N E VOL 33 No 4 2005

CONTENTS 1 Straight and Level

2 VAA News 4 Remin iscing with Big Nick

Fish Hassell Aviation Pioneer by Nick Rezich

7 Th e Vintage Instructor Patterns Part III by Doug Stewart

9 Al Menasco Aviation Pioneer Part II by Chet Wellman

13 The Ultimate Howard A childhood fascination becomes reality for Jim Younkin by Jack Cox

18 Livingston Clipwing Monocoupe Flies Again Famous race plane back in the sKies by Jack Cox

20 How to Fly A Vintage member earns his tailwheel wings by Dean Kronwall

23 Pass it to Buck Selected sections from October of 1989 by Buck Hilbert

25 Mystery Plane by HG Frautschy

26 Mystery Plane Extra by Hal Swanson

29 Classified Ads 31 Calendar

COVERS FRONT COVER The Howard DGA 9 was a childhood favorite

of master restorer Jim Younkin and when the opportunity

came to finally own one he lovingly restored the airplane to

its original streamlined shape See Jack Coxs story beginshy

ning on page _ EM photo by Jim Koepnick using Canon

professional digital photographic equipment EAA photo

plane flown my Bruce Moore

BACK COVER Aviation pioneer AI Menasco strikes a jaunty

pose early in his career Chet Wellmans biographical

article continues from last month starting on page 9

STAFF Publisher Tom Poberezny Editor-in-Chief Scott Spangler Executive DirectorEditor HG Frautschy Administrative Assistant Theresa Books Managing Editor Kathleen Witman News Editor Ric Reynolds Photography Jim Koepnick

Bonnie Bartel Production Manager Julie Russo Classified Ad Manager Isabelle Wiske Copy Editor Colleen Walsh

Director of Advertising Katrina Bradshaw

Display Advertising Representatives Northeast Allen Murray Phone 609-265-1666 FAX 609-265-1661 e-mail allewnllrraymindspringcom

Southeast Chester Baumgartner Phone 727-573-0586 FAX 727-556-0177 e-mail cballmlllmindspringcom

Central Todd Reese Phone 800-444-9932 FAX 816-741-6458 e-mail toddpc-magcom

Mountain amp Pacific Keith Knowlton amp Associates Phone 770-516-2743 FAX 770-516-9743 e-mail kknowltoneaaorg

GEOFF ROBISON PRESIDENT VINTAGE AI RCRAFT ASSOC IATION

Eager Spring Flying Did someone say spring I think I

mentioned that word a few columns ago and that was in anticipation of it arriving sometime soon With my luck well go from spring to sumshymer in six days I just spent a week in Oshkosh and they were experishyenCing their first real taste of spring weather It truly was a long winter for us all and we are very thankful to finally experience some milder temshyperatures and better flying weather With the annual on the Cessna 120 now completed and the C-170 comshying due I am closer to getting fully prepared for the spring ritual of pracshyticing up on my taildragger skills so I can chase around to all the local events and those Saturday morning breakfast trips I cannot remember the last time I was so eager to see spring flying time arrive I just peeked in my logbook and was shocked to come to the realization that it has been nearly three months since I last flew one of my aircraft So its probshyably best to load up my instructor and chase the cobwebs away so the insurshyance lady is kept happy and I can conshytinue to enjoy the affordable rates that our VAA insurance plan provides

Are you planning your trip to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 200S You better get started if you havent I honestly think that this years event is shaping up to be the most excitshying we have ever experienced

What a phenomenal line-up The excitement of this years event has even led EAA to reinforce to the membership that there absolutely will be sufficient space available at Camp Scholler

I distinctly recall the excitement of the year that Dick Rutan and Jeanna Yeager flew the Voyager to

Oshkosh I clearly recall watching the hundreds if not thousands of people crowding around the aircraft shortly after its arrival The exciteshyment of that event is truly memoshyrable but the significance of it really pales a bit when you consider how popular that event was to the memshybership and that was before they actually flew it unrefueled around the world Now consider the accomshyplishments of Burt Rutan and his team at Scaled Composites with reshygards to the SpaceShipOne event Again this is a uniquely phenomshyenal and historical accomplishment that received worldwide media covshyerage When the actual event was taking place Mike Melvill had us all on the edge of our seats practishycally gushing with excitement Misshysion accomplished and now in July White Knight with SpaceShipOne tucked up to her underbelly unreshyfueled will arrive in the pattern at EAA AirVenture 2005 for a weeklong visit at Oshkosh on its way to its proshyper place in history at the Smithsonian

Now then lets double our viewshying pleasure with a similarly sigshynificant arrival of the GlobalFlyer flown in by Steve Fossett to AirVenshyture With its 67-hour flight mission of an around-the-world 19880shynautical-mile solo nonrefueled flight also completed it will surely round out our week at AirVenture as unprecedented With Oshkosh widely known as aviations Mecca this years event is truly shaping up to be nothing short of miraculous

Tom Poberezny said it best when he recently remarked Its difficult to describe the magnitude and exshycitement of the event except to say youve got to be there this yearI

Be sure to join us for what is shaping up to be an incredibly stelshylar line-up for the S3rd annual aviashytion gathering set for July 25-31

While on the topic of EAA AirshyVenture I should remark here that the Vintage area also has been busy working on our own show-stopshypers This years event promises to attract an unprecedented number of Tri-Motors and early Tri-Motor type passenger transports

If you have a weak spot in your heart for these early transports like I do get your camera loaded because this could prove to be a unique once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity Will GlobalFlyer or White Knight fit under the wing of an AT-S Tri-Motor Talk about a photo op Hmmmmmm

You better also plan to set aside some time to roam around the type club parking area this year as well This area is now being managed by VAAs own Tim Fox Tim made the mistake of doing a really fine job of bringing a large number of Stinsons to this area at last years event This of course earned him the new reshysponsibility of bringing even more success to the type club parking area again this year

Keep in mind that we are alshyways seeking out new volunteers for the Vintage area Drop us a line at vintageaircrateaaorg if youre inshyterested in enhancing your EAA AirshyVenture experience We pledge our best effort to show you a good time

Lets all pull in the same direcshytion for the good of aviation Reshymember we are all better together

Join us and have ift~

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

Biplane Fly-In Special Guest VAA Treasurer Charlie Harris also

serves as the chairman of the Nashytional Biplane Association (NBA) and he has just announced that famed test pilot Scott Crossfield has accepted their invitation to be the honored guest at the 9th Annual Biplane Expo at Bartlesville Oklashyhoma June 2-4 2005 Crossfield will be recognized during a Thursshyday June 2 evening reception at the Hillcrest Country Club in Tulsa and will be further honored at a tribute on his behalf on Friday June 3 at Frank Phillips Airfield in Bartlesville For more information contact Charles W Harris at 918shy622-8400 e-mail cwhhv5ucom or visit the NBA website at www biplaneexpocom

No Reservation Required Like a bottomless cup of cofshy

fee theres always room at Camp Scholler for EAA members their family and friends before and durshying EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Loshycated on convention grounds RV and tent campers have access to shower facilities portable toilets an RV pumping station and porshytable pumping services Early birds can set up camp on June 24 Visit wwwairventureorg and click on the Where to Stay link below the Plan for It link for a map of Camp Scholshyler and guidelines

Also dont forget that we alshyways have room for showplanes at EAA AirVenture While the airport may have to close to transient campers and modern airplanes that must park in the North 40 if your airplane fits in one of the VANs judging categoshyries (see the categories at www vintageaircraftorg) well find a place to park you during EAA AirVenture 2005 There is no advance registration for showshyplane parking it is first come first served

MAY 2005

So Many Forums So Little Time Where else can you learn about airshy

craft design gas-welding aluminum 12 VW engine conversions and imshyproving your VFR skills and all in one place all on the same day At the hundreds of forums presented during EAA AirVenture To plan this years adventure in learning tap into the forums database at wwwairventure org and search by date presenter or interest area You can also print the Forums Map to see where your foshyrum meets so there will be no delays when you arrive in Oshkosh

EAA AirVenture Air Show More of the worlds top performshy

ers have confirmed their volunteer appearances at EAA AirVentures daily 3 pm air shows (Times and performance dates are not yet fishynalized) Check the website at wwwairventureorg for information One new act in particular caught our attention and Im sure youll want to see it

bull Kent Pietsch will fly a 1942 Inshyterstate Cadet In three different acts hell land on a recreational vehicle fly a comedy routine and perform a dead-stick aerobatic routine

EAA Ohio Members Help Revise Aircraft Tax Legislation

EAA worked with several members in Ohio to re-introduce legislation in February that would roll back aircraft taxes from a flat $100 per aircraft to $15 per seat Now before the Finance and Appropriations Committee House Bill 66 would repeal the large increase that was established in 2003 and became effective last year

EAAers leading the fight included Board Member Emeritus Jim Gorshyman Donald Peters Brian Matz (of the Fearless Aeronca Aviators) Frank Castronovo and many Chapshyter presidents and VAA members Matz informed EAA that the floor vote would likely occur sometime in

continued on page 28

Notice of Annual EAA Business Meeting

In accordance with the Fifth Reshystated Bylaws of Experimental Aircraft Association Inc notice is hereby given that the annual business meeting of the members will be held at the Theshyater in the Woods on Saturday July 30 2005 at 10 am at the 53rd annual convention of Experimental Aircraft Asshysociation Inc Wittman Regional Airshyport Oshkosh Wisconsin

Notice is further given that the elecshytion will be held as the first item on the agenda at the business meeting Fifshyteen Class I directors (three-year terms) will be elected In accordance with the Fifth Restated Bylaws of Experimental Aircraft Association Inc the Nominatshying Committee has submitted the folshylowing candidates

Class I Richard W Beebe II John A Beetham (incumbent) James W Brown William F Chana Michael H Dale Rich Davidson Norm DeWitt Curt Drumm James C Dukeman Malvern J Gross (incumbent) Richard W Hansen William E Harrison Jr David C Lau Daniel A Majka John L Parish Sr David R Pasahow Paul Poberezny (incumbent) Kevin Rebman Alan J Ritchie (incumbent) Dan Schwinn Frederick W Telling Edward T Waldorf Jim Weir Joe B Wyatt Such candidates include proposed

successors to those current Class I dishyrectors whose terms expire during 2005 along with an additional number of Class I directors as necessary to cause the Class I directors to collectively compose at least 51 percent of the board Among the newly elected Class I directors terms will be assigned so as to effectuate the staggering of term expiration dates The current Class I directors whose terms do not expire in 2005 will continue to serve until their stated term expiration date

Alan Shackleton Secretary EAA Board of Directors

2

The 200S Friends of the Red Barn Campaign Many services are provided to vintage aircraft enshy

thusiasts at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh From parking airplanes to feeding people at the Tall Pines Cafe and Red Barn more than 400 volunteers do it all Some may ask If volunteers are providing the services where is the expense

Glad you asked The scooters for the flightline crew need repair and batteries and the Red Barn needs paint new windowsills updated wiring and other sundry repairs plus we love to care for our volunteers with special recognition caps and a pizza party The list really could go on and on but no matter how many expenses we can pOint out the need remains constant The Friends of the Red Barn fund helps pay for the VAA expenses at EAA AirVenture and is a crushycial part of the Vintage Aircraft Association budget

Please help the VAA and our 400-plus dedicated volunteers make this an unforgettable experience for our many EAA AirVenture guests Weve made it even more fun to give this year with more giving levels to fit each persons budget and more interesting activishyties for donors to be a part of

Your contribution now really does make a differshyence There are six levels of gifts and gift recognition Thank you for whatever you can do

Here are some of the many activities the Friends of the Red Barn fund underwrites

bull Red Barn Information Desk Supplies

bull Participant Plaques and Supplies

bull Tonis Red Carpet Express Repairs and Radios

bull Caps for VAA Volunteers

bull Pizza Party for VAA Volunteers

bull Flightline Parking Scooters and Supplies

bull Breakfast for Past Grand Champions

bull Volunteer Booth Administrative Supplies

bull Membership Booth Administrative Supplies

bull Signs Throughout the Vintage Area

bull Red Barn and Other Buildings Maintenance

AndMore

Thank-You Items by Level

Name Listed Vintage Web amp Sign at Red Barn

Donor Appreciation Certificate

Access to Volunteer Center

Special FORB Badge

Two Passes to VAA Volunteer Party

Special FORB Cap

Breakfast at Tall Pines Cafe

Tri-Motor Ride Certificate

Two Tickets to VAA Picnic

Close Auto Parking

Diamond $1000 X X X X X X 2 PeopleFull Wk 2 Tickets X Full Week

Platinum $750 X X X X X X 2 PeopleFull Wk 2 Tickets X 2 Days

Gold $500 X X X X X X 1 PersonFull Wk 1 Ticket

Silver $250 X X X X X X

Bronze $100 X X X X

Loyal Supporter $99 amp Under

X X

VAA Friends of the Red Barn Name_______________________________________________________EAA________ VAA________ Address_____________________________________City StateZip_______________________________________________________________________________ Phone________________________________________E-Mail ____________________________________

Please choose your level of participation ___ Diamond Level Gift - $100000 __ Silver Level Gift - $25000 ___ Platinum Level Gift - $75000 __ Bronze Level Gift - $10000 _ Gold Level Gift - $50000 __ Loyal Supporter Gift - ($99 00 or under) Your Support $ __

o Payment Enclosed (Make checks payable to Vintage Aircraft Assoc) Mail your contribution too Please Charge my credit card (below) EAA VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOC

Credit Card Number _____________ Expiration Date ____ PO Box 3086 Signature_________________ OSHKOSH WI 54903middot3086 00 you or your spouse work for a matching gift company If so this gift may qualify for a matching donation Please ask your Human Resources department for the appropriate form

NameofCompany~~~----~~--~~--~~--~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Vintage Aircraft Association is a non-profit edu cational organization 1ll1der IRS SOIc3 rules Under Federal Law the deduction from Federal Income tax for charitable contributions is limited to the amount by which any money (and the value ofany property other than money) contributed exceeds the value of the goods or services provided in exchange for the contribution An appropriate receipt acknowledging your gift will be sent to you for IRS gift reporting reasons

VINTAGE A I RPLANE 3

REMINISCING WITH BIG NICK

FISH HASSELL AVIATION PIONEER

Reprinted from Vintage Airplane October 1974

This past September 16 a group of Rockford Ilshylinois OX-Sers and QBs flew over the gravesite of Bert R J Fish Hassell

and dipped their wings in a final salute to one of Americas aviation pioneers and a friend of EAA

Earlier in the year July to be exact another group of EAAers OX-Sers and QBs flew the same mission over Cedar Falls Iowa in recognition of another great aviation pioneer and friend of EAA John H Livingston

My most prized possessions are the memories I have of knowing these two great aviators Johnny and Fish were beacons of light in the embryonic age of flight Beshycause of their pioneering efforts we today enjoy the speed comfort and safety of our flying machines

Johnny was a man of speed Fish MAY 2005

Nick Rezich All Photos Courtesy the Nick Rezich Collection

was a long-distance explorer Johnshyny and Fish both were mechanishycally inclined which contributed greatly to their success in aviation Johnny went from motorcycles to airplanes and Fish from the Cole Automobile Company to the Glenn H Curtiss School of Aviation

Fish was sent to Hammondsport New York to repair the Cole car belonging to Glenn Curtiss When Fish finished the repairs on the auto he and Curtiss went for a test spin whereupon Curtiss persuaded Fish to turn his talents to airplanes

At age 20 Fish began his flyshying lessons and on June IS 1914 he soloed Later with pilot license number 20 in hand he went on to become a fancier of seaplanes-and to acquiring his nickname He was a man of spirit and challenge In 1915 he was flying a Curtiss flying

boat from Chicago to Lake Forshyest amid choppy Lake Michigan waves when he decided to show his friends at the hangar some precishysion flying

In Fishs own words As I passed them a huge wave broke under me kissed my tail section and forced my nose into the lake The next thing I saw was more Lake Michigan herring than the local fishermen at Waukegan ever knew there was in the lake That incident and numershyous others that ended up with both him and his flying boats in the drink gave him the nickname Fish

Fish was best known however for his pioneering of the Great Cirshycle Route He had visions of todays air routes long before they became the standard lanes for commercial aircraft In 1926 he wrote Flying the Atlantic is still a stunt Fish

4

urged the US to look at both the commercial and military advanshytages of using the Circle Route over the north to Europe

The small network of airlines that existed at that time and the military were not ready to exploit Fishs ideas and route so the pioshyneering was left to Fish himself

The scheme eventually decided upon was a flight from Rockford Illishynois to Stockholm Sweden Fish musshytered a group of Rockford businessmen to co-sponsor the flight He then went to his friend Eddie Stinson in Detroit and asked him to build a ship that would carry a crew of two and 700 galshylons of fuel (4200 pounds)

The airplane Stinson built was a J-5 SM-l Detroiter which was named the Greater Rockford For co-pilot and navigator Fish chose Parker Shorty Cramer The date for takeoff was set for July 26 1928 Fred Machesney the owner and opshyerator of the airport north of Rockshyford which was the jump-off point pulled up the fence posts at the ends of his runway so it would be long enough for the fuel-laden Stinson

The following is Burt Hassells own story of the successful take-off in 1928 to prove the trans-Atlantic air route using the Great Circle Route

With my co-pilot Shorty Crashymer we took off from Rockford and stuck our nose due north to find Cochrane Ontario The flying over Quebec was in the daylight hours but at night our attention was only or instruments which made the night seem much longer As dayshylight came we found ourselves over a very familiar area-Burrwell near Chidley With daylight and a defishynite check of our location we started across the Davis Strait We rode for hour after hour-between cloud layshyers-looking for the Greenland shore to appear The old J-5 purred along which was music to our ears

Suddenly the weather started to break and we could see a faint shoreline and the sun shining on the Greenland ice cap We were both stiff and tired (in the air for 20 hours) when we began to look

shortly before their takeoff for Stockholm

for the fjord which would lead us to our refueling base But high winds slowed them so it seemed like we were standing still The fuel supply was running dangerously low A careful check by Cramer and myself showed we had fuel for less than an hour

Hassell reasoned that he did not have enough power to go looking for a small landing strip on the side of a mountain and so we stuck our nose due east away from those hidshyeous ice crevasses to where it would be only a matter of minutes before it would give up its long struggle to get two pilots to our Greenland base With power on and off we were ready to land

To our great surprise we landed safely on centuries-old ice with about 2 inches of hoarfrost on it We had reeled up the lead radio anshytenna and sat there like two tired old barnstormers and rested We had been in the air 24 hours and 12 minutes and thats a long time sitting even in a chair at home

We tied our lead antenna to an aileron tip and pounded out like mad Landed safe on ice cap-But I guess no one was near enough to read this message I shut off this piece of equipment and we got ready to go We put on our heavy boots parka took a rifle and some pemmican and started to walk to our base on the Strornfjord To make

it short it took us 14 days to walk to Dr Hobbs camp all tired from this healthy walk over the ice cap We reshyalized then that we two barnstormshyers should have remained at home

The flight never reached Stockshyholm but Fish proved his point Today commercial jet airliners are using that very same route thanks to pioneer Bert R J Fish Hassell

You would have had to have known Fish to fully appreciate that short story He was a man of will determination and faith in his fellow man Ill never forget the story he told me about the pig and chicken farm he had in Goose Bay Labrador-during his service in World War II It goes something like this You see we had about 1500 GIs and officers stationed on the base and most of them were farm boys from the Midwest Then we had all those crews coming in daily on their ways overseas-or coming back from a tour of duty Having powdered eggs and Spam for breakfast was not much of a morale builder so I requested a couple dozen hens and roosters and some pigs

When the brass in DC heard about the request they figured 01 Fish had flipped The first request was ignored but when they received the second one-which was worded in the typical Fish Hassell vernacushylar-wheels started to turn A team of brass flew to Goose Bay to find out firsthand what was behind this odd request They were met by Col Hassell and the first thing he greeted them with was Where are my pigs and how much booze is on board

When the brass regained their composure Fish explained his reashyson for the pigs and chickens To make a long story longer he got his pigs and chickens and a guarshyanteed ration of booze for his men His farm boys buiit a hen house and a pig pen-not only did this makeshift farm provide fresh ham and eggs for breakfast but it turned out to be the main attraction at the base for incoming crews and solved the garbage problem It also gained

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

worldwide fame and publicshyity for Fish Like he said I was the only Air Force comshymander that gained popushylarity through chicken- Besides that the pigs gave the base a homey smell

There are many more inshyteresting and humorous stoshyries about Fish that you can read firsthand by picking up a copy of his book The Hikshying Viking-over 400 pages of aviation history and hunshydreds of never before pubshylished photos

The famous Stinson Greater Rockford NX-5408 was recovered from the ice cap 40 years later by Fishs two sons Vic and John and Robshyert Carlin district manager of National Airlines in Houston Texas and an antique aviation buff and a native of Rockford

A Sikorsky helicopter opershyated by I believe Greenland Air picked the Stinson off the ice and a Hemisphere Aircraft Leasing Corporation C-46 flew it back to Rockford where thousands of people lined the fence to cheer the return of the Greater Rockford I was one of the privileged persons who helped unload the Stinshyson from the C-46 BELIEVEshyYOU-ME it was an honor and a thrill to grab that Hamilton Standard prop and guide that famous bird out of the doorway of the C-46 It is also ironic that the Stinson was flown home in a Curtiss product

After all the ceremonies were over Pop (as the family called him) asked me to remove a spark plug from the J-5 just to see if it would come out Much to our surprise the number one cylinder plug came out with no strain using a regular plug wrench I then deshypressed the Alemite fitting and beshylieve it or not yellow grease oozed out The aluminum tanks looked like new with no traces of corroshysion at all and the wicker seats were

MAY 2005

money to restore the Greater Rockford but none of them panned out Fish had hoped to have the aircraft made a memorial to his son Peter who lost his life flying an Fshy100 while in the Air Force Eventually the aircraft was

gust of 1928 sold to the new SST Museum located near Kissimmee Florida where it was put on display awaiting restoration

On May 5 1971 Bert Fish Hassell and John H liVingston were enshrined into the OX-5 Aviation Pioshyneers Hall of Fame at Hamshymondsport New York I had the honor and privilege of giving Fish his last airplane ride John Tasso chief pilotWith the tail section of the Greater Rockford are for Hartzog Aviation andfrom left Vic Hassell Robert Cariin fonneriy of Rockmiddot myself flew Fish and his famshyford and now of Houston Texas Burt RJ (Fish) Hasmiddot ily to the Hall of Fame cershysell and John Hassell emonies at Hammondsport

A fond farewell to Fish Hassell a great av iation pioneer

Addendum from Big Nick-For you eagle-eyed readshy

ers refer to the caption for the middle photo on page 11 of the February 2005 isshysue of Vintage Airplane The third man from the left isThe Greater Rockford arrives back in Rockford via

C-46 after 40 years on the Greenland ice cap

in equally good shape The yellow life raft was inflated and it held air with no leaks The Rockford to Stockholm sign on the cowl was like new The only fabric left after 40 years of winds and snow was located on the rudder-with the NX-5408 still very bright

The airplane was later trucked to Machesney Aircraft and placed in the hangar from which it left 40 years before That was in 1968 and since then the steel parts have rusted badly and some additional damage has resulted from all the moving around from display to display

Attempts were made to raise

not Gordon Israel as stated Also change Walter French to Walter Frech who is now

with the FAA in Los Angeles I only had the negative available when I listed the men in the photo and had to put it up to the light and guess at the figures Also change earl Sting to Earl Stine

2005 Addendum After this was written in 1974 there was a sucshycessful fund-raising drive and the Greater Rockford was restored and placed on display at the Midshyway Village amp Museum Center 6799 Guilford Road Rockford IL 61107 phone 815 397-9112 website wwwmidwayvillagecom

6

REMINISCING WITH BIG NICK

FISH HASSELL AVIATION PIONEER

Reprinted from Vintage Airplane October 1974

This past September 16 a group of Rockford Ilshylinois OX-Sers and QBs flew over the gravesite of Bert R J Fish Hassell

and dipped their wings in a final salute to one of Americas aviation pioneers and a friend of EAA

Earlier in the year July to be exact another group of EAAers OX-Sers and QBs flew the same mission over Cedar Falls Iowa in recognition of another great aviation pioneer and friend of EAA John H Livingston

My most prized possessions are the memories I have of knowing these two great aviators Johnny and Fish were beacons of light in the embryonic age of flight Beshycause of their pioneering efforts we today enjoy the speed comfort and safety of our flying machines

Johnny was a man of speed Fish MAY 2005

Nick Rezich All Photos Courtesy the Nick Rezich Collection

was a long-distance explorer Johnshyny and Fish both were mechanishycally inclined which contributed greatly to their success in aviation Johnny went from motorcycles to airplanes and Fish from the Cole Automobile Company to the Glenn H Curtiss School of Aviation

Fish was sent to Hammondsport New York to repair the Cole car belonging to Glenn Curtiss When Fish finished the repairs on the auto he and Curtiss went for a test spin whereupon Curtiss persuaded Fish to turn his talents to airplanes

At age 20 Fish began his flyshying lessons and on June IS 1914 he soloed Later with pilot license number 20 in hand he went on to become a fancier of seaplanes-and to acquiring his nickname He was a man of spirit and challenge In 1915 he was flying a Curtiss flying

boat from Chicago to Lake Forshyest amid choppy Lake Michigan waves when he decided to show his friends at the hangar some precishysion flying

In Fishs own words As I passed them a huge wave broke under me kissed my tail section and forced my nose into the lake The next thing I saw was more Lake Michigan herring than the local fishermen at Waukegan ever knew there was in the lake That incident and numershyous others that ended up with both him and his flying boats in the drink gave him the nickname Fish

Fish was best known however for his pioneering of the Great Cirshycle Route He had visions of todays air routes long before they became the standard lanes for commercial aircraft In 1926 he wrote Flying the Atlantic is still a stunt Fish

4

urged the US to look at both the commercial and military advanshytages of using the Circle Route over the north to Europe

The small network of airlines that existed at that time and the military were not ready to exploit Fishs ideas and route so the pioshyneering was left to Fish himself

The scheme eventually decided upon was a flight from Rockford Illishynois to Stockholm Sweden Fish musshytered a group of Rockford businessmen to co-sponsor the flight He then went to his friend Eddie Stinson in Detroit and asked him to build a ship that would carry a crew of two and 700 galshylons of fuel (4200 pounds)

The airplane Stinson built was a J-5 SM-l Detroiter which was named the Greater Rockford For co-pilot and navigator Fish chose Parker Shorty Cramer The date for takeoff was set for July 26 1928 Fred Machesney the owner and opshyerator of the airport north of Rockshyford which was the jump-off point pulled up the fence posts at the ends of his runway so it would be long enough for the fuel-laden Stinson

The following is Burt Hassells own story of the successful take-off in 1928 to prove the trans-Atlantic air route using the Great Circle Route

With my co-pilot Shorty Crashymer we took off from Rockford and stuck our nose due north to find Cochrane Ontario The flying over Quebec was in the daylight hours but at night our attention was only or instruments which made the night seem much longer As dayshylight came we found ourselves over a very familiar area-Burrwell near Chidley With daylight and a defishynite check of our location we started across the Davis Strait We rode for hour after hour-between cloud layshyers-looking for the Greenland shore to appear The old J-5 purred along which was music to our ears

Suddenly the weather started to break and we could see a faint shoreline and the sun shining on the Greenland ice cap We were both stiff and tired (in the air for 20 hours) when we began to look

shortly before their takeoff for Stockholm

for the fjord which would lead us to our refueling base But high winds slowed them so it seemed like we were standing still The fuel supply was running dangerously low A careful check by Cramer and myself showed we had fuel for less than an hour

Hassell reasoned that he did not have enough power to go looking for a small landing strip on the side of a mountain and so we stuck our nose due east away from those hidshyeous ice crevasses to where it would be only a matter of minutes before it would give up its long struggle to get two pilots to our Greenland base With power on and off we were ready to land

To our great surprise we landed safely on centuries-old ice with about 2 inches of hoarfrost on it We had reeled up the lead radio anshytenna and sat there like two tired old barnstormers and rested We had been in the air 24 hours and 12 minutes and thats a long time sitting even in a chair at home

We tied our lead antenna to an aileron tip and pounded out like mad Landed safe on ice cap-But I guess no one was near enough to read this message I shut off this piece of equipment and we got ready to go We put on our heavy boots parka took a rifle and some pemmican and started to walk to our base on the Strornfjord To make

it short it took us 14 days to walk to Dr Hobbs camp all tired from this healthy walk over the ice cap We reshyalized then that we two barnstormshyers should have remained at home

The flight never reached Stockshyholm but Fish proved his point Today commercial jet airliners are using that very same route thanks to pioneer Bert R J Fish Hassell

You would have had to have known Fish to fully appreciate that short story He was a man of will determination and faith in his fellow man Ill never forget the story he told me about the pig and chicken farm he had in Goose Bay Labrador-during his service in World War II It goes something like this You see we had about 1500 GIs and officers stationed on the base and most of them were farm boys from the Midwest Then we had all those crews coming in daily on their ways overseas-or coming back from a tour of duty Having powdered eggs and Spam for breakfast was not much of a morale builder so I requested a couple dozen hens and roosters and some pigs

When the brass in DC heard about the request they figured 01 Fish had flipped The first request was ignored but when they received the second one-which was worded in the typical Fish Hassell vernacushylar-wheels started to turn A team of brass flew to Goose Bay to find out firsthand what was behind this odd request They were met by Col Hassell and the first thing he greeted them with was Where are my pigs and how much booze is on board

When the brass regained their composure Fish explained his reashyson for the pigs and chickens To make a long story longer he got his pigs and chickens and a guarshyanteed ration of booze for his men His farm boys buiit a hen house and a pig pen-not only did this makeshift farm provide fresh ham and eggs for breakfast but it turned out to be the main attraction at the base for incoming crews and solved the garbage problem It also gained

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

worldwide fame and publicshyity for Fish Like he said I was the only Air Force comshymander that gained popushylarity through chicken- Besides that the pigs gave the base a homey smell

There are many more inshyteresting and humorous stoshyries about Fish that you can read firsthand by picking up a copy of his book The Hikshying Viking-over 400 pages of aviation history and hunshydreds of never before pubshylished photos

The famous Stinson Greater Rockford NX-5408 was recovered from the ice cap 40 years later by Fishs two sons Vic and John and Robshyert Carlin district manager of National Airlines in Houston Texas and an antique aviation buff and a native of Rockford

A Sikorsky helicopter opershyated by I believe Greenland Air picked the Stinson off the ice and a Hemisphere Aircraft Leasing Corporation C-46 flew it back to Rockford where thousands of people lined the fence to cheer the return of the Greater Rockford I was one of the privileged persons who helped unload the Stinshyson from the C-46 BELIEVEshyYOU-ME it was an honor and a thrill to grab that Hamilton Standard prop and guide that famous bird out of the doorway of the C-46 It is also ironic that the Stinson was flown home in a Curtiss product

After all the ceremonies were over Pop (as the family called him) asked me to remove a spark plug from the J-5 just to see if it would come out Much to our surprise the number one cylinder plug came out with no strain using a regular plug wrench I then deshypressed the Alemite fitting and beshylieve it or not yellow grease oozed out The aluminum tanks looked like new with no traces of corroshysion at all and the wicker seats were

MAY 2005

money to restore the Greater Rockford but none of them panned out Fish had hoped to have the aircraft made a memorial to his son Peter who lost his life flying an Fshy100 while in the Air Force Eventually the aircraft was

gust of 1928 sold to the new SST Museum located near Kissimmee Florida where it was put on display awaiting restoration

On May 5 1971 Bert Fish Hassell and John H liVingston were enshrined into the OX-5 Aviation Pioshyneers Hall of Fame at Hamshymondsport New York I had the honor and privilege of giving Fish his last airplane ride John Tasso chief pilotWith the tail section of the Greater Rockford are for Hartzog Aviation andfrom left Vic Hassell Robert Cariin fonneriy of Rockmiddot myself flew Fish and his famshyford and now of Houston Texas Burt RJ (Fish) Hasmiddot ily to the Hall of Fame cershysell and John Hassell emonies at Hammondsport

A fond farewell to Fish Hassell a great av iation pioneer

Addendum from Big Nick-For you eagle-eyed readshy

ers refer to the caption for the middle photo on page 11 of the February 2005 isshysue of Vintage Airplane The third man from the left isThe Greater Rockford arrives back in Rockford via

C-46 after 40 years on the Greenland ice cap

in equally good shape The yellow life raft was inflated and it held air with no leaks The Rockford to Stockholm sign on the cowl was like new The only fabric left after 40 years of winds and snow was located on the rudder-with the NX-5408 still very bright

The airplane was later trucked to Machesney Aircraft and placed in the hangar from which it left 40 years before That was in 1968 and since then the steel parts have rusted badly and some additional damage has resulted from all the moving around from display to display

Attempts were made to raise

not Gordon Israel as stated Also change Walter French to Walter Frech who is now

with the FAA in Los Angeles I only had the negative available when I listed the men in the photo and had to put it up to the light and guess at the figures Also change earl Sting to Earl Stine

2005 Addendum After this was written in 1974 there was a sucshycessful fund-raising drive and the Greater Rockford was restored and placed on display at the Midshyway Village amp Museum Center 6799 Guilford Road Rockford IL 61107 phone 815 397-9112 website wwwmidwayvillagecom

6

urged the US to look at both the commercial and military advanshytages of using the Circle Route over the north to Europe

The small network of airlines that existed at that time and the military were not ready to exploit Fishs ideas and route so the pioshyneering was left to Fish himself

The scheme eventually decided upon was a flight from Rockford Illishynois to Stockholm Sweden Fish musshytered a group of Rockford businessmen to co-sponsor the flight He then went to his friend Eddie Stinson in Detroit and asked him to build a ship that would carry a crew of two and 700 galshylons of fuel (4200 pounds)

The airplane Stinson built was a J-5 SM-l Detroiter which was named the Greater Rockford For co-pilot and navigator Fish chose Parker Shorty Cramer The date for takeoff was set for July 26 1928 Fred Machesney the owner and opshyerator of the airport north of Rockshyford which was the jump-off point pulled up the fence posts at the ends of his runway so it would be long enough for the fuel-laden Stinson

The following is Burt Hassells own story of the successful take-off in 1928 to prove the trans-Atlantic air route using the Great Circle Route

With my co-pilot Shorty Crashymer we took off from Rockford and stuck our nose due north to find Cochrane Ontario The flying over Quebec was in the daylight hours but at night our attention was only or instruments which made the night seem much longer As dayshylight came we found ourselves over a very familiar area-Burrwell near Chidley With daylight and a defishynite check of our location we started across the Davis Strait We rode for hour after hour-between cloud layshyers-looking for the Greenland shore to appear The old J-5 purred along which was music to our ears

Suddenly the weather started to break and we could see a faint shoreline and the sun shining on the Greenland ice cap We were both stiff and tired (in the air for 20 hours) when we began to look

shortly before their takeoff for Stockholm

for the fjord which would lead us to our refueling base But high winds slowed them so it seemed like we were standing still The fuel supply was running dangerously low A careful check by Cramer and myself showed we had fuel for less than an hour

Hassell reasoned that he did not have enough power to go looking for a small landing strip on the side of a mountain and so we stuck our nose due east away from those hidshyeous ice crevasses to where it would be only a matter of minutes before it would give up its long struggle to get two pilots to our Greenland base With power on and off we were ready to land

To our great surprise we landed safely on centuries-old ice with about 2 inches of hoarfrost on it We had reeled up the lead radio anshytenna and sat there like two tired old barnstormers and rested We had been in the air 24 hours and 12 minutes and thats a long time sitting even in a chair at home

We tied our lead antenna to an aileron tip and pounded out like mad Landed safe on ice cap-But I guess no one was near enough to read this message I shut off this piece of equipment and we got ready to go We put on our heavy boots parka took a rifle and some pemmican and started to walk to our base on the Strornfjord To make

it short it took us 14 days to walk to Dr Hobbs camp all tired from this healthy walk over the ice cap We reshyalized then that we two barnstormshyers should have remained at home

The flight never reached Stockshyholm but Fish proved his point Today commercial jet airliners are using that very same route thanks to pioneer Bert R J Fish Hassell

You would have had to have known Fish to fully appreciate that short story He was a man of will determination and faith in his fellow man Ill never forget the story he told me about the pig and chicken farm he had in Goose Bay Labrador-during his service in World War II It goes something like this You see we had about 1500 GIs and officers stationed on the base and most of them were farm boys from the Midwest Then we had all those crews coming in daily on their ways overseas-or coming back from a tour of duty Having powdered eggs and Spam for breakfast was not much of a morale builder so I requested a couple dozen hens and roosters and some pigs

When the brass in DC heard about the request they figured 01 Fish had flipped The first request was ignored but when they received the second one-which was worded in the typical Fish Hassell vernacushylar-wheels started to turn A team of brass flew to Goose Bay to find out firsthand what was behind this odd request They were met by Col Hassell and the first thing he greeted them with was Where are my pigs and how much booze is on board

When the brass regained their composure Fish explained his reashyson for the pigs and chickens To make a long story longer he got his pigs and chickens and a guarshyanteed ration of booze for his men His farm boys buiit a hen house and a pig pen-not only did this makeshift farm provide fresh ham and eggs for breakfast but it turned out to be the main attraction at the base for incoming crews and solved the garbage problem It also gained

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

worldwide fame and publicshyity for Fish Like he said I was the only Air Force comshymander that gained popushylarity through chicken- Besides that the pigs gave the base a homey smell

There are many more inshyteresting and humorous stoshyries about Fish that you can read firsthand by picking up a copy of his book The Hikshying Viking-over 400 pages of aviation history and hunshydreds of never before pubshylished photos

The famous Stinson Greater Rockford NX-5408 was recovered from the ice cap 40 years later by Fishs two sons Vic and John and Robshyert Carlin district manager of National Airlines in Houston Texas and an antique aviation buff and a native of Rockford

A Sikorsky helicopter opershyated by I believe Greenland Air picked the Stinson off the ice and a Hemisphere Aircraft Leasing Corporation C-46 flew it back to Rockford where thousands of people lined the fence to cheer the return of the Greater Rockford I was one of the privileged persons who helped unload the Stinshyson from the C-46 BELIEVEshyYOU-ME it was an honor and a thrill to grab that Hamilton Standard prop and guide that famous bird out of the doorway of the C-46 It is also ironic that the Stinson was flown home in a Curtiss product

After all the ceremonies were over Pop (as the family called him) asked me to remove a spark plug from the J-5 just to see if it would come out Much to our surprise the number one cylinder plug came out with no strain using a regular plug wrench I then deshypressed the Alemite fitting and beshylieve it or not yellow grease oozed out The aluminum tanks looked like new with no traces of corroshysion at all and the wicker seats were

MAY 2005

money to restore the Greater Rockford but none of them panned out Fish had hoped to have the aircraft made a memorial to his son Peter who lost his life flying an Fshy100 while in the Air Force Eventually the aircraft was

gust of 1928 sold to the new SST Museum located near Kissimmee Florida where it was put on display awaiting restoration

On May 5 1971 Bert Fish Hassell and John H liVingston were enshrined into the OX-5 Aviation Pioshyneers Hall of Fame at Hamshymondsport New York I had the honor and privilege of giving Fish his last airplane ride John Tasso chief pilotWith the tail section of the Greater Rockford are for Hartzog Aviation andfrom left Vic Hassell Robert Cariin fonneriy of Rockmiddot myself flew Fish and his famshyford and now of Houston Texas Burt RJ (Fish) Hasmiddot ily to the Hall of Fame cershysell and John Hassell emonies at Hammondsport

A fond farewell to Fish Hassell a great av iation pioneer

Addendum from Big Nick-For you eagle-eyed readshy

ers refer to the caption for the middle photo on page 11 of the February 2005 isshysue of Vintage Airplane The third man from the left isThe Greater Rockford arrives back in Rockford via

C-46 after 40 years on the Greenland ice cap

in equally good shape The yellow life raft was inflated and it held air with no leaks The Rockford to Stockholm sign on the cowl was like new The only fabric left after 40 years of winds and snow was located on the rudder-with the NX-5408 still very bright

The airplane was later trucked to Machesney Aircraft and placed in the hangar from which it left 40 years before That was in 1968 and since then the steel parts have rusted badly and some additional damage has resulted from all the moving around from display to display

Attempts were made to raise

not Gordon Israel as stated Also change Walter French to Walter Frech who is now

with the FAA in Los Angeles I only had the negative available when I listed the men in the photo and had to put it up to the light and guess at the figures Also change earl Sting to Earl Stine

2005 Addendum After this was written in 1974 there was a sucshycessful fund-raising drive and the Greater Rockford was restored and placed on display at the Midshyway Village amp Museum Center 6799 Guilford Road Rockford IL 61107 phone 815 397-9112 website wwwmidwayvillagecom

6

worldwide fame and publicshyity for Fish Like he said I was the only Air Force comshymander that gained popushylarity through chicken- Besides that the pigs gave the base a homey smell

There are many more inshyteresting and humorous stoshyries about Fish that you can read firsthand by picking up a copy of his book The Hikshying Viking-over 400 pages of aviation history and hunshydreds of never before pubshylished photos

The famous Stinson Greater Rockford NX-5408 was recovered from the ice cap 40 years later by Fishs two sons Vic and John and Robshyert Carlin district manager of National Airlines in Houston Texas and an antique aviation buff and a native of Rockford

A Sikorsky helicopter opershyated by I believe Greenland Air picked the Stinson off the ice and a Hemisphere Aircraft Leasing Corporation C-46 flew it back to Rockford where thousands of people lined the fence to cheer the return of the Greater Rockford I was one of the privileged persons who helped unload the Stinshyson from the C-46 BELIEVEshyYOU-ME it was an honor and a thrill to grab that Hamilton Standard prop and guide that famous bird out of the doorway of the C-46 It is also ironic that the Stinson was flown home in a Curtiss product

After all the ceremonies were over Pop (as the family called him) asked me to remove a spark plug from the J-5 just to see if it would come out Much to our surprise the number one cylinder plug came out with no strain using a regular plug wrench I then deshypressed the Alemite fitting and beshylieve it or not yellow grease oozed out The aluminum tanks looked like new with no traces of corroshysion at all and the wicker seats were

MAY 2005

money to restore the Greater Rockford but none of them panned out Fish had hoped to have the aircraft made a memorial to his son Peter who lost his life flying an Fshy100 while in the Air Force Eventually the aircraft was

gust of 1928 sold to the new SST Museum located near Kissimmee Florida where it was put on display awaiting restoration

On May 5 1971 Bert Fish Hassell and John H liVingston were enshrined into the OX-5 Aviation Pioshyneers Hall of Fame at Hamshymondsport New York I had the honor and privilege of giving Fish his last airplane ride John Tasso chief pilotWith the tail section of the Greater Rockford are for Hartzog Aviation andfrom left Vic Hassell Robert Cariin fonneriy of Rockmiddot myself flew Fish and his famshyford and now of Houston Texas Burt RJ (Fish) Hasmiddot ily to the Hall of Fame cershysell and John Hassell emonies at Hammondsport

A fond farewell to Fish Hassell a great av iation pioneer

Addendum from Big Nick-For you eagle-eyed readshy

ers refer to the caption for the middle photo on page 11 of the February 2005 isshysue of Vintage Airplane The third man from the left isThe Greater Rockford arrives back in Rockford via

C-46 after 40 years on the Greenland ice cap

in equally good shape The yellow life raft was inflated and it held air with no leaks The Rockford to Stockholm sign on the cowl was like new The only fabric left after 40 years of winds and snow was located on the rudder-with the NX-5408 still very bright

The airplane was later trucked to Machesney Aircraft and placed in the hangar from which it left 40 years before That was in 1968 and since then the steel parts have rusted badly and some additional damage has resulted from all the moving around from display to display

Attempts were made to raise

not Gordon Israel as stated Also change Walter French to Walter Frech who is now

with the FAA in Los Angeles I only had the negative available when I listed the men in the photo and had to put it up to the light and guess at the figures Also change earl Sting to Earl Stine

2005 Addendum After this was written in 1974 there was a sucshycessful fund-raising drive and the Greater Rockford was restored and placed on display at the Midshyway Village amp Museum Center 6799 Guilford Road Rockford IL 61107 phone 815 397-9112 website wwwmidwayvillagecom

6

Unhh Loop-de-loop Radio N12345 is 10 out Which runway ya usin unhhh and do you have left-hand or right-hand traffic

Hearing that announcement over the CTAF (Common Traffic Advisory Frequency) while flying the downwind leg in the traffic patshytern I thought it was the perfect time for my client and me to take a lunch break after our landing I wasnt so sure I wanted to be sharshying the sky with any pilot who had just made an announcement like the one I had just heard

I hope you dont think Im being overly critical but we all know that most midair collisions occur either in the traffic pattern or within 10 miles of an airport Ive experienced quite a few things in airplanes but a midair collision is not one of them and I am going to do my best to make sure it never is

We have many tools to aid our awareness of where other aircraft are in relationship to us Good cockpit resource management (CRM) will draw on as many of those tools as possible Our eyes are our primary tools but certainly the proper use of the radio is key Howshyever the improper use of commushynication radios can easily lead to pandemonium in the pattern

While my client and I enjoyed a leisurely lunch we discussed what it was about what we had heard that made me want to get on the ground To begin with I didnt

DOUG STEWART

Patterns Part III know what kind of aircraft I might be looking for I only knew its tail number and as my vintage eyes might not be able to read a tail number before I am closer to the aircraft in question than I might wish to be knowing just the numshyber did nothing to help me If on the other hand I knew what kind of aircraft I was looking for I would be much better equipped to see it

We have to remember that

the primary purpose of

posi tion reports in the

nontowered environment is

to aid in the visual

identification of aircraft

Next I knew that the pilot was 10 out But the question reshymained 10 out where Out to lunch would be my guess (In fact thats what made me think about a lunch break in the first place)

Remember that when a tower

asks you to give a position report at a certain distance the tower alshyready knows the direction from which you will be approaching (I know I know the FAA doesnt like us to use the term uncontrolled-it prefers nontowered-but radio anshynouncements like the one we are discussing certainly diminish any control there might have been) But when you make a position report in an uncontrolled environment you should absolutely include the di shyrection from which you will be apshyproaching To not do so means that every pilot whos looking for you will have to scan all four corners of the compass to spot you-and that they might be unsuccessful in that endeavor

The fact that the pilot was reshyquesting from radio whether there was left- or right-hand traffic indicated several things To begin with it meant that the pilot was unfamiliar with the airport That is not a danger in and of itself As long as we follow good procedures in entering the pattern (discussed last month) there is no increase in the risk exposure for anyone in the pattern It also showed that the pishylot didnt understand that we use the term radio when contacting an FSS (Flight Service Station) The proper term is UNICOM More importantly it indicated that the pilot had obviously not done his homework Nor did he know how to use the tools he should have had

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7

with him in his cockpit Even if the approaching aircraft

did not have an AFD or similar source of information (and lets remember that the regulations say that we will have obtained all availshyable information prior to flight) or if that source was out of reach somewhere in the back of the cockshypit (Ive sure seen that more ofshyten than I care to recount) did he not have a current sectional chart handy Sectional charts have been indicating nonstandard (Le rightshyhand) traffic patterns for quite some time now In fact if you are flying with a chart that does not have that information you could probably sell it on eBay as a vinshytage chart

About the only thing the pilot of the approaching aircraft did that was correct was to make a position report at 10 miles out as recomshymended in the AIM But nothing else in the communication did anything to facilitate the see and avoid concept of collision prevenshytion We have to remember that the primary purpose of position reports in the nontowered environment is to aid in the visual identification of aircraft But often based on much of what I hear on the UNICOM freshyquencies it would appear that anyshything but that is the purpose

We also have to remember that the frequencies available to UNIshyCOM are limited The primary ones in use are 1228 1227 and 1230 With so few frequencies to be shared by airports that are someshytimes in rather close proximity to each other it doesnt take long at all especially on a good weather weekend for the frequencies to beshycome congested to the point of beshying virtually worthless Quite often all that can be heard are the squeal and screech of numerous transmisshysions blocking each other out

With this in mind I would like to offer a few suggestions for pilots to consider prior to using the push-toshytalk switch Spend a little time lisshytening prior to transmitting How

MAY 2005

often do I have to hear someone request the runway in use when it has just been self-announced by not only the departing aircraft on the runway but the aircraft on downwind and the one on base as well Communication means the exchange of information between individuals That entails listenshying as well as speaking

use the same sterile

cockpit concept whenever you are flying with

others When you self-announce keep it

short sharp and succinct Loopshyde-loop traffic Aeronca Champ 10 west 3000 inbound for landshying requesting advisories says not only the type of aircraft making the announcement but also states where it is three-dimensionally in relationship to the airport and the intentions of the pilot It says it concisely thus minimizing the usshyage of the frequency Furthermore before you transmit be sure that no one else is transmitting If someshyone else is transmitting at the same time its quite likely that neither transmission will be heard

Theres one last thing I would like to discuss about flying in the traffic pattern or in the terminal area for that matter Earlier in this article I alluded to CRM Proper CRM will use all the tools available Our passengers can certainly be among those tools but only if they have been properly briefed

The airlines are mandated to maintain a sterile cockpit unshytil reaching 10000 feet MSL This means that all crew communicashytion is to be flight-related only No ta lking about the ball game the wife and kids or the scenery I realshyize that the majority of you reading this rarely if ever get up to 10000

feet but that doesnt mean you shouldnt use the same sterile cockshypit concept whenever you are flying with others in the cockpit Instead of using a 10000-foot reference point use the terminal area instead

Instruct your passengers not to distract you anytime you are flyshying within 10 miles of an airport (or any other congested area for that matter) with any conversation other than safety-related concerns Without the distraction of idle chatter you will be much better prepared to spot that potential midair collision

I know two pilots who while flyshying together in the same airplane survived a midair collision that occurred on final approach They descended into an airplane below them (Miraculously the pilot of the other airplane survived as well) They admitted to me that they had both been distracted from the job at hand-that being scanning for traffic-because of unnecessary conversation They also confided that they were on the wrong freshyquency-again because they were chatting instead of concentrating

To sum up we have to be aware that the closer were flying to an airshyport the greater the risk involved Anytime were flying within 10 miles of an airport we have to be vigilant and use all the tools available to us to avoid a midair collision It means we have to fly proper and approved procedures It means we have to use proper radio proshycedures It means we have to abshysolutely minimize any possible distractions And it means we have to keep our eyes open and outside of the cockpit always scanning for other traffic

lf we all share in this task we should all be able to keep flying on into our vintage years Wont you join me

Doug Stewart is the 2004 National CFI of the Year a Master CFI and a DPE He operates DSFI Inc (www dsflightcom) based at the Columbia County Airport (lBI)

8

with him in his cockpit Even if the approaching aircraft

did not have an AFD or similar source of information (and lets remember that the regulations say that we will have obtained all availshyable information prior to flight) or if that source was out of reach somewhere in the back of the cockshypit (Ive sure seen that more ofshyten than I care to recount) did he not have a current sectional chart handy Sectional charts have been indicating nonstandard (Le rightshyhand) traffic patterns for quite some time now In fact if you are flying with a chart that does not have that information you could probably sell it on eBay as a vinshytage chart

About the only thing the pilot of the approaching aircraft did that was correct was to make a position report at 10 miles out as recomshymended in the AIM But nothing else in the communication did anything to facilitate the see and avoid concept of collision prevenshytion We have to remember that the primary purpose of position reports in the nontowered environment is to aid in the visual identification of aircraft But often based on much of what I hear on the UNICOM freshyquencies it would appear that anyshything but that is the purpose

We also have to remember that the frequencies available to UNIshyCOM are limited The primary ones in use are 1228 1227 and 1230 With so few frequencies to be shared by airports that are someshytimes in rather close proximity to each other it doesnt take long at all especially on a good weather weekend for the frequencies to beshycome congested to the point of beshying virtually worthless Quite often all that can be heard are the squeal and screech of numerous transmisshysions blocking each other out

With this in mind I would like to offer a few suggestions for pilots to consider prior to using the push-toshytalk switch Spend a little time lisshytening prior to transmitting How

MAY 2005

often do I have to hear someone request the runway in use when it has just been self-announced by not only the departing aircraft on the runway but the aircraft on downwind and the one on base as well Communication means the exchange of information between individuals That entails listenshying as well as speaking

use the same sterile

cockpit concept whenever you are flying with

others When you self-announce keep it

short sharp and succinct Loopshyde-loop traffic Aeronca Champ 10 west 3000 inbound for landshying requesting advisories says not only the type of aircraft making the announcement but also states where it is three-dimensionally in relationship to the airport and the intentions of the pilot It says it concisely thus minimizing the usshyage of the frequency Furthermore before you transmit be sure that no one else is transmitting If someshyone else is transmitting at the same time its quite likely that neither transmission will be heard

Theres one last thing I would like to discuss about flying in the traffic pattern or in the terminal area for that matter Earlier in this article I alluded to CRM Proper CRM will use all the tools available Our passengers can certainly be among those tools but only if they have been properly briefed

The airlines are mandated to maintain a sterile cockpit unshytil reaching 10000 feet MSL This means that all crew communicashytion is to be flight-related only No ta lking about the ball game the wife and kids or the scenery I realshyize that the majority of you reading this rarely if ever get up to 10000

feet but that doesnt mean you shouldnt use the same sterile cockshypit concept whenever you are flying with others in the cockpit Instead of using a 10000-foot reference point use the terminal area instead

Instruct your passengers not to distract you anytime you are flyshying within 10 miles of an airport (or any other congested area for that matter) with any conversation other than safety-related concerns Without the distraction of idle chatter you will be much better prepared to spot that potential midair collision

I know two pilots who while flyshying together in the same airplane survived a midair collision that occurred on final approach They descended into an airplane below them (Miraculously the pilot of the other airplane survived as well) They admitted to me that they had both been distracted from the job at hand-that being scanning for traffic-because of unnecessary conversation They also confided that they were on the wrong freshyquency-again because they were chatting instead of concentrating

To sum up we have to be aware that the closer were flying to an airshyport the greater the risk involved Anytime were flying within 10 miles of an airport we have to be vigilant and use all the tools available to us to avoid a midair collision It means we have to fly proper and approved procedures It means we have to use proper radio proshycedures It means we have to abshysolutely minimize any possible distractions And it means we have to keep our eyes open and outside of the cockpit always scanning for other traffic

lf we all share in this task we should all be able to keep flying on into our vintage years Wont you join me

Doug Stewart is the 2004 National CFI of the Year a Master CFI and a DPE He operates DSFI Inc (www dsflightcom) based at the Columbia County Airport (lBI)

8

AIMenasco Pi

In Part I we left AI Menasco as he and Art Smith were preparing to tour the Orient with three automobiles and a trio of airplanes built by AI Before he returns to Ais narrative Chet Wellman fills us in about more of Menascos remarkable career

iation neerbullbull

Part II

Reprinted from Vintage Airplane May 1985

CHET WELLMAN

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AL MENASCO EXCEPT AS NOTED

AAl said he had been

tinkering with re-pairshying rebuilding and building engines all his ife because he was fasshy

cinated by them at an early age After the disastrous experience with the French Salmson engines as menshytioned in his speech Al determined that he would build his own engines stronger and better than any others Future events proved that Al would succeed in this desire

AI said he did not invent inverted engines He painted out the Euroshypeans had inverted several engines and the Army Air Corps under the

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

command of Col Dargue was planshyning a South American good will tour in Loening amphibians and had ordered the Allison Machine Shop in Indianapolis Indiana to inshyvert some Liberty engines This was done so the pilot could see out over the engine and also to get proper clearance for the props Thus started the Allison Engine Co now known as Allison Gas Turbine Engine Manshyufacturers a fine company still 10shycated in Indianapolis

In 1929 AIs friend Jack Northrop who was experimenting with the flyshying wing concept convinced Al of the advantages of an in-line inverted engine Al readily agreed and comshymenced work on the design The airshycraft was almost finished and Jack wrote the Cirrus and de Havilland companies in England asking if they had considered an inverted design of their engines The replies were both negative and the de Havilland reply was quite emphatic

To expedite the aircraft tests Al decided to invert one of the Cirshyrus engines until he could produce one of his own models in the 90shyto 95-hp range required The Cirshyrus inversion served its purpose to expedite various ground tests with the Northrop Flying Wing until the first Menasco A-4 was finished and installed for flight tests These were to be held at Muroc Dry Lake Calishyfornia now Edwards Air Force Base After the ground tests the plane was returned to the new Northrop hanshygar in Burbank

At this time Northrop turned its full attention to the production of the Alpha This plane was an imshyproved air mail design that became the leader in its field both as a mail carrier and as a passenger design The flying-wing development was put in a corner of the hangar to be continshyued when time permitted

Al produced five of the Menasco A-4 engines that were installed in various aircraft before tooling up for production of the 95-hp engine with improvements that were also incorshyporated in later engines such as the 10 MAY 2005

six-cylinder B6 model The A-4 engines were named Pishy

rate and the first such engine is now on display in the Dallas office of Menasco Inc The horsepower then was increased to 95 and the first of this model is on display in the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum The success of this engine necessitated moving from AIs garage to a small factory on McKinshyley Avenue in Los Angeles His work force increased to 30 people From the outset Menasco Motors tested its engines at 125 percent of rated power for 100 hours

Al also pioneered the highshypressure supercharging of aircraft engines using manifold pressures double those of other engines This with the inverted designs small fronshytal area and large propellers are usushyally cited as the reasons behind AIs ability to get higher performance from an engine with a small displacement

Al purchased all new manufacturshying tools and machines and in a short while assembled the finest and most complete machine shop west of Chishycago This equipment later played an important part in the transition of the company from an engine manshyufacturer to the worlds foremost maker of landing gears The Meshynasco engine became an immediate success and AIs shop was soon selfshycontained making all parts in-house including the gears His only compeshytition in later years was Fairchild and Sherman Fairchild became a lifelong friend Menasco engines were never intended for racing but because of

their ruggedness reliability power and inverted configuration race pilots found them perfect for race planes The fact that Al used ball bearings instead of bronze bearings wherever possible also gave his engines an edge for racing He learned this frictionshysaving trick from the German engine designer Maybach

Al said he had always been a free soul under no restraints and able to do what he wanted-like a pirate So he named his engines Pirate Swashbuckler Freebooter Corshysair and the C6S-4 Buccaneer (sushypercharged) which Al said was his finest engine

Bill Boeing was on the Menasco Board and Al said he carried the company during the Depression However in 1937 as with most other companies things were not good with Menasco The company was still making a few-very few-aircraft enshygines and had taken to making small countertop washing machines jacks security valves etc

In 1938 Al had a disagreement with the board as to the direction the company would take He left the company but remained its largshyest shareholder Shortly thereafter the Air Force asked the Menasco Co to build landing gears largely beshycause of its complete machine shop and skilled workers That contract brought with it unlimited financshying Because of the war business exploded and Menasco became the largest manufacturer of landing gears-including gears for the space shuttle-and remains so today Next

time you fly commercially chances are you will take off and land on Meshynasco-built landing gears

Menasco engines enjoy an envishyable record as racing engines In 1933 and 1934 these engines won three times as many races in the United States as all other engines combined The greatest number of victories won by a single airplane was powered by a Menasco C6S engine This model the Buccaneer was the result of six years of development work It was sold as a commercial engine but the racers soon took it to heart In 1937 Meshynasco engines took both the Greve Trophy Race (550 cubic inches) and the Thompson Trophy Race the 200shymile unlimited against l800-cubicshyinch racers

While Menasco-powered planes were a single-engine design there were a few twin-engine designs inshycluding the American Gyro Crusader and at least one tri-motor the 1930 Ogden Incidentally the American Gyro Crusader was the November 1984 Mystery Plane in Vintage Airshyplane The plane was designed by Tom Shelton who authored a deshytailed report of it in the July 1964 issue of Sport Aviation Two C4S Meshynascos giving excellent performance powered the ship Tom still lives in Burbank California

After leaving the company Al could not remain idle for long so he opened a Ford auto dealership in Culver City California with great success until World War II when he received a commission as a major in the US Government Material Command

Al was stationed in Detroit for much of World War II assigned to the production of large military airshycraft manufactured and assembled by the nations major automakers as part of the war effort He returned to Los Angeles in 1945 and opened a new Ford dealership Al remembers that among his best customers were actors directors and producers from the motion picture industry and that some of the great movie stars were among his close personal friends

Clark Gable visited AIs ranch on sevshyeral occasions

In the middle 1950s Al decided to get out of the auto business and into the wine business So he sold his dealership on contract and purshychased a ranch and vineyard in the beautiful Napa Valley north of San Francisco This engaged him for many years He recently sold the vineyard retaining more than an acre on which his residence is loshycated He lives there today with his lovely wife Julie who is a talented and devoted golfer and has headed several womens golf associations

While Menascoshypowered planes were

a single-engine design there were a few twin-engine

designs Julie took an active part in Ronshy

ald Reagans campaign and election as governor of California and to two terms as president of the United States She has received special comshymendation for her efforts Julie and Al make a good team and she tends to keep Al on an even track Al is alshyways thinking of new projects to do because at heart he is still the kid who skipped school to see the air meets in Los Angeles

AI at 88 is as energetic as a man of SO He has a keen mind and is inshyterested in everything He is engaged in creating a small museum in a reshymodeled barn behind his and Julies cozy residence in St Helena Calishyfornia Al has boxes of photos and memorabilia of the old days Many photos are already on the walls and Al has an interesting story for each of them

Al is extremely proud of his part in the evolution of the aircraft indusshytry One notes when conversing with him that his recall of each event is immediate and accurate

His friendship with aircraft piOshyneers such as Donald Douglas Bill Boeing Lindbergh Doolittle Haishyzlip Claude Ryan and almost every earlyaviation great is clearly reshymembered One feels that the events he describes so vividly could have happened yesterday

It has been more than 70 years and Al has moved from bicycles and models to motorcycles from homeshymade race cars to stick and wire open pusher Wright flyers and from biplanes to the moon and space shuttles And Albert Sidney Meshynasco the pioneer who was there to experience it and actually be a force in the birth of it all is still here to tell it like it was

Following is the conclusion of AIs story as told in his own words in a speech he made on January 29 1969 to the Menasco Manufacturing Comshypanys California Division Manageshyment Club-CW

It took me from Monday mornshying until Wednesday to arrive in San Francisco closing out my shop and everything in Los Angeles arshyriving in San Francisco on the USS Yale or Harvard I forget which that cost 10 bucks from San Pedro to San Francisco

That started an association that lasted a long time We went to Japan first-but I am getting ahead of my story-we started to build the cars and planes in a shop in San Francisco We never finished them because the boat schedule caught up with us and I spent the last hectic days and nights without sleep making a catalog of all the parts and materials and checking them aboard ship

We took off for Japan March 4 1916 as scheduled on the Chiyo Maru-a big liner for the Pacific of 22000 tons Down in the engine room they had a machine shop including a lathe drill press and shaper I did not see much of the Pacific because for 17 days I was down there machining the unfinshyished parts

We had differentials on the jack shafts with chain drive to the rear

VINTA GE AIRPLANE 11

wheels somewhat of a reverse from the new front-wheel drives on the cars today The steering gear hubs and axles for the cars and parts for the airplanes were all semi-finishedshyincidentally we had rack-and-pinion steering that is so highly touted toshyday for sports cars I did most of the finish machine work in the engine room of the Chiyo Maru I wish you could have seen the equipment I can still remember it all today

When we arrived in Japan everyshything was semi-finished We had a big team of six racing car drivers inshycluding myself and an organization of 23 members assembled in Japan including advance men photograshyphers etc It took six weeks in Toshykyo before we had three cars and one airplane ready for the first show at Aoyama Parade Grounds at Tokyo Two hundred twenty-five thousand people paid admission to the parade grounds and I am sure that most of the 5 or 6 million other residents of Tokyo at least saw Art Smith in the sky And from then on he was taken into the hearts of the Japanese

He was a little guy 5 feet 6 inches~about the stature of most Japanese-and was always pleasant and even tempered He just clicked with them-that was all We made a tour over most of Japan I stayed in Tokyo most of the time after we were well organized and built up the second airplane and finished the eight cars

With our new Curtiss 90-hp eight-cylinder engines and other improvements the aircraft perforshymance enabled Art to fly from fields that were impossible before We would arrive at a field with Chinese laborers pulling five crates which contained the airplane We assemshybled it ready to fly in an hour and a half From the time he landed it was back in the crates in 45 minutes

Our controls were the same as today except we used the wheel to control the rudder with ailerons controlled with the feet We used an altimeter the size of a pocket watch strapped around the pilots leg and a 12 MAY 2005

tachometer alongside the seat That was the instrumentation A ground wire from the magneto to a switch on the wheel and a foot throttle on the aileron bar were the engine controls The ground wire was disconnected from the magneto in disassembly

II At the show in Sapporo the ground wire was installed badly causshying it to short on takeoff Attempting to avoid a landing among spectators Art crashed and was severely injured and we had to ship home washing out the tour Financially we came out about even-steven by the time we reshyturned to San Francisco

II Arts injuries including his left leg broken in three places required his being sent to a hospital in Chishycago while I stayed in San Francisco and rebuilt the equipment We reshyturned to Japan six months later a little bit smarter

We did not take a big crew just Art and myself his mother and one Japanese assistant Japanese promotshyers had contacted us meanwhile and money was deposited in the banks at Yokohama before dates were assigned by our Japanese manager in Tokyo

We were booked ahead in Korea Manchuria China Formosa and the Philippines besides returning to all the cities of Japan There was not an end in sight-Singapore and beshyyond Our lowest fee for the smaller towns was 5000 yen-$2500 for two flights-the larger cities were neshygotiated upon gate receipts and the money was rolling in

We had two sets of equipment which we could grasshopper over each other-our Tokyo office lined them up so that we averaged as many as five different cities a week When the United States declared war we decided to come home and join the Army

IIArt took time out to give me some very expensive flying lessons canshyceling about five dates to do so We laid over at Niigata on the west coast of Japan We used the home stretch of a mile racetrack there for takeoffs and landings and simulated landings on a beach nearby until I had 180 minutes of instruction which Art

deemed sufficient I had previously had acrobatic

lessons being one of the very few who learned to loop before the art of taking off and landing We had our last show in Shanghai where we had a good field enabling me to solo and I was considered a full-fledge aviator

We arrived back in San Francisco in November both volunteering for the aviation branch of the Signal Corps They turned me down beshycause of my bad ears-maybe they were right because my hearing is still bad-and sent Art back to the new Langley Field Virginia as a test pilot

I joined the Canadian Royal Flyshying Corps in Vancouver after being turned down by the Navy At Toronto the RFC was adopting United States procedures so again I was grounded and I finally wound up at Langley Field also where I was put in charge of engine testing and instruction for the Signal Corps as an aeronautical engineer with a civil service salary of $1800 a year-that was a great thing-I was an engineer

liMy work embraced some correcshytions to the Hispano-Suiza engines then being built as the choice for a fighter program which led me to joining the builders-the WrightshyMartin Co-who was the licensee in the United States Wright-Martin later became the present CurtissshyWright Co who built the Wright J-5 engine that Lindbergh flew the Atshylantic with

I decided to come home after the war-we had trained 18000 pishylots in Jennys and you could buy a surplus Jenny for $350 Pilots were a dime a dozen giving passenger rides for $5 from cow pastures all over the country

I took a job as a machinist in a shop on West Pico St for 60 cents an hour Art stayed on and the inshyfant air mail was born He flew the mail From the shop in Los Angeles I graduated to selling machine tools then started my own shop building air compressors

To be continued

By one of those coincidences in life that ultimately seems to have been destiny the latest manifesshytation of Jims obsession with aesshythetics is believe it or not an early Howard that was built in 1938 and is painted orange

That Howard a 285-hp Jacobs L-5 powered DGA-9 NC18207 serial number 206 emerged from Benny Howards small factory in Chicago on February 28 1938 but someone mistakenly stamped the data plate 9-28-38 instead of 2-28-38

William D Owens of Atlanta Georgia became the first owner of 14 MAY 2005

NC18207 The bill of sale and preshysumably his check for $1048750 were signed on March I 1938 The base price for a DGA-9 was $9800 but Owens had ordered a number of options that bumped up the price an additional $68750 including a 37shygallon aux tank to go with the stanshydard 60-gallon main tank flares a steerable tail wheel Pioneer comshypass a Lear transmitter and receiver and a trailing antenna Surprisingly wheel pants were not included

18207 was involved in an accishydent on September 29 1939 that smashed a good part of the leading

edge of the right wing all the way back to the main spar and bent the Curtiss Reed propeller beyond reshypairable limits

Southern Airways in Atlanta made the wing repairs replaced the prop and signed the Howard back in service on November 24 1929

On December 141940 NC18207 was sold to RJ White of Atlanta who sold it eight months later on August 16 1941 to James R Harshy

command of Col Dargue was planshyning a South American good will tour in Loening amphibians and had ordered the Allison Machine Shop in Indianapolis Indiana to inshyvert some Liberty engines This was done so the pilot could see out over the engine and also to get proper clearance for the props Thus started the Allison Engine Co now known as Allison Gas Turbine Engine Manshyufacturers a fine company still 10shycated in Indianapolis

In 1929 AIs friend Jack Northrop who was experimenting with the flyshying wing concept convinced Al of the advantages of an in-line inverted engine Al readily agreed and comshymenced work on the design The airshycraft was almost finished and Jack wrote the Cirrus and de Havilland companies in England asking if they had considered an inverted design of their engines The replies were both negative and the de Havilland reply was quite emphatic

To expedite the aircraft tests Al decided to invert one of the Cirshyrus engines until he could produce one of his own models in the 90shyto 95-hp range required The Cirshyrus inversion served its purpose to expedite various ground tests with the Northrop Flying Wing until the first Menasco A-4 was finished and installed for flight tests These were to be held at Muroc Dry Lake Calishyfornia now Edwards Air Force Base After the ground tests the plane was returned to the new Northrop hanshygar in Burbank

At this time Northrop turned its full attention to the production of the Alpha This plane was an imshyproved air mail design that became the leader in its field both as a mail carrier and as a passenger design The flying-wing development was put in a corner of the hangar to be continshyued when time permitted

Al produced five of the Menasco A-4 engines that were installed in various aircraft before tooling up for production of the 95-hp engine with improvements that were also incorshyporated in later engines such as the 10 MAY 2005

six-cylinder B6 model The A-4 engines were named Pishy

rate and the first such engine is now on display in the Dallas office of Menasco Inc The horsepower then was increased to 95 and the first of this model is on display in the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum The success of this engine necessitated moving from AIs garage to a small factory on McKinshyley Avenue in Los Angeles His work force increased to 30 people From the outset Menasco Motors tested its engines at 125 percent of rated power for 100 hours

Al also pioneered the highshypressure supercharging of aircraft engines using manifold pressures double those of other engines This with the inverted designs small fronshytal area and large propellers are usushyally cited as the reasons behind AIs ability to get higher performance from an engine with a small displacement

Al purchased all new manufacturshying tools and machines and in a short while assembled the finest and most complete machine shop west of Chishycago This equipment later played an important part in the transition of the company from an engine manshyufacturer to the worlds foremost maker of landing gears The Meshynasco engine became an immediate success and AIs shop was soon selfshycontained making all parts in-house including the gears His only compeshytition in later years was Fairchild and Sherman Fairchild became a lifelong friend Menasco engines were never intended for racing but because of

their ruggedness reliability power and inverted configuration race pilots found them perfect for race planes The fact that Al used ball bearings instead of bronze bearings wherever possible also gave his engines an edge for racing He learned this frictionshysaving trick from the German engine designer Maybach

Al said he had always been a free soul under no restraints and able to do what he wanted-like a pirate So he named his engines Pirate Swashbuckler Freebooter Corshysair and the C6S-4 Buccaneer (sushypercharged) which Al said was his finest engine

Bill Boeing was on the Menasco Board and Al said he carried the company during the Depression However in 1937 as with most other companies things were not good with Menasco The company was still making a few-very few-aircraft enshygines and had taken to making small countertop washing machines jacks security valves etc

In 1938 Al had a disagreement with the board as to the direction the company would take He left the company but remained its largshyest shareholder Shortly thereafter the Air Force asked the Menasco Co to build landing gears largely beshycause of its complete machine shop and skilled workers That contract brought with it unlimited financshying Because of the war business exploded and Menasco became the largest manufacturer of landing gears-including gears for the space shuttle-and remains so today Next

time you fly commercially chances are you will take off and land on Meshynasco-built landing gears

Menasco engines enjoy an envishyable record as racing engines In 1933 and 1934 these engines won three times as many races in the United States as all other engines combined The greatest number of victories won by a single airplane was powered by a Menasco C6S engine This model the Buccaneer was the result of six years of development work It was sold as a commercial engine but the racers soon took it to heart In 1937 Meshynasco engines took both the Greve Trophy Race (550 cubic inches) and the Thompson Trophy Race the 200shymile unlimited against l800-cubicshyinch racers

While Menasco-powered planes were a single-engine design there were a few twin-engine designs inshycluding the American Gyro Crusader and at least one tri-motor the 1930 Ogden Incidentally the American Gyro Crusader was the November 1984 Mystery Plane in Vintage Airshyplane The plane was designed by Tom Shelton who authored a deshytailed report of it in the July 1964 issue of Sport Aviation Two C4S Meshynascos giving excellent performance powered the ship Tom still lives in Burbank California

After leaving the company Al could not remain idle for long so he opened a Ford auto dealership in Culver City California with great success until World War II when he received a commission as a major in the US Government Material Command

Al was stationed in Detroit for much of World War II assigned to the production of large military airshycraft manufactured and assembled by the nations major automakers as part of the war effort He returned to Los Angeles in 1945 and opened a new Ford dealership Al remembers that among his best customers were actors directors and producers from the motion picture industry and that some of the great movie stars were among his close personal friends

Clark Gable visited AIs ranch on sevshyeral occasions

In the middle 1950s Al decided to get out of the auto business and into the wine business So he sold his dealership on contract and purshychased a ranch and vineyard in the beautiful Napa Valley north of San Francisco This engaged him for many years He recently sold the vineyard retaining more than an acre on which his residence is loshycated He lives there today with his lovely wife Julie who is a talented and devoted golfer and has headed several womens golf associations

While Menascoshypowered planes were

a single-engine design there were a few twin-engine

designs Julie took an active part in Ronshy

ald Reagans campaign and election as governor of California and to two terms as president of the United States She has received special comshymendation for her efforts Julie and Al make a good team and she tends to keep Al on an even track Al is alshyways thinking of new projects to do because at heart he is still the kid who skipped school to see the air meets in Los Angeles

AI at 88 is as energetic as a man of SO He has a keen mind and is inshyterested in everything He is engaged in creating a small museum in a reshymodeled barn behind his and Julies cozy residence in St Helena Calishyfornia Al has boxes of photos and memorabilia of the old days Many photos are already on the walls and Al has an interesting story for each of them

Al is extremely proud of his part in the evolution of the aircraft indusshytry One notes when conversing with him that his recall of each event is immediate and accurate

His friendship with aircraft piOshyneers such as Donald Douglas Bill Boeing Lindbergh Doolittle Haishyzlip Claude Ryan and almost every earlyaviation great is clearly reshymembered One feels that the events he describes so vividly could have happened yesterday

It has been more than 70 years and Al has moved from bicycles and models to motorcycles from homeshymade race cars to stick and wire open pusher Wright flyers and from biplanes to the moon and space shuttles And Albert Sidney Meshynasco the pioneer who was there to experience it and actually be a force in the birth of it all is still here to tell it like it was

Following is the conclusion of AIs story as told in his own words in a speech he made on January 29 1969 to the Menasco Manufacturing Comshypanys California Division Manageshyment Club-CW

It took me from Monday mornshying until Wednesday to arrive in San Francisco closing out my shop and everything in Los Angeles arshyriving in San Francisco on the USS Yale or Harvard I forget which that cost 10 bucks from San Pedro to San Francisco

That started an association that lasted a long time We went to Japan first-but I am getting ahead of my story-we started to build the cars and planes in a shop in San Francisco We never finished them because the boat schedule caught up with us and I spent the last hectic days and nights without sleep making a catalog of all the parts and materials and checking them aboard ship

We took off for Japan March 4 1916 as scheduled on the Chiyo Maru-a big liner for the Pacific of 22000 tons Down in the engine room they had a machine shop including a lathe drill press and shaper I did not see much of the Pacific because for 17 days I was down there machining the unfinshyished parts

We had differentials on the jack shafts with chain drive to the rear

VINTA GE AIRPLANE 11

wheels somewhat of a reverse from the new front-wheel drives on the cars today The steering gear hubs and axles for the cars and parts for the airplanes were all semi-finishedshyincidentally we had rack-and-pinion steering that is so highly touted toshyday for sports cars I did most of the finish machine work in the engine room of the Chiyo Maru I wish you could have seen the equipment I can still remember it all today

When we arrived in Japan everyshything was semi-finished We had a big team of six racing car drivers inshycluding myself and an organization of 23 members assembled in Japan including advance men photograshyphers etc It took six weeks in Toshykyo before we had three cars and one airplane ready for the first show at Aoyama Parade Grounds at Tokyo Two hundred twenty-five thousand people paid admission to the parade grounds and I am sure that most of the 5 or 6 million other residents of Tokyo at least saw Art Smith in the sky And from then on he was taken into the hearts of the Japanese

He was a little guy 5 feet 6 inches~about the stature of most Japanese-and was always pleasant and even tempered He just clicked with them-that was all We made a tour over most of Japan I stayed in Tokyo most of the time after we were well organized and built up the second airplane and finished the eight cars

With our new Curtiss 90-hp eight-cylinder engines and other improvements the aircraft perforshymance enabled Art to fly from fields that were impossible before We would arrive at a field with Chinese laborers pulling five crates which contained the airplane We assemshybled it ready to fly in an hour and a half From the time he landed it was back in the crates in 45 minutes

Our controls were the same as today except we used the wheel to control the rudder with ailerons controlled with the feet We used an altimeter the size of a pocket watch strapped around the pilots leg and a 12 MAY 2005

tachometer alongside the seat That was the instrumentation A ground wire from the magneto to a switch on the wheel and a foot throttle on the aileron bar were the engine controls The ground wire was disconnected from the magneto in disassembly

II At the show in Sapporo the ground wire was installed badly causshying it to short on takeoff Attempting to avoid a landing among spectators Art crashed and was severely injured and we had to ship home washing out the tour Financially we came out about even-steven by the time we reshyturned to San Francisco

II Arts injuries including his left leg broken in three places required his being sent to a hospital in Chishycago while I stayed in San Francisco and rebuilt the equipment We reshyturned to Japan six months later a little bit smarter

We did not take a big crew just Art and myself his mother and one Japanese assistant Japanese promotshyers had contacted us meanwhile and money was deposited in the banks at Yokohama before dates were assigned by our Japanese manager in Tokyo

We were booked ahead in Korea Manchuria China Formosa and the Philippines besides returning to all the cities of Japan There was not an end in sight-Singapore and beshyyond Our lowest fee for the smaller towns was 5000 yen-$2500 for two flights-the larger cities were neshygotiated upon gate receipts and the money was rolling in

We had two sets of equipment which we could grasshopper over each other-our Tokyo office lined them up so that we averaged as many as five different cities a week When the United States declared war we decided to come home and join the Army

IIArt took time out to give me some very expensive flying lessons canshyceling about five dates to do so We laid over at Niigata on the west coast of Japan We used the home stretch of a mile racetrack there for takeoffs and landings and simulated landings on a beach nearby until I had 180 minutes of instruction which Art

deemed sufficient I had previously had acrobatic

lessons being one of the very few who learned to loop before the art of taking off and landing We had our last show in Shanghai where we had a good field enabling me to solo and I was considered a full-fledge aviator

We arrived back in San Francisco in November both volunteering for the aviation branch of the Signal Corps They turned me down beshycause of my bad ears-maybe they were right because my hearing is still bad-and sent Art back to the new Langley Field Virginia as a test pilot

I joined the Canadian Royal Flyshying Corps in Vancouver after being turned down by the Navy At Toronto the RFC was adopting United States procedures so again I was grounded and I finally wound up at Langley Field also where I was put in charge of engine testing and instruction for the Signal Corps as an aeronautical engineer with a civil service salary of $1800 a year-that was a great thing-I was an engineer

liMy work embraced some correcshytions to the Hispano-Suiza engines then being built as the choice for a fighter program which led me to joining the builders-the WrightshyMartin Co-who was the licensee in the United States Wright-Martin later became the present CurtissshyWright Co who built the Wright J-5 engine that Lindbergh flew the Atshylantic with

I decided to come home after the war-we had trained 18000 pishylots in Jennys and you could buy a surplus Jenny for $350 Pilots were a dime a dozen giving passenger rides for $5 from cow pastures all over the country

I took a job as a machinist in a shop on West Pico St for 60 cents an hour Art stayed on and the inshyfant air mail was born He flew the mail From the shop in Los Angeles I graduated to selling machine tools then started my own shop building air compressors

To be continued

By one of those coincidences in life that ultimately seems to have been destiny the latest manifesshytation of Jims obsession with aesshythetics is believe it or not an early Howard that was built in 1938 and is painted orange

That Howard a 285-hp Jacobs L-5 powered DGA-9 NC18207 serial number 206 emerged from Benny Howards small factory in Chicago on February 28 1938 but someone mistakenly stamped the data plate 9-28-38 instead of 2-28-38

William D Owens of Atlanta Georgia became the first owner of 14 MAY 2005

NC18207 The bill of sale and preshysumably his check for $1048750 were signed on March I 1938 The base price for a DGA-9 was $9800 but Owens had ordered a number of options that bumped up the price an additional $68750 including a 37shygallon aux tank to go with the stanshydard 60-gallon main tank flares a steerable tail wheel Pioneer comshypass a Lear transmitter and receiver and a trailing antenna Surprisingly wheel pants were not included

18207 was involved in an accishydent on September 29 1939 that smashed a good part of the leading

edge of the right wing all the way back to the main spar and bent the Curtiss Reed propeller beyond reshypairable limits

Southern Airways in Atlanta made the wing repairs replaced the prop and signed the Howard back in service on November 24 1929

On December 141940 NC18207 was sold to RJ White of Atlanta who sold it eight months later on August 16 1941 to James R Harshy

time you fly commercially chances are you will take off and land on Meshynasco-built landing gears

Menasco engines enjoy an envishyable record as racing engines In 1933 and 1934 these engines won three times as many races in the United States as all other engines combined The greatest number of victories won by a single airplane was powered by a Menasco C6S engine This model the Buccaneer was the result of six years of development work It was sold as a commercial engine but the racers soon took it to heart In 1937 Meshynasco engines took both the Greve Trophy Race (550 cubic inches) and the Thompson Trophy Race the 200shymile unlimited against l800-cubicshyinch racers

While Menasco-powered planes were a single-engine design there were a few twin-engine designs inshycluding the American Gyro Crusader and at least one tri-motor the 1930 Ogden Incidentally the American Gyro Crusader was the November 1984 Mystery Plane in Vintage Airshyplane The plane was designed by Tom Shelton who authored a deshytailed report of it in the July 1964 issue of Sport Aviation Two C4S Meshynascos giving excellent performance powered the ship Tom still lives in Burbank California

After leaving the company Al could not remain idle for long so he opened a Ford auto dealership in Culver City California with great success until World War II when he received a commission as a major in the US Government Material Command

Al was stationed in Detroit for much of World War II assigned to the production of large military airshycraft manufactured and assembled by the nations major automakers as part of the war effort He returned to Los Angeles in 1945 and opened a new Ford dealership Al remembers that among his best customers were actors directors and producers from the motion picture industry and that some of the great movie stars were among his close personal friends

Clark Gable visited AIs ranch on sevshyeral occasions

In the middle 1950s Al decided to get out of the auto business and into the wine business So he sold his dealership on contract and purshychased a ranch and vineyard in the beautiful Napa Valley north of San Francisco This engaged him for many years He recently sold the vineyard retaining more than an acre on which his residence is loshycated He lives there today with his lovely wife Julie who is a talented and devoted golfer and has headed several womens golf associations

While Menascoshypowered planes were

a single-engine design there were a few twin-engine

designs Julie took an active part in Ronshy

ald Reagans campaign and election as governor of California and to two terms as president of the United States She has received special comshymendation for her efforts Julie and Al make a good team and she tends to keep Al on an even track Al is alshyways thinking of new projects to do because at heart he is still the kid who skipped school to see the air meets in Los Angeles

AI at 88 is as energetic as a man of SO He has a keen mind and is inshyterested in everything He is engaged in creating a small museum in a reshymodeled barn behind his and Julies cozy residence in St Helena Calishyfornia Al has boxes of photos and memorabilia of the old days Many photos are already on the walls and Al has an interesting story for each of them

Al is extremely proud of his part in the evolution of the aircraft indusshytry One notes when conversing with him that his recall of each event is immediate and accurate

His friendship with aircraft piOshyneers such as Donald Douglas Bill Boeing Lindbergh Doolittle Haishyzlip Claude Ryan and almost every earlyaviation great is clearly reshymembered One feels that the events he describes so vividly could have happened yesterday

It has been more than 70 years and Al has moved from bicycles and models to motorcycles from homeshymade race cars to stick and wire open pusher Wright flyers and from biplanes to the moon and space shuttles And Albert Sidney Meshynasco the pioneer who was there to experience it and actually be a force in the birth of it all is still here to tell it like it was

Following is the conclusion of AIs story as told in his own words in a speech he made on January 29 1969 to the Menasco Manufacturing Comshypanys California Division Manageshyment Club-CW

It took me from Monday mornshying until Wednesday to arrive in San Francisco closing out my shop and everything in Los Angeles arshyriving in San Francisco on the USS Yale or Harvard I forget which that cost 10 bucks from San Pedro to San Francisco

That started an association that lasted a long time We went to Japan first-but I am getting ahead of my story-we started to build the cars and planes in a shop in San Francisco We never finished them because the boat schedule caught up with us and I spent the last hectic days and nights without sleep making a catalog of all the parts and materials and checking them aboard ship

We took off for Japan March 4 1916 as scheduled on the Chiyo Maru-a big liner for the Pacific of 22000 tons Down in the engine room they had a machine shop including a lathe drill press and shaper I did not see much of the Pacific because for 17 days I was down there machining the unfinshyished parts

We had differentials on the jack shafts with chain drive to the rear

VINTA GE AIRPLANE 11

wheels somewhat of a reverse from the new front-wheel drives on the cars today The steering gear hubs and axles for the cars and parts for the airplanes were all semi-finishedshyincidentally we had rack-and-pinion steering that is so highly touted toshyday for sports cars I did most of the finish machine work in the engine room of the Chiyo Maru I wish you could have seen the equipment I can still remember it all today

When we arrived in Japan everyshything was semi-finished We had a big team of six racing car drivers inshycluding myself and an organization of 23 members assembled in Japan including advance men photograshyphers etc It took six weeks in Toshykyo before we had three cars and one airplane ready for the first show at Aoyama Parade Grounds at Tokyo Two hundred twenty-five thousand people paid admission to the parade grounds and I am sure that most of the 5 or 6 million other residents of Tokyo at least saw Art Smith in the sky And from then on he was taken into the hearts of the Japanese

He was a little guy 5 feet 6 inches~about the stature of most Japanese-and was always pleasant and even tempered He just clicked with them-that was all We made a tour over most of Japan I stayed in Tokyo most of the time after we were well organized and built up the second airplane and finished the eight cars

With our new Curtiss 90-hp eight-cylinder engines and other improvements the aircraft perforshymance enabled Art to fly from fields that were impossible before We would arrive at a field with Chinese laborers pulling five crates which contained the airplane We assemshybled it ready to fly in an hour and a half From the time he landed it was back in the crates in 45 minutes

Our controls were the same as today except we used the wheel to control the rudder with ailerons controlled with the feet We used an altimeter the size of a pocket watch strapped around the pilots leg and a 12 MAY 2005

tachometer alongside the seat That was the instrumentation A ground wire from the magneto to a switch on the wheel and a foot throttle on the aileron bar were the engine controls The ground wire was disconnected from the magneto in disassembly

II At the show in Sapporo the ground wire was installed badly causshying it to short on takeoff Attempting to avoid a landing among spectators Art crashed and was severely injured and we had to ship home washing out the tour Financially we came out about even-steven by the time we reshyturned to San Francisco

II Arts injuries including his left leg broken in three places required his being sent to a hospital in Chishycago while I stayed in San Francisco and rebuilt the equipment We reshyturned to Japan six months later a little bit smarter

We did not take a big crew just Art and myself his mother and one Japanese assistant Japanese promotshyers had contacted us meanwhile and money was deposited in the banks at Yokohama before dates were assigned by our Japanese manager in Tokyo

We were booked ahead in Korea Manchuria China Formosa and the Philippines besides returning to all the cities of Japan There was not an end in sight-Singapore and beshyyond Our lowest fee for the smaller towns was 5000 yen-$2500 for two flights-the larger cities were neshygotiated upon gate receipts and the money was rolling in

We had two sets of equipment which we could grasshopper over each other-our Tokyo office lined them up so that we averaged as many as five different cities a week When the United States declared war we decided to come home and join the Army

IIArt took time out to give me some very expensive flying lessons canshyceling about five dates to do so We laid over at Niigata on the west coast of Japan We used the home stretch of a mile racetrack there for takeoffs and landings and simulated landings on a beach nearby until I had 180 minutes of instruction which Art

deemed sufficient I had previously had acrobatic

lessons being one of the very few who learned to loop before the art of taking off and landing We had our last show in Shanghai where we had a good field enabling me to solo and I was considered a full-fledge aviator

We arrived back in San Francisco in November both volunteering for the aviation branch of the Signal Corps They turned me down beshycause of my bad ears-maybe they were right because my hearing is still bad-and sent Art back to the new Langley Field Virginia as a test pilot

I joined the Canadian Royal Flyshying Corps in Vancouver after being turned down by the Navy At Toronto the RFC was adopting United States procedures so again I was grounded and I finally wound up at Langley Field also where I was put in charge of engine testing and instruction for the Signal Corps as an aeronautical engineer with a civil service salary of $1800 a year-that was a great thing-I was an engineer

liMy work embraced some correcshytions to the Hispano-Suiza engines then being built as the choice for a fighter program which led me to joining the builders-the WrightshyMartin Co-who was the licensee in the United States Wright-Martin later became the present CurtissshyWright Co who built the Wright J-5 engine that Lindbergh flew the Atshylantic with

I decided to come home after the war-we had trained 18000 pishylots in Jennys and you could buy a surplus Jenny for $350 Pilots were a dime a dozen giving passenger rides for $5 from cow pastures all over the country

I took a job as a machinist in a shop on West Pico St for 60 cents an hour Art stayed on and the inshyfant air mail was born He flew the mail From the shop in Los Angeles I graduated to selling machine tools then started my own shop building air compressors

To be continued

By one of those coincidences in life that ultimately seems to have been destiny the latest manifesshytation of Jims obsession with aesshythetics is believe it or not an early Howard that was built in 1938 and is painted orange

That Howard a 285-hp Jacobs L-5 powered DGA-9 NC18207 serial number 206 emerged from Benny Howards small factory in Chicago on February 28 1938 but someone mistakenly stamped the data plate 9-28-38 instead of 2-28-38

William D Owens of Atlanta Georgia became the first owner of 14 MAY 2005

NC18207 The bill of sale and preshysumably his check for $1048750 were signed on March I 1938 The base price for a DGA-9 was $9800 but Owens had ordered a number of options that bumped up the price an additional $68750 including a 37shygallon aux tank to go with the stanshydard 60-gallon main tank flares a steerable tail wheel Pioneer comshypass a Lear transmitter and receiver and a trailing antenna Surprisingly wheel pants were not included

18207 was involved in an accishydent on September 29 1939 that smashed a good part of the leading

edge of the right wing all the way back to the main spar and bent the Curtiss Reed propeller beyond reshypairable limits

Southern Airways in Atlanta made the wing repairs replaced the prop and signed the Howard back in service on November 24 1929

On December 141940 NC18207 was sold to RJ White of Atlanta who sold it eight months later on August 16 1941 to James R Harshy

wheels somewhat of a reverse from the new front-wheel drives on the cars today The steering gear hubs and axles for the cars and parts for the airplanes were all semi-finishedshyincidentally we had rack-and-pinion steering that is so highly touted toshyday for sports cars I did most of the finish machine work in the engine room of the Chiyo Maru I wish you could have seen the equipment I can still remember it all today

When we arrived in Japan everyshything was semi-finished We had a big team of six racing car drivers inshycluding myself and an organization of 23 members assembled in Japan including advance men photograshyphers etc It took six weeks in Toshykyo before we had three cars and one airplane ready for the first show at Aoyama Parade Grounds at Tokyo Two hundred twenty-five thousand people paid admission to the parade grounds and I am sure that most of the 5 or 6 million other residents of Tokyo at least saw Art Smith in the sky And from then on he was taken into the hearts of the Japanese

He was a little guy 5 feet 6 inches~about the stature of most Japanese-and was always pleasant and even tempered He just clicked with them-that was all We made a tour over most of Japan I stayed in Tokyo most of the time after we were well organized and built up the second airplane and finished the eight cars

With our new Curtiss 90-hp eight-cylinder engines and other improvements the aircraft perforshymance enabled Art to fly from fields that were impossible before We would arrive at a field with Chinese laborers pulling five crates which contained the airplane We assemshybled it ready to fly in an hour and a half From the time he landed it was back in the crates in 45 minutes

Our controls were the same as today except we used the wheel to control the rudder with ailerons controlled with the feet We used an altimeter the size of a pocket watch strapped around the pilots leg and a 12 MAY 2005

tachometer alongside the seat That was the instrumentation A ground wire from the magneto to a switch on the wheel and a foot throttle on the aileron bar were the engine controls The ground wire was disconnected from the magneto in disassembly

II At the show in Sapporo the ground wire was installed badly causshying it to short on takeoff Attempting to avoid a landing among spectators Art crashed and was severely injured and we had to ship home washing out the tour Financially we came out about even-steven by the time we reshyturned to San Francisco

II Arts injuries including his left leg broken in three places required his being sent to a hospital in Chishycago while I stayed in San Francisco and rebuilt the equipment We reshyturned to Japan six months later a little bit smarter

We did not take a big crew just Art and myself his mother and one Japanese assistant Japanese promotshyers had contacted us meanwhile and money was deposited in the banks at Yokohama before dates were assigned by our Japanese manager in Tokyo

We were booked ahead in Korea Manchuria China Formosa and the Philippines besides returning to all the cities of Japan There was not an end in sight-Singapore and beshyyond Our lowest fee for the smaller towns was 5000 yen-$2500 for two flights-the larger cities were neshygotiated upon gate receipts and the money was rolling in

We had two sets of equipment which we could grasshopper over each other-our Tokyo office lined them up so that we averaged as many as five different cities a week When the United States declared war we decided to come home and join the Army

IIArt took time out to give me some very expensive flying lessons canshyceling about five dates to do so We laid over at Niigata on the west coast of Japan We used the home stretch of a mile racetrack there for takeoffs and landings and simulated landings on a beach nearby until I had 180 minutes of instruction which Art

deemed sufficient I had previously had acrobatic

lessons being one of the very few who learned to loop before the art of taking off and landing We had our last show in Shanghai where we had a good field enabling me to solo and I was considered a full-fledge aviator

We arrived back in San Francisco in November both volunteering for the aviation branch of the Signal Corps They turned me down beshycause of my bad ears-maybe they were right because my hearing is still bad-and sent Art back to the new Langley Field Virginia as a test pilot

I joined the Canadian Royal Flyshying Corps in Vancouver after being turned down by the Navy At Toronto the RFC was adopting United States procedures so again I was grounded and I finally wound up at Langley Field also where I was put in charge of engine testing and instruction for the Signal Corps as an aeronautical engineer with a civil service salary of $1800 a year-that was a great thing-I was an engineer

liMy work embraced some correcshytions to the Hispano-Suiza engines then being built as the choice for a fighter program which led me to joining the builders-the WrightshyMartin Co-who was the licensee in the United States Wright-Martin later became the present CurtissshyWright Co who built the Wright J-5 engine that Lindbergh flew the Atshylantic with

I decided to come home after the war-we had trained 18000 pishylots in Jennys and you could buy a surplus Jenny for $350 Pilots were a dime a dozen giving passenger rides for $5 from cow pastures all over the country

I took a job as a machinist in a shop on West Pico St for 60 cents an hour Art stayed on and the inshyfant air mail was born He flew the mail From the shop in Los Angeles I graduated to selling machine tools then started my own shop building air compressors

To be continued

By one of those coincidences in life that ultimately seems to have been destiny the latest manifesshytation of Jims obsession with aesshythetics is believe it or not an early Howard that was built in 1938 and is painted orange

That Howard a 285-hp Jacobs L-5 powered DGA-9 NC18207 serial number 206 emerged from Benny Howards small factory in Chicago on February 28 1938 but someone mistakenly stamped the data plate 9-28-38 instead of 2-28-38

William D Owens of Atlanta Georgia became the first owner of 14 MAY 2005

NC18207 The bill of sale and preshysumably his check for $1048750 were signed on March I 1938 The base price for a DGA-9 was $9800 but Owens had ordered a number of options that bumped up the price an additional $68750 including a 37shygallon aux tank to go with the stanshydard 60-gallon main tank flares a steerable tail wheel Pioneer comshypass a Lear transmitter and receiver and a trailing antenna Surprisingly wheel pants were not included

18207 was involved in an accishydent on September 29 1939 that smashed a good part of the leading

edge of the right wing all the way back to the main spar and bent the Curtiss Reed propeller beyond reshypairable limits

Southern Airways in Atlanta made the wing repairs replaced the prop and signed the Howard back in service on November 24 1929

On December 141940 NC18207 was sold to RJ White of Atlanta who sold it eight months later on August 16 1941 to James R Harshy

By one of those coincidences in life that ultimately seems to have been destiny the latest manifesshytation of Jims obsession with aesshythetics is believe it or not an early Howard that was built in 1938 and is painted orange

That Howard a 285-hp Jacobs L-5 powered DGA-9 NC18207 serial number 206 emerged from Benny Howards small factory in Chicago on February 28 1938 but someone mistakenly stamped the data plate 9-28-38 instead of 2-28-38

William D Owens of Atlanta Georgia became the first owner of 14 MAY 2005

NC18207 The bill of sale and preshysumably his check for $1048750 were signed on March I 1938 The base price for a DGA-9 was $9800 but Owens had ordered a number of options that bumped up the price an additional $68750 including a 37shygallon aux tank to go with the stanshydard 60-gallon main tank flares a steerable tail wheel Pioneer comshypass a Lear transmitter and receiver and a trailing antenna Surprisingly wheel pants were not included

18207 was involved in an accishydent on September 29 1939 that smashed a good part of the leading

edge of the right wing all the way back to the main spar and bent the Curtiss Reed propeller beyond reshypairable limits

Southern Airways in Atlanta made the wing repairs replaced the prop and signed the Howard back in service on November 24 1929

On December 141940 NC18207 was sold to RJ White of Atlanta who sold it eight months later on August 16 1941 to James R Harshy

rington doing busishyness as Harrington Air Service of Mansfield Ohio On January 28 1942 the planes Curshytiss Reed prop was reshyplaced by a Hamilton Standard 2B20-209 conshytrollable propeller which allowed an increase in gross weight from 3600 to 3800 pounds

On May I 1942 James Harrington pu t the Howard in his companys name possibly to reduce his personal liability beshycause the airplane was heavily mortgaged for a time That was probably a good move because it was involved in another

Somehow

though Jim

says I figured

that eventually

1 would be able

to get my hands

on the airplane

and correct that

front end acciden t on Jan uary 5 1943 reshyquiring a rebuild of the left wing that included a splice in the main spar In November of 1943 the airshyplane was signed back in service following a repair to the right wing including another spar splice and in April of 1945 the propeller which was bent within limits for cold repairs was refurbished by the Ford Motor Company at the Ford Airport in Dearborn Michigan

EC Patterson Jr of Chattashynooga Tennessee bought 18207 on April 28 1945 and sold it the following August 3 to Ed Milam of Milam Charter Service in Lakeshyland Florida On February I 1946 the Howard was sold to another Lakeland company Florida Fresh Air Express Inc

Apparently Florida Fresh flew the airplane straight to Decatur Georgia (Atlanta) where Aircraft Major Overhaul Inc converted it from a DGA-9 to a DGA-ll by reshymoving the Jacobs L-5 and reshyplacing it with a firewall forward installation of a 450-hp Pratt amp Whitney R-985-AN-l-everything engine mount engine all accessoshyries and cowl Many of the parts were new DGA-15P (NH-lGH-l) spares sold as surplus by the Navy in October of 1945 Aircraft Mashyjor Overhaul had bought it all as five tons of scrap aluminum and eight tons of scrap steel

In addition to the PampW R-985 the Howard had its entire electrical system rewired to DGA-15P specs had the later-type rudder pedals the 15Ps heavy-duty brakes and larger wheelpants installed and the propeller blades were shortened 25 inches and re-indexed for more pitch travel The new empty weight was 2731 pounds and gross inshycreased to 4100 pounds Max level speed increased from 172 mph true to 200 but the redline was reduced from 288 to 270 mph true A third belly fuel tank holding 30 gallons was added which brought the total capacity to 127 gallons All of this was a testament to the structural integrity of the DGA-8 through-12 airframes-the fact that they could handle this much additional power and weight without modification

Florida Fresh Air Express sold 18207 to US Airlines Inc of St Petersburg Florida on Septemshyber 26 1946 for $11000 The folshylowing summer on July 5 1947 the Howard was sold to Dr Joseph J Locke of St Petersburg-he imshymediately had the elevator torque

tube repaired and all the fabric on the underside of the airplane reshyplaced In February of 1948 he had the steerable tail wheel modified to automatic full swivel with an additional lock-controllable from the cockpit

Dr Locke was the commanding officer of the Pinellas Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol in St Pete and he either donated or sold the Howshyard to the squadron on October 10 1951 Then a couple of years later he bought it back and sold it the same day June 3 1953 to St Peshytersburg Aviation Services

TB and HR Holman of Vera Beach Florida bought 18207 on October 6 1954-with the total time at 288711 hours They had the rudder and fin recovered with Grade A cotton in February of 1957 then sold the airplane the following November 30 to Maurice E Brown of Ft Pierce Florida for $2250 Brown in turn sold the Howard to Robert D Bleifield of Coal City Illishynois on October 13 1963

William H Wright Jr of Tulsa Oklahoma bought 18207 on June 29 1970 only to have it severely damaged when a tornado collapsed the hangar in which it was stored The fuselage was crushed just ahead of the tail down to about eight to 10 inches in height and the left wing was rotated back and down breaking the main spar and twisting the big strut attach fitting on the fuselage Amazingly howshyever the wing struts themselves were not damaged

Robert L Younkin of Fayetteshyville Arkansas Jim Younkin s brother Bob-bought the wreckshyage from Bill Wright on August 30 1971 Bob operated several aviation businesses and thus had the facilshyities and resources to rebuild the Howard After the airframe repairs were made and a freshly majored R-985 was installed the airplane was recovered in Grade A cotton and finished as you might imagshyine in orange dope

Bob made one trip in the How-VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

ard to Blakesburg in 1979 and ended up placing it in the Arkansas Air Mushyseum in Fayetteshyville which he and brother Jim helped found in the late 1980s Between the two of them they had enough antique airplanes to virtually fill the museums reshystored World War II hangar from day one On Deshycember 28 1997 Bob formally signed over ownership of the Howard to the museum

Jim Younkin had his Mr Mullishygan and Travel Air Mystery Ship in the museum so he was frequently in and out of the facility And on every occasion his aesthetic sensishybilities were offended by the big blunt DGA-15P cowling and large wheelpants on what he considered to be the otherwise sleek narrow fuselage high-firewall NC18207 Jim was well versed in the hisshytory of the early production Howshyards and in particular how the prototype DGA-11 came about and how it looked That airplane NC14871 serial number 72 was in his opinion the most beautiful of all Howards of all airplanes and thats how he thought 18207 should be made to look

When Benny Howard conceived of Mr Mulligan and had Gordon Isshyrael engineer it he was already lookshying ahead to a production version and indeed it soon appeared in the form of the DGA-7 Mr Flanishygan Unfortunately however that airplane could not be certified in its original configuration The problem was its relatively small vertical tail which was very similar to that of Mr Mulligan The feds had come up with a new rule that required an airshyplane to recover power and hands off from a six-turn spin in one-andshya-half additional turns and to reshycover from a six-turn spin entered with crossed controls within an adshyditional six turns again with power 16 MAY 2005

and hands off Flanigan would readshyily recover with normal anti-spin control input but not hands off unshytil a much taller high-aspect-ratio vertical tail was installed This was a problem encountered by a number of new mid-1930s aircraft designs including the Rearwin Speedster Spartan Executive and Harlow and all ended up with significantly larger vertical tails

The reconfigured DGA-7 Mr Flashynigan was certified on July 15 1936 (ATC 612) Redesignated as a DGAshy8 it was the first of a batch of about a dozen airplanes produced by Howshyard Aircraft s work force of some 25shy30 employees After Mr Flanigan the first production DGA-8 was the Wright 320 powered NC14871 serial number 72 which would have a further role to play in Howard Airshycraft history and a significant bearshy

ing on our story In 1937 Howshy

ard Aircraft certishyfied the DGA-9 and DGA-12 These were DGA-8 airshyframes powered with less expensive 285- and 300-hp Jacobs enginesshyeconomy modshyels the company hoped would inshycrease sales It was

not a successful venture howshyever All the Howards were very expensive airplanes-the DGAshy8s had a base price of $14850 at a time when the average American physician made just over $4000 per year-so the reduction in price of the DGAshy9s and -12s meant little to the very few who could afford such aircraft They preferred higher performance which was why Howard quickly got back to reshyality and plugged a PampW R-985 into the nose of its airframes to create the DGA-11 series

The prototype DGA-11 was actually a retrofit of the first DGA-8 (after Mr Flanigan) the aforementioned NC14871 seshy

rial number 72 which was owned by the Morton Salt Company Its 320 Wright was replaced by a PampW Rshy985 but uniquely its tapered cowlshying and small 750-by-1O wheelpants were retained-at least long enough for the photo on page 251 in Juptshyners US Civil Aircraft Vol 7 to be taken Later DGA-lls had blunter cowls and 850-by-1O wheelpants

It was that aircraft the prototype DGA-ll that Jim Younkin considshyered to be the most beautiful of all the production Howards and was what he thought brother Bobs NC18207 should be changed to reshysemble He tried for years to buy the airplane or trade Bob something for it but to no avail Initially Bob said Jim simply didnt need it what with all his other airplanes then later said he was concerned with the integrity of the carry-through

tube for the wing struts Somehow though II Jim

says I figured that eventushyally I would be able to get my hands on the airplane and correct that front end

And he did Bob died sevshyeral years ago and on Decemshyber 18 2003 Jim traded his 1930 Stinson Junior S to the museum for the Howard Jim had a template for a DGA-8 cowling and had the original cowling off the Wallace Beery DGA-ll which is owned by John Turgyan in his shop but work on a new tapered cowling did not start imshymediately because Jim was heavily involved in the development of the TruTrak digital autopilots at the time

But I had access to a very talshyented individual Darrell Williams who had just done an engine change for me on my Mullicoupe so I proshyceeded to introduce him to the power hammer and have him build the new cowl He is a very quick learner and did a beautiful job

The cowl was built in four pieces each stretched and shrunk until it fitted a buck in the shape of the DGA-8 cowl The Howard cowl was split vertically so two of the quarshyter panels were welded together to form each of the cowl halves Rather than trying to roll the leadshying edges Jim has come up with the practice of shaping and welding on one-inch heavy wall aluminum tubing to produce the same effect The one other difference from the original hand-hammered cowlings was the means of attachment

They didnt know much about moun ting cowlings in those days Jim says so we incorposhyrated mounting hardware from a Twin Beech to be sure our cowling wouldnt come offI

The boot cowl between the fireshywall and the engine cowling was completely different than that of the later DGA-1SPs so it had to be custom fitted for 18207 Someshyhow Jim did find time to make the carb air scoop and gear legwheelshypant intersection fairings because

Jim and Ada Younkin

I hadnt shown Darrell the ways of doing that yetI

That left the small wheelpants and there Jim got lucky Years ago Ron Rippon and Ron Cook bought a cache of Howard parts from a jump club in Illinois and Ron Ripshypon seemed to recall that a pair of small Howard wheelpants was inshycluded A call to Ron Cook who had the remaining parts stored in his barn in Iowa revealed that yes the pants were still there so Jim bought them

They were in terrible condishytionI Jim says but they were origshyinal DGA-8 Cincinnati Streamliner pants name tags and all so they were worth every effort to make them like new againI

After all the new parts were made-and painted orange-a thorshyough inspection of the airplane was performed to make it ready for flight Jim estimates that it only had about 20 hours since the rebuild by his brother but it had been idle in the Arkansas Air Museum for many yearS The fabric was good and the dope which Jim says was military surplus was still as plishyable as new The forward belly tank was removed to allow inspection of the carry-through tube Bob had expressed concern about-and it was found to have been reinforced by sections of the heavier DGA-1SP carry-through

Once I got the wobble pump primed and could get fuel pressure the engine started as though it had been run the day before-no mag drop nothing Everything on the

airplane worked initially but one of the old gyros did give up after a few hours says Jim

A unique thing about the airplane is that it has never been fully restored It has unshydergone extensive repairs on several occasions has been recovered and has had an engine change but some of it remains today as it was when it left the factory 67 years ago-the instrument panel

and upholstery for instance Its the appearance of the 01

Howard with its newold shape that matters most to Jim however He his wife Ada and John Turgshyyan flew it to Oshkosh last summer and the interview for this article was conducted in a car sitting beshyside the Howard which was on disshyplay in front of the VAA Red Barn Throughout the time I noticed that Jim couldnt keep his eyes off the airplane and at the end of the interview he remarked The intershyesting thing about this Howardshyand Im not the only one who feels this way-iS that every time I look at it I just cant get over it I just cant look enough I cant imagine a grown man looking at something like that and not appreCiating how beautiful it is In my eyes it is one of the prettiest airplanes that ever was In my opinion its the ultishymate Howard

At EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2004 Jim Younkin received the Bronze Age (1937-1941) Outstanding ClosedshyCockpit Monoplane award for his Howard DGA-ll NC18207

Jack Cox is the retired editorshyin-chief of EAA Sport Aviation magazine He and his wife Golda retired managing edishytor of EAA Publications write produce and publish the quarshyterly magazine Sportsman Pilot For more information conshytact them at Sportsman Pilot Magazine PO Box 400 Asheshyboro NC 27204-0400 E-mail spilotsportsmanpilotcom

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

tube for the wing struts Somehow though II Jim

says I figured that eventushyally I would be able to get my hands on the airplane and correct that front end

And he did Bob died sevshyeral years ago and on Decemshyber 18 2003 Jim traded his 1930 Stinson Junior S to the museum for the Howard Jim had a template for a DGA-8 cowling and had the original cowling off the Wallace Beery DGA-ll which is owned by John Turgyan in his shop but work on a new tapered cowling did not start imshymediately because Jim was heavily involved in the development of the TruTrak digital autopilots at the time

But I had access to a very talshyented individual Darrell Williams who had just done an engine change for me on my Mullicoupe so I proshyceeded to introduce him to the power hammer and have him build the new cowl He is a very quick learner and did a beautiful job

The cowl was built in four pieces each stretched and shrunk until it fitted a buck in the shape of the DGA-8 cowl The Howard cowl was split vertically so two of the quarshyter panels were welded together to form each of the cowl halves Rather than trying to roll the leadshying edges Jim has come up with the practice of shaping and welding on one-inch heavy wall aluminum tubing to produce the same effect The one other difference from the original hand-hammered cowlings was the means of attachment

They didnt know much about moun ting cowlings in those days Jim says so we incorposhyrated mounting hardware from a Twin Beech to be sure our cowling wouldnt come offI

The boot cowl between the fireshywall and the engine cowling was completely different than that of the later DGA-1SPs so it had to be custom fitted for 18207 Someshyhow Jim did find time to make the carb air scoop and gear legwheelshypant intersection fairings because

Jim and Ada Younkin

I hadnt shown Darrell the ways of doing that yetI

That left the small wheelpants and there Jim got lucky Years ago Ron Rippon and Ron Cook bought a cache of Howard parts from a jump club in Illinois and Ron Ripshypon seemed to recall that a pair of small Howard wheelpants was inshycluded A call to Ron Cook who had the remaining parts stored in his barn in Iowa revealed that yes the pants were still there so Jim bought them

They were in terrible condishytionI Jim says but they were origshyinal DGA-8 Cincinnati Streamliner pants name tags and all so they were worth every effort to make them like new againI

After all the new parts were made-and painted orange-a thorshyough inspection of the airplane was performed to make it ready for flight Jim estimates that it only had about 20 hours since the rebuild by his brother but it had been idle in the Arkansas Air Museum for many yearS The fabric was good and the dope which Jim says was military surplus was still as plishyable as new The forward belly tank was removed to allow inspection of the carry-through tube Bob had expressed concern about-and it was found to have been reinforced by sections of the heavier DGA-1SP carry-through

Once I got the wobble pump primed and could get fuel pressure the engine started as though it had been run the day before-no mag drop nothing Everything on the

airplane worked initially but one of the old gyros did give up after a few hours says Jim

A unique thing about the airplane is that it has never been fully restored It has unshydergone extensive repairs on several occasions has been recovered and has had an engine change but some of it remains today as it was when it left the factory 67 years ago-the instrument panel

and upholstery for instance Its the appearance of the 01

Howard with its newold shape that matters most to Jim however He his wife Ada and John Turgshyyan flew it to Oshkosh last summer and the interview for this article was conducted in a car sitting beshyside the Howard which was on disshyplay in front of the VAA Red Barn Throughout the time I noticed that Jim couldnt keep his eyes off the airplane and at the end of the interview he remarked The intershyesting thing about this Howardshyand Im not the only one who feels this way-iS that every time I look at it I just cant get over it I just cant look enough I cant imagine a grown man looking at something like that and not appreCiating how beautiful it is In my eyes it is one of the prettiest airplanes that ever was In my opinion its the ultishymate Howard

At EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2004 Jim Younkin received the Bronze Age (1937-1941) Outstanding ClosedshyCockpit Monoplane award for his Howard DGA-ll NC18207

Jack Cox is the retired editorshyin-chief of EAA Sport Aviation magazine He and his wife Golda retired managing edishytor of EAA Publications write produce and publish the quarshyterly magazine Sportsman Pilot For more information conshytact them at Sportsman Pilot Magazine PO Box 400 Asheshyboro NC 27204-0400 E-mail spilotsportsmanpilotcom

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

18 MAY 2005

Jim Whites resurrection of the legendary Monoshycoupe NCS01 W made its flying debut at the annual

Cactus Fly-In at Casa Grande Arizona in early March

This is the 1930 110 Monoshycoupe Johnny livingston put back through the Monocoupe factory in 1932 to have its oneshypiece wing shortened from 32 to 23 feet 25 inches It thus beshycame the first Clipwing Monoshycoupe or more properly Monoshycoupe 110 Special

In 1933 Livingston sold 501 W to Jack Wright of Utica New York who entered it in the England-to-Australia MacRobshyertson Race in 1934 He and John Polando would get as far as India where they had to withdraw after the airplane was damaged

Shipped back to the United States it was repaired and

sold to Ruth Barron of Rochesshyter New York who would die in the crash of the airplane at Omaha on July 3 1936

In 1964 Jim Heim of Granada Hills California es tablished ownership of the Clipwing which was Monocoupe seshyrial number SW47 and beshygan building a new airframe He sold the project to Al Alshylin of Grand Haven Michigan in 1971 Allin in turn sold it to Jim White of Chandler Arishyzona in March of 1996 Jim had the airplane completed and painted in the colors and markshyings it bore in the MacRobertshyson Race including Race No 33 and the name of its sponsor the Baby Ruth Candy Co A major change from the 1934 configushyration was the installation of a 185 Warner engine and an 85shyinch Aeromatic F-220 propelshy

LIVINGSTON

FLIES AGAIN Famous race plane back in the skies

ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY JACK Cox

leI In 1934 the airplane was powshy ever It does not have an electrical the same with 501 W ered by a 145 Warner and equipped system and is devoid of avionics He Jim White retired as a captain for with a Hamilton Standard groundshy says he has flown his Bucker Jungshy America West late last year and curshyadjustable propeller Jim kept the mann all over the country with just rently does corporate flying for a Clipwing pure in one respect how- a finger on a chart and hopes to do Phoenix utility company

VINTAGE A I RPLANE 19

How to Fly A Vintage member earns his tailwheel wings

(The names in this story except Kenosha have been changed to protect the innocent)

Since April 1996 I have been conshycentrating on getting my Taylorcraft ready and learning how to fly it However delays keep cropping up

By the middle of 1997 I started thinking about getting some dual instruction I needed a checkout by a qualified tail wheel instructor and I needed a biennial flight review I really needed both since I had not flown in more than 15 years and had never flown a Taylorcraft

Around this time I received a notice that I had to vacate my low $85-a-month hangar at Kenosha because it was being torn down to put up more expensive hangars I checked at the airport for what I 20 MAY 2005

DEAN KRONWALL

felt were reasonable accommodashytions and then I expanded my search to southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois to find some rental space at a realistic price I found very little There was one spot available at Velvet Airpark sharing a hangar with two other planes for $125 a month I walked over the runways and found they were not well maintained if at all and abandoned that idea

A day or two later I decided that to keep my monthly costs down I might have to buy a hangar A check at the Kenosha Wisconsin airport revealed a few phone numshybers listing hangars for sale I lucked out I found a motivated seller We met one week later we negotiated a deal and I moved in around July 1

Now I feel like Im set for life with a nice hangar that will apprecishyate while we own it The hangar has electricity lights water and a 44-foot electrically operated bifold door The door has a bottom seal that keeps out the wind and dust I should also mention that the floor is all concrete It does not have heat or a bathroom but there is one conveniently located nearby in the terminal building

Now more about How to Fly My insurance policy stipulated that my instructor should have 300 hours of tailwheel time and 10 hours in type meaning Taylorcraft BCl2D I know a man with these qualificashytions in Hartford Wisconsin (100 miles from my home) and had talked to him some months ago

about instruction I had planned to have the T-Craft flown to Hartford by a qualified pilot go there and get instruction for a few days while I stayed with my daughter Susan and her family at nearby Jackson I contacted the Hartford instrucshytor and learned that he already had two students on the weekends and was busy during the week with his full-time advertising job so he could not handle another student He referred me to a delightful lady instructor located in Belvedere a loS-hour drive from my home I thought to myself There has to be a better way

So a few days later I contacted my insurance carrier and explained the problem The president told me I could now use any instructor with 300 hours and a written tailwheel endorsement Even that might be hard to find

I asked around and found Joe right next door Joe had another job flying early-morning freight out of Milwaukee and he would be available for instruction on Wednesday Saturday and Sunday So Joe and I got started on July 9 1997 Things were going quite well and I received six hours of dual through July 30

Joe was young handsome pershysonable and a recent graduate of a well-known flight school On the first day of instruction I suggested that Joe fly the left seat since that is the only side with foot pedals for the brakes and as pilot in command he needed all available features at his disposal Joe agreed and strapped himself into the left seat I explained the many features and controls and then stepped out in front of the plane and hand-propped it The engine started on the second pull I climbed in on the right and after a short warmup we taxied away for the planes second flight in 46 years It was my first flight in a plane that had taken me SS years to restore I was concerned that I might have forgotten to tighten a critical bolt install a cotter key or safety a nut

However any concern was quickly replaced with a feeling of deep satshyisfaction and confidence when I reshyalized we were actually flying and the plane was not falling out of the sky No problems were encountered on that flight or any subsequent flights The only adjustment made was to add a small fixed trim tab to add more right rudder The aircraft is stable when properly trimmed and will fly hands off

They sat in the cockpit and talked

for a while~

looking very much like student and instructor 1had nothing to lose~

so 1decided to inquire 1

went over and introduced myself

to Fred~ the instructor~ and

asked him to stop over when he was through

On the second day of instrucshytion I took the left seat and Joe the right We looked at each other and Joe said I dont do props I was disappointed because I thought evshyery instructor ought to know how to safely prop an engine I did not want to make the effort to locate another instructor so from that point I did all the hand-propping We developed a procedure whereby Joe would take the left seat so he could hold the brakes while the enshygine was started then hed jump over the radio console to the right

seat while I entered and strapped in on the left It was an inconvenient but workable solution Perhaps modern flight schools should teach hand-propping just in case

At the end of July UPS was hit by a strike and Joe became busy flying packages around Wisconsin He was not showing up for our lesshysons and was not answering phone messages or pages A few days later I learned from the office lady that Joe was not coming back to Supeshyrior Flying School and the month of August was almost gone So I was back to square one trying to locate another instructor

Superior was going to get anshyother instructor but I didnt want to wait another week while he came on-board and got up to speed The Grass-Roots Fly-In at Brodshyhead Wisconsin was coming up soon and I wanted to be ready if possible Then one day I was in the hangar cleaning and caressing the T-Craft when another plane with two people in it taxied up and parked across the aisle They sat in the cockpit and talked for a while looking very much like student and instructor I had nothing to lose so I decided to inquire I went over and introduced myself to Fred the instructor and asked him to stop over when he was through

Fred it turns out is a certificated flight instructor and FAA-desigshynated flight examiner with more than 11000 hours 2000 of which were in tailwheel type and more than 100 hours in Taylorcraft However his last instruction in a T-Craft was more than three years earlier so he was not quite current I asked him what he would have to do to get current He said he needed to make three takeoffs and landings in a tailwheel airplane So what were my options He had the experience and background I was looking for but was not quite curshyrent I took his business card and told him I would get back to him

I slept on the situation and called him the next day to discuss the

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

possibilities and to arrange an apshypointment We agreed he would fly the T-Craft to qualify himself and then give me instruction The next day we met at Kenosha and he flew making four takeoffs and landings as I nervously watched over the fence He returned to the hangar to pick me up and we have been flyshying together ever since

Fred has been a good choice and he does hand-propping He wants to make sure I can handle the taildragger without damaging the equipment or its pilot Tailshywheel airplanes are more difficult to taxi to take off and to land than tricycle-gear airplanes

Once in the air my flying skills such as slow flight power-off stalls power-on stalls flying straight and level steep turns medium turns climbs and glides seemed to return fairly quickly However crosswind takeoffs crosswind landings and wheel landings gave me more troushyble than I had anticipated I found I was losing directional control on takeoff because I was raising the tail too quickly-that is before I had sufficient airspeed to achieve rudshyder control Directional control is achieved by holding the tail wheel on the ground by pulling the conshytrol wheel to the rear as the takeoff is initiated then pushing forward on the control wheel to raise the tail as the plane accelerates

Due to poor weather I logged little flying time in August In September the training continued until September 26 with more practice on crosswind takeoffs and landings However time was running out for me because of a previously planned trip to Europe Flight training resumed on Octoshyber 16 Finally after 17 hours of dual instruction and 80 takeoffs and landings Fred signed my logshybook allowing me once again to enjoy the privileges of a private pilot I now have 150 hours of Tayshylorcraft time in my logbook and look forward to many more enjoyshyable hours 22 MAY 2005

INSTALLING AN ICOM A22 While getting the Taylorcraft ready to fly I needed to make some accomshy

modation fo r a radio a requ irement for the Kenosha airport which has a control tower I didnt want it to be lying on the seat with a rats nest of wires and such

My solution was to purchase an IC-A22 ICOM handheld t ransceiver which normally has an 8-inch antenna attached The ICOM can be operated with an AA battery pack or a rechargeable Ni-Cad battery pack I opted for the Ni-Cad wh ich I bring home and recharge after every flight and carry an AA battery pack in the glove compartment of the airshyplane in case of emergency Batshytery power is required because the T -Craft does not have its own electrical system

While fly ing it is prudent to have one hand on the wheel so I designed a small console to hold the radio Its mounted at a 45shydegree angle between the pi lot and the copilot so both can use it conveniently Its cradled so it will not move when pushing the buttons and the 45-degree angle makes it easy for old folks to see with their bifocals

The console also holds the inshytercom that connects to the headshysets worn by pilot and passenger There are also conductors leading from the console to push-to-talk switches located on each control wheel This arrangement allows the pi lot or copilot to have one hand on the control wheel and the other hand on the throttle whi le talking to the tower

Another consideration was the Please note the small battery at the antenna I didnt fee l the stanshy base of the pedestal H is 12V sealed dard 8-inch antenna would be adshy rechargeable 12middotAMP HRS PS-1212

connected with 114 tabs I remove thisequate so I added an extern al battery and radio for recharging afterantenna below the fuse lage and each flight I also carry spare radio batmiddot connected it to the rad io with a tery pack in the glove boxBNC connector and a piece of coshy

axial cable All of these parts are connected with a jumble of wires stuffed in a small box that is the bottom of the console For security I disconnect the radio and bring it home after each fl ight My inst ructor remarked that the syste m was working quite nicely

EE BUCK HILBERT

Selected sections from October of 1989

the usual stumpers I had to pass on to someone else Im fortunate in that respect I may not know an answer but I usually know someone who does And it is gratifying to get another call a day or so later telling me that advice or name Id given had paid off

One of the more interesting questions I ran across this past week was the eternal one of engine time versus age The fellow had located an antique airplane that had been in storage about 20 years He was elated because the Kinner had only about 150 hours on it SMOH I spent half an hour on the phone explaining to him that the 150 SMOH didnt mean a thing because of the long storage-that itd be best if he tore it down right then and there before he flew it Well it was too late Hed already ferried it some 200 miles He was tearing it down now and found all sorts of little items that all add up to a major-valve guides worn out severe pitting and rusting in the cylinders and almost complete loss of compression on several of the cylinders All in all I hope theres enough left to build an engine

The point is an engine in storage or one that has lain on the shelf for a number of years just wont be airworthy Even if it has been pickled for longtime storage which many of them arent it should be closely inspected before anything is done with it This applies to modern engines as well

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The end of August is almost the end of summer here in the nawth Im not looking forward to the blowin snow

but the signs are there Just a matter of time Maybe this winter Ill get the other Aeronca C-3 going (He did-HGF 2005)

After Oshkosh Dorothy and I took off for Canada to do some serious fishin Even though Ontario seems to be acting more and more like a police state we had a successful trip We limited out and did the catch-and-release routine about 75 times apiece turning back the small ones and those in the slot The slot limit is from 19 through 21 inches for walleyes Thats the best breeding size for them and so I am in complete agreement with the practice of releasing the slots Im very greedy though about keeping the bigger ones Well be eating some of them tonight

We got home Friday evening from the fishing trip and the stack of phone messages went all the way back to early July Dorothy and I had left here and joined the volunteer staff at OSH right after the Fourth It was a pleasant time up there just visiting with all the rest of the die-hard EAAers who do the same thing I spent some time working with Gordy Selke and Pat Packard building crates to be used in the new Eagle Hangar It was a real kick to see them being used under the B-17 and to hold the various dioramas

One of the more interesting

questions I ran across th is past week was the eternal one of engine time versus age

spread throughout the hangar And as for the hangar and the dedication ceremony I wish everyone could have been there The World War II band Skitch Henderson Joe Slattery Bob Hoovers speech and the presentations of the colors made for one great patriotic rally I had goose bumps and tears when Skitch led us through the final God Bless America sing-along I even weakened to the point where I shook hands with one of the Warbirds members Now that guys and gals shows how shook I was

Back to the present As I was scanning the message reminders the phone began ringing Ive had calls from Illinois Indiana Ohio California Iowa and even Oshkosh I cant get people to write letters but they sure know how to use the phone Most of the calls were questions I had answers for but one or two were

as the old-timers If there is any sign of rust on the outside its bound to be inside too Dont try to run it until youve looked in the bores inspected the valve stems peeked at the gear trains and otherwise assured yourself that it can be run without letting loose abrasive rust particles throughout the entire engine

Keep in mind too that there were no 2OOO-hour engines built until the late 1960s The engine life of engines prior to World War II was definitely limited The metallurgy and the lubricants were not up to the stuff we have today The machining methods were there but the metal alloys werent Neither were the great lubricants we have today

Lubricants serve three purposes in an aircraft engine We all know they oil things up but they also provide cleaning as well as cooling They hold all that guck

you used to find in the old engines in suspension and transport it away when you change the oil A good rule of thumb is to limit your oil time to 25 or at the maximum 30 hours between changes if you don t have a full-flow oil filter and 50 hours if you do have the full-flow filter In both cases look after the screens when you change and dont let more than four or five months go by without an oil change regardless of the time you put on the engine

I recently read about the soshycalled fallacy of pulling the prop through after your engine has been setting for a while Well Ive always taught my students to do just that They do it on the preflight before the first start in the morning I feel it serves a couple of purposes The main one is what I term a poor mans compression check

Second it does prelube some of the moving parts and prime the

oil pump so itll pick up the oil quicker In the case of a separate oil tank or dry sump engine itll give the scavenge pump a head start on pulling oil out of the sump But the article I read was dead set against the practice calling it unnecessary old-fashioned and a hangover from the old radial engine days The author dwelled quite a bit on how dangerous it was too and how you could get hurt if the engine fired and that it was much safer to do it with the starter

I cant argue with that one You always have to be aware of the potential damage that prop can cause He also s51id that pulling the prop through backward was hard on the gear trains vacuum pumps and stuff like that Well maybe hes right on that one too but Im still going to do it Any comment

Over to you

24 MAY 2005

BY HG FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTHS MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US FROM HAROLD SWANSON OUR THANKS TO HAROLD FOR SHARING THIS PHOTO WITH US

Send your answer to EAA Vintage Airplane PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Your answer needs to be in no later than June 10 for inclusion in the August 2005 issue of Vintage Airplane

You can also send your response via e-mail Send your answer to mysteryplaneeaaorg Be sure to include your name city and state in the body of your note and put (Month) Mystery Plane in the subject line

F EBRUARYS MYSTERY ANSWER

The February Mystery Plane was a true oldie supplied to us by the EAA Librarys Dwiggins collection

We cautioned you that it wasnt what you might think it was (and what I thought it was when I first saw it) A number of you like I thought it was the Curtiss Rheims Racer built for the 1909 Gordon Bennett race to be held

in th e summer at the Champagne region of France It turns out the airp lane is a Curtiss copy ident ified on the photograph as a Dechenn e aeroplane and the phot ograph is dated August 23 1911 LD McKee is listed as the p ilot and the location is Caddo Oklahoma The airplane is a very close copy of a Curtiss machine

and only close examination of the photograph revealed the engine most likely to be a water-cooled 4-cylinder upright and not the 8-cylinder engine used by Curtiss at Rheims We have no further information on the Dechenne and wou ld be grateful to any member who can fill in more details about the flight

VINTAGE A I RPLANE 25

LIVINGSTON

FLIES AGAIN Famous race plane back in the skies

ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY JACK Cox

leI In 1934 the airplane was powshy ever It does not have an electrical the same with 501 W ered by a 145 Warner and equipped system and is devoid of avionics He Jim White retired as a captain for with a Hamilton Standard groundshy says he has flown his Bucker Jungshy America West late last year and curshyadjustable propeller Jim kept the mann all over the country with just rently does corporate flying for a Clipwing pure in one respect how- a finger on a chart and hopes to do Phoenix utility company

VINTAGE A I RPLANE 19

How to Fly A Vintage member earns his tailwheel wings

(The names in this story except Kenosha have been changed to protect the innocent)

Since April 1996 I have been conshycentrating on getting my Taylorcraft ready and learning how to fly it However delays keep cropping up

By the middle of 1997 I started thinking about getting some dual instruction I needed a checkout by a qualified tail wheel instructor and I needed a biennial flight review I really needed both since I had not flown in more than 15 years and had never flown a Taylorcraft

Around this time I received a notice that I had to vacate my low $85-a-month hangar at Kenosha because it was being torn down to put up more expensive hangars I checked at the airport for what I 20 MAY 2005

DEAN KRONWALL

felt were reasonable accommodashytions and then I expanded my search to southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois to find some rental space at a realistic price I found very little There was one spot available at Velvet Airpark sharing a hangar with two other planes for $125 a month I walked over the runways and found they were not well maintained if at all and abandoned that idea

A day or two later I decided that to keep my monthly costs down I might have to buy a hangar A check at the Kenosha Wisconsin airport revealed a few phone numshybers listing hangars for sale I lucked out I found a motivated seller We met one week later we negotiated a deal and I moved in around July 1

Now I feel like Im set for life with a nice hangar that will apprecishyate while we own it The hangar has electricity lights water and a 44-foot electrically operated bifold door The door has a bottom seal that keeps out the wind and dust I should also mention that the floor is all concrete It does not have heat or a bathroom but there is one conveniently located nearby in the terminal building

Now more about How to Fly My insurance policy stipulated that my instructor should have 300 hours of tailwheel time and 10 hours in type meaning Taylorcraft BCl2D I know a man with these qualificashytions in Hartford Wisconsin (100 miles from my home) and had talked to him some months ago

about instruction I had planned to have the T-Craft flown to Hartford by a qualified pilot go there and get instruction for a few days while I stayed with my daughter Susan and her family at nearby Jackson I contacted the Hartford instrucshytor and learned that he already had two students on the weekends and was busy during the week with his full-time advertising job so he could not handle another student He referred me to a delightful lady instructor located in Belvedere a loS-hour drive from my home I thought to myself There has to be a better way

So a few days later I contacted my insurance carrier and explained the problem The president told me I could now use any instructor with 300 hours and a written tailwheel endorsement Even that might be hard to find

I asked around and found Joe right next door Joe had another job flying early-morning freight out of Milwaukee and he would be available for instruction on Wednesday Saturday and Sunday So Joe and I got started on July 9 1997 Things were going quite well and I received six hours of dual through July 30

Joe was young handsome pershysonable and a recent graduate of a well-known flight school On the first day of instruction I suggested that Joe fly the left seat since that is the only side with foot pedals for the brakes and as pilot in command he needed all available features at his disposal Joe agreed and strapped himself into the left seat I explained the many features and controls and then stepped out in front of the plane and hand-propped it The engine started on the second pull I climbed in on the right and after a short warmup we taxied away for the planes second flight in 46 years It was my first flight in a plane that had taken me SS years to restore I was concerned that I might have forgotten to tighten a critical bolt install a cotter key or safety a nut

However any concern was quickly replaced with a feeling of deep satshyisfaction and confidence when I reshyalized we were actually flying and the plane was not falling out of the sky No problems were encountered on that flight or any subsequent flights The only adjustment made was to add a small fixed trim tab to add more right rudder The aircraft is stable when properly trimmed and will fly hands off

They sat in the cockpit and talked

for a while~

looking very much like student and instructor 1had nothing to lose~

so 1decided to inquire 1

went over and introduced myself

to Fred~ the instructor~ and

asked him to stop over when he was through

On the second day of instrucshytion I took the left seat and Joe the right We looked at each other and Joe said I dont do props I was disappointed because I thought evshyery instructor ought to know how to safely prop an engine I did not want to make the effort to locate another instructor so from that point I did all the hand-propping We developed a procedure whereby Joe would take the left seat so he could hold the brakes while the enshygine was started then hed jump over the radio console to the right

seat while I entered and strapped in on the left It was an inconvenient but workable solution Perhaps modern flight schools should teach hand-propping just in case

At the end of July UPS was hit by a strike and Joe became busy flying packages around Wisconsin He was not showing up for our lesshysons and was not answering phone messages or pages A few days later I learned from the office lady that Joe was not coming back to Supeshyrior Flying School and the month of August was almost gone So I was back to square one trying to locate another instructor

Superior was going to get anshyother instructor but I didnt want to wait another week while he came on-board and got up to speed The Grass-Roots Fly-In at Brodshyhead Wisconsin was coming up soon and I wanted to be ready if possible Then one day I was in the hangar cleaning and caressing the T-Craft when another plane with two people in it taxied up and parked across the aisle They sat in the cockpit and talked for a while looking very much like student and instructor I had nothing to lose so I decided to inquire I went over and introduced myself to Fred the instructor and asked him to stop over when he was through

Fred it turns out is a certificated flight instructor and FAA-desigshynated flight examiner with more than 11000 hours 2000 of which were in tailwheel type and more than 100 hours in Taylorcraft However his last instruction in a T-Craft was more than three years earlier so he was not quite current I asked him what he would have to do to get current He said he needed to make three takeoffs and landings in a tailwheel airplane So what were my options He had the experience and background I was looking for but was not quite curshyrent I took his business card and told him I would get back to him

I slept on the situation and called him the next day to discuss the

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

possibilities and to arrange an apshypointment We agreed he would fly the T-Craft to qualify himself and then give me instruction The next day we met at Kenosha and he flew making four takeoffs and landings as I nervously watched over the fence He returned to the hangar to pick me up and we have been flyshying together ever since

Fred has been a good choice and he does hand-propping He wants to make sure I can handle the taildragger without damaging the equipment or its pilot Tailshywheel airplanes are more difficult to taxi to take off and to land than tricycle-gear airplanes

Once in the air my flying skills such as slow flight power-off stalls power-on stalls flying straight and level steep turns medium turns climbs and glides seemed to return fairly quickly However crosswind takeoffs crosswind landings and wheel landings gave me more troushyble than I had anticipated I found I was losing directional control on takeoff because I was raising the tail too quickly-that is before I had sufficient airspeed to achieve rudshyder control Directional control is achieved by holding the tail wheel on the ground by pulling the conshytrol wheel to the rear as the takeoff is initiated then pushing forward on the control wheel to raise the tail as the plane accelerates

Due to poor weather I logged little flying time in August In September the training continued until September 26 with more practice on crosswind takeoffs and landings However time was running out for me because of a previously planned trip to Europe Flight training resumed on Octoshyber 16 Finally after 17 hours of dual instruction and 80 takeoffs and landings Fred signed my logshybook allowing me once again to enjoy the privileges of a private pilot I now have 150 hours of Tayshylorcraft time in my logbook and look forward to many more enjoyshyable hours 22 MAY 2005

INSTALLING AN ICOM A22 While getting the Taylorcraft ready to fly I needed to make some accomshy

modation fo r a radio a requ irement for the Kenosha airport which has a control tower I didnt want it to be lying on the seat with a rats nest of wires and such

My solution was to purchase an IC-A22 ICOM handheld t ransceiver which normally has an 8-inch antenna attached The ICOM can be operated with an AA battery pack or a rechargeable Ni-Cad battery pack I opted for the Ni-Cad wh ich I bring home and recharge after every flight and carry an AA battery pack in the glove compartment of the airshyplane in case of emergency Batshytery power is required because the T -Craft does not have its own electrical system

While fly ing it is prudent to have one hand on the wheel so I designed a small console to hold the radio Its mounted at a 45shydegree angle between the pi lot and the copilot so both can use it conveniently Its cradled so it will not move when pushing the buttons and the 45-degree angle makes it easy for old folks to see with their bifocals

The console also holds the inshytercom that connects to the headshysets worn by pilot and passenger There are also conductors leading from the console to push-to-talk switches located on each control wheel This arrangement allows the pi lot or copilot to have one hand on the control wheel and the other hand on the throttle whi le talking to the tower

Another consideration was the Please note the small battery at the antenna I didnt fee l the stanshy base of the pedestal H is 12V sealed dard 8-inch antenna would be adshy rechargeable 12middotAMP HRS PS-1212

connected with 114 tabs I remove thisequate so I added an extern al battery and radio for recharging afterantenna below the fuse lage and each flight I also carry spare radio batmiddot connected it to the rad io with a tery pack in the glove boxBNC connector and a piece of coshy

axial cable All of these parts are connected with a jumble of wires stuffed in a small box that is the bottom of the console For security I disconnect the radio and bring it home after each fl ight My inst ructor remarked that the syste m was working quite nicely

EE BUCK HILBERT

Selected sections from October of 1989

the usual stumpers I had to pass on to someone else Im fortunate in that respect I may not know an answer but I usually know someone who does And it is gratifying to get another call a day or so later telling me that advice or name Id given had paid off

One of the more interesting questions I ran across this past week was the eternal one of engine time versus age The fellow had located an antique airplane that had been in storage about 20 years He was elated because the Kinner had only about 150 hours on it SMOH I spent half an hour on the phone explaining to him that the 150 SMOH didnt mean a thing because of the long storage-that itd be best if he tore it down right then and there before he flew it Well it was too late Hed already ferried it some 200 miles He was tearing it down now and found all sorts of little items that all add up to a major-valve guides worn out severe pitting and rusting in the cylinders and almost complete loss of compression on several of the cylinders All in all I hope theres enough left to build an engine

The point is an engine in storage or one that has lain on the shelf for a number of years just wont be airworthy Even if it has been pickled for longtime storage which many of them arent it should be closely inspected before anything is done with it This applies to modern engines as well

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The end of August is almost the end of summer here in the nawth Im not looking forward to the blowin snow

but the signs are there Just a matter of time Maybe this winter Ill get the other Aeronca C-3 going (He did-HGF 2005)

After Oshkosh Dorothy and I took off for Canada to do some serious fishin Even though Ontario seems to be acting more and more like a police state we had a successful trip We limited out and did the catch-and-release routine about 75 times apiece turning back the small ones and those in the slot The slot limit is from 19 through 21 inches for walleyes Thats the best breeding size for them and so I am in complete agreement with the practice of releasing the slots Im very greedy though about keeping the bigger ones Well be eating some of them tonight

We got home Friday evening from the fishing trip and the stack of phone messages went all the way back to early July Dorothy and I had left here and joined the volunteer staff at OSH right after the Fourth It was a pleasant time up there just visiting with all the rest of the die-hard EAAers who do the same thing I spent some time working with Gordy Selke and Pat Packard building crates to be used in the new Eagle Hangar It was a real kick to see them being used under the B-17 and to hold the various dioramas

One of the more interesting

questions I ran across th is past week was the eternal one of engine time versus age

spread throughout the hangar And as for the hangar and the dedication ceremony I wish everyone could have been there The World War II band Skitch Henderson Joe Slattery Bob Hoovers speech and the presentations of the colors made for one great patriotic rally I had goose bumps and tears when Skitch led us through the final God Bless America sing-along I even weakened to the point where I shook hands with one of the Warbirds members Now that guys and gals shows how shook I was

Back to the present As I was scanning the message reminders the phone began ringing Ive had calls from Illinois Indiana Ohio California Iowa and even Oshkosh I cant get people to write letters but they sure know how to use the phone Most of the calls were questions I had answers for but one or two were

as the old-timers If there is any sign of rust on the outside its bound to be inside too Dont try to run it until youve looked in the bores inspected the valve stems peeked at the gear trains and otherwise assured yourself that it can be run without letting loose abrasive rust particles throughout the entire engine

Keep in mind too that there were no 2OOO-hour engines built until the late 1960s The engine life of engines prior to World War II was definitely limited The metallurgy and the lubricants were not up to the stuff we have today The machining methods were there but the metal alloys werent Neither were the great lubricants we have today

Lubricants serve three purposes in an aircraft engine We all know they oil things up but they also provide cleaning as well as cooling They hold all that guck

you used to find in the old engines in suspension and transport it away when you change the oil A good rule of thumb is to limit your oil time to 25 or at the maximum 30 hours between changes if you don t have a full-flow oil filter and 50 hours if you do have the full-flow filter In both cases look after the screens when you change and dont let more than four or five months go by without an oil change regardless of the time you put on the engine

I recently read about the soshycalled fallacy of pulling the prop through after your engine has been setting for a while Well Ive always taught my students to do just that They do it on the preflight before the first start in the morning I feel it serves a couple of purposes The main one is what I term a poor mans compression check

Second it does prelube some of the moving parts and prime the

oil pump so itll pick up the oil quicker In the case of a separate oil tank or dry sump engine itll give the scavenge pump a head start on pulling oil out of the sump But the article I read was dead set against the practice calling it unnecessary old-fashioned and a hangover from the old radial engine days The author dwelled quite a bit on how dangerous it was too and how you could get hurt if the engine fired and that it was much safer to do it with the starter

I cant argue with that one You always have to be aware of the potential damage that prop can cause He also s51id that pulling the prop through backward was hard on the gear trains vacuum pumps and stuff like that Well maybe hes right on that one too but Im still going to do it Any comment

Over to you

24 MAY 2005

BY HG FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTHS MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US FROM HAROLD SWANSON OUR THANKS TO HAROLD FOR SHARING THIS PHOTO WITH US

Send your answer to EAA Vintage Airplane PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Your answer needs to be in no later than June 10 for inclusion in the August 2005 issue of Vintage Airplane

You can also send your response via e-mail Send your answer to mysteryplaneeaaorg Be sure to include your name city and state in the body of your note and put (Month) Mystery Plane in the subject line

F EBRUARYS MYSTERY ANSWER

The February Mystery Plane was a true oldie supplied to us by the EAA Librarys Dwiggins collection

We cautioned you that it wasnt what you might think it was (and what I thought it was when I first saw it) A number of you like I thought it was the Curtiss Rheims Racer built for the 1909 Gordon Bennett race to be held

in th e summer at the Champagne region of France It turns out the airp lane is a Curtiss copy ident ified on the photograph as a Dechenn e aeroplane and the phot ograph is dated August 23 1911 LD McKee is listed as the p ilot and the location is Caddo Oklahoma The airplane is a very close copy of a Curtiss machine

and only close examination of the photograph revealed the engine most likely to be a water-cooled 4-cylinder upright and not the 8-cylinder engine used by Curtiss at Rheims We have no further information on the Dechenne and wou ld be grateful to any member who can fill in more details about the flight

VINTAGE A I RPLANE 25

How to Fly A Vintage member earns his tailwheel wings

(The names in this story except Kenosha have been changed to protect the innocent)

Since April 1996 I have been conshycentrating on getting my Taylorcraft ready and learning how to fly it However delays keep cropping up

By the middle of 1997 I started thinking about getting some dual instruction I needed a checkout by a qualified tail wheel instructor and I needed a biennial flight review I really needed both since I had not flown in more than 15 years and had never flown a Taylorcraft

Around this time I received a notice that I had to vacate my low $85-a-month hangar at Kenosha because it was being torn down to put up more expensive hangars I checked at the airport for what I 20 MAY 2005

DEAN KRONWALL

felt were reasonable accommodashytions and then I expanded my search to southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois to find some rental space at a realistic price I found very little There was one spot available at Velvet Airpark sharing a hangar with two other planes for $125 a month I walked over the runways and found they were not well maintained if at all and abandoned that idea

A day or two later I decided that to keep my monthly costs down I might have to buy a hangar A check at the Kenosha Wisconsin airport revealed a few phone numshybers listing hangars for sale I lucked out I found a motivated seller We met one week later we negotiated a deal and I moved in around July 1

Now I feel like Im set for life with a nice hangar that will apprecishyate while we own it The hangar has electricity lights water and a 44-foot electrically operated bifold door The door has a bottom seal that keeps out the wind and dust I should also mention that the floor is all concrete It does not have heat or a bathroom but there is one conveniently located nearby in the terminal building

Now more about How to Fly My insurance policy stipulated that my instructor should have 300 hours of tailwheel time and 10 hours in type meaning Taylorcraft BCl2D I know a man with these qualificashytions in Hartford Wisconsin (100 miles from my home) and had talked to him some months ago

about instruction I had planned to have the T-Craft flown to Hartford by a qualified pilot go there and get instruction for a few days while I stayed with my daughter Susan and her family at nearby Jackson I contacted the Hartford instrucshytor and learned that he already had two students on the weekends and was busy during the week with his full-time advertising job so he could not handle another student He referred me to a delightful lady instructor located in Belvedere a loS-hour drive from my home I thought to myself There has to be a better way

So a few days later I contacted my insurance carrier and explained the problem The president told me I could now use any instructor with 300 hours and a written tailwheel endorsement Even that might be hard to find

I asked around and found Joe right next door Joe had another job flying early-morning freight out of Milwaukee and he would be available for instruction on Wednesday Saturday and Sunday So Joe and I got started on July 9 1997 Things were going quite well and I received six hours of dual through July 30

Joe was young handsome pershysonable and a recent graduate of a well-known flight school On the first day of instruction I suggested that Joe fly the left seat since that is the only side with foot pedals for the brakes and as pilot in command he needed all available features at his disposal Joe agreed and strapped himself into the left seat I explained the many features and controls and then stepped out in front of the plane and hand-propped it The engine started on the second pull I climbed in on the right and after a short warmup we taxied away for the planes second flight in 46 years It was my first flight in a plane that had taken me SS years to restore I was concerned that I might have forgotten to tighten a critical bolt install a cotter key or safety a nut

However any concern was quickly replaced with a feeling of deep satshyisfaction and confidence when I reshyalized we were actually flying and the plane was not falling out of the sky No problems were encountered on that flight or any subsequent flights The only adjustment made was to add a small fixed trim tab to add more right rudder The aircraft is stable when properly trimmed and will fly hands off

They sat in the cockpit and talked

for a while~

looking very much like student and instructor 1had nothing to lose~

so 1decided to inquire 1

went over and introduced myself

to Fred~ the instructor~ and

asked him to stop over when he was through

On the second day of instrucshytion I took the left seat and Joe the right We looked at each other and Joe said I dont do props I was disappointed because I thought evshyery instructor ought to know how to safely prop an engine I did not want to make the effort to locate another instructor so from that point I did all the hand-propping We developed a procedure whereby Joe would take the left seat so he could hold the brakes while the enshygine was started then hed jump over the radio console to the right

seat while I entered and strapped in on the left It was an inconvenient but workable solution Perhaps modern flight schools should teach hand-propping just in case

At the end of July UPS was hit by a strike and Joe became busy flying packages around Wisconsin He was not showing up for our lesshysons and was not answering phone messages or pages A few days later I learned from the office lady that Joe was not coming back to Supeshyrior Flying School and the month of August was almost gone So I was back to square one trying to locate another instructor

Superior was going to get anshyother instructor but I didnt want to wait another week while he came on-board and got up to speed The Grass-Roots Fly-In at Brodshyhead Wisconsin was coming up soon and I wanted to be ready if possible Then one day I was in the hangar cleaning and caressing the T-Craft when another plane with two people in it taxied up and parked across the aisle They sat in the cockpit and talked for a while looking very much like student and instructor I had nothing to lose so I decided to inquire I went over and introduced myself to Fred the instructor and asked him to stop over when he was through

Fred it turns out is a certificated flight instructor and FAA-desigshynated flight examiner with more than 11000 hours 2000 of which were in tailwheel type and more than 100 hours in Taylorcraft However his last instruction in a T-Craft was more than three years earlier so he was not quite current I asked him what he would have to do to get current He said he needed to make three takeoffs and landings in a tailwheel airplane So what were my options He had the experience and background I was looking for but was not quite curshyrent I took his business card and told him I would get back to him

I slept on the situation and called him the next day to discuss the

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

possibilities and to arrange an apshypointment We agreed he would fly the T-Craft to qualify himself and then give me instruction The next day we met at Kenosha and he flew making four takeoffs and landings as I nervously watched over the fence He returned to the hangar to pick me up and we have been flyshying together ever since

Fred has been a good choice and he does hand-propping He wants to make sure I can handle the taildragger without damaging the equipment or its pilot Tailshywheel airplanes are more difficult to taxi to take off and to land than tricycle-gear airplanes

Once in the air my flying skills such as slow flight power-off stalls power-on stalls flying straight and level steep turns medium turns climbs and glides seemed to return fairly quickly However crosswind takeoffs crosswind landings and wheel landings gave me more troushyble than I had anticipated I found I was losing directional control on takeoff because I was raising the tail too quickly-that is before I had sufficient airspeed to achieve rudshyder control Directional control is achieved by holding the tail wheel on the ground by pulling the conshytrol wheel to the rear as the takeoff is initiated then pushing forward on the control wheel to raise the tail as the plane accelerates

Due to poor weather I logged little flying time in August In September the training continued until September 26 with more practice on crosswind takeoffs and landings However time was running out for me because of a previously planned trip to Europe Flight training resumed on Octoshyber 16 Finally after 17 hours of dual instruction and 80 takeoffs and landings Fred signed my logshybook allowing me once again to enjoy the privileges of a private pilot I now have 150 hours of Tayshylorcraft time in my logbook and look forward to many more enjoyshyable hours 22 MAY 2005

INSTALLING AN ICOM A22 While getting the Taylorcraft ready to fly I needed to make some accomshy

modation fo r a radio a requ irement for the Kenosha airport which has a control tower I didnt want it to be lying on the seat with a rats nest of wires and such

My solution was to purchase an IC-A22 ICOM handheld t ransceiver which normally has an 8-inch antenna attached The ICOM can be operated with an AA battery pack or a rechargeable Ni-Cad battery pack I opted for the Ni-Cad wh ich I bring home and recharge after every flight and carry an AA battery pack in the glove compartment of the airshyplane in case of emergency Batshytery power is required because the T -Craft does not have its own electrical system

While fly ing it is prudent to have one hand on the wheel so I designed a small console to hold the radio Its mounted at a 45shydegree angle between the pi lot and the copilot so both can use it conveniently Its cradled so it will not move when pushing the buttons and the 45-degree angle makes it easy for old folks to see with their bifocals

The console also holds the inshytercom that connects to the headshysets worn by pilot and passenger There are also conductors leading from the console to push-to-talk switches located on each control wheel This arrangement allows the pi lot or copilot to have one hand on the control wheel and the other hand on the throttle whi le talking to the tower

Another consideration was the Please note the small battery at the antenna I didnt fee l the stanshy base of the pedestal H is 12V sealed dard 8-inch antenna would be adshy rechargeable 12middotAMP HRS PS-1212

connected with 114 tabs I remove thisequate so I added an extern al battery and radio for recharging afterantenna below the fuse lage and each flight I also carry spare radio batmiddot connected it to the rad io with a tery pack in the glove boxBNC connector and a piece of coshy

axial cable All of these parts are connected with a jumble of wires stuffed in a small box that is the bottom of the console For security I disconnect the radio and bring it home after each fl ight My inst ructor remarked that the syste m was working quite nicely

EE BUCK HILBERT

Selected sections from October of 1989

the usual stumpers I had to pass on to someone else Im fortunate in that respect I may not know an answer but I usually know someone who does And it is gratifying to get another call a day or so later telling me that advice or name Id given had paid off

One of the more interesting questions I ran across this past week was the eternal one of engine time versus age The fellow had located an antique airplane that had been in storage about 20 years He was elated because the Kinner had only about 150 hours on it SMOH I spent half an hour on the phone explaining to him that the 150 SMOH didnt mean a thing because of the long storage-that itd be best if he tore it down right then and there before he flew it Well it was too late Hed already ferried it some 200 miles He was tearing it down now and found all sorts of little items that all add up to a major-valve guides worn out severe pitting and rusting in the cylinders and almost complete loss of compression on several of the cylinders All in all I hope theres enough left to build an engine

The point is an engine in storage or one that has lain on the shelf for a number of years just wont be airworthy Even if it has been pickled for longtime storage which many of them arent it should be closely inspected before anything is done with it This applies to modern engines as well

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The end of August is almost the end of summer here in the nawth Im not looking forward to the blowin snow

but the signs are there Just a matter of time Maybe this winter Ill get the other Aeronca C-3 going (He did-HGF 2005)

After Oshkosh Dorothy and I took off for Canada to do some serious fishin Even though Ontario seems to be acting more and more like a police state we had a successful trip We limited out and did the catch-and-release routine about 75 times apiece turning back the small ones and those in the slot The slot limit is from 19 through 21 inches for walleyes Thats the best breeding size for them and so I am in complete agreement with the practice of releasing the slots Im very greedy though about keeping the bigger ones Well be eating some of them tonight

We got home Friday evening from the fishing trip and the stack of phone messages went all the way back to early July Dorothy and I had left here and joined the volunteer staff at OSH right after the Fourth It was a pleasant time up there just visiting with all the rest of the die-hard EAAers who do the same thing I spent some time working with Gordy Selke and Pat Packard building crates to be used in the new Eagle Hangar It was a real kick to see them being used under the B-17 and to hold the various dioramas

One of the more interesting

questions I ran across th is past week was the eternal one of engine time versus age

spread throughout the hangar And as for the hangar and the dedication ceremony I wish everyone could have been there The World War II band Skitch Henderson Joe Slattery Bob Hoovers speech and the presentations of the colors made for one great patriotic rally I had goose bumps and tears when Skitch led us through the final God Bless America sing-along I even weakened to the point where I shook hands with one of the Warbirds members Now that guys and gals shows how shook I was

Back to the present As I was scanning the message reminders the phone began ringing Ive had calls from Illinois Indiana Ohio California Iowa and even Oshkosh I cant get people to write letters but they sure know how to use the phone Most of the calls were questions I had answers for but one or two were

as the old-timers If there is any sign of rust on the outside its bound to be inside too Dont try to run it until youve looked in the bores inspected the valve stems peeked at the gear trains and otherwise assured yourself that it can be run without letting loose abrasive rust particles throughout the entire engine

Keep in mind too that there were no 2OOO-hour engines built until the late 1960s The engine life of engines prior to World War II was definitely limited The metallurgy and the lubricants were not up to the stuff we have today The machining methods were there but the metal alloys werent Neither were the great lubricants we have today

Lubricants serve three purposes in an aircraft engine We all know they oil things up but they also provide cleaning as well as cooling They hold all that guck

you used to find in the old engines in suspension and transport it away when you change the oil A good rule of thumb is to limit your oil time to 25 or at the maximum 30 hours between changes if you don t have a full-flow oil filter and 50 hours if you do have the full-flow filter In both cases look after the screens when you change and dont let more than four or five months go by without an oil change regardless of the time you put on the engine

I recently read about the soshycalled fallacy of pulling the prop through after your engine has been setting for a while Well Ive always taught my students to do just that They do it on the preflight before the first start in the morning I feel it serves a couple of purposes The main one is what I term a poor mans compression check

Second it does prelube some of the moving parts and prime the

oil pump so itll pick up the oil quicker In the case of a separate oil tank or dry sump engine itll give the scavenge pump a head start on pulling oil out of the sump But the article I read was dead set against the practice calling it unnecessary old-fashioned and a hangover from the old radial engine days The author dwelled quite a bit on how dangerous it was too and how you could get hurt if the engine fired and that it was much safer to do it with the starter

I cant argue with that one You always have to be aware of the potential damage that prop can cause He also s51id that pulling the prop through backward was hard on the gear trains vacuum pumps and stuff like that Well maybe hes right on that one too but Im still going to do it Any comment

Over to you

24 MAY 2005

BY HG FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTHS MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US FROM HAROLD SWANSON OUR THANKS TO HAROLD FOR SHARING THIS PHOTO WITH US

Send your answer to EAA Vintage Airplane PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Your answer needs to be in no later than June 10 for inclusion in the August 2005 issue of Vintage Airplane

You can also send your response via e-mail Send your answer to mysteryplaneeaaorg Be sure to include your name city and state in the body of your note and put (Month) Mystery Plane in the subject line

F EBRUARYS MYSTERY ANSWER

The February Mystery Plane was a true oldie supplied to us by the EAA Librarys Dwiggins collection

We cautioned you that it wasnt what you might think it was (and what I thought it was when I first saw it) A number of you like I thought it was the Curtiss Rheims Racer built for the 1909 Gordon Bennett race to be held

in th e summer at the Champagne region of France It turns out the airp lane is a Curtiss copy ident ified on the photograph as a Dechenn e aeroplane and the phot ograph is dated August 23 1911 LD McKee is listed as the p ilot and the location is Caddo Oklahoma The airplane is a very close copy of a Curtiss machine

and only close examination of the photograph revealed the engine most likely to be a water-cooled 4-cylinder upright and not the 8-cylinder engine used by Curtiss at Rheims We have no further information on the Dechenne and wou ld be grateful to any member who can fill in more details about the flight

VINTAGE A I RPLANE 25

about instruction I had planned to have the T-Craft flown to Hartford by a qualified pilot go there and get instruction for a few days while I stayed with my daughter Susan and her family at nearby Jackson I contacted the Hartford instrucshytor and learned that he already had two students on the weekends and was busy during the week with his full-time advertising job so he could not handle another student He referred me to a delightful lady instructor located in Belvedere a loS-hour drive from my home I thought to myself There has to be a better way

So a few days later I contacted my insurance carrier and explained the problem The president told me I could now use any instructor with 300 hours and a written tailwheel endorsement Even that might be hard to find

I asked around and found Joe right next door Joe had another job flying early-morning freight out of Milwaukee and he would be available for instruction on Wednesday Saturday and Sunday So Joe and I got started on July 9 1997 Things were going quite well and I received six hours of dual through July 30

Joe was young handsome pershysonable and a recent graduate of a well-known flight school On the first day of instruction I suggested that Joe fly the left seat since that is the only side with foot pedals for the brakes and as pilot in command he needed all available features at his disposal Joe agreed and strapped himself into the left seat I explained the many features and controls and then stepped out in front of the plane and hand-propped it The engine started on the second pull I climbed in on the right and after a short warmup we taxied away for the planes second flight in 46 years It was my first flight in a plane that had taken me SS years to restore I was concerned that I might have forgotten to tighten a critical bolt install a cotter key or safety a nut

However any concern was quickly replaced with a feeling of deep satshyisfaction and confidence when I reshyalized we were actually flying and the plane was not falling out of the sky No problems were encountered on that flight or any subsequent flights The only adjustment made was to add a small fixed trim tab to add more right rudder The aircraft is stable when properly trimmed and will fly hands off

They sat in the cockpit and talked

for a while~

looking very much like student and instructor 1had nothing to lose~

so 1decided to inquire 1

went over and introduced myself

to Fred~ the instructor~ and

asked him to stop over when he was through

On the second day of instrucshytion I took the left seat and Joe the right We looked at each other and Joe said I dont do props I was disappointed because I thought evshyery instructor ought to know how to safely prop an engine I did not want to make the effort to locate another instructor so from that point I did all the hand-propping We developed a procedure whereby Joe would take the left seat so he could hold the brakes while the enshygine was started then hed jump over the radio console to the right

seat while I entered and strapped in on the left It was an inconvenient but workable solution Perhaps modern flight schools should teach hand-propping just in case

At the end of July UPS was hit by a strike and Joe became busy flying packages around Wisconsin He was not showing up for our lesshysons and was not answering phone messages or pages A few days later I learned from the office lady that Joe was not coming back to Supeshyrior Flying School and the month of August was almost gone So I was back to square one trying to locate another instructor

Superior was going to get anshyother instructor but I didnt want to wait another week while he came on-board and got up to speed The Grass-Roots Fly-In at Brodshyhead Wisconsin was coming up soon and I wanted to be ready if possible Then one day I was in the hangar cleaning and caressing the T-Craft when another plane with two people in it taxied up and parked across the aisle They sat in the cockpit and talked for a while looking very much like student and instructor I had nothing to lose so I decided to inquire I went over and introduced myself to Fred the instructor and asked him to stop over when he was through

Fred it turns out is a certificated flight instructor and FAA-desigshynated flight examiner with more than 11000 hours 2000 of which were in tailwheel type and more than 100 hours in Taylorcraft However his last instruction in a T-Craft was more than three years earlier so he was not quite current I asked him what he would have to do to get current He said he needed to make three takeoffs and landings in a tailwheel airplane So what were my options He had the experience and background I was looking for but was not quite curshyrent I took his business card and told him I would get back to him

I slept on the situation and called him the next day to discuss the

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

possibilities and to arrange an apshypointment We agreed he would fly the T-Craft to qualify himself and then give me instruction The next day we met at Kenosha and he flew making four takeoffs and landings as I nervously watched over the fence He returned to the hangar to pick me up and we have been flyshying together ever since

Fred has been a good choice and he does hand-propping He wants to make sure I can handle the taildragger without damaging the equipment or its pilot Tailshywheel airplanes are more difficult to taxi to take off and to land than tricycle-gear airplanes

Once in the air my flying skills such as slow flight power-off stalls power-on stalls flying straight and level steep turns medium turns climbs and glides seemed to return fairly quickly However crosswind takeoffs crosswind landings and wheel landings gave me more troushyble than I had anticipated I found I was losing directional control on takeoff because I was raising the tail too quickly-that is before I had sufficient airspeed to achieve rudshyder control Directional control is achieved by holding the tail wheel on the ground by pulling the conshytrol wheel to the rear as the takeoff is initiated then pushing forward on the control wheel to raise the tail as the plane accelerates

Due to poor weather I logged little flying time in August In September the training continued until September 26 with more practice on crosswind takeoffs and landings However time was running out for me because of a previously planned trip to Europe Flight training resumed on Octoshyber 16 Finally after 17 hours of dual instruction and 80 takeoffs and landings Fred signed my logshybook allowing me once again to enjoy the privileges of a private pilot I now have 150 hours of Tayshylorcraft time in my logbook and look forward to many more enjoyshyable hours 22 MAY 2005

INSTALLING AN ICOM A22 While getting the Taylorcraft ready to fly I needed to make some accomshy

modation fo r a radio a requ irement for the Kenosha airport which has a control tower I didnt want it to be lying on the seat with a rats nest of wires and such

My solution was to purchase an IC-A22 ICOM handheld t ransceiver which normally has an 8-inch antenna attached The ICOM can be operated with an AA battery pack or a rechargeable Ni-Cad battery pack I opted for the Ni-Cad wh ich I bring home and recharge after every flight and carry an AA battery pack in the glove compartment of the airshyplane in case of emergency Batshytery power is required because the T -Craft does not have its own electrical system

While fly ing it is prudent to have one hand on the wheel so I designed a small console to hold the radio Its mounted at a 45shydegree angle between the pi lot and the copilot so both can use it conveniently Its cradled so it will not move when pushing the buttons and the 45-degree angle makes it easy for old folks to see with their bifocals

The console also holds the inshytercom that connects to the headshysets worn by pilot and passenger There are also conductors leading from the console to push-to-talk switches located on each control wheel This arrangement allows the pi lot or copilot to have one hand on the control wheel and the other hand on the throttle whi le talking to the tower

Another consideration was the Please note the small battery at the antenna I didnt fee l the stanshy base of the pedestal H is 12V sealed dard 8-inch antenna would be adshy rechargeable 12middotAMP HRS PS-1212

connected with 114 tabs I remove thisequate so I added an extern al battery and radio for recharging afterantenna below the fuse lage and each flight I also carry spare radio batmiddot connected it to the rad io with a tery pack in the glove boxBNC connector and a piece of coshy

axial cable All of these parts are connected with a jumble of wires stuffed in a small box that is the bottom of the console For security I disconnect the radio and bring it home after each fl ight My inst ructor remarked that the syste m was working quite nicely

EE BUCK HILBERT

Selected sections from October of 1989

the usual stumpers I had to pass on to someone else Im fortunate in that respect I may not know an answer but I usually know someone who does And it is gratifying to get another call a day or so later telling me that advice or name Id given had paid off

One of the more interesting questions I ran across this past week was the eternal one of engine time versus age The fellow had located an antique airplane that had been in storage about 20 years He was elated because the Kinner had only about 150 hours on it SMOH I spent half an hour on the phone explaining to him that the 150 SMOH didnt mean a thing because of the long storage-that itd be best if he tore it down right then and there before he flew it Well it was too late Hed already ferried it some 200 miles He was tearing it down now and found all sorts of little items that all add up to a major-valve guides worn out severe pitting and rusting in the cylinders and almost complete loss of compression on several of the cylinders All in all I hope theres enough left to build an engine

The point is an engine in storage or one that has lain on the shelf for a number of years just wont be airworthy Even if it has been pickled for longtime storage which many of them arent it should be closely inspected before anything is done with it This applies to modern engines as well

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The end of August is almost the end of summer here in the nawth Im not looking forward to the blowin snow

but the signs are there Just a matter of time Maybe this winter Ill get the other Aeronca C-3 going (He did-HGF 2005)

After Oshkosh Dorothy and I took off for Canada to do some serious fishin Even though Ontario seems to be acting more and more like a police state we had a successful trip We limited out and did the catch-and-release routine about 75 times apiece turning back the small ones and those in the slot The slot limit is from 19 through 21 inches for walleyes Thats the best breeding size for them and so I am in complete agreement with the practice of releasing the slots Im very greedy though about keeping the bigger ones Well be eating some of them tonight

We got home Friday evening from the fishing trip and the stack of phone messages went all the way back to early July Dorothy and I had left here and joined the volunteer staff at OSH right after the Fourth It was a pleasant time up there just visiting with all the rest of the die-hard EAAers who do the same thing I spent some time working with Gordy Selke and Pat Packard building crates to be used in the new Eagle Hangar It was a real kick to see them being used under the B-17 and to hold the various dioramas

One of the more interesting

questions I ran across th is past week was the eternal one of engine time versus age

spread throughout the hangar And as for the hangar and the dedication ceremony I wish everyone could have been there The World War II band Skitch Henderson Joe Slattery Bob Hoovers speech and the presentations of the colors made for one great patriotic rally I had goose bumps and tears when Skitch led us through the final God Bless America sing-along I even weakened to the point where I shook hands with one of the Warbirds members Now that guys and gals shows how shook I was

Back to the present As I was scanning the message reminders the phone began ringing Ive had calls from Illinois Indiana Ohio California Iowa and even Oshkosh I cant get people to write letters but they sure know how to use the phone Most of the calls were questions I had answers for but one or two were

as the old-timers If there is any sign of rust on the outside its bound to be inside too Dont try to run it until youve looked in the bores inspected the valve stems peeked at the gear trains and otherwise assured yourself that it can be run without letting loose abrasive rust particles throughout the entire engine

Keep in mind too that there were no 2OOO-hour engines built until the late 1960s The engine life of engines prior to World War II was definitely limited The metallurgy and the lubricants were not up to the stuff we have today The machining methods were there but the metal alloys werent Neither were the great lubricants we have today

Lubricants serve three purposes in an aircraft engine We all know they oil things up but they also provide cleaning as well as cooling They hold all that guck

you used to find in the old engines in suspension and transport it away when you change the oil A good rule of thumb is to limit your oil time to 25 or at the maximum 30 hours between changes if you don t have a full-flow oil filter and 50 hours if you do have the full-flow filter In both cases look after the screens when you change and dont let more than four or five months go by without an oil change regardless of the time you put on the engine

I recently read about the soshycalled fallacy of pulling the prop through after your engine has been setting for a while Well Ive always taught my students to do just that They do it on the preflight before the first start in the morning I feel it serves a couple of purposes The main one is what I term a poor mans compression check

Second it does prelube some of the moving parts and prime the

oil pump so itll pick up the oil quicker In the case of a separate oil tank or dry sump engine itll give the scavenge pump a head start on pulling oil out of the sump But the article I read was dead set against the practice calling it unnecessary old-fashioned and a hangover from the old radial engine days The author dwelled quite a bit on how dangerous it was too and how you could get hurt if the engine fired and that it was much safer to do it with the starter

I cant argue with that one You always have to be aware of the potential damage that prop can cause He also s51id that pulling the prop through backward was hard on the gear trains vacuum pumps and stuff like that Well maybe hes right on that one too but Im still going to do it Any comment

Over to you

24 MAY 2005

BY HG FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTHS MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US FROM HAROLD SWANSON OUR THANKS TO HAROLD FOR SHARING THIS PHOTO WITH US

Send your answer to EAA Vintage Airplane PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Your answer needs to be in no later than June 10 for inclusion in the August 2005 issue of Vintage Airplane

You can also send your response via e-mail Send your answer to mysteryplaneeaaorg Be sure to include your name city and state in the body of your note and put (Month) Mystery Plane in the subject line

F EBRUARYS MYSTERY ANSWER

The February Mystery Plane was a true oldie supplied to us by the EAA Librarys Dwiggins collection

We cautioned you that it wasnt what you might think it was (and what I thought it was when I first saw it) A number of you like I thought it was the Curtiss Rheims Racer built for the 1909 Gordon Bennett race to be held

in th e summer at the Champagne region of France It turns out the airp lane is a Curtiss copy ident ified on the photograph as a Dechenn e aeroplane and the phot ograph is dated August 23 1911 LD McKee is listed as the p ilot and the location is Caddo Oklahoma The airplane is a very close copy of a Curtiss machine

and only close examination of the photograph revealed the engine most likely to be a water-cooled 4-cylinder upright and not the 8-cylinder engine used by Curtiss at Rheims We have no further information on the Dechenne and wou ld be grateful to any member who can fill in more details about the flight

VINTAGE A I RPLANE 25

possibilities and to arrange an apshypointment We agreed he would fly the T-Craft to qualify himself and then give me instruction The next day we met at Kenosha and he flew making four takeoffs and landings as I nervously watched over the fence He returned to the hangar to pick me up and we have been flyshying together ever since

Fred has been a good choice and he does hand-propping He wants to make sure I can handle the taildragger without damaging the equipment or its pilot Tailshywheel airplanes are more difficult to taxi to take off and to land than tricycle-gear airplanes

Once in the air my flying skills such as slow flight power-off stalls power-on stalls flying straight and level steep turns medium turns climbs and glides seemed to return fairly quickly However crosswind takeoffs crosswind landings and wheel landings gave me more troushyble than I had anticipated I found I was losing directional control on takeoff because I was raising the tail too quickly-that is before I had sufficient airspeed to achieve rudshyder control Directional control is achieved by holding the tail wheel on the ground by pulling the conshytrol wheel to the rear as the takeoff is initiated then pushing forward on the control wheel to raise the tail as the plane accelerates

Due to poor weather I logged little flying time in August In September the training continued until September 26 with more practice on crosswind takeoffs and landings However time was running out for me because of a previously planned trip to Europe Flight training resumed on Octoshyber 16 Finally after 17 hours of dual instruction and 80 takeoffs and landings Fred signed my logshybook allowing me once again to enjoy the privileges of a private pilot I now have 150 hours of Tayshylorcraft time in my logbook and look forward to many more enjoyshyable hours 22 MAY 2005

INSTALLING AN ICOM A22 While getting the Taylorcraft ready to fly I needed to make some accomshy

modation fo r a radio a requ irement for the Kenosha airport which has a control tower I didnt want it to be lying on the seat with a rats nest of wires and such

My solution was to purchase an IC-A22 ICOM handheld t ransceiver which normally has an 8-inch antenna attached The ICOM can be operated with an AA battery pack or a rechargeable Ni-Cad battery pack I opted for the Ni-Cad wh ich I bring home and recharge after every flight and carry an AA battery pack in the glove compartment of the airshyplane in case of emergency Batshytery power is required because the T -Craft does not have its own electrical system

While fly ing it is prudent to have one hand on the wheel so I designed a small console to hold the radio Its mounted at a 45shydegree angle between the pi lot and the copilot so both can use it conveniently Its cradled so it will not move when pushing the buttons and the 45-degree angle makes it easy for old folks to see with their bifocals

The console also holds the inshytercom that connects to the headshysets worn by pilot and passenger There are also conductors leading from the console to push-to-talk switches located on each control wheel This arrangement allows the pi lot or copilot to have one hand on the control wheel and the other hand on the throttle whi le talking to the tower

Another consideration was the Please note the small battery at the antenna I didnt fee l the stanshy base of the pedestal H is 12V sealed dard 8-inch antenna would be adshy rechargeable 12middotAMP HRS PS-1212

connected with 114 tabs I remove thisequate so I added an extern al battery and radio for recharging afterantenna below the fuse lage and each flight I also carry spare radio batmiddot connected it to the rad io with a tery pack in the glove boxBNC connector and a piece of coshy

axial cable All of these parts are connected with a jumble of wires stuffed in a small box that is the bottom of the console For security I disconnect the radio and bring it home after each fl ight My inst ructor remarked that the syste m was working quite nicely

EE BUCK HILBERT

Selected sections from October of 1989

the usual stumpers I had to pass on to someone else Im fortunate in that respect I may not know an answer but I usually know someone who does And it is gratifying to get another call a day or so later telling me that advice or name Id given had paid off

One of the more interesting questions I ran across this past week was the eternal one of engine time versus age The fellow had located an antique airplane that had been in storage about 20 years He was elated because the Kinner had only about 150 hours on it SMOH I spent half an hour on the phone explaining to him that the 150 SMOH didnt mean a thing because of the long storage-that itd be best if he tore it down right then and there before he flew it Well it was too late Hed already ferried it some 200 miles He was tearing it down now and found all sorts of little items that all add up to a major-valve guides worn out severe pitting and rusting in the cylinders and almost complete loss of compression on several of the cylinders All in all I hope theres enough left to build an engine

The point is an engine in storage or one that has lain on the shelf for a number of years just wont be airworthy Even if it has been pickled for longtime storage which many of them arent it should be closely inspected before anything is done with it This applies to modern engines as well

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The end of August is almost the end of summer here in the nawth Im not looking forward to the blowin snow

but the signs are there Just a matter of time Maybe this winter Ill get the other Aeronca C-3 going (He did-HGF 2005)

After Oshkosh Dorothy and I took off for Canada to do some serious fishin Even though Ontario seems to be acting more and more like a police state we had a successful trip We limited out and did the catch-and-release routine about 75 times apiece turning back the small ones and those in the slot The slot limit is from 19 through 21 inches for walleyes Thats the best breeding size for them and so I am in complete agreement with the practice of releasing the slots Im very greedy though about keeping the bigger ones Well be eating some of them tonight

We got home Friday evening from the fishing trip and the stack of phone messages went all the way back to early July Dorothy and I had left here and joined the volunteer staff at OSH right after the Fourth It was a pleasant time up there just visiting with all the rest of the die-hard EAAers who do the same thing I spent some time working with Gordy Selke and Pat Packard building crates to be used in the new Eagle Hangar It was a real kick to see them being used under the B-17 and to hold the various dioramas

One of the more interesting

questions I ran across th is past week was the eternal one of engine time versus age

spread throughout the hangar And as for the hangar and the dedication ceremony I wish everyone could have been there The World War II band Skitch Henderson Joe Slattery Bob Hoovers speech and the presentations of the colors made for one great patriotic rally I had goose bumps and tears when Skitch led us through the final God Bless America sing-along I even weakened to the point where I shook hands with one of the Warbirds members Now that guys and gals shows how shook I was

Back to the present As I was scanning the message reminders the phone began ringing Ive had calls from Illinois Indiana Ohio California Iowa and even Oshkosh I cant get people to write letters but they sure know how to use the phone Most of the calls were questions I had answers for but one or two were

as the old-timers If there is any sign of rust on the outside its bound to be inside too Dont try to run it until youve looked in the bores inspected the valve stems peeked at the gear trains and otherwise assured yourself that it can be run without letting loose abrasive rust particles throughout the entire engine

Keep in mind too that there were no 2OOO-hour engines built until the late 1960s The engine life of engines prior to World War II was definitely limited The metallurgy and the lubricants were not up to the stuff we have today The machining methods were there but the metal alloys werent Neither were the great lubricants we have today

Lubricants serve three purposes in an aircraft engine We all know they oil things up but they also provide cleaning as well as cooling They hold all that guck

you used to find in the old engines in suspension and transport it away when you change the oil A good rule of thumb is to limit your oil time to 25 or at the maximum 30 hours between changes if you don t have a full-flow oil filter and 50 hours if you do have the full-flow filter In both cases look after the screens when you change and dont let more than four or five months go by without an oil change regardless of the time you put on the engine

I recently read about the soshycalled fallacy of pulling the prop through after your engine has been setting for a while Well Ive always taught my students to do just that They do it on the preflight before the first start in the morning I feel it serves a couple of purposes The main one is what I term a poor mans compression check

Second it does prelube some of the moving parts and prime the

oil pump so itll pick up the oil quicker In the case of a separate oil tank or dry sump engine itll give the scavenge pump a head start on pulling oil out of the sump But the article I read was dead set against the practice calling it unnecessary old-fashioned and a hangover from the old radial engine days The author dwelled quite a bit on how dangerous it was too and how you could get hurt if the engine fired and that it was much safer to do it with the starter

I cant argue with that one You always have to be aware of the potential damage that prop can cause He also s51id that pulling the prop through backward was hard on the gear trains vacuum pumps and stuff like that Well maybe hes right on that one too but Im still going to do it Any comment

Over to you

24 MAY 2005

BY HG FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTHS MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US FROM HAROLD SWANSON OUR THANKS TO HAROLD FOR SHARING THIS PHOTO WITH US

Send your answer to EAA Vintage Airplane PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Your answer needs to be in no later than June 10 for inclusion in the August 2005 issue of Vintage Airplane

You can also send your response via e-mail Send your answer to mysteryplaneeaaorg Be sure to include your name city and state in the body of your note and put (Month) Mystery Plane in the subject line

F EBRUARYS MYSTERY ANSWER

The February Mystery Plane was a true oldie supplied to us by the EAA Librarys Dwiggins collection

We cautioned you that it wasnt what you might think it was (and what I thought it was when I first saw it) A number of you like I thought it was the Curtiss Rheims Racer built for the 1909 Gordon Bennett race to be held

in th e summer at the Champagne region of France It turns out the airp lane is a Curtiss copy ident ified on the photograph as a Dechenn e aeroplane and the phot ograph is dated August 23 1911 LD McKee is listed as the p ilot and the location is Caddo Oklahoma The airplane is a very close copy of a Curtiss machine

and only close examination of the photograph revealed the engine most likely to be a water-cooled 4-cylinder upright and not the 8-cylinder engine used by Curtiss at Rheims We have no further information on the Dechenne and wou ld be grateful to any member who can fill in more details about the flight

VINTAGE A I RPLANE 25

EE BUCK HILBERT

Selected sections from October of 1989

the usual stumpers I had to pass on to someone else Im fortunate in that respect I may not know an answer but I usually know someone who does And it is gratifying to get another call a day or so later telling me that advice or name Id given had paid off

One of the more interesting questions I ran across this past week was the eternal one of engine time versus age The fellow had located an antique airplane that had been in storage about 20 years He was elated because the Kinner had only about 150 hours on it SMOH I spent half an hour on the phone explaining to him that the 150 SMOH didnt mean a thing because of the long storage-that itd be best if he tore it down right then and there before he flew it Well it was too late Hed already ferried it some 200 miles He was tearing it down now and found all sorts of little items that all add up to a major-valve guides worn out severe pitting and rusting in the cylinders and almost complete loss of compression on several of the cylinders All in all I hope theres enough left to build an engine

The point is an engine in storage or one that has lain on the shelf for a number of years just wont be airworthy Even if it has been pickled for longtime storage which many of them arent it should be closely inspected before anything is done with it This applies to modern engines as well

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The end of August is almost the end of summer here in the nawth Im not looking forward to the blowin snow

but the signs are there Just a matter of time Maybe this winter Ill get the other Aeronca C-3 going (He did-HGF 2005)

After Oshkosh Dorothy and I took off for Canada to do some serious fishin Even though Ontario seems to be acting more and more like a police state we had a successful trip We limited out and did the catch-and-release routine about 75 times apiece turning back the small ones and those in the slot The slot limit is from 19 through 21 inches for walleyes Thats the best breeding size for them and so I am in complete agreement with the practice of releasing the slots Im very greedy though about keeping the bigger ones Well be eating some of them tonight

We got home Friday evening from the fishing trip and the stack of phone messages went all the way back to early July Dorothy and I had left here and joined the volunteer staff at OSH right after the Fourth It was a pleasant time up there just visiting with all the rest of the die-hard EAAers who do the same thing I spent some time working with Gordy Selke and Pat Packard building crates to be used in the new Eagle Hangar It was a real kick to see them being used under the B-17 and to hold the various dioramas

One of the more interesting

questions I ran across th is past week was the eternal one of engine time versus age

spread throughout the hangar And as for the hangar and the dedication ceremony I wish everyone could have been there The World War II band Skitch Henderson Joe Slattery Bob Hoovers speech and the presentations of the colors made for one great patriotic rally I had goose bumps and tears when Skitch led us through the final God Bless America sing-along I even weakened to the point where I shook hands with one of the Warbirds members Now that guys and gals shows how shook I was

Back to the present As I was scanning the message reminders the phone began ringing Ive had calls from Illinois Indiana Ohio California Iowa and even Oshkosh I cant get people to write letters but they sure know how to use the phone Most of the calls were questions I had answers for but one or two were

as the old-timers If there is any sign of rust on the outside its bound to be inside too Dont try to run it until youve looked in the bores inspected the valve stems peeked at the gear trains and otherwise assured yourself that it can be run without letting loose abrasive rust particles throughout the entire engine

Keep in mind too that there were no 2OOO-hour engines built until the late 1960s The engine life of engines prior to World War II was definitely limited The metallurgy and the lubricants were not up to the stuff we have today The machining methods were there but the metal alloys werent Neither were the great lubricants we have today

Lubricants serve three purposes in an aircraft engine We all know they oil things up but they also provide cleaning as well as cooling They hold all that guck

you used to find in the old engines in suspension and transport it away when you change the oil A good rule of thumb is to limit your oil time to 25 or at the maximum 30 hours between changes if you don t have a full-flow oil filter and 50 hours if you do have the full-flow filter In both cases look after the screens when you change and dont let more than four or five months go by without an oil change regardless of the time you put on the engine

I recently read about the soshycalled fallacy of pulling the prop through after your engine has been setting for a while Well Ive always taught my students to do just that They do it on the preflight before the first start in the morning I feel it serves a couple of purposes The main one is what I term a poor mans compression check

Second it does prelube some of the moving parts and prime the

oil pump so itll pick up the oil quicker In the case of a separate oil tank or dry sump engine itll give the scavenge pump a head start on pulling oil out of the sump But the article I read was dead set against the practice calling it unnecessary old-fashioned and a hangover from the old radial engine days The author dwelled quite a bit on how dangerous it was too and how you could get hurt if the engine fired and that it was much safer to do it with the starter

I cant argue with that one You always have to be aware of the potential damage that prop can cause He also s51id that pulling the prop through backward was hard on the gear trains vacuum pumps and stuff like that Well maybe hes right on that one too but Im still going to do it Any comment

Over to you

24 MAY 2005

BY HG FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTHS MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US FROM HAROLD SWANSON OUR THANKS TO HAROLD FOR SHARING THIS PHOTO WITH US

Send your answer to EAA Vintage Airplane PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Your answer needs to be in no later than June 10 for inclusion in the August 2005 issue of Vintage Airplane

You can also send your response via e-mail Send your answer to mysteryplaneeaaorg Be sure to include your name city and state in the body of your note and put (Month) Mystery Plane in the subject line

F EBRUARYS MYSTERY ANSWER

The February Mystery Plane was a true oldie supplied to us by the EAA Librarys Dwiggins collection

We cautioned you that it wasnt what you might think it was (and what I thought it was when I first saw it) A number of you like I thought it was the Curtiss Rheims Racer built for the 1909 Gordon Bennett race to be held

in th e summer at the Champagne region of France It turns out the airp lane is a Curtiss copy ident ified on the photograph as a Dechenn e aeroplane and the phot ograph is dated August 23 1911 LD McKee is listed as the p ilot and the location is Caddo Oklahoma The airplane is a very close copy of a Curtiss machine

and only close examination of the photograph revealed the engine most likely to be a water-cooled 4-cylinder upright and not the 8-cylinder engine used by Curtiss at Rheims We have no further information on the Dechenne and wou ld be grateful to any member who can fill in more details about the flight

VINTAGE A I RPLANE 25

as the old-timers If there is any sign of rust on the outside its bound to be inside too Dont try to run it until youve looked in the bores inspected the valve stems peeked at the gear trains and otherwise assured yourself that it can be run without letting loose abrasive rust particles throughout the entire engine

Keep in mind too that there were no 2OOO-hour engines built until the late 1960s The engine life of engines prior to World War II was definitely limited The metallurgy and the lubricants were not up to the stuff we have today The machining methods were there but the metal alloys werent Neither were the great lubricants we have today

Lubricants serve three purposes in an aircraft engine We all know they oil things up but they also provide cleaning as well as cooling They hold all that guck

you used to find in the old engines in suspension and transport it away when you change the oil A good rule of thumb is to limit your oil time to 25 or at the maximum 30 hours between changes if you don t have a full-flow oil filter and 50 hours if you do have the full-flow filter In both cases look after the screens when you change and dont let more than four or five months go by without an oil change regardless of the time you put on the engine

I recently read about the soshycalled fallacy of pulling the prop through after your engine has been setting for a while Well Ive always taught my students to do just that They do it on the preflight before the first start in the morning I feel it serves a couple of purposes The main one is what I term a poor mans compression check

Second it does prelube some of the moving parts and prime the

oil pump so itll pick up the oil quicker In the case of a separate oil tank or dry sump engine itll give the scavenge pump a head start on pulling oil out of the sump But the article I read was dead set against the practice calling it unnecessary old-fashioned and a hangover from the old radial engine days The author dwelled quite a bit on how dangerous it was too and how you could get hurt if the engine fired and that it was much safer to do it with the starter

I cant argue with that one You always have to be aware of the potential damage that prop can cause He also s51id that pulling the prop through backward was hard on the gear trains vacuum pumps and stuff like that Well maybe hes right on that one too but Im still going to do it Any comment

Over to you

24 MAY 2005

BY HG FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTHS MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US FROM HAROLD SWANSON OUR THANKS TO HAROLD FOR SHARING THIS PHOTO WITH US

Send your answer to EAA Vintage Airplane PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Your answer needs to be in no later than June 10 for inclusion in the August 2005 issue of Vintage Airplane

You can also send your response via e-mail Send your answer to mysteryplaneeaaorg Be sure to include your name city and state in the body of your note and put (Month) Mystery Plane in the subject line

F EBRUARYS MYSTERY ANSWER

The February Mystery Plane was a true oldie supplied to us by the EAA Librarys Dwiggins collection

We cautioned you that it wasnt what you might think it was (and what I thought it was when I first saw it) A number of you like I thought it was the Curtiss Rheims Racer built for the 1909 Gordon Bennett race to be held

in th e summer at the Champagne region of France It turns out the airp lane is a Curtiss copy ident ified on the photograph as a Dechenn e aeroplane and the phot ograph is dated August 23 1911 LD McKee is listed as the p ilot and the location is Caddo Oklahoma The airplane is a very close copy of a Curtiss machine

and only close examination of the photograph revealed the engine most likely to be a water-cooled 4-cylinder upright and not the 8-cylinder engine used by Curtiss at Rheims We have no further information on the Dechenne and wou ld be grateful to any member who can fill in more details about the flight

VINTAGE A I RPLANE 25

BY HG FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTHS MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US FROM HAROLD SWANSON OUR THANKS TO HAROLD FOR SHARING THIS PHOTO WITH US

Send your answer to EAA Vintage Airplane PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Your answer needs to be in no later than June 10 for inclusion in the August 2005 issue of Vintage Airplane

You can also send your response via e-mail Send your answer to mysteryplaneeaaorg Be sure to include your name city and state in the body of your note and put (Month) Mystery Plane in the subject line

F EBRUARYS MYSTERY ANSWER

The February Mystery Plane was a true oldie supplied to us by the EAA Librarys Dwiggins collection

We cautioned you that it wasnt what you might think it was (and what I thought it was when I first saw it) A number of you like I thought it was the Curtiss Rheims Racer built for the 1909 Gordon Bennett race to be held

in th e summer at the Champagne region of France It turns out the airp lane is a Curtiss copy ident ified on the photograph as a Dechenn e aeroplane and the phot ograph is dated August 23 1911 LD McKee is listed as the p ilot and the location is Caddo Oklahoma The airplane is a very close copy of a Curtiss machine

and only close examination of the photograph revealed the engine most likely to be a water-cooled 4-cylinder upright and not the 8-cylinder engine used by Curtiss at Rheims We have no further information on the Dechenne and wou ld be grateful to any member who can fill in more details about the flight

VINTAGE A I RPLANE 25

THE WOODSON EXPRESS HAL SWANSON

From time to time our members are able to fill in the blanks with more information concerning the Mystery Planes we publish Hal Swanson a regular contributor to Mystery Plane wrote to tell us more

about the Woodson Express our October 2004 mystery The aircraft was manufactured by the Woodson Engishy

neering Corporation (WECO) of Bryan Ohio Orner Lee Woodson was the design engineer

In 1926 three Woodson Express 2A planes participated in the second Ford Air Tour Each was powered by the washyter-cooled Salmson 2A2 engine manufactured in France It developed 260 hp The Salmson was noted for several chronic disorders valve springs would let go and push rods would eject themselves from the cylinders Also crankshaft problems arose frequently Due to engine failshyure only one of the three Woodsons completed the tour

The pilots were Ph illip H Downes (finished 16th) HH Gallup and Russell A Hosler

Following the competition Downes was quoted as folshy

Simplex Red Arrow and the Cycloplane Trainer See the nine-volume series US Civil Aircraft by Joseph Juptner for more details on those airplanes

HERE IT IS ~I T he airplane commerce demands

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WOODSON ENGINEERING CO Bryan Ohio

lows We have rocker arms and valve springs planted in every farm in five states There should be a good crop of motors next spring

Woodson went on to do engineering work on the

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26 MAY 2005

William Conn Fairfield OH

Owner of Conn Asel and Glider (Aero Tow)

Learned to fly at MKC in 1957 amidst Connies DC-3s and DC-7s

Owns and flies a 1946 Aeronca Champ and a 1962 Flybaby 1A

I am happy with AUA - always cheaper with less restrictions on

airplanes that have to be hand propped If I have questions

seems their people always have the right answersI

- Bill Conn

AUA is Vintage Aircraft Association approved To become a member of VAA call 800middot843middot3612

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Come for the weekend BUILD FOR A LIFETIME

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SCHEDULE HOMEBUILDER WORKSHOP

continued from page 2

April after the spring break The push to roll back the aircraft

registration tax gained momentum around New Years when aircraft owners received their first $100 airshycraft registration tax notices Ownshyers and aviation enthusiasts were mobilized to contact their elected state officials to get the new legislashytion introduced and passed

Pioneer Airport Opens April 30-May I 2005

10 am- 5 pm Pioneer Airport opens for a new

summer flying season EAAs Ford TrishyMotor leads the aircraft on display Enjoy special fly-ins from the Wisconsin Wings of the Ercoupe Owners Club the Piper Cub Club and the National Aeronca Association Those wishing to flyin need to register by contacting Syd Cohen at sydloischarternet or 715-842-7814

ELECTRICAL CONDUIT

ASSEMBLIES bull MIL SPEC and RFI SHIELDING

CONDUIT ASSEMBLIES custom made per your specifications

bull Original equipment style Braided Conduits in Aluminum Brass or Stainless Steel

bull We carry a complete line of AN - MS Electrical Fittings Backshell Adapters and Specialty Fittings

bull We also have full machine shop capabilities for any custom applications you may require

bull Rebuild your Warbird back to Original

AIRFLEX INDUSTRIES 2538 SUPPLY STREET POMONA CA 91767

Tel 909-392-8474 AI RFLEXI NOUSTRIES CO M

May 14-15

May 20-22

Oshkosh WI

Griffin GA (Atlanta Area)

RV Assembly

TIC Welding

May 21 -22 Frederick MD Fabric Covering

June 11-12 Corona CA RV Assembly (LA Area)

TIC Welding (Atlanta Area)

June 24-26 Griffin GA

Spray Painting Finishing (Atlanta Area)

June 25-26 Griffin GA

June 25-26 Lakeland FL RV Assembly (Sun n Fun

campus)

Aug 13-14

EAA SportAir Sponsors

Indianapolis IN (Vincennes University)

KLEIN TOOLS wwwklelntoolscom

~EAA AI iitJrllfiISWORKSHOPS ___ ~

EAA

Composite Construction

Sheet Metal Basics Fabric Covering

Electrical Systems t_Airerf Coa Un g _

_polyfibercom wwwalrcraftsprucecom

1-800-WORKSHOP 1-800-967-5746

wwwsportaircom

YOU CAN BUILD IT LET EAA TEACH YOU HOW 28 MAY 2005

Something to buy sell or trade Classified Word Ads $550 per 10 words 180 words maximum with boldface lead-in on first line Classified Display Ads One column wide (2167 inches) by 1 2 or 3 inches high at $20 per inch Black and white only and no

frequency discounts Advertising Closing Dates 10th of second month prior to desired issue date (Le January 10 is the closing date for the March issue) VAA

reserves the right to reject any advertising in conflict with its policies Rates cover one insertion 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 (classadseaaorg) 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 EM Address advertising correspondence to EM Publications Classified Ad Manager PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086

BABBITT BEARING SERVICE - rod bearings main bearings bushingsmaster rodsvalvespiston rings Call us Toll Free 1-800-233-6934 e-mail ramremfgao com Website wwwramenginecom VINTAGE ENGINE MACHINE WORKS N 604 FREYA ST SPOKANE WA 99202

Flying wires available 1994 pricing Visit wwwflyingwirescom or call

800-517 -9278

1939 Taylorcraft - Stored 30 years All original 50 hp Lycoming one mag Very restorable - will need complete restoration $8000 OBO 540-325-8888

Warner engines Two 165s one fresh OH one low time on Fairchild 24 mount with all accessories Also Helton Lark and Aeronca C-3 project Find my name and address in the Officers and Directors listing and call evenings E E Buck Hilbert

AampP IA Annual 100 hr inspections Wayne Forshey 614-476-9150

Ohio - statewide

THERES JUST NOTHING LIKE IT ON THE WEB

wwwaviation-giftshopcom A Website with the Pilot in Mind (and those who love airplanes)

WANTED One or more Lycoming 0shy145 runouts for parts One single ignition Must be complete including mag drives Smith 815-436-5917 chazhudworldnetattnet

For Sale - 1939 Spartan Executive 3500TT 10 SMOH 214-354-6418 wwwipjetservicescom

Airplane T-Shirts 150 Different Airplanes Available

WE PROBABLY HAVE YOUR AIRPLANE

wwwairpianetshirtscom 1-800-645-7739

AERO CLASSIC COLLECTOR SERIES

Vintage Tires New USA Production

Show off your pride and joy with a fresh set of Vintage Rubber These newly minted tires are FAA-TSOd and speed rated to 120 MPH Some things are better left the way they

were and in the 40 s and 50s these tires were perfectly in tune to the exciting times in aviation Not only do these tires set your vintage plane apart from the rest but also look exceptional on all General Aviation aircraft Deep 832nd tread depth offers above average tread life and UV treated rubber resists aging First impressions last a lifetime so put these bring back the good times New General Aviation Sizes Available

500 x 5 600 x 6 700 x 8

Desser has the largest stock and selection of Vintage and Warbird tires in the world Contact us with

ftTelePhone 800-247-8473 or 323-721-4900 FAX 323-721-7888

6900 Acco SI Montebello CA 90640 TIRE amp RUBBER COMPANY 3400 Chelsea Ave Memphis TN 38106

5inc1920 wwwdessercom

DESSERI(j

Just Uke in the Good Old Days

All the Randolph products aD the Randolph colors aD the Randolph quality An aviation icon is back on the market again to stay

800-362-3490~ Or e-mail us at info randolphaircraftcom ~

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29

MembershiQ Services Directory VINTAGE AIRCRAFT

ASSOCIATION OFFICERS

President Vice-President Geoff Robison George Daubner

1521 E MacGregor Dr 2448 Lough Lane New Haven IN 46774 Hartford WI 53027

260-493-4724 262-673-5885 chie7025aolcom vaa1yboytnSflCOI1l

Secretary Treasurer Steve Nesse Charles W Harris

2009 Highland Ave 7215 East 46th St Albert Lea MN 56007 Tulsa OK 74147

507-373-1674 918-622-8400 shlesdeskmediacom cwhhvsucom

DIRECTORS Steve Bender Dale A Gustafson

85 Brush Hill Road 7724 Shady Hills Dr Sherborn MA 01770 Indianapolis IN 46278

508-653-7557 317 -293-4430 sst 10comcastnet dalefayemsncom

David Bennett Jeannie Hill PO Box 1188 PO Box 328

Roseville CA 95678 Harvard IL 60033-0328 916-645-8370 815-943-7205

alltiquerinreachcom dingilaoowcllet

John Berendt Espie Butch Joyce 7645 Echo Point Rd 704 N Regional Rd

Cannon Falls MN 55009 Greensboro NC 27409 507-263-2414 336-668-3650

mjbfchldrcotlnectcom windsockaolcom

Robert C Bob Brauer Steve Krog 9345 S Hoyne 1002 Heather Ln

Chicago IL 60620 Hartford WI 53027 773-779-2105 262-966-7627

photopilotaolcom sskrogaolcom

Dave Clark Robert D Bob Lumley 635 Vestal Lane 1265 South 124th St

Plainfield IN 46168 Brookfield WI 53005 317-839-4500 262-782-2633

davecpdjquestnet lumperexecpccom

John S Copeland Gene Morris lA Deacon Street 5936 Steve Court

Northborough MA 01532 Roanoke TX 76262 508-393-4775 817-491-9110

copeland Ijllnocom genemorrisevlnet

Phil Coulson Dean Richardson 28415 Springbrook Dr 1429 Kings Lynn Rd

Lawton MI 49065 Stoughton WI 53589 269-624-6490 608-877-8485

rcolIIsonS J6Cscom daraprilairecom

Roger Gomoll SH Wes Schmid 8891 Airport Rd Box C2 2359 Lefeber Avenue

Blaine MN 55449 Wauwatosa WI 53213 763-786-3342 414-771-1545

pledgedrivemsllcom shschmidmiwpccom

ENJOY THE MANY BENEFITS OF EAA AND

THE EAA V INTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

EAA and Division Membersh ip Services 800-843-3612 FAX 920-426-6761 (800 AM-700 PM Monday-Friday CST)

-Newrenew memberships EAA Divishysions (Vintage Aircraft Association lAC Warbirds) National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI)

-Address changes -Merchandise sales -Gift memberships

Programs and Activities EAA AirVenture Fax-On-Demand Directory 732-88S-6711

Auto Fuel STCs 920-426-4843 Buildrestore information 920-426-4821 Chapters locatingorganizing920-426-4876 Education 888-322-3229

- EAA Air Academy - EAA Scholarships

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

Web Site wwwvintageaircraftorg and wwwaiTventureorg E-Mail vintageaircrafteaaorg

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION EAA lAC

Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Current EAA members may join the Association Inc is $40 for one year includshy International Aerobatic Club Inc Divishying 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family sion and receive SPOR T AER OBATICS membership is an additional $10 annually magazine for an additional $45 per year Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) EAA Membership SPOR T AEROBATshyis available at $23 annually All major credit ICS magazine and one year membership cards accepted for membership (Add $16 for in the lAC Division is available for $55 Foreign Postage) per year (SPOR T AVIATION magazine

not included) (Add $15 for ForeignEAA SPORT PILOT Postage)

Current EAA members may add EAA SPORT PILOT magazine for an additional WARBIRDS $20 per year Current EAA members may join the EAA

EAA Membership and EAA SPOR T Warbirds of America Division and receive PILOT magazine is available for $40 per WARBIRDS magazine for an additional $40 year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not inshy per year cluded) (Add $16 for Foreign Postage) EAA Membership WARBIRDS magashy

zine and one year membership in the VINTAGE AIRCRAFf ASSOCIATION Warbirds Division is available for $50 per

Current EAA members may join the year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not inshyVintage Aircraft Association and receive cluded) (Add $7 for Foreign Postage) VINTAGE AIRPLANE magazine for an adshyditional $36 per year FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE Please submit your remittance with a magaZine and one year membership in the EAA check or draft drawn on a United States Vintage Aircraft Association is available for $46 bank payable in United States dollars Add per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not inshy required Foreign Postage amount for each cluded) (Add $7 for Foreign Postage) membership

Flight Advisors information 920-426-6864 Flight Instructor information 920-426-6801 Flying Start Program 920-426-6847 Library ServicesResearch 920-426-4848 Medical Questions 920-426-61l2 Technical Counselors 920-426-6864 Young Eagles 877-806-8902

Benefits AUA Vintage Insurance Plan 800-727-3823 EAA Aircraft Insurance Plan 866-647-4322 Term Life and Accidental 800-241-6103 Death Insurance (Harvey Watt amp Company) Editorial 920-426-4825 Vintage FAX 920-426-6865

- Submitting articlephoto - Advertising information

EAA Aviation Foundation Artifact Donations 920-426-4877 Financial Support 800-236-1025

DIRECTORS EMERITUS

Gene Chase EE Buck Hilbert 2159 Carlton Rd PO Box 424

Oshkosh WI 54904 Union IL 60180 920-231-5002 815-923-4591

GRCHAcharternet b7acmcnet

Ronald C Fritz 15401 Sparta Ave

Kent City MI 49330 616-678-5012

rFritzpathwaynetcom

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

Copyright copy2005 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 Aviation Center 3000 Poberezny Rd PO Box 3086 Oshkosh Wisconsin 54903-3086 e-mail vintageaircrafteaaorg Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh Wisconsin 54901 and at additional mailing offices POSTshyMASTER Send address changes to Vintage Airplane PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 PM 40032445 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to World Distribution Services Station A PO Box 54 Windsor ON N9A 6J5 e-mail cpcretumswdsmailcom FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES - Please allow at least two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via surface mail ADVERTISshyING - Vintage Aircraft Association does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken

EDITORIAL POLICY Readers are encouraged to submit stories and photographs Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with the contributor No remuneration is made Material should be sent to Editor VINTAGE AIRPLANE PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Phone 920-426-4800

EAAreg and EAA SPORT AVIATIONreg the EAA Logoreg and Aeronautica7M are registered trademarks trademarks and service marks of the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc The use of these trademarks and service marks without the permission of the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is strictly prohibited

30 MAY 2005

r ~~==~~~~~~~ WMampW~

The following list ofcoming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute apshyproval sponsorship involvement control or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed To submit an event send the information via mail to Vintage Airplane PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Or e-mail the information to vintageaircra(teaaorg Information should be received four months prior to the event date

MAY 6-8--Burlington NC-Alamance County Airport (BUY) Carolinas-Virginia VAA Chapter 3 Spring Fly-In BBQ at the field Friday Evening judgshying in all classes Saturday Awards Banquet Sat Night Everyone welcome Info 843-753-7138 or eiwilsonhomexpresswaynet

MAY 7-Meridian MS-Topton Air Estates EAA Ch 986 Annual Fly-In Free BBQ lunch to all who fly in Everyone welcome Info 601-693-1858 or iddlerossmsncom

MAY 7-Kennewick WA-Vista Field EAA Ch 391 Fly-In Breakfast Info 509-735-1664

MAY l 3-lS-Kewanee IL-Municipal Airport (EZI) 3rd Annual Midwest Aeronca Festival Flying events food seminars Breakfast 14th amp 15th On field camping or motels Info J ody 309-853-8141 or jodydebearthlinknet or wwwangelirecomstars4aeroncafest

MAY lS-Romeoville IL-Lewis Lockport Airport (LOT) EAA Ch 15 Fly-In Breakfast 7am-Noon Info 630-243shy8213

MAY lS-Warwick NY-Warwick Aerodrome (N72) EAA Ch 501 Annual Fly-In lOam-4pm Unicorn advisory frequency 1230 Food available trophies for various classes Registration for judging closes at 1pm Info 973-492-9025 or donproVoptonlinenet

MAY l S-l 6---Tallahassee FL-Air Fest All vintage owners pilots and enthusiasts are welcome Info Pete 850shy656-2197 or flynishUnrnet

MAY2l-Middletown OH-Middletown Municipal Airport (MWO) Chris Cakes Pancake Breakfast FlyshyIn 7am-11am Sponsored by the Middletown Aviation Club Info Bill 513-423-1386 Bob flyboybobcorecom

MAY 2l-22-North Hampton NH-Hampton Airfield (7b3) VAA Ch 15 Giant Fly Market Fly-In Pancake Breakfast amp afternoon BBQ dogs amp burgers each day Info Joe 603-539-7168 or presidentVaa15org or Hampton Airfield 603-964-6749

MAY 28-30-Welland Ontario Canada-Beside Niagara Falls New York USA-Canadian Stinson Fly-In 37 Stinsons coming so far trying to get at least 50 Stinsons All welcome Niagara Falls tour BBQs Camp on airport or hotel Info Roger 416-919-3810 or rogernokesympaticoca

JUNE 3-S-Troy OH-WACO Field (1WF) VAA Ch 36 Vintage Strawberry Festival Fly-In Open to all planes vintage and newer Lunch available each day Transportation available to Troy citys Strawberry Festival on Saturday and Sunday Vintage autos tractors motorcycles and more Info Dick amp Patti 937-335-1444 or dicandpattiaolcom or Roland amp Diane 937-294-1107 naviongemaircom

JUNE 3-4--Bartlesville OK-Frank Phillips Field (BVO) 19th Annual Biplane Expo Info wwwbiplaneexpocom or Charlie Harris 918-622-8400

JUNE S-DeKalb IL-DeKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport (DKB) EAA Ch 241 41st Annual Fly-In Breakfast 7amshyNoon Info 847-888-2719

JUNE S-Juneau WI-Dodge Count Airport (UNU) unicorn 1227 EAA Ch 897 Fly-InDrive-In Breakfast 8am-Noon Pancakes eggs sausage milk OJ Coffee Cost Birth-2 Free 3-10 yrs $3 11 and up $5 Displays of members projects hotrods antique tractors amp motorcycles scenic airplane rides avail for a fee from Wise Aviation Event inside the hangar so you can be comfortable even if the weather is cool or raining Info Robert 920-386-2134

JUNE S-Tunkhannock PA-Skyhaven Airport (76N) FlyshyIn Breakfast 730am-1pm Pancakes eggs sausage amp ham $3 children $5 adults Antique amp homebuilt aircraft Info 570-836-4800 or ijiptdnet

JUNE lO-12-Arlington TX-Gainesville Municipal Airport (GLE) Texas Ch Antique Airplane Assn 42nd Annual Fly-In Info Jim 817-468-1571

JUNE l6middotl9---St Louis MO-Dauster Flying Field Creve Coeur Airport (lHO) American Waco Club Fly-In Info Phil Coulson 269-624-6490 or rcoulson516cscom wwwamericanwacoclubcom

JUNE 2S-Prosser WA-EAA Ch 391 Fly Info 509-735-1664 JUNE 2S26---Bowling Green OH-Wood County Airport

(lGO) EAA Ch 582 Plane Fun fly-in 9am-5pm each day Pancake breakfast and food all day Young Eagles rides warbirds homebuilts vintage and car show (Saturday only) Info Brian 419-351-3374 or brianmacleodjunocom or wwweaa582org

JULY 8middotlO-Alliance OH-Barber Airport (2D1) 33rd Annual Fly-In and Reunion sponsored by Taylorcraft Foundation Owners Club and Factory Old-Timers Breakfast served Sat amp Sun by EAA Ch 82 Info www taylorcratorg or 330-823-1168

JULY lO-lS-Dearborn MI-Grosse Ile Municipal Airport Intl Cessna 170 37th Annual Convention Info 936shy369-4362 or wwwcessna170org

JULY 11middot l 4--McCall ID-McCall Airport Cessna 180185 Intl Convention Many fun things planned Call for hotel and other info 530-622-8816 or mullettjcwnetcom

continued on page on the next page

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31

JULY 22-25-Waupaca WI-Waupaca Airport (PCZ) 2005 Annual Cessna and Piper Owner Convention amp Fly-In Info 888-692-3776 ext 118 or wwwcessnaownerorgor wwwpiperownerorg

AUGUST 6-7-Santa Paula CA-(SZP) Santa Paula 75th Anniversary Air Fair Exhibits vintage and experimenshytal aircraft displays flybys hangar displays vendor booths dinner-dance and other community activities Info 805-642-3315

AUGUST 7-Queen City MO-Applegate Airport 18th Annual Watermelon Fly-In 2 PM til dark Info 660shy766-2644

AUGUST 19-21-Alliance OH-Barber Airport (2D1) 7th Annual Ohio Aeronca Aviators Fly-In Join us for a relaxing weekend of fun food friendship and flying Breakfast served by EAA Ch 82 Sat amp Sun 7am-11am Camping on field local lodging and transportation available Forums on Saturday Info Brian 216-337shy5643 or bwmatzllacyahoocom or wwwoaafly-Incom

AUGUST 20-Laurinburg-Maxton NC-Ercoupe Owners Club Awesome August Invitational NorthSouth Caroshylina members and guests Lunch awards Young Eagles Flights Info 336-342-5629 or bandmannetpath-rcnet

AUGUST 20-Newark OH-Newark-Heath Airport (VTA) EAA Ch 402 Fly-In Breakfast Info Tom 740-587-2312 or tmcalinkcom

AUGUST 20-Niles MI-Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport (3TR) VAA Ch 35 Corn and Sausage Roast 11am-3pm Rain date August 20 Donations $5 adults $3 children 12-yrs and under All you can eat Info Len 269-684-6566

32 MAY 2005

SEPTEMBER 3-Marion IN-(MZZ) FlyIn CruiseIn Info wwwFiylnCruiseJncom

SEPTEMBER 3-Prosser WA-EAA Ch 391s 22nd Annual Labor Day Weekend Prosser Fly-In Info 509-735-1664

OCTOBER 5-9-Tullahoma TN-1932 to 2005-The Tradition Lives Year of the Staggerwing Staggerwing Twin Beech 18 Bonanza Baron Beech owners amp enthusiasts Sponsored by the Staggerwing Museum Foundation Staggerwing Club Twin Beech 18 Society BonanzaBaron Museum Travel Air Division amp Twin Bonanza Assn Info 931-455-1974

SEPTEMBER 16-17-Bartlesville OK-Frank Phillips Field (BVO) 49th Annual Tulsa Regional Fly-In Info wwwtuisaflyincom or Charlie Harris at 918-622-8400

SEPTEMBER 17-18-Rock Falls IL-Whiteside County Airport (SQI) North Central EAA 01d Fashioned FlyshyIn Forums workshops fly-market camping air rally awards food amp exhibitors Info wwwnceaaorg

SEPTEMBER 23-25-Sonoma CA-Sonoma Skypark (OQ9) 23rd Annual West Coast Travel Air Reunion Come to wine country for the largest gathering of Vintage Travel Airs Info 925-689-8182

SEPTEMBER 24-0ntario OR-Onfario Air Faire-Breakfast by EAA Ch 837 Large warbird collection acro airshow car show stage entertainment Free admission Info Roger 208-739-3979 or ristpsaolcom

OCTOBER 1-2-Midland TX-Midland Intl Airport FINAshyCAF AIRSHO 2005 will commemorate 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II Info 432-563-1000 x 2231 or publicreiationscafhqorg

REGIONAL FLY-IN SCHEDULE

EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In The EAA TEXAS Fly-In May 13-15 2005 NEW LOCATION Hondo TX (HDO) wwwswrfiorg

Golden West EAA Regional Fly-In June 3-5 2005 Marysvi lle CA (MYV) wwwgodenwestflyinorg

Rocky Mountain EAA Regional Fly-In June 25-26 2005 Watkins CO (FTG) wwwrmrfiorg

Northwest EAA Fly-In July 6-10 2005 Arlington WA (AWO) wwwnweaaorg

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2005 July 25-31 2005 Oshkosh WI (OSH) www airventure org

EAA Mid-Eastern Fly-In August 26-28 2005 Marion OH (MNN)

Virginia State EAA Fly-In October 1-2 2005 Petersburg VA (PTB) www vaeaa org

EAA Southeast Regional Fly-In October 7-92004 Evergreen AL (GZH) wwwserfiorg

Copperstate Regional EAA Fly-In October 6-9 2005 Phoenix AZ (A39) wwwcopperstateorg

You can save hundreds even thousands of dollars Ford Motor Company in association with EAA is proud to offer their

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In more ways than one it pays to be an EAA member Take

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Get your personal identification number (PIN) from the EM website (wwweaaorg) by cl icking on the EMFord Program logo

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Certain restrictions apply Please refer to wwweaaorg or call 800-843-3612

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