vintage airplane - aug 1983

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Aug 1983

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STR IGHT ND LEVEL

The annual EAA International Convention is an aviation landmark. Each year thousands of members and enthusiasts return and other thousands attend the Convention for the first time. What is it that brings so many finepeople together once a year? t all began in 1953 whenPaul Poberezny started EAA in the basement of his homeand the first fly-in brought out one homebuilt and a fewantiques and warbirds The initial purpose was to promotehomebuilt aircraft and get them approved by the FAA forrecreational flight. t did come to pass and look what wehave today. Amateur builders are allowed to construct andbuild aircraft of their own design, plans are offered tobuilders and approved kits are available.As EAA grew, so did the demand for what we now callDivisions, which are special interest groups within EAA.This is how the EAA Antique/Classic Division began.When the International Convention was moved fromRockford to Oshkosh the meet grew rapidly and it soonbecame evident that what we now call antique and classicaircraft would comprise about 50% of the show aircraft inattendance. An informative group of volunteers would berequired to handle the traffic, parking and other Convention-related requirements; thus the formation of the Division. As we grew and became more competent, we beganto formulate a purpose and plan for growth.

Each year, we found we were doing something right,for the membership continued to grow and at Conventiontime we were never short of volunteers to make our partof the Convention an unqualified success. The Red Barnheadquarters is representative of the era of the vintageaircraft we bring to Oshkosh each year. The grass aroundOllie's Woods is reminiscent of the past years of grasspastUre airports, and as always, the shade offers a relaxingplace for EAA members to enjoy themselves.As the years went by we attempted to add somethingnew each year to make the member's visit more enjoyable.The Parade of Flight began with a relatively small quan-tity of aircraft, flown in review at the Convention. It'squite a sight today, as some one hundred aircraft represen

By Brad Thorn asPresidentAntique/Classic Division

2, July 1983 VINTAGE AIRPLANE. Thisjudging systemis used at Oshkosh and is entirely suitable for all fly-insincluding those one-day events.

Members attend ing Oshkosh '83 will note two newitems of interest. First, the Red Barn has been alteredsomewhat to provide more useable space, by convertingthe lean- to on the south side to an enclosed room accessible from inside the barn. This area will be for the displayof merchandise, complimenting a recently inaugeratedsales program, and also a place for volunteers to relax.

The second innovation has been mentioned in previousissues of The VINTAGE AIRPLANE and concerns thespace which has been allotted in the Antique/Classic tentnear the Red Barn for use by several type clubs and theOX-5 Aviation Pioneers. These groups will be able topromote their activities, solicit new members, and aboveall, enjoy the abundant fellowship in the Antique/Classicarea.So what is it that brings so many people together eachyear? We have touched upon several points concerningAntique/Classic members including a common interest.Many of us plan an Oshkosh vacation each year. Somelike to camp, others like to relax in motel rooms, privatehomes or the college rooms available during the Convention; but all in all, we like to be together and enjoy thefacilities available for the entire family. We arrive by car,aircraft, motor home, camper, motorcycle, etc. Where elsein the world could one find such facilities, and also be ableto enjoy a full week of aviation entertainment, educationalprojects, workshops, forums, daily airshows and free evening entertainment? t is only at Oshkosh during the annual


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PUBLICATIONSTAFFEDITORGeneR. Chase

MANAGINGEDITORPatEtterEDITORIALASSISTANTNormanPetersen

FEATUREWRITERGeorgeA. Hardie,Jr.

EAAANTIQUE/CLASSICDIVISION,INC.OFFICERSPresident VicePresidentW. BradThomas, Jr. JackC. Winthrop

301 DodsonMillRoad Route1,Box 111PilotMountain, NC27041 Allen,TX75002919/3682875Home 2141727 5649919-368-2291 OfficeSecretary TreasurerM.C. "Kelly"Viets E. E. Buck HilbertRoute2 Box128 P.O.Box145Lyndon,KS66451 Union. IL60180913/828-3518 815/923-4591

DIRECTORSRonaldFritz ClaudeL.Gray,Jr.15401 SpartaAvenue 9635SylviaAvenueKentCity. MI49330 Northridge,CA91324616/678 5012 213/349-1338

Dale A. Gustafson AI Kelch7724ShadyHillDrive 66W. 622 N. MadisonAve.Indianapolis. IN 46274 Cedarburg.WI53012317/293-4430 414/377 5886RobertE. Kesel MortonW.Lester455OakridgeDrive P.O.Box3747Rochester,NY14617 Martinsville,VA24112

716/342 3170 703/632-4839ArthurR. Morgan JohnR. Turgyan3744North51stBlvd. 1530KuserRoadMilwaukee.WI53216 Trenton,NJ08619

414/442 3631 609/585-2747S. J.Wittman GeorgeS. YorkBox2672 181 SlobodaAve.Oshkosh.WI 54901 Mansfield.OH44906414/235 1265 419/529-4378

ADVISORS

AUGUST1983 Vol. 11,No.8COPYRIGHT 1983EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSICDIVISION,INC.,ALL RIGHTSRESERVED

Contents2 StraightandLevelbyBradThomas4 A/CNewsbyGeneChase5 AGatheringof AeroncasbyGeneChase10 GrandChampionChampbyGeneChase12 AeroncaLCLow-WingbyGeneChase14 BordenlThompsonAeroplanePostersfromthe1930s

byGeneChase16 PrimaryinaJ-3CubbyDonToeppen20 StinsonNC18425SparksMemoriesbyEdwardE. Beatty24 AMomentinTimebyAI Wheeler24 Calendarof Events25 MysteryPlanebyGeorgeHardie25 Lettersto theEd itor

FRONTCOVER . Aerialview ofthe FirstNationalAeroncaClubsof America Fly-In at the site of the Aeronca factory, Hook Field.Middletown.OH.PhotobyGeneChasefromBillPancake'saward-winningcustomizedAeroncaChamp.See storyonpage5 .

BACK COVER .BellancaLong Wing"Liberty"beingpreparedfornon-stopflight from New York toCopenhagen. Denmark by HolgerHoiriisandOttoHillig.PhotodatedMarch1931 is fromtheJohnWarrencollectiondonatedtotheEAA AviationLibrary.


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SWALLOW TOURS JAPAN

EAA AVIATION FOUNDATIONRECEIVES TWO AIRCRAFT

(Ph oto by Dick Stouffer at Oshkosh 73)The prototype Rearwin Model 8135, NC2545 donated by GeorgeWilliams.Two more aircraft have been accepted by the EAAAviation Foundation; the 1939 Rearwin Cloudste r,NC25451 , SIN 809 donated by George T. Williams (EAA20934 AIC 1384, Poynette, WI and an Osprey II , N346JS

donated by John S. Schifferer (EAA 93112, Escondido, CA.The Rearwin is the prototype Model 8135 and is powered with a Ken-Royce 7-G engine of 120 hp . This particu-lar airplane was featured on one of the old Wingscigarette cards in the 1940s. Those cards were, and stillar e , popular collectors' items.

NEW VUL TEE TYPE CLUBThe Vultee Owners and Pilots' Association has beenformed and its first newsletter has been mailed . If you'rethe owner or a fan of the Vultee BT-13/15 and want tojoinand receive the newsletter , send $10 .00 to Col. Frank A.Augustine, 1545 Red Cedar Rd ., Eagan , MN 55121.

(Photo by Ted Koston)uck Hilbert in United Airlines much-traveled Swallow, N6070,SIN 968.AntiquelClassic Division Treasurer E. E. Buck Hilbert spent most of March, April and May of this year inJapan flying United Airlines' Swallow to promote United'snew 747 service to Tokyo. The Swallow was airlifted in a

474 freighter and placed on exhibit in Japan 's largestshopping center . Later, Buck flew the plane to Kobe andother cities in Japan .After the Swallow's re turn to the U.S., it was displayedin July in Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry tohelp commemorate the 50th anniversary of that institu-tion.

Buck Hilbert is a captain with United Airlines and alsoa director of the EAA Aviation Foundation .

RENO AIR RACES -20th ANNIVERSARY

Maj . Gen. Floyd Edsall (Ret.), director of the RenoNational Cham pionship Air Races and Air Show disclosedthat an unprecedented number of racing aircraft will bein the pits when the four-day event opens on September15 at Stead Field, 10 miles north of Reno, Nevada.More than $300,000 is available for prize money in fiveclasses of closed course, pylon racing, to be shared byUnlimiteds, T-6s, Formula (lXL , Racing Biplanes andSport Biplanes.This year's event will celebrate the 20th anniversary


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1935 Aeronca C-3 N15252 SIN A-572 received Best C 2/C 3 Award. Owned by Les Steen Lansing MIHook Field at Middletown, Ohio was host to one of the

largest gatherings of Aeroncas ever, on June 10-12, 1983when 115 various models were registered for the FirstNational Aeronca Clubs of America Fly-In. This event wasthe brainchild of Jim and Betty Thompson of Roberts,Illinois and was co-sponsored by four Aeronca type clubs :the Aeronca Club, the Aeronca Sedan Club, the AeroncaLover s Club and the Aeronca A viator s Club.For all but three of the planes, it was a trip back homeas they had been manufactured in the Aeronca plant atHook Field between 1940 and 1951. The other three weretwo model C-3s and one LC which were built in the 30swhen Aeronca was located at Lunken Airport, Cincinnati,Ohio.Aeronca moved to Middletown in 1940 partly becauseof the disastrous flooding of the Ohio River in 1937 whichinundated Lunken Field. One old-time employee recallsseeing two Aeroncas floating off down the river at thattime.

tory and photos by Gene Chase


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John and Steven Hause, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada are greetedby one of the parking crew as they arrive in their 1938 Chief,C-GGJX.

AERONCAS

Aircraft judges, uck Hilbert, Dale Wolford Chairman) andGeorge York.


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Dick Alkire, Dayton, OH displays the Best Pre-War Tandem Award received by the 1943 Aeronca 0 -58B, N35BB restored by himselfand fellow EAAer Roger James.came specifically to see a low wing Aeronca and he wasntdisappointed. David Powell of West Des Moines, Iowa wasthere with his newly restored 1937 Aeronca LC, one ofonly two known to be flying today. (See story on page 12.Jim Thompson, fly-in organizer, owns the other LC .One of the 115 Aeroncas in attendance was fromCanada while the remainder were from throughout theeastern U.S., with club members coming from all over thecountry. They arrived via auto, airline , or other types ofaircraft which numbered 48.A listing of award winners gives an indication of thevarious Aeronca models at the fly-in:Grand Champion Antique - LC , N17484, David Powell,

West Des Moines, IAGrand Champion Classic - 7 AC, N84998, Bob Armstrong ,Rawlings, MDBest in ClassC 2/C 3 - C-3, N15252, Les Steen, Lansing, MIPre-War Tandem - 0-58B, N35BB, Dick Alkire, Dayton,

OHPre-War Side-By-Side - 50C, N21308, Dale Gilbert ,Fremont OHPost-War Champ - 7 AC, N85448, Ron Wojnar, Milwaukee, WI

Post-War Chief - 11AC, N85829, Al Nase, RehobothBeach, DESedan - 15AC, N1491H, Jim Thompson, Roberts, ILMilitary - L-3B, N48407, Paul Grice, Waynesville, OHPre-War Custom - 65CA, N31948, Robert CarpenterVicksburg, MI (Aircraft owned by Irv Woodhams)Post-War Cu stom - 7 AC, N1390E , Bill Pancake ,Keyser, WV41 Chief - 65CA, N31925 , Don Woodhams, SouthHaven, MILongest Distance - 1,250 miles, 65CA/85, N33731,Ken Rickert, Lakeland FLNote that two of the above winners are past Grand

Champion winners at Oshkosh, namely Wojnars Champand Thompson s Sedan . This will give a clue as to thequality of the restored Champ which won the GrandChampion Classic Award for Bob Armstrong. (See storyon page 10).The hard-working judges were Dale Wolford (Chairman ), Ashland, OH; George York, Mansfield, OH andBuck Hilbert Union, IL.In addition to the trophies above, two special awardsfor meritorious service were presented , one to John Houser,an engineer with Aeronca who, over the years has provided


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Jim and Betty Thompson s 1951 Aeronca 15AC, N1491H wonthe Best Sedan Award.

.

Grand Champion Antique was this rare 1937 Aeronca LC, N17484, S N 2060. Power is 90 hp Warner. Owned by David Powell, WestDes Moines, IA.invaluable research assistance to restorers of Aeroncaaircraft and one to Jim and Betty Thompson for theirefforts in organizing the Aeronca Fly-In.The highlight of the Saturday night banquet whichwas attended by 415 Aeronca enthusiasts plus severalAeronca employees and retirees, was a talk by Mr. Joe L.Miller, Chairman ofthe Board, President and ChiefExecutive Officer of Aeronca, Inc . Mr . Miller attended the fly-infrom his home in North Carolina where the corporateoffices are located in Pineville,He expressed pleasure with the continued interest inthe planes his company built so many years ago and statedhis desire to see Aeronca get back into the aircraft manufacturing business again with a design in the ultralightcategory. He is familiar with the FP-101, a Champ lookalike and Le Pelican, the Canadian pseudo-C-3, and feelswith today's modern technology that a strong and safesmall aircraft could be produced which would qualify asan ultralight within FAA regulations. Not that a newAeronca design would look like a Champ or C-3, butwouldn't it be great to see factory new Aeronca aircrafton the market again?

Preceding Mr. Miller's talk was an interesting addressby Mr. Gordon J . Wolfe, Secretary of Aeronca, Inc . whorecounted some of the trials and tribulations of the earlydays of the company. Also on the evening program wasMr . Val C. Baiz, former Plant Superintendent and theoriginator of the Champ assembly line, and Mr. GeorgeWedekind, Manager of Hook Field who announced that heand Mr . Miller were each contributing $500 checks to helpfinance a 1984 Aeronca Fly-In.


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Bill Pancake, Keyser, WV in his Continental 0-200 powered, fullIFR custom Aeronca Champ.

(L-R): Dr. Robert Poling, Cumberland, MD Jay Spenser, Curatorial Assistant at the National Air and Space Museum,Washington, DC and Jeff Miller with AOPA in Washington, DCdiscuss Aeroncas under the wing of Bob Armstrong s Champ. (L-R): Louis Gaston, Treasurer of EAA Chapter 784, WallyBaldwin and im Thompson.

ABOUT THEAERONCA CLUBSThe following is a brief history of the four AeroncaClubs and their leaders:Aeronca Club - Oldest of the clubs it was taken

AERONCAS

fuel tanks. Dick can be contacted at 2311 E. LakeSammanish PI. S.E. Issaquah WA 98027.Aeronca Lover s Club - Started a couple yearsago by Buzz and Lloydine Wagner. Buzz is wellknown for his Aeronca Forums each year at Oshkosh.Buzz is an aircraft rebuilder and mechanic withgreat fondness for Aeroncas. He has S.T.C.s for greater hp Lycoming and Continental conversions on


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Top award winner at the First Aeronca Fly In was this 946 Aeronca 7AC Champ owned by Bob Armstrong Rawlings MD

rIJIJ SIJlJm}liolJS limStory and photos y Gene hase

In 1981 retired U.S.A.F. Col. Clement H. Armstrong(known as Harold to many) and his son, Bob from Rawlings, Bill is an expert and perfectionist and does the mainte-nance and re-licensing of many aircraft in the area .


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only with a 25 gallon minimum order. Not wanting topurchase25 gallons of each color, they contacted Randolphwith their problem.Randolph came up with equivalent color numbers andoffered to supply the special mix in minimum lots of fivegallons. An order was placed and the Armstrongs are aspleased with the outcome as they were with the Randolphdope used on the Waco 10.During the Aeronca Fly-In some obervers commentedthat the yellow on NC84998 looked a little brighter anddarker than it should be. However, three Aeronca factoryemployees agreed it looked more authentic than any otherChamps on the field.Harold suggests that in the early days many Champswere tied down outside and the colors naturally faded inti me. Consequently most people have memories of the"lighter" colored Champs than when they first left thefactory .Also, only one coat of yellow was applied by Aeroncaoriginally (hot dope method, equivalent to two coats. TheArmstrongs applied three good cross coats of yellow plusan extra coat on the top of the wing. They noticed that assuccessive coats were sprayed, the color darkened. Theyfeel they are right on with their colors and Randolphagrees.In finishing the interior, the proper material was lo-cated in a local fabric shop, then taken to an upholsteryshop to be sewn up using the fabric as a pattern . This

was a waste of time and money because the finished product didn't fit and all of Mrs . Harold Armstrong's effortsto alter it were unsuccessful. She ended up disca rding themisfit and made a new one from scratch which worked outvpry well.All of the hardware that went into the project was new1 ld double checked by Bob with reference to the PartsLanual. One problem was encountered in locating the longmachine screws which hold the lower wrapper cowl together. Unable to find them, Harold's brother in Californiawas contacted as he had access to a machine shop. He madeup a complete set out of stainless steel. In fact, all thescrews used in the restoration were ofstainless rather thancadmium plated because the former maintain the "new"look indefinitely.

Another problem facing Aeronca Champ retorers isreplacing the windshield. The Armstrongs looked for twoyears before they found a manufacturer who could providean original, standard profile windshield, using molds

exactly as done originally by Aeronca. Most people aregoing with the bubble type windshields, blown under heatin an oven, which aren't shaped quite right.Bob's Champ was missing all the original instruments,but by doing some horsetrading he came up with a setof original type gages. The most troublesome was findingan airworthy Airpath magnetic compass. The originalsused rubber diaphragms which haven 't been manufacturedfor years.In their searching they acquired an Airpath B-15 compass which was serviceable and holding fluid. Noting thatit had metal bellows and was better engineered with animproved card mount , they put the B-16 innards in anoriginal type Airpath case and the instrument looks andworks great.The tach presented less of a dilemma. Several yearsago the original one failed and was replaced with a recording unit. Not wanting to replace the newer type shaft anddrive, they mated the recording tach mechanism with theoriginal case, including the old face and hand, and solvedthat problem.Back in the 40s, Harold worked for a F.B.O. who wasalso an Aeronca dealer . This man had a prop on displaybearing the original combined SensenichiAeronca decal.Remembering this, Harold contacted his old boss wholoaned the prop to him so he could have a local craftsmanphotograph and reproduce the decal. Next they took thenew decals to the Sensenich Propeller Company and ordered a new prop made to Aeronca specs . . . naturallywith the original-type decals installed.This beautiful Aeronca Champ was licensed on June1, a scant nine days before the First Aeronca Fly-In, so ithad only a few hours oflocal time before its firs t cross-country back "home" to Middletown. The flight was made withno problems after a minor mag glitch was remedied theevening before departure. The shiny new Champ was accompanied to and from the fly-in by four other Aeroncas,most of which are based at Keyser, West Virginia.The Armstrongs' efforts were not in vain , for the Champreceived the Grand Champion Classic Award over somevery tough competition. I first had the feeling this planewas something special when I noted an original Owner'sManual and an old sectional chart in the map pocket onthe door. The 1945 chart was printed with the latest revisions dated one month before the Champ was first deliveredfrom the factory in July 1946 . and of course the chartincluded Middletown, Ohio


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JlERONCA L ~ -'WING

This 1937 Aeronca LC NC17484 was named Grand Champion at the Aeronca Fly-In.tory and photos by Gene hase

Many folks don't visualize a low-wing aircraft whenthey think of Aeronca, but in 1936 and 1937 the Aeroncaplant at Lunken Field in Cincinnati, Ohio built approximately 60 of their new design. There were three versionsof the "Model L," designated "LA" when powered with the70 hp LeBlond 5DE, "LB" with the 85 hp LeBland 5DFand "LC" with the reliable 90 hp Warner Scarab Jr. Asinterest in the L Series waned it was replaced with theless expensive Model K in 1937.Regular attendees at the annual AAA Fly-Ins at Ot

invaluable assistance in making the restoration as authentic as he hoped for.A new instrument panel was made from scratch witha hand-painted wood grain finish per factory photos. Theinstruments are original except for three which he purchased at the Fly Market at an Oshkosh Convention. Theplane s interior duplicates the original.Dave did deviate from original in finishing the L inthat he used Ceconite and polyurethane paint which hehopes will make the plane easier to maintain .


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Attention to detail is evident here.

tion with new pistons valves guides and seats. The rodshad been reamed for over-sized pins and bushings in themaster rod .The engine was installed on the plane that winter andrun but not for long as it had a nasty knock. Davefigured that a rod was bent or out of alignment and knocking against a journal so once again the Warner was disassembled.t this point Dave called on Harold Lossner in nearbyDes Moines for assistance . Harold is a well-known antiquerand an excellent engine man. All new rods bushings and

Dave Powell and his newly-restored low-wing Aeronca.

master rod were installed the engine re-assembled andrun again just one month before the Aeronca Fly-In.As luck would have it there was still a knocking noisebut it sounded different and was at a slower rate whichmade the cam area suspect. Pulling the case apart whereit splits at the back they found a snap ring missing onthe camshaft. This allowed the cam to slip back and hiton the cam followers.

The installation of a new snap ring solved the problemand the engine ran fine from that time on.Continued on Page 23


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''''''''''''''''''''''''''

STOUT S Y C R

The eversky ursuit will be featured next mC nth.


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BORDEN THOMPSON~ E R O P L N EPOSTERSFROM THE

1930'sArticle Number 30

y Gene hase

STOUT SKY CARThe design of the all-metal Stout Sky Car was startedby William B Stout in 1929. The first drawings were made

in chalk on a blackboard with ideas being formulated andthen put down on paper.A glider was built along the lines of the craft and testedat Ford Airport during the summer of 1929. The Sky Carwas announced in the April 1931 issue of Aero Digest butno mention was made of the plane actually being flown .The plane was to be a safe, easy-to-fly machine with athree wheel landing gear. Landings were to be made onthe main gear and then pushed over on the nose skid,placing the wing at a no-lift angle .

t was Mr . Stout's contention that any normal ,

ity. The ailerons instead of being part-way out towardsthe ends of the wing, are actually the wing tips. In thecustomary sense, there is no fuselage extending back tothe rudder and elevator, the cabin being cut off at thepropeller and upon frame work extending back from thereon.

The engine is mounted back ofthe cabin to reduce noiseand the passengers' hazard from fire , and rear wall of thecabin is heavily insulated for the same reasons. All of thecabin space lies forward of the wings, giving the passengersunobstructed view in every direction.

SPECIFICATIONS:Wing span . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 ft .


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Piper J-3 Cubs on the Rising School o Aviation light line, Bemidji, MN in 1942.

PRIMARY IN .1 CUBy Don ToeppenEAA 109869)

42 White Oak CircleSt. Charles, IL 60174Photos courtesy of the author)

Visibility was at least 100 miles under the clear, blue,September post frontal sky. I knew that upon reaching1500 feet above ground, the air would be so smooth thatthe J-3 Cub would cruise hands off. Getting to 1500 feettook a bit of flying time; I d be in the practice area off thesouthern tip of Lake Bemidji by the time I got there.

From airport traffic pattern throughout the climb, wedbeen flying a series of shallow banked 90 turns so as notto run into another aircraft that might be hidden by thenose. Not that such an event was likely; there were very


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get started with that I had become accustomed to the nosehigh attitude we needed to get a clean stall, but still didn'tlike it. To me, the attitude for a spin entry was worsebecause of what was going to happen next A fellow hadto think about this for a minute or two; it wasn't somethingto rush right into. So I did a series of clearing turns. Theother Cubs were so far away that they were not discernablewithout binoculars even in this northern Minnesota visibility. Damn Well, two more turns ought to do it.Uggghh. Time to stop procrastinating and do it.

Carb heat on, throttle closed, and pull the nose up.Gad, it was quiet Just the prop barely turning over, andthe slip stream sound diminishing to a whisper. Seemedlike the nose was 80 degrees above the horizon. The firstnibble of the stall caused a little tremble to run throughthe airframe and I kicked in full left rudder, and held thestick full back. All hell broke loose. The nose fell off to theleft and the ground filled the windshield. t certainly didn'tstay still, but started pinwheeling around like the numbered gambling wheel in a carnival.Oops - I'm supposed to count the turns; where are weanyway? That has to be two turns, I think, let's recoverFull right rudder, then pop the stick forward . Holy smokes,Buster didn't turn upside down when he demonstratedspins Ease her out, steady now. Slowly, slowly, ease thenose up. Might as well use this excess speed to get backto altitude. Now full throttle and climb her back to 1500feet.

After about thirty minutes, it didn't take quite as manyclearing turns to screw up enough courage to kick her intoa spin, and it seemed that I could actually count the roadsas they spun under the nose. We even lmost lined up withthe road after recovery, and I had an understanding withthe Cub about tucking under. The Cub promised not to goupside down if I didn't hold the stick full forward for sucha long time.I kicked her into a final spin , recovered, and glideddown to 500 feet AGL. There was just enough time for arectangular pattern, s turns along U.S. Highway 2 backtoward town and into the traffic pattern . Opposite the landing point on downwind, carb heat on, throttle closed. The 65Lycoming ticked over beautifully. Check for traffic, turnon base leg and clear the engine. Now check for traffic,turn on final and clear the engine. Aim for the point, andas the ground starts to fill the windshield, commence theflare, holding her off, bringing the stick back, back, until,when it is full back, the wheels kiss the sod. Three pointHow long would it be until I got another squeeker likethat? Not bad for 12 hours.Keep the stick back while taxiing into the wind. Leftturn toward the hangar . Keep the stick back, and now thestick points into the wind coming from the right. Not muchwind today, but Buster said to always taxi as if it werereally howling, and when it did , the proper response wouldbe automatic. s turn the ship so as to be able to see

Forest Buster Rising, Don's flight instructor at Bemidji.

funded cooperative effort between an educational institution and a fixed base operator . In this case, Bemidji StateTeachers College and Rising School of Aviation were theprincipals involved . The impressively named flight schoolconsisted of Buster Rising, Commercial Pilot and FlightInstructor who also had an Aircraft and Engine Mechanicsticket, his wife Lou who ran the paperwork and dispatchfunctions, and two employee flight instructors.Ground school was held at night at the College. Weflew every flyable day, seven days a week, sun-up to sunset.Basically, ground school subjects were the same as theyare today for the private ticket, except we had no radiosor instruments to contend with . In fact , we never saw aneedle, ball, or radios until we hit Cross Country WTS twocourses later.As you might imagine, with seven students per instructor, and four airplanes total , we flew the planes so muchthat we saw several 100-hour inspections on each shipbefore the course was completed. That meant no flying forsome of the students until the plane was back in service.With nothing else to do, and us wanting to get back in theai r , we had a chance to help Buster with the inspectionsand repairs . It was a good chance to learn something else,


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Waco UPF-7 NC174 flown byC inspector O J . Kells out ofthe Fargo O office in 1942.

log book shows the following maneuvers were flown: Astandard departure was made from the airport traffic pattern, and the Cub flown to the practice area. The log showsthe low work to have been rectangular course, "S" turnsacross a road, series of "8s," climbing turns to 1500 feet.Now for the high work: Series of turns, 720 0 steep turns,stalls, forward slip, 2 turn spins, spirals, gliding and gliding turns, and coordination exercises. Somewhere duringthe series, there were ample opportunities to practiceforced landings. Upon return to the field, we'd shoot 1800side or overhead approaches. After a couple of trips withthe instructor, you knew just where to go to have plentyof good forced landing fields available, and just whichroads to use for reference during the maneuvers. A guaranteed thumbs-up ride if you didn't foul up a series of maneuvers.

Back at the airport, those of us who were waiting tofly would take a model plane, draw lines in the sandy soilrepresenting roads, and talk ourselves through the flightsequence. I suppose we would have washed out had wecompletely forgotten the sequence on the final check. Myold log shows I transposed two of the maneuvers on thefinal check, but still passed.One other "skill" we picked up due to the small size ofthe school was that of weather observer. Bemidji was oneof the many stations that reported weather every six hours.This information was taken, put into a code quite differentfrom that used for sequence weather today, or even in that

morning, several of us were seated at a large, round tablewith some of the freshmen women, girls who had apparently led a sheltered home life. Verdie Paulsen, a truewoodsman who also was an experienced heavy equipmentoperator was with us . As the warm cereal was served,Ve1-die quipped, Where is my warm beer?"The poor freshmen girls were visibly shaken, and evenmoved their chairs away from Verdie, as much as thelimited space would permit.We arranged for our own sleeping quarters, usuallyone or two with a local family . t was my good fortune toobtain a room on the main street, Bemidji Blvd. with theFoley family. One of their sons had preceded me in WTSPrimary and was at that time, flying Waco UPF-7s insecondary. My room was on the second floor of their bungalow. Though the quarters were comfortable , there wasminimal space for clothing which required storing somethings in my suitcase behind the attic dwarf wall .

One Friday night, we were all going to a school danceafter class. Following dinner I took a fresh white shirtfrom the suitcase, put on my suit and went to class . t washot in the classroom that night . Soon I felt somethingmoving under my shirtfront. Unobtrusively as possible, Ilocated and extracted a small fly. A few minutes later , Ifelt another and the exercise was duplicated. Soon, it feltlike my undershirt was alive Exiting as gracefully aspossible I rushed to the men 's room and stripped to thewaist. Somehow fly eggs had been layed in my clean shirt


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Don s 94 Ford Super Deluxeconvertible served as the WTSfloat, transporting the queen inthe 1942 Bemidji State TeachersCollege homecoming parade.

as a guide and mail boat pilot on the lake for most of hisyoung life. As we walked the wooded shore path of thelake that fall day, he suddenly noted a movement in thepath ahead of us. Quickly he picked up a stone, threw itand stunned a grouse twenty feet ahead of us. Before Icould fully comprehend what he was up to , he had rushedahead, grabbed the grouse, and wrung its neck. As a cityboy with some knowledge of wilderness ways, it was onlynow I fully comprehended the lucky, successful huntingdemonstration that had taken place before my eyes. Onreturn to the campus, Chuck gave the bird to Dr . JohnGlas, the school business manager and WTS coordinator.A week later, Mrs. Glas invited Chuck and myself for aSunday dinner of grouse, supplemented by enough otherfowl to make a most enjoyable and welcome home-cookedmeal for four . This was typical of the wonderful feelingthat existed between our class members and the people ofBemidji.

The most memorable event? My first solo, just beforesunset on a beautiful fall afternoon. The J-3 is soloed fromthe rear seat. t doesn't establish any climb records whenthere are two of you on board , especially when you areboth required to wear parachutes. The person in front actslike a sound insulator to a certain extent . Thus, the firstsolo takeoff will give the student some surprises. First,without the sound barrier, the engine noises are moreclearly heard . But small matter; you are going to get too this yourself You go through the runup, clear the area

dary of the field some 200 feet in the ai r. His correctionwas nice, but even with the base leg over the shore of thelake, he was still airborne at the west boundary. By nowtwo instructors had fired up two other Cubs, and had themheaded into the east wind. As "Downwind" chopped thepower, the first one took off to the east, right over the pointhe was using for touchdown - he thought. This didn t phasehim ; he just continued. As he turned final, the secondinstructor took off right at him . He got the message andafter reversing his pattern, made a beautiful landing. Henever did outlive the name of "Downwind".

Final Check Ride? CAA Inspecftor D. J . Kells came infrom the office at Fargo, North Dakota in a Waco UPF-7,NC174, a beautiful ship with a black fuselage and orangewings. His first check ride on the base? Me. All went wellup to stalls . While trimming the aircraft, she stuck in theup position and wouldn't trim down. Kells tried to help byapproaching a stall to unload the stabilizer, and trimminglike mad , but that didn't work. Between the two of us, itwas in full nose up position and seemed destined to staythere forever. Did you ever try flying a plane with the nosetrimmed full up? t leads to stiff arms , and not very goodstraight and level flight. I was damn glad to get Piper Cub,NC35228 back on the flight line where Buster could re-adjust the trim cable tensionWe were all home by Thanksgiving, awaiting our nextassignment to WTS Secondary where we would fly thewonderful UPF-7s . t would be after the war before we


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STINSON NC18425Photo by Ken Sumney via Ted Koston)This photo of the 1937 Stinson SR-9FD, NC18425, S/N.5715 wastaken In 1940 at Pittsburgh, PA. It is currentl\ owned by J. J.Paul EAA 36793, AlC 145), 14418 Skinner Road, Cypress, TX77429.


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flew to Smith Field to meet Mr. Ralph Bleke who was theowner and operator of Consolidated Aircraft Repair Service .Arriving at Smith Field around 8 a .m. I sought out Mr.Bleke and introduced myself. Stating my desires and intentions I was amazed when he asked me when I could startwork. I gulped and said just as soon as school lets out inMay . We agreed on a starting date and I was hired. Theflight home was one of the pleasant experiences of my life.I sang, shouted and rocked the plane all over the sky.The world was mine .I reported for work by commuting the 25 miles on aGreyhound Bus . I was somewhat late on the first daybecause I had to hitchhike from downtown Fort Wayne tothe airport. In a few short days this problem was solvedbecause I had met enough of the people at the field thatgetting a ride was easy.Walking into the shop I found an enormous pair ofbeautiful Stinson wings, ready to be recovered. My firstjob was to help recover the wings for 18425. I couldn'tforget that number ifI tried. After the fabric , pinked tapes,16 coats of clear dope, four coats of silver and all thesanding and masking of those numbers in preparations forthe four coats of pigmented dope, they have been indeliblyimplanted in my brain .I loved every minute of it and even slept in the shopon a few occasions so I wouldn't have the expense of commuting to the airport on my day off. There was so muchgoing on at that time I didn t want to miss a minute of it .I'm sure you know that Stinson produced a quality productand the workmanship put into the Reliant was a beautyto behold. Hand rubbed finishes were the order of the dayand not to be outdone, we knocked ourselves out to equalor better the factory finish .We spent so many man hours sanding between coatsof dope I don't know how we ever made any money on it.When the plane was finished you could not tell that pinkededge tapes had been applied because they were sandeddown to blend in with the fabric. t was truly a proudmoment the day we rolled her into the sunlight for theworld to admire. In her red and black with silver pipingtrim she couldn't have looked better the day she rolled outof the factory .The owner of 18425 at the time was Homer Stockertwho owned and operated a flying service at South Bend,Indiana. I cannot swear to the following, but this is theway it was told to me. Homer had been a pilot for RepublicA viation during the war years and at the time 18425belonged to Republic.

I'm pretty sure this is a fact because the plane was stillcarrying the Republic name on the fuselage when westarted to work on it . With the war winding down Homerleft Republic to return to his own business and he purchased the plane from the company when he left them . Inever had the opportunity to meet him personally but Iwas there the day he lifted 18425 into the sky for her test

Mr. Hobrock was highly regarded by many peoplearound the field and naturally had many friends he enjoyedspending time with there when he had the time. He wasa rather striking man who commanded respect just fromhis appearance but at the time I had no knowledge of hispast experiences and contributions to aviation. Mr. Barnes'article filled a lot of gaps in my education about FortWayne's aviation history.

In my two years at Smith Field I worked for threedifferent companies. Shortly after completing the job onNC18425 , Mr. Bleke hired a well experienced mechanicwho was working for another company on the field and asa result he was forced to let me go. Momentarily crushedI gathered up my things and walked across the ramp tothe company who just lost a man. I was immediately hiredand started to work the same day.A few months later this company went out of business.When it was rumored they were going to lock the doors I

was approached by Mr. Fred Romy who was owner andoperator ofInter-City Flying Service who asked ifI wouldbe interested in working for him. I was, and did as soonas the key was turned .While working for Inter-City I met Bob McComb and

Carl Buecker. By this time I knew nearly everyone on thefield . Bob was in and out a lot since he was running theairport at Decatur, Indiana. Carl was there a lot in theevenings and on weekends since during the day he was anengineer for the Magnavox Corporation . A few years henceBob became one of my advanced instructors, and we flewseveral hours together . But that s another story.Bob McComb was a great aerobatic pilot and he performed in a wide variety of aircraft. At the time I first methim he had a surplus Navy N3N which he had painted upin a fancy red and white paint job. Bob was more or lessfree-lancing air show work at the time and had two youngmen, Gene Zerkel and Don Cody, working with him .In June 1946 we were plannmg an air show at SmithField with Bob as the featured performer. Gene and Donwere wing riders and assisted Bob with other parts of hisshow. Bob had decided to let Don, who was a Marineveteran of World War II and a paratrooper, do an actstanding on the top wing of the plane while Bob performedall the usual air show maneuvers. Of course this is doneregularly now but at the time I'm not sure it had ever beendone.

Of course this would require a special platform andharness to be mounted on the top wing in order for Donto be able to stand up. Bob brought the airplane to us andasked my shop boss, Vince Parker, if he could rig upsomething that would be safe. Vince said he thought hecould, so we rolled the ship into the shop and went to work.In a couple of days Vince had rigged up a platform withsome stirrups on it and some cables which fastened to aparachute harness. Don came out and tried it on for sizeand said he was satisfied it would work, so on with the


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of the plane. Then he was to climb back up the rope andinto the plane. SensationalThey took ofT flew past the crowd with Ace walkingaround on the wings and crawling all over the plane .Suddenly he fell, the crowd gasped, and then he hit theend of the rope and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Nowthe' real show began. Ace had used a nylon rope which waslooped a round his ankle and when he hit the end of therope the shock was greater than he had anticipated andhe was dazed. Also he had not allowed for the slickness ofthe nylon rope which required more than normal strengthto climb back up. So there he hung , weakened from theshock, which had already sapped his strength , gettingweaker from hanging head down and he had no parachute.I don't know whether Bob could see him or not but I doubtit. Obviously when he did not climb back into the planein a reasonable period Bob knew something was wrong.Down on the ground we didn t realize at first what wasgoing on. After ten or fifteen minutes of circling over thefield with the action at the end of the rope becoming lessand less it was obvious to us that Ace was in deep trouble.Some quick decisions were made and shortly Dick Teepletook ofT in a Fairchild PT-19 with Gene Racht in the backcockpit. Gene was an old-time parachute jumper and hewas carrying an extra chute and a knife with him.The plan was to try and come up under Ace, attemptto hand him the chute and the knife then get out of theway so he could cut himself free. t might have workedbut just as they got under him the Fairchild slipped aheadand about that time they hit a pretty healthy updraft . Baddeal The Fairchild's rudder went right up into the N3N'sprop.Now things were really getting hairy. Dick was anoutstanding pilot and was able to get the Fairchild backon the ground without further incident but Ace was stillup there in trouble. t was decided to try it once more butthe only plane available was a Vultee BT-13. Being quitea bit faster than the Fairchild it was not the best planefor the job but something had to be done fast, so away theywent . This time Al Schertz was at the controls. It didn twork. Al just could not get the speeds coordinated so thatcontact could be made.

Next a convertible was located and Bob was signaledto attempt lowering Ace into the car . Smith Field had3300-foot runways and after two unsuccessful attempts itwas decided to get a police escort across town to Baer Field.This was a military field at the time and had 6500-footrunways . They signaled to Bob and he headed south whichtook him directly across town.Coming up over the city Bob's engine suddenly startedheating up and running rough. Contact with the Fair-child's rudder had bent the prop and the results of thatwere taking their toll . Bob immediately turned back toSmith Field making a long, agonizingly slow approach andin a shallow slip. By slipping he could see Ace below him.

and build an unsuccessful race plane in the late 30s . Itwas called the "Hosler Fury". The Fury was an extremelyadvanced design for its day and might have flown givenenough space to get ofT the ground .The plane had a pencil-like fuselage of about 28 feetin length with the cockpit faired into it similar to FrankHawks' "Time Flies". There was no break in the top contourof the fuselage whatsoever. Forward visibility was nil. Toaid in takeofT and landing, the cockpit was enclosed inPlexiglas which extended quite a ways forward of theinstrument panel.A small hatch opened in the top of the cockpit and thepilot's seat had a hydraulic hand pump which enabled himto raise his head up through the hatch during groundoperations. The wing was nearly square in plan form andwas roughly 12 feet long by about 11 feet wide. At itsthickest point it was probably no more than three inchesthick and the airfoil was symmetrical. The leading edgewas like a razor and great care had to be taken whenwalking around the plane lest you sufTer severe cuts. Thewing sat well forward of the cockpit and was mounted atopthe fuselage.The landing gear was retractable and folded back andinto wells in the side of the fuselage. Power was providedby a 600 hp Curtiss Conqueror engine with a HamiltonStandard ground adjustable propeller . The entire front endof the plane was radiator with the prop shaft extendingthrough the lower portion of it . Construction of the fuselagewas of Chromoly tubing with wood formers. The rest ofthe airframe was of wood construction . The entire planewas covered with plywood skin which was covered withfabric and the resulting finish was slick as glass. The planewas painted bright vermillion with black numbers withthe name painted on it in bright yellow.I'm not sure exactly what year the Fury was completedbut it was finished at Smith Field. I learned many yearslater that original construction was started at Floyd Bennett Field in New York, but again, that is another story.Completion had to have been around 1938 or 1939 and thefirst attempts to fly it were at Smith Field. I was not thereso again I have to go on what I have been told concerningthe test attempts.Naturally the airplane was quite heavy, sporting extremely small wheels and brakes. With only 3300 feet ofrunway to work with Russ would get rolling pretty wellbut the plane was in no way ready to fly so he would haveto abort the takeofT. With all the weight on the small tireshe would burn them up every time he got on the binders.He tried to get permission to test it at Baer Field, butbeing a military field the brass said no.

Finally giving up Russ transported the Fury to Huntington and stored it in his sister s barn which was .onlya few blocks from where I lived. He continued to work onit from time to time in between rebuilding some otherplanes and I spent many summer afternoons in his shop


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In 1948 I attended the Cleveland Air Races. Amongthe entries was a Bell P-63 flown by Bob Eucher. The planewas painted all black and on the nose, in bright yellow,was the name Hosler. I wondered about it at the time butcould find no one in the crowd who could verify the nameof the owner. The plane won the Sohio Trophy Race thatyear and was doing pretty well in the Thompson when itdeveloped engine problems and had to drop out.In 1957 through 1960 the National Air Races were heldat Ft. Wayne, consisting only of Formula One Racers. Atthe race in 1958 I bumped into Russ at the airport restaur-ant. This was the first time we had seen each other innearly seventeen years . I had changed a whole lot morethan Russ had and naturally I had to tell him who I was .

t was quite a reunion and I had an opportunity to askhim a lot of questions. First, was it his P-63 that raced inCleveland ten years earlier? Yes it was. Second, what everhappened to the Fury? Russ told me that shortly after theturn of the decade (1950) he hit a real bad snag in hisbusiness and went bankrupt . During this period the Fury"and the P-63 were tied down at the Cleveland Airport.One day he got a letter from the airport managementtelling him he was behind in his tie down rental fees anduntil the money was paid the planes were being impounded. Not having the money at the time there wasnothing to do but let them impound the planes. Quite sometime later things took a turn for the better and Russ wentto the airport to reclaim his property. According to him,no one knew where they were or what had happened to

them. He never saw either of them again.That was the last time I saw Russ and I read where hepassed away a couple of years ago in a small town abouttwenty miles north of Fort Wayne. Until then I didn 't knowhe had returned to the area.Getting back to the Hosler Fury , I was talking withthe man in charge of the American Air Racing Societydisplay at Oshkosh '75 and I asked if he had ever heardof Russ Hosler. He thought a moment and then said hewas certain they had information on him.We compared notes for several minutes and then Ibecame aware that someone else had joined us and waswaiting for a lull in the conversation in order to ask aquestion. He introduced himselfas Nick D'Apuzzo. I recognized the name immediately. Then he asked the attendantif he had ever heard of an old time race pilot by the nameof Russ Hosler.I thought the man was going to have a stroke He lookedat me then back at Nick and said, "I don 't believe this . Ahundred thousand people here and the only two persons Ihave talked with in the past hour both walk up and askme about the same pilot. I just don't believe it."Nick and I introduced ourselves and then he told mehe had worked with Russ at Floyd Bennett Field on theinitial construction of the Fury. Of course we compared alot of other information but that was the first I had everknown that fact about Russ and his Fury. I wonder whatthe odds ofsomething like that happening at Oshkosh are?

AERONCA L LOW WING .(Continued from Page 13)The beautiful Hamilton Standard ground adjustible

prop has been with the plane for at least 20 yearsHarold remembers it being on NC17484 when ShortyKellow first owned it in 1962.Dave's only previous experience flying an LC was about30 minutes with Jim Thompson in the latter's plane . Thetwo Aeroncas are somewhat different in that Ji m 's has alater model tailwheel installation , being at the rear of thefuselage while Dave's is a full swivel installationmountedfurther forward.Before making the first flight in his new pride and joy,Dave taxied it around quite a while to get the feel of it ,then took off and climbed to 5,000 feet to start breakingin the engine in the cooler air.He was worried that the LC might be "squirrelly" onlanding, but on his first attempt the plane was down beforehe knew it, with no directional control problems. Thispleased him greatly, but he does admit the forward visibil

Among the many admirers of the LC at the AeroncaFly-In were two Aeronca retirees, one who came to theairport that day because he heard there was a Low-Wingon display, and the other because the LC was his favoriteplane and he worked in the sheet metal shop making thefairings and cowlings for LCs. He commented that all thesheet metal work on the LCs was hand made which meantthat like pieces weren't interchangeable from one planeto another.The latter gentleman was 81-year-old Cary Purdumwho worked for Aeronca 36 1/2 years, starting in Cincinnation 3/12/31 in final assembly of Aeronca C-3s, then in thesheet metal shop making gas tanks and ailerons .Mr . Purdum carefully inspected Dave's Aeronca LCthen put his stamp of approval on the sheet metal work.This pleased Dave because all the metal work was new onNC17484.Mr. Purdum wasn't the only one who approved of Daveand Phyllis Powell's Aeronca LC because the judges namedit the Grand Champion Classic Antique at the First National Aeronca Clubs of America Fly-In a fitting reward


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cl omenf n imeBy l Wheeler(E 64433, le 5519)525 Kumulani DriveKihei, HI 96753

As the chill hush of the winter evening embraced th erolling Connecticut countryside a tousle-haired young manand his father sat quietly reading in a comfortable farmhouse kitchen. Suddenly, the boy stirred , tilting his headas though to better hear some distant sound. Then, eyesalight with excitement, he rushed to the door shouting ,"Dad, it's him , it's him " The older man , aroused from histhoughts, nodded, and taking a five cell flashlight from aconvenient hook next to the door, followed his son out intothe chill night.

Pausing there to listen , he too heard the faint throb ofa J-5 Wright . Glancing at his watch, he nodded again,saying, "And right on time too, it's 9:15. " He followed theboy, now racing to the edge of a broad meadow next to thesprawling farmhouse.There they paused, peering intently in the direction ofsound. Seconds later the boy pointed skyward saying, "Isee him, Dad," as pinpoints ofred and green became visible,followed by the unmistakable torch of blue exhaust between them . As the aircraft approached the father raisedthe heavy flashlight, sighted over its long body and pressedthe switch, one - two - three pause and one - two . Helowered the light and watched the aircraft lights, nowbrighter as it closed the distance between them . Again heraised the light and flashed his signal , lowered it , andwaited.Suddenly both father and son shouted excitedly as twopinpoints of white broke the darkness below the winkingnavigation lights. One - two - three pause one - two theyflashed . "He saw us," the lad exclaimed as the aircraftpassed overhead, now with only the blue exhaust visible .

Douglas M-2 mail plane as flown on the early Los Angeles toSalt Lake City route. Painting by Charles Hubbell.

As the white tail light appeared, blending itself withthe bright stars, the boy spoke, Engine sure sounds good,doesn't it Dad?" The older ma n , listening, nodded, "Yup ,sure does. But I'll bet he 's cold up there tonight ." Theystood silently watching and listening as the single lightand the drone of the engine were slowly swallowed by thenorthern sky.Turning , they walked back to the house, each nowaware of the night chill and each imagining what it mightbe like to be the lone aviator . High in the night sky,someone who, huddled in a cold cockpit, must watchnightly for his pinpoint of light, and seeing it, flash backhis recognition. Twin rays of friendship probing the darknight, uniting for brief minutes the earthbound and theaviator. A momentary contact between friends and soonlost, one swallowed by the dark earth and the other slowlyblending with the twinkling stars.The time , the early 1930s, in the early days of the NewYork to Boston mail flights. Lone aviators braved the nightskies in open cockpit Pitcairns and Boeings. Pioneers theywere , blazing the invisible routes of the early air mail ,invisible but for the flashing beacon lights dotting therolling countryside and the tiny pinpoints of light alongthe route, friendly markers they , some flashing a code,others just winking on and of as to say, "Hi up there, hopeall is well ."Fifty years later on a sunny California afternoon, aman, still tousle-haired, listened intently to the exhaustnote ofhis steeply climbing Pitts Special and remembering,murmured half aloud, Engine sure sounds good, doesn'tit Dad?"

SEPTEMBER 1-5 - TULLAHOMA TENNESSEE - 3rd Annual Ol e SouthFlyln at Parish Aerodrome SoesbeMartin Field. Sponsored by TennesseeValley Sport Aviation Association Inc. For information contact Jimmy


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MYSTERY PLANEBy George Hardie

Lightplane amphibians have always been a challenge to airplane designers. This one appeared in theperiod just before we became involvedin World War II. The photo was submitted by member Cedric Galloway ofHesperia, California, and is from theJohn Vasey collection. Identificationof the airplane is not as it appears .Full details will be published in theNovember 1983 issue of The VIN-TAGE IRPL NE (We have decidedto extend the publication of theanswers to the co lumn by one monthbecause of lead time required for copyfor each issue .* * * * * * *The Mystery Plane that appearedin the June 1983 issue of The VIN-TAGE IRPL NE is a Brown-Young cross country via bus when I stoppedBY-I , license number NX13987 , built for an hour's visit at the airport .in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1936. Standing Sincerely,in front of the airplane is Willis Emil Strasse rBrown, President ofthe company, who (EAA 1069, A /C 3289)in 1926 founded Mid-Continent Air 4464 W. 115th St.craft Corp. which later became Spar Hawthorne CA 90250tan. The airplane was designed by A correct response was al so receivedDick Young and had a metal fuselage from Joe Tarafas (EAA 49351 , A/Cand wood and fabric wings. It was 5245) of Bethlehem, PA .powered by a 285 hp Jacobs engine.George Goodhead furnished the photoand information.

Although details vary somewhat, acorrect answer to the June MysteryPlane follows :Dear George:The Mystery Plane in the June 1983issue of The VINTAGE IRPL NE isthe Columbia BY-I , powered by aJacobs L-4 of225 hp. I believe the BYstood for Brown-Young )I'll be pleased to read further detailson this one-of-a-kind aircraft as I'venever read anything on it since Iphotographed it on 10/18/36 on theramp at Spartan School of Aeronautics at Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was going

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LEITERS TO THE EDITOR .(Continued from Pag e 25)when they were clearing out some old material. Thismagazine is dated six weeks before I was born .The B-19 was slated for the proposed Air Corps Museumbut with foot-dragging, pressure from some scrap dealers,and non-caring military officers, the plane was cut up .This would be a splendid exhibit at the Air Force Museumif it were still around.Sincerely,

John Carter(EAA 41067, A/C 180)1403 2nd Avenue E .Bradenton, FL 33508

CLASSIFIED ADSRegular type, 45c per wo rd; Bold Face, 50c per word ; ALL CAPS,55c per word. Rate covers one insert ion, one issue; minimum charge,$7.00. Classified ads payable in advance, cash with order . Send adwi th payment to Advertising Department TIu VINTAGEAIR-PLANE, P.O. Box 229, Hales Comers, WI 53130.

ACRO SPORT - Single place biplane capable of unlimited aerobatics. 23 sheets of clear, easy to follow plans,includes nearly 100 isometrical drawings, photos andexploded views. Complete parts and materials list. Fullsize wing drawings. Plans plus 88 page Builder's Manual- $60.00. Info Pack - $4 .00. Super Acro Sport WingDrawing - $15.00. Send check or money order to: ACROSPORT, INC., Box 462, Hales Corners, WI 53130. 414/425-4860 .

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ACRO - The new 2-place aerobatic trainer and sportbip lane . 20 pages of easy to follow, detailed plans. Complete with isometric drawings , photos, exploded views.Plans - $85.00. Info Pac - $4.00. Send check or moneyorder to: ACRO SPORT, INC., P.O. Box 462 , Hales Corners, WI 53130. 414/425-4860.POBER PIXIE - VW powered parasol - unlimited inlow, cost pleasure flying. Big, roomy cockpit for the oversix foot pilot. VW power insures hard to beat 312 gph atcruise setting. 15 large instruction sheets. Plans - $45.00.Info Pack - $4.00. Send check or money order to: ACROSPORT, INC., Box 462, Hales Corners, WI 53130. 414/425-4860 .

THE JOURNAL OF

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MEM ERSHIP INFORMATIONfAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association. Inc. is $25.00 for one year. $48.00 for 2 yearsand $69.00 for 3 years. All include 12 issues of Sport Aviation per year.Junior Membership (under 19years of age) is available at $15.00 annually. Family Membership is available for an additional$10.00annually. EAA Member - $18.00. Includes one year membership in EAA Antique-Classic Division, 12 monthlyissues of The Vintage Airplane and membership card .Applicant must be a current EAA member and


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