outside the Mail): 1. Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies) (6,173/6,160). 2. Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies) (0/0). 3. Paid Distribution Outside the Mails Including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid Distribution Outside USPS (162/187). 4. Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS (e.g., First-Class Mail) (136/136). c. Total Paid Distribution (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), and (4)) (6,507/6,483). d. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (By Mail and Outside the Mail): 1. Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541 (0/0). 2. Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541 (0/0). 3. Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail) (18/18). 4. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail (Carriers or other means) (379/7). e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3), and (4) (397/25). f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15e) (6,906/6,508). g. Copies not Distributed (See Instructions to Publishers #4 (page #3))(359/346). h. Total (Sum of 15f and g) (7,265/6,854). i. Percent Paid (15c divided by 15f times 100) (94.71%/99.61%). 16. Publication of Statement Ownership: Publication required. Will be printed in the October 2010 issue of this publication. 17. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including civil penalties). Executive Director/Editor : H.G. Frautschy, 9/30/10. PS Form 3526, September 200

40 OCTOBER 2010

Copyright ©2010 by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association, All rights reserved.VINTAGE AIRPLANE (USPS 062-750; ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published monthly at EAA Avia-

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IACCurrent EAA members may join the

International Aerobatic Club, Inc. Divi-sion and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $45 per year.EAA Membership, SPORT AEROBAT-ICS magazine and one year membership in the IAC Division is available for $55 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not in-cluded). (Add $15 for Foreign Postage.)

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

VINTAGEAIRCRAFT

ASSOCIATION OFFICERS

DIRECTORS

DIRECTORSEMERITUS

PresidentGeoff Robison

1521 E. MacGregor Dr.New Haven, IN 46774

260-493-4724chief7025@aol.com

Vice-PresidentGeorge Daubner

N57W34837 Pondview LnOconomowoc, WI 53066

262-560-1949gdaubner@eaa.org

Steve Bender85 Brush Hill Road

Sherborn, MA 01770508-653-7557

sst10@comcast.net

David Bennett375 Killdeer Ct

Lincoln, CA 95648916-952-9449

antiquer@inreach.com

Jerry Brown4605 Hickory Wood Row

Greenwood, IN 46143317-422-9366

lbrown4906@aol.com

Dave Clark635 Vestal Lane

Plainfi eld, IN 46168317-839-4500

davecpd@att.net

John S. Copeland1A Deacon Street

Northborough, MA 01532508-393-4775

copeland1@juno.com

Phil Coulson28415 Springbrook Dr.

Lawton, MI 49065269-624-6490

rcoulson516@cs.com

Dale A. Gustafson7724 Shady Hills Dr.

Indianapolis, IN 46278317-293-4430

dalefaye@msn.com

Jeannie HillP.O. Box 328

Harvard, IL 60033-0328815-943-7205

Espie “Butch” Joyce704 N. Regional Rd.

Greensboro, NC 27409336-668-3650

windsock@aol.com

Steve Krog1002 Heather Ln.

Hartford, WI 53027262-966-7627

sskrog@aol.com

Robert D. “Bob” Lumley1265 South 124th St.Brookfi eld, WI 53005

262-782-2633lumper@execpc.com

S.H. “Wes” Schmid2359 Lefeber Avenue

Wauwatosa, WI 53213414-771-1545

shschmid@gmail.com

Robert C. Brauer9345 S. Hoyne

Chicago, IL 60643773-779-2105

photopilot@aol.com

Gene Chase2159 Carlton Rd.

Oshkosh, WI 54904920-231-5002

GRCHA@charter.net

Ronald C. Fritz15401 Sparta Ave.

Kent City, MI 49330616-678-5012

rFritz@pathwaynet.com

Charlie HarrisPO Box 470350Tulsa, OK 74147

918-622-8400cwh@hvsu.com

E.E. “Buck” Hilbert8102 Leech Rd.Union, IL 60180

815-923-4591buck7ac@gmail.com

Gene Morris5936 Steve Court

Roanoke, TX 76262817-491-9110

genemorris@charter.net

Membership Services DirectoryEnjoy the many benefi ts of EAA andEAA’s Vintage Aircraft Association

EAA Aviation Center, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh WI 54903-3086Phone (920) 426-4800 Fax (920) 426-4873

Web Sites: www.vintageaircraft.org, www.airventure.org, www.eaa.org/memberbenefi ts E-Mail: vintageaircraft@eaa.org

EAA and Division Membership Services (8:00 AM–6:00 PM Monday–Friday CST)800-564-6322 FAX 920-426-4873 www.eaa.org/memberbenefi ts membership@eaa.org

•New/renew memberships •Address changes •Merchandise sales •Gift memberships

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 888-322-4636 www.airventure.org airventure@eaa.orgSport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft Hotline 877-359-1232 www.sportpilot.org sportpilot@eaa.org

Programs and ActivitiesAuto Fuel STCs 920-426-4843 dwalker@eaa.orEAA Air Academy 920-426-6880 www.airacademy.org airacademy@eaa.orgEAA Scholarships 920-426-6823 scholarships@eaa.orgLibrary Services/Research 920-426-4848 slurvey@eaa.org

Benefi tsAUA Vintage Insurance Plan 800-727-3823 www.auaonline.comEAA Aircraft Insurance Plan 866-647-4322 www.eaa.org/memberbenefi ts membership@eaa.orgEAA VISA Card 800-853-5576 ext. 8884EAA Hertz Rent-A-Car Program 800-654-2200 www.eaa.org/hertz membership@eaa.orgEditorial 920-426-4825 www.vintageaircraft.org vintage@eaa.orgVAA Offi ce 920-426-6110 tbooks@eaa.org

Membership dues to EAA and its divisions are not tax deductible as charitable contributions

TM

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EAA Members Information Line 888-EAA-INFO (322-4636)Use this toll-free number for: information about AirVenture Oshkosh; aeromedical and technical aviation questions;

chapters; and Young Eagles. Please have your membership number ready when calling.

Offi ce hours are 8:15 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (Monday - Friday, CST)

SecretarySteve Nesse

2009 Highland Ave.Albert Lea, MN 56007

507-373-1674stnes2009@live.com

TreasurerDan Knutson

106 Tena Marie CircleLodi, WI 53555608-592-7224

lodicub@charter.net

John TurgyanPO Box 219

New Egypt, NJ 08533609-758-2910

jrturgyan4@aol.com