vintage airplane - nov 1976

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 1976

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THERESTORER'S ORNER by J R. NIELANDER JR

This being our convention coverage issue, we, the officers, directors,advisors, convention chairmen and convention co-chairmen of your EAAAntique/Classic Division, respectfully dedicate this issue to those of youwho volun teered your time and services to the Division to make this convention the great success that it was. Without your help it would not havebeen possible. This year 128 of you, the largest number of Division convention vol un teers to date, stepped forth and helped with conventionduties so that your fellow members, their families and guests could enjoyour convention. We are certain that those of you who volunteered got asmuc h satisfaction out of being on the team as we did. Some of youworked 10 to 14 hours every day, and we are all especially indebted toyou for this great devotion to the cause. We know that many of you neverhad the oppor tunity to see the rest of the convention. For this we sincerelyapologize. We hope tha t next year about 250 additional members will offerto help with convention duties. f they will, then two 3-hour shifts sometime during the week will be all that will be needed from any volunteersin order to give us complete Division convention manpower, and thusmake our part of the convention operate even more efficiently and makeit even more enjoyable for all of us.

Your convention chairmen and co-chairmen met with your Divisionofficers, directors and advisors at EAA Headquarters on Saturday, October 16, 1976, for a combined convention debriefing and Board of Directorsmeeting. Many fine suggestions for improvement of the convention andits facilities came out of this meeting and have already been forwardedto EAA. The convention chairmen and co-chairmen were particularly emphatic in their praise of the volunteers who had worked with them.Al Kelch, your Editor of he Vintage Airplane gave a long and detailedreport concerning the joys and sorrows of being a magazine editor. Weall owe Al and his wife, Lois, a deep debt of gratitude for the great personalsacrifices which they have made to give us all this fine publication whichyou are now reading. Al stressed that he would like to print more storieson the history and restoration of classics, but not much has been forthcoming from you, the members. He needs your help . f you have restoreda classic and if you can provide some interesting pictures of your restoration in process and completed, please write a story about your experiencesand send the story to AI. f you are not sure as to how to write the storyor what an editor wants, please go back to your February, 1976, issue ofThe Vintage Airplane and reread The Restorer s Corner . There you willfind a complete short course in magazine writing which should make eachof you an expert writer.

Your officers, directors and advisors also discussed the status of ourDivision membership campaign. You should receive four membershipblanks along with each copy of the October, November and Decemberissues of The Vintage Airplane This is your organization, and your helpis greatly needed to make it grow. Please show your magazines to yourfriends and acquaintences who are interested in aviation, and give eacha membership application. f you belong to a local EAA chapter, pleasetalk up the Division to the other chapter members. Certainly you are notthe only member of your chapter who is interested in older airplanes. Anddon't miss the most important selling point of the season: A membershipin the EAA Antique/Classic Division, with its subscription to he VintageAirp lane magazine, makes a wonderful Christmas gift which lasts all year.


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EDITORI LST FF

Publisher Editor Assistant EditorPaul H. Poberezny AI Kelch Lois KelchCONTRIBUTING EDITORSANTIQUE / CLASSIC DIVISION OFFICERS H. N... Dusty " Rhod esPRESIDENT VICE-PRESIDENT Evand er BrittJ. R. NIELANDER , JR. JACK WINTHROP Jim BartonP. O. BOX 2464 RT . 1, BOX 111 Claude GrayFT . LAUDERDA LE, FL 33303 ALLEN , TX 75002 Ed EscallonRod Spanier

SECRETARY TREASURER Dal e GustafsonRI CHARD WAGNER E. E. BU CK" HILBERT Henry Whe elerP. O. BOX 181 8102 LEECH RD . Morton LesterLYONS, WI 53148 UN ION , IL 60 180 Kelly VietsDirectors Bo b ElliottJack Lann ing

Claude L. Gray, Jr. AI Kelch Bil l Th umma9635 Sylvia Aven ue 7018 W, Bonniwell Road Glenn Bu ff ingtonNorthridge. CA 91324 Mequon, WI 53092ADVI SORSJames B. Horne

3840 Coronation RoadEagan MN 55122

Evander M. BrittBox 1525

Lumberton, NC 28358W, Brad Thomas , Jr.301 Dodson Mill Road

Pilot Mountain , NC 27041Dale A Gustafson

7724 Shady Hill DriveIndianapolis , IN 46274George E. Stubbs

Box 113Brownsburg, IN 46112

M. C. " Kelly ' VietsRR 1. Box 151

Stilwell , KS 66085Robert A. White1207 Falcon Drive

Orlando , FL 32803Roger J. She rron446-C Las CaSitas

Santa Rosa , CA 95401William J. EhlenRoute 8, Box 506Tampa , FL 33618

Morton LesterP. O. Box 3747

Martinsville, VA 24112Maurice " Sonny" Clavel

Box 98Wauchula , FL 33875

Stan Gomoll1042 90th Lane , N.EMinneapolis, MN 55434

THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE is owned exclusively by Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc. and is published monthlyat Hales Corners , Wisconsin 53130. Second class Postage paid at Hales Corners Post Office , Hales Cor-ners , Wisconsin 53130 and Random Lake Post Office, Random Lake, Wisconsin 53075, Membership ratesfor An t ique Class aircraft, Inc . at $14.00 per 12 month period of which $10.00 is for the publica t ion ofTHE VINTAG E AIRPLANE. Membership is open to all who are interested in avia t ion.

Postmaster: Send Form 3579 to Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc., Box 229 ,Hales Corners, Wisconsin 53130

OFFICIAL MAGAZINEANTIQUE CL SSIC

IVISIONof

THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

NOVEMBER 1976 VOLUME 4 NUMBER 116fjwcia cft:J6UC r9:J1t w:;h ,76' Off mnejC{J

We have dedicated this issue to the winners and have attempted to haveon e ar ticle for each airplane . Th e following are winners whose articlewas not available at press tim e. Contemporary Age Outstanding ClosedCockpit Monoplane, Sparton Executive, NC17615, Dr. J. T Paterson International Award, Tiger Moth ZK-BFX, Ian Bennie - Oil BurnerAward, Porterfield, NC17029, John Innes - Outstand ing Workman-ship , Piper J4, N30340, Al Anderson - Best Aeronca Champion,N83633, Melvin Hill - Be st Cessna 170 3543C, George Mock - Bes tLuscombe , 21268B, Marc Bal zao - Bes t Stinson, N97654, GeoffreyBartoldo - Best Swift , N13SW , Steve Wilson - Best Taylorcraft,NC96818, Knight /Disch/JoranlienEAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION MEMBERSHIP

o NON-EAA MEMBER - $34.00. Includes one year membership in the EAA Antique /Classic Division , 12monthly issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE; one year membership in the Experim enta l Aircraft As sociation , 12 monthly issues of SPORT AVIATION and separate membership cards ,o NON-EAA MEMBER - $20.00. Includes one year membership in the EAA Ant ique /Classic Division , 12mon t hly issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE; one year membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association and separate membership cards, SPORT AVIATION not inc luded ,o EAA MEMBER - $14.00. Includes one year membership in the EAA Antique/Class ic Div ision , 12 monthlyissues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE and membership card . (Applicant must be current EAA member andmust give EAA membersh ip number.

PICTURE BOX(Back Cover)n The CoverGrand Champion Antique , owned by Grand Champion Classic, ownedBob G ro ff and Claude Gray from W. M. Amundson from Wisconsin .Californ ia.

Copyri ght 0 1976 Ant iqu e Classic A ircraft, Inc. All Right s Reserve:L 2


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Grand ChampionAmerican agle #3738By M R " Bob Groff Claude Gray9635 Sylvia Avenue

Northridge, CA 91324The restoration of the Eagle goes back a number of

years to 1964. This is when Bob Groff and I found theairplane at Pine City, Minn. t was purchased at thistime and shipped to California. Restoration was started, and the job was completed 51/2 years later. Theairplane was all there when purchased, including arunable OX5, propeller, complete set of WWI surplusinstrumen ts and all hardware such as the originalstranded cable flying, landing, interplane and cabanewires, which we might add are still on the aircraft.In this first restoration, we say first, because ithas just gone through the second, we did a completedisassemble, down to sandblasting, and startedover from there. The original top wings were in goodcondition and are still in use on the plane . New bottom panels were built up at this time. New woodstringers etc. were put on the fuselage, all new burnished cowling was made, the engine was given a

major overhaul and all other parts brought up to newcondition. During this period we had found a pair of,never been used, 1928 20 aircraft wire wheels withmechanical brakes. These were installed along with aFairchild PT19 tail wheel assembly . Due to lack ofnice grass landing strips in our part of the country,these two items are almost a must. As might havebeen observed at Oshkosh, we went back to the oldtai l skid also. The skid and tail wheel are interchangeable in about 15 minutes.

When the plane was completed the first time, ithad the trade mark of American Eagle with the burnished cowling. The fuselage was done in international orange along with the fin and rudder. Thewings were silver. This was the color scheme whenit was shown on the cover of SPORT AVIATION inMarch of 1970. The plane was flown to many WestCoast Fly-Ins from spring of 1969 to June of 1970.At this time it and me, Claude, and three differentsets of power lines got in each other's way in one ofour many mountain passes we have to fly through toget from A to B t might be added that the powerline incident was brought on by the fact that the powercompanies find it cheaper to replace lines once in awhile, than it is to pu t markers on them so we cansee them. The start of my troubles was a set of wiresfrom one mountain to another at about 400 feet. Thethird set I hit, breaking the landing gear, and uponlanding I finally flipped over due to a wheel draggingon the wing. This is past history now, and the planewas not too badly damaged .

This misfortune was turned into a good fortuneas it gave us a chance to make a few desired changesand to do the plane back to its original and authenticfactory new condition. This was desired becausein the Antique and Classic Division of EAA, we hadformed up our currently used point system of judgingaircraft. This has been used the past 2 years at Oshkosh. The past few months has had articles in bothSPORT AVIATION and The Vintage Aircraft magazines explaining this system. t has been well received and some of the other divisions are now usingit. t was our desire to restore the Eagle this time asnear to the letter of the new judging rules as possible.

Restoring an aircraft to factory authentic conditionmeans not using elastic step nuts on an airplane thatwas built before this type of locknut was invented,along with AN type hoses and fittings, shielded harness, etc. The Eagle was put together at the factoryin 1927 with hardware store round head stove boltsand round head wood screws, castle nuts and manycotter pins and clevis pins . Cowling pins and piano

wire pins were used to hold cowling on, and cottonfabric and dope was the standard finish. Chrome wasnot in use in the 20s but nickel plate had come out,and the Eagles left the factory with choice of cad.plate or nickel plate struts. This Eagle left the factorywith the nickel plate as was used in the restoration.For the trip to Oshkosh this year, we trucked theplane to AI Kelch's beautiful grass strip outside ofMilwaukee, and assembled it there. After a shorttest flight it was flown on to the Fly-In. It will be reloaded in the truck this fall for the trip back to California .On this second restoration we did make all newcowling again, as we found a much be tter burnishingprocess. After some gear repair, new cabanes, somerib repair, top overhaul on the engine, new propand a new cover job, it was back flying. Without thehelp of many good friends we would not have madeit this year. We we re still spraying dope on somewing panels on a Wednesday morning and thatnight at 11:30 p. m . we were at the road with the planein the truck . Bob Groff and I want to give credit andthanks to our good friends and crewmen ObieTollman, Don Birlew, Bob Conover and Allen Logsdenfor all the effort it took to get the job done, and getthe plane flying again .A little history on the Eagle. t is a 1927 Model101, serial #82. t was completed in Dec. of 1927. In Feb.of 1928 it was delivered to the dealer in Minneapolis,Minn. He used it two weeks for flight training anddemonstration flights, and sold it to a Mr . Freemanin Pine City. Mr. Freeman flew off of his farm until1941 when WWII grounded all private aircraft. Itsat in a small hangar from then until 1964. The oldCAA records show a recover job in 1935 and back flying after that. A set of large wooden snow skis camewith the airplane, but due to climatic conditions inSouthern Calif. we have found little use for them sofar. The OX5 engine was built in Sept. of 1918 by theWillys Motor Co . There are a few 1928 and 1929 modelEagles flying, but as far as we know, this is the only1927. This was the first year of production. There area number of differences between the two models .The 27 has ailerons on the top wings only. A largerbalanced rudder is used, it has a narrower gear,no door to the front cockpit and does not have anelevator trim in the pilot's cockpit. Washer adjustment only on the leading edge of the stab. The leading edge of the wings have false ribs instead of solidpanel leading edge. This gives the plane a vintagelook that has long since passed. t was, and still is,a very basic flying machine .

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Grand Champ 3738 when new in December 1927.

Picture taken at the place of discovery 1956.

It was a bare bones start 1964.

Reserve GrandChampion (Tie)American Eaglet #548Y 1931By Gene Morris1028 an Tassel Dr.Dundee, IL 60118

But when Mr . Szekely built that engine brandne w t wasn't worth a damn agrued Ernie Seiler.We were discussing flying our newly purchasedAmerican Eaglet from Marshfield, Missouri tothe Chicago area four hundred slow miles away.Even though Ernie was the selier, he thought thatwe should dismantle the little bird and truck it home.No way , I insisted I wouldn't have an airplanethat wouldn't fly that far. Especially since the air-plane and engine had been completely rebuilt fiveyears before and had flown less than five hours since.Next, was the thirty minute ground school onSzekely maintenance and operating techniques,with heavy emphasis on keeping the rpm down.Another two minutes, or perhaps I just missed themcovering oiling the push rod ends, would ha ve pre-

We 've grown very fond of old 'Zeke '.

Mary and Gene Morris sort of take you back to the earlythirties standing there beside old Zeke . The wholescene is too free of grease and oil to be true.

Gene Morris pushed the Eaglet all the way up here sTed Koston could capture this proof. 4


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vented two forced landings on the trip home; one formyself, and one for son Ken. Ken had come along inthe Bonanza with my wife Mary, as a relief pilot. Ididn't really need a relief pilot, just a relief butt) Guesswho did the most flying? (Well he needs the timemore than I do) The ensuing trip home was ably recorded and written by Ken, which was publishedin Vintage magazine February 1976.

At that time, Oshkosh '75 was only a week away .A frantic effort to re-do some cowling ended in aterrible mismatch of colors, the cowling being at leastthree shades lighter than the fabric.After really participating in the Oshkosh Convention for the first time, and meeting so many ofthe wonderful people there , especially antiquers,and learning what like new condition means , itwas decided to go all through the Eaglet that winter.The remainder of the summer was spent paintingand rematching the cowling many times, alwaysphotographing each 'new fix' as if it was a baby picture . I also installed the original 7.00 x 4 wheels andtires. The wheels are 1931 style, which have bronzebushings instead of roller bearings.Forty hours were added to the log books throughout the summer and fall. The season ended November15th when we made the last flight to restoration.One of my neighbors has a farm close by, and hekindly consented to our storing the Eaglet in hishuge barn. After sneaking in a landing on a little service road behind the barn, the Eaglet was dismantledand stored there until our garage could be readiedfor the fuselage or a wing, but only one at a time.While in the barn, the engine was removed and finallyI was able to send those darned Bosch mags off foroverhaul. Al Lowe should be glad to hear that Theonly other engine work done was having the exhaustvalves stellited, and new rings were installed. I alsomade new gaskets for the front and rear cases, andthen re-saftied everything with brass safety wire,just like 1931. With all new paint and sand blastedheads, the old Zeke was pretty as a jewel.

Some time later, the fuselage was brought to ourunheated garage for the ensuing winter's work.As I began to remove parts and pieces from thefuselage, I had no idea just how far I was going, butas the pieces disappeared, it seemed so easy to takeoff more. Finally, only the floorboards were left, andsince they were wired in from beneath, and I wasnot going to remove the fabric, they would remain.I did, however, veneer a sixteenth inch mahoganypiece over the old ones , and no one will ever know 'til now.

The original instruments were taken to WSM of bailing out while rolling toward some immovableInstruments in DeKalb for refinishing. Th ey in turn object, or not flying at all.sent the faces into Chicago for the actual art work . As Spring approached, I was ready for doping ,I was later informed that the Chicago company had and my hopes climbed . Who hasn't tried doping incalled back and said that the tachometer alone would early Spring, and seen insignia blue dope turn snowcost fifteen dollars, and that maybe I would not wish white? Yes I used retarder - lots. The wings wereto spend that much . WSM did the right thing, and doped at the barn, and in spite of the crude set-up ,they are beautiful. turned out pretty good. The original cover was GradeAnyone that has ever used krinkle paint, can A with butyrate. I redoped with b ~ t y r t e after washappreciate how I smelled up the house cooking the ing each piece with thinner. (So far so good)instrument panel in the oven . I must have painted Our crude transportation system from the barn,and stripped that thing six times before getting a almost did-in one of the wings. Mary helped me takefinish that I could live with. The mag switch alone each wing to the airport on top of the car. t wastook about a week, with several strippings and re very windy, and the first wing acted just as it should ,paintings. I wanted it to have a nice glass black lac and almost took off, cracking a rib and damagingquer, with the embossed lettering white. Just put in the trailing edge in the aileron area . t could havethe white and wipe off the excess, I thought, but it been worse I guess, but I wasn't very happy.always smeared the black finish. After thinking on Final assembly was made May 26th in plenty ofit for several days, I finally hit upon the rig ht co m time for Oshkosh '76. As a matter of fact, before gobination; latex white paint was used next, and it worked ing to Oshkosh, I had to redo some cowling and reperfectly. Finally to really put the finising touch on paint the landing gear, because of flying it so much.the panel, with l Kelch's help, I was able to obtain Mary flew the Eaglet to Oshkosh this year, anda brand new nameplate to mount on my now all new the big week was good to us, sending us homeinstrument panel. with a very handsome Reserve Grand ChampionMy wife was going to school through the winter, trophy.so I spent many hours alone on my days off, work Three short weeks later, I pointed the Szekelying alone, just me , the Eaglet and my television and toward Blakesburg, Iowa and added some more longradio. hours to the log . While at Blakesburg, Mary and IAll new wiring was i ns ta ll ed - all three of them. really abused the little bird, flying it about three hoursNew cables were also installed for the rudder and each day, hopping passengers and taking pictures.the elevators . I had intended to do the five-point While there, Gar Williams made the classic statementnavy splice to the ends, but had to succumb to ig of the week asking Are you saving enough time onnorance and butter fingers, so swedges were used. that engine to get home? We did, and old ZekeA week after final assembly, I met Warren Cronce, is still popping along. t looks as though he will justwho could have done it for me blindfolded. rest this winter, but what will I do? Anyone knowI had been having trouble with the windshield of a Buhl Pup or a Curtiss Junior? We've grown verycracking, so decided to put a curved set in it, by heat fond of old Zeke .ing. Can you imagine what would happen if you forgotabout plexiglass being in an oven? Mary's no dummyyou know, and she warned me that that would happen sometime . (Fortunately it did not stick to the Editor s Note: Gene Morris Eaglet has become aoven, but what a mess) fixture at most fly-ins in the two years that it hasThe only reason I repainted the entire airplane, been flying. e has obviously gotten more servicewas so that I could put the NC back on it . When Ernie out of the Szekely engine than was the practicerebuilt it in 1970, only the N was legal. Authenticity in the day that it was new. I have accompaniedwas to be the uppermost throughout the project. Gene to fly-ins with my 85 hp J3 Cub and foundAs the NC was put back on, the brakes were left off, it to be a spritely little machine for its horse-and the tails kid remained, which is a very flimsy power. His whole family flies and enjoys this ma-design - but original. chine. It is a pleasure to see him in the air., We were amazed at how it taxies without brakes, - AI Kelchvery nearly like a steerable tailwheel, unless thereis a wind, then it gets very exciting up to the point

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Reserve Grand ChampionRyan T-22 Tie)

OUR RYANBy Tom Macario410 Conestoga Rd.Malvern P 19355

This article about a delightful, antique airplane,starts back in March of 1973. I received a call, oneevening, from John Eney, an antique buff, who isdedicated to restoring a Waco UPF-7. He called tolet me know that he planned to sell his Ryan ST3-KR(PT-22) wh,ch he had purchased two months earlierin upper New York State . At that time, John disassembled the plane and trailered it down to VanSant's Airport in Erwinna , Pa ., where he put theRyan in a sectioned off area in the back of the hangar,with little space to work . When an opportunity tobuy a house with a large shop behind it came along,and he needed money for a down payment, he decided to sell the Ryan, and phoned me to see if I wasinterested . I gave the offer much th ought and askedmy wife, Kate (pilot for 33 yrs ., mother of 4 pilotsand 3 girls , bookkeeper and purchasing ag ent forour Macario Enterprises ) , and three of our sons ,

their OpInIOnS , as t had been only six months sincewe completed our Pitcairn Mailwing restoration(centerfold of SPORT AVIATION June 1973) if theywere ready to undertake another antique restoration. I told them how back in 1950, I recovered thewings on a Ryan PT-22 belonging to a friend of mine,and how well the airplane flew, reminding Kate ofthe aerobatics we did in it when she was pregnantwith #1 son, Michael. My memories of that Ryanwere strong, so the die was cast I called John Eneyand told him we would buy the Ryan. The followingweek the Ryan was in our two-car garage, and thework began.The aircraft was in excellent condition with nocorrosion, whatsoever. The spars were well varnishedand looked like a new piano. We completely disassembled every nut and bolt, gutted the fuselage,removing everything that was bolted or screwed on,leaving the bare shell. The interior skin was thenzinc chromated from tailpost to firewall by M9tthewand Mark, our twins. The fuselage was put ~ c k together with all new control cables, new pulleys, newball bearings in controls, new bolts , and all . the original instruments were bench-tested and reins taH ed,new placards and decals applied, just as the aircraftrolled off Ryan's production lin e in 1942. The outerskin had two red stripes dow n the side, which wereremoved, and the beautifu l natural finish was handpolished to a mirror-like surface. The wings and tailgroup were recovered with Ceconite, and finishedwith 24 coats of Butyrate dope, wet-sanded and handrubbed many times.The engine had abou t 55 hrs. since overhaul andlooked to be in good shape. However, we checkedthe compression and found that good, removed andretimed bo th mag netos, removed all rocker armsand checked their bearings, reset all valves, cleanedall screens, removed oil tank and cleaned interiorand po lished exterior. New landing gear shock strutsand brakes were purchased from Lou Leibee of Cal.,new tires and tail wheel assembly installed, the aircraft reassembled with all new bolts, new clevis pinsin all landing and flying wires, and rigged, usingthe PT-22 Maintenance Manual. The ship was finishedas it was delivered to the U.S. Army Air Corps inMay 1942. The test flight on Nov. 14th, 1973 was perfect; the ship trimmed out and flew hands off Theonly adjustment made, was to increase the tensionon the right front landing wire, which tended to vi:brate in cruise. The spinner prop, which Ole Fahlinmade for us, was very smooth, and the ship indicated110 mph at 1600 rpm .

Kate and Tom.

Kate working on the PT-22.

ark and Tom starting to reassemble the Ryan.


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After reacquainting myself with the Ryan's aerobatic capabilities: delightful loops, snap, s low andbarrel rolls, and spins, I thought I had better landand start checking out the three boys , who for thepast eight months, had worked hard and long hoursfor thi s moment . Michael, the oldes t and who hadprenatal Ryan time , was first. With very few taildragger solo hours in the Pitcairn Mailwing, I turnedhim loose in th e Ryan after th ree and a half hours ofstalls, spins, take-off and landings. The twins, Matthew and Mark, who had no tail-dragger time, andless than 100 hours in our Cessna 150, checked outin five hours. This, to me , shows what a great, littleairplane and trainer, Claude Ryan built for our countr y. Our boys take great pleasure flying the thirtyfour year old Ryan to Air Shows and bringing homeawards and trophies, eight, so far. We were all thrilledto receive the bust of Lindber gh trophy from the EAAFly-In at Oshkosh this year, for the Reserve GrandChampion Vintage Award.

Golden Age ChampionSwallow Mail PlaneBy uck Hilbert8102 Leech Rd.Union Grove IL 60180

The Flight of the Swallow, The re-enact ment ofthat first CAM flight April 6th, 1926 had a personalmotive other than United Airlines 50th birthday.Not only was t the realization of a boyhood dream,but it was a chance to show the heroes of my boy-

It would take the Spirit of St Louis to rival the Swallow for lines of print.

hood that I did grow up and I could do the thingsthat they did . It placed me at an acceptable level whereI could now look them right in th e eye.When Lindberg flew over Rockford, Illinois in1927, on tour with The Spirit after his epic flight,I was a goner. I caught the Airplane disease and waslost forever. The Burlington R.R., where my Dad wasa Signal Engineer, lost forever th eir number one fan.And from that time on, every other sentence I spokebegan or ended with AEROPLANEI rode my bicycle thrity to forty miles a day touring the airports around Chicago. I watched the planesand the pilots who l ew them until I could stand itno longer, then I tried to get near enough to touchthem , to talk to the pilots, th e mechanics, to the fellow watchers who also were lined up agai nst thefence. That skinny buck-toothed kid became the pestat every airport, shop and hangar he cou ld peddlehis bike to. I was chased away many times, encouragedat other times, but mostly I was treated like what Iwas, a nosey, pesky kid. There were tim es when I'dbe invited in and then made the butt of the left handedmonkey wrench joke, or maybe I'd be sent out fora bucket of prop-wash. There were sweet momentsthough, when I'd actually get to wash an aeroplane,or get to sit in th e cockpit of a derilect and actuallyfeel like a pilot. That made it all worthwhile.

Now forty-five or more years down life's road,United Airlines has me flying the Swallow on tour

throughout the Midwest and Eastern parts of theUnited States through the cities on United AirlinesSystem. At every United city along the way, the O ldTimers came out to see the airplane and to talk aboutthe old da ys. It's like having the shoe on the o therfoot. Its M who is now the one to be envied. ThePILOT th y look UP to.In a way, I feel real sad. At many of these placesI me et people who are lege nd to the mo dern aviators.I am honored that they have come to see the Swallowand that they now treat me as tho I were their equal.I am one of them at l st. I am allowed to share thesecrets because there are no secrets anymore. I know ,now, what they knew. But they are outside that fencethat I so longed to jump when I was that kid.

But I am not vegance bent, and at each stop I answereach question. I take part in the jokes and my joy knowsno bounds because I can now talk with these peoplewith no status gap between us. I am accepted nowand I am grateful. I reciprocate in the only way I could.I laud them in the presence of ot hers, I laugh withthem over our often told old jokes , and best of allI can go them one better, I give THEM rides in theSwallow. I have my revenge. Sweeter better revengethen I cou ld hope for. I give them back a momentof their youth. I see old men revive and become againthe idols of my youth. That is sweeter than any revenge,and it brings a tear to my eye that can only be the result of happiness so great that I want to cry.

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Majestic and beautiful are the only two adjectives I can think of to describe this machine.

Silver Age ChampionHamilton Metalplane H 7NC879H (current)SPCLMSerial number 65(22 of 29 Aircraft of The Type Built)Type Certificate #94

Owner: Jack LysdaleLysdale Flying ServiceFleming FieldSouth St. Paul, MN

Originally sold to the Canadian Forestry Service,later owned by Joe Crosson of Northwest Air Servicebased at Boeing Field, Washington then owned byJohn Milton Cross who operated out of DeeringAlaska. Plane originally delivered on floats, but laterfitted with land wheels and used interchangeablythereafter. During its service with Joe Crossonaircraft probably got its American registration ofN875H. Plane was last flown on July 10, 1947. Lastlogbook entry by John Cross indicated 5183.3 hourstolal time on the airframe.The aircraft was removed from service so thestory goes, because someone inadvertantly taxied itinto the side of the hangar and bent the prop, broke

up an engine cylinder and some longerons. The planelay outside near Lake Hood close to AnchorageAlaska, until it was given to Northwest Airlines CaptainHarry McKee, who had it trucked to the MinneapolislSt. Paul area. He had convinced the Northwest Airlines 20-year Club (old-timers at NW) that the planecould be restored. The 20-year Club commencedwork on it in January of 1954, with their work continuing through April of 1955.A move from st. Paul to Minneapolis in the offing,work on the Hamilton project stopped. The parts weremoved to a farm south of St. Paul, owned by NW Captain Chuck Doyle. A little over a year later the partswere moved by Jack Lysdale to Fleming Field, southof St . Paul where they sat from the early sixties untilJack finally acquired the parts from McKee and startedthe real rebuilding in the fall of 1971.

EnginePratt and Whitney Hornet R-1690Horsepower: 525 at 1900 rpmThe engine on the Lysdale Hamilton restorationlast ran in 1937, when it hung on one of NorthwestAirlines fleet Hamiltons. It was rebuilt in the Northwest engine shop by the shop foreman, Chet "Tiny"Larson in the e IJrly 1950's when they attempted torestore the plane the first time. In the years followingthat overhaul the engine never ran but somehowacquired a cracked rocker box and some corrodedcylinders. In 1971 Tiny Larson again overhauled the

engine for Jack Lysdale and replaced the two badcylinders and the rocker box. A special rocker arminstallation tool had to be built.

In flight, the Hornet engine consumes approximately 25 gallons of gas per hour and one quart ofoil. At 50 power, the engine will propell the airplane at 105 miles per hour.Airframe

Access Stands - To begin with, a large stand waswelded up to hold the fuselage. The stand was provided with wheels so the large structure could beeasily rolled from one part of the shop where it wasbeing stripped and cleaned to another where thesheet metal could be worked on or the interior couldbe dealt with. The wheels could be jacked up so thatthe entire stand was immobilized for stability. A largewind stand was made to hold one wing at a time. Aclever lazy susan was engineered to hold the cowlingnose cap. This was necessary for the burnishing ofcircles in concentric lines and perfectly aligned rows.The nose cap was .sanded then the burnishedcircles were put on witD a steel brush shortened andwrapped tight. It was inserted in an electric drill whichrode on an arm over the lazy susan. Each row of circlestook 45 minutes to burnish. The total cowling grouphad 19 separate pieces, of which 15 were made overand carefully burnished. The nose cap was weldedand patched before burnishing. All new piano hinges

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we re made by Lysda le and th ey consum ed 40 hour sof wo rk alone. Th e louvres in the right and lef t h il ndsid e pa ne ls we re s til mp ed fr om a se t of la min a tedhardwood dies th at required il s ingle wee k to make .

Th e fire wall was ma de new . The origin a l, use das a pattern only, had been weakened by do ze ns ofextra holes cut in the course of time. Th e new firewa ll was made from stainless stee lThe fue l tanks we re m il de new using th e old onesilS pa tt e rn s. Two 70 gil ilon ta n ks re qui re d th e useoH u rnpl ilte material, as that hild bee n used in th e originals. wo uld have bee n ve ry eilsy a nd hand y tomake th em from a luminum , but Jack decided to s tickto th e o rig in a l Turn pla te s tee l had a lea d coa tin gto prevent ru s t Th e old tank ba ffl es and filler neckswe re use d. Comple te ly ne w access cover s fo r th ewings we re fabri cated as were all o f th e s tra ps, cushion strips a nd turnbu ckles .

Th e sa me pr ocedure was necessar y for th e tenga llon oil tank that sits in the right leading edge.Th e fuse lage itse lf, made of rive ted o pen sec tionalclad , was disasse mbl ed . The wings, semi cantileve r

with rive ted dural tubing spare we re disa sse mbl edand clea ned . 2 3 of th e corrugated skin was repla cedon fu selage a nd wings. Alcoa aluminum had origina llyro lled so me 1500 fee t of new skin for No rth wes t inth e ea rly fifties, and Jack acquired that from McKee .Th e skin had bee n ro lled on special wood en dies toth e exact original pattern. An original 1929 corruga tedaluminum crimping too l was loca ted and thu s Jac kwas able to reproduce the precise edge crimp on thenew a lclad panels.As a matter of interes t, th e w ind ow frame s tampings we re originally do ne in 1929 from th e 1927 Nas hpa ssenge r se dan a ut o w indow di es . Mr. N as h hada financial in teres t in the Hamilton Co mpan y a t th a ttime.All 29 H amiltons o f thi s ty pe were indi vid ua ls,eve ryo ne being s lightl y di ffe rent from th e nex t So mehad piano-hinge d leadin g edges, some had P-K screwsho lding th e panels on . Jack Lys dale decid ed to useth e me th od that North wes t Airlines found mos t effici ent on th eir fl ee t ship s. Jack used screws and platenut s fo r these panels. Each w ing needed 68 0 screwsa nd pla te nu ts, a nd eac h plate nut was sec ured bytwo rive ts. As if this was not a big enough ope ra tion,a ll new lea din g edge ribs we re built as th e o riginalswe re wea k from the milny hol es of large r and la rge rsizes drilled in th em over th e course of tim e. To makethe sma ll ribs, a specia l jig was bu ilt. They are aluminum ribs.Shoc k s truts were disassembl ed a nd rebuilt a nd

repl ated , ilJ d magnilfl uxed. The origina l leil th er chevro n gil ske ts we re rep l1Ccd with O-ring fo r th e sakeof safety and longe r life .Jack instil lled hydraulic brakes. Tho ugh th e pl'1nehad no t o rigina ll y comc w ith th em, since it was deli ve red o n floats, a nd th e la nd -p la ne ve rs ion hadmec ha nica l bra kes, No rth wes t Ai rlines did p ut hyd raulic bra kes o n th eir Hamiltons in the ea rly thi r ties.Jac k use d Goo dyea r units, a nd h ad to milch in e aw re nch fo r il dju s tin g th e multipl e di scs. Jack a lsohad to machine mos t of th e bra ke cy linder parts andcouplings .

Whee l a nd tire sizes were optio nal in 1930. Wh enhe ilcquired it, th e Ha milton had a pair o f 36 x 8 Goodyea r ti res a nd w hee ls, whi ch were similar to o riginals.Unfortun a tely th e tires were unu sa bl e and new onescould no t be pu rchase d or s pec ial o rd e red th ro ug hGoo dyea r. As a modifica tion, Nor th we s t's flee t hadbee n give n th e large r 35 x 15 Goodyea r air whee ls forso ft fi eld s. A pair o f th ese tires was loca ted by a ttor ney Jim Schumac her. S tor y ha s it th a t th ese ti reswe re surplus to the Goo dyea r Blimp pro gram . Withsuch airwhee ls, it was necessary to modify the axlesof th e pl ane to allow for a tread of 13' 7 . New axleex te nsio ns we re shrunk ont o th e o ld ax les w ith ahe lia rc and ma gnalfu xed . Th e rea r d rag s tru t had tobe s lightl y shortened to prevent a toe- in s itua tion .Landing lights we re a headache. Very few of th eori g in a l pi ece s rema in ed usable. Ne w lens es we remold ed from plexi g las. Bulb ho lders, rim s and reflectors we re remade, as well as a ll th e brackets andfittin gs necessa ry to hold them. The light s we re give nan o utw ard angle of illuminiltion beca use th a t' s th eway th e originals we re . Th e reason is that when land ing on th e unimproved fields of its day , th e Ha milton pilo t nee ded th e peripheral view of the field. H isforewa rd visa bility was fa irly res tricted .

Th e pit ot sys tem was made to duplicate th e or iginalTh e ri se r above the wing on th e original was broken.After th e parts we re made, th ey were cad plated toduplicate th e original A bra ss ve nturi was very hardto find , but one was eventu a lly fo und and ins ta lledto drive th e turn and ba nk indica to r

Two fu e l g uages are moun ted be hind th e p ilo ta nd co -pil o t o n th e coc kpit b ulkh ea d . T h ey aresimply glass tubes in w hich th e fu el level is visible.Th e co mpa ss, ori gina lly mounted on th e sam e bulkhead behind the pil ot a nd viewed through a mirrorsys tem on th e co nt rol panel, was changed b y No rthwe s t Airl ines w he n th ey bega n ni g ht m a il fl ig ht s,fo r th e sa ke of b etter vis ibility .

Mo un ted benea th th e pilo t' s sea t is a Pfister fi re

extin gui she r, hard to ge t a t in the event of a n eme rge ncy in th e tin y cockp it, but neverth eless pe r originalA ll ins trum ent s th a t ca me w ith the pla ne w he nLys d a le go t it we re rebu ilt a nd re lumin esce d . Theo rig inal ins trume nt pa nel had severa l incorrect holescut in to it th ro ug h the yea rs, and Lysda le made upa new pa nel to d uplicil te th e o rigina l To sup plementth e instrum ents he had , Lysdale had to find va riousitems he didn ' t get.The electrical sys tem h il d to be compl etely rema nu factured as nothin g o f th e original remained . Th e ba t-tery is under th e co-pilo t' s sea t where it was in theo riginal.The plane had p ush -ro d co nt ro ls. Since so me ofth e o rigin al rod s had rusted and bent , and so me we remiss ing altogether, a complete se t o f new on es we rebuilt. Th e rudd er, eleva tor and eleva tor trim controlrod s pass through tubes that run across th e leng thof th e cabin ce iling .The passenger cab in doo r was co mpl etely rebuilt.t was fir s t d isasse mbl ed, its fram e rebuilt, th e wooden

inn a rd s cut from har dw oo d , th e la tch m ec ha ni s mreplilced . The windup mechanism or iginally use d wasprobably purcha se d from the Ford comapn y, beca useup on exa mination a Ford windup was found to beid enti cal, so new old Ford Mod el A w indow ro ll up s were put in to the doo r, a nd th e cabin w indowon th e right hand sid e as we ll. On ce th e doo r wasres kinned with corruga ted mate rial and th e glass replace d , th e wooden fra me wa s rebuilt, s ta ined, andva rni shed as we re all th e o th er cabin wi nd ows andfra m es. Fin a lly a bra nd-n ew h and l e was mac hi nedfrom a so lid piece of aluminum block to th e speci fications of th e o rig in al a nd in s ta lled . The bac in entrystep was sca led from ph otos by Art Mills, welded upand in sta lled , th en sa fety- wired .The baggage doo r was redo ne and th e app ro pria teplaca rd s pa inted on the inside.Finally, the inside was redone. To begin w ith , th esix passenge r seil ts we re remade . The o riginals, longsince hav ing th eir ar mres ts cut off, had suffered theslin gs a nd arrows of outra ge ou s fo rtune, but couldbe used as pattern s.A cha ir jig was me ticulo usly asse mbled a nd th epro per sized tubing was cut , bent a nd we lded. Thu ssix new sea ts came into being.Enter into the pictur e, Mr. Pa ul Vance, na tive ofSouth S t Paul , retired, and a ch air caning specia listby hobby. Paul did a mas terful job on th e caning,a pr ecise du p licate of th e orig inafs, whi ch coul d bese e n in ph o togra p hs. Whe n a loca l wo o d wo rkin gshop sugges ted a preserva tive for th e canin g, it be

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came disast er, with the caning turning color andcracking. Paul Vance took the seats apart and canedthem a second time.Atop the caning job came the seat cushions. Theyand the interior panels that Lysdale had cut werecarefully upholstered in the original style and colorsby American Auto Trim of St. Paul. Since one of the

optional interiors of the Hamilton from the factoryhad been a leatherette (the other was real leather),naughahyde was used. New passenger grip pom-pomswere sought and how to replace them was a problem ,until one of the antique car buffs discovered that acompany in Edinburgh, Scotland, was making avery similar item for the restoration of o ld RollsRoyces. They were ordered, and put in.Floorboards of the original were terribly bentand wrinkled, thus it was decided that in remakingth e m , a slightly heavier gua ge material would beused. Thus an .055 steel ins tead of the original .040took their place. On top of them a carpet matchingthe original was added. Finally seat belts of appropriate vintage are just now being installed. Thoughth e Hamilton did not come from the factory withsea t belts, Northwest did add them later.l:he fuselage was painted in silver Alumagrippaint. Jack decided on thi s permanent finish insteadof leaving the ship bare metal. This concession, andonly a few others like the LT and the s trobes weread ded in the interest of safety and durability in thepreservation of this rarest monplane in North America. Jack did not put in a radio for purposes of keeping as close to original as he could.

The logotype on the aircraft side was one of thefew things not touched by the Lysdale restoration.t had been done at the time of the Northwest attemptat restoration in the early fifties by Frank Toll. Frank,

who had passed away since then , w s the originalpainter for Northwest. t was he who had painted allthe logos on the Hamiltons and the Ford Trimotorsin the thirties . As Frank had done a fine job, the logoswere carefully masked and painted around, thuspreserving thi s fine tribute to the man, and adding areal bit of authenticity to the bird.

The NC number NC879H was procurred to matcha Northwest fleet ship of the thirties. All of the markings on the Lysdale plane are exac t duplicates ofNorthwest s fleet number 27 aircraft. In order to getthi s N-number, Jack found the owner of a Cherokeeto whom it had been re-issued and after paying forthe FAA transfer of numbers, the procurement of anew number and the repainting of th e Cherokee,Jack was abl e to complete his plans .

A special towbar was manufactured to fit the original towing eyes on the Hamilton tailwheel. An earlypost-war Ford tractor was painstakingly restored topull the towbar and haul the airplane in and out ofits Fleming Field hangar.Finally, the ship was issued a permanent air

worthiness certificate on July 28, 1975, and certifiedin the Standard Normal category.

How does the airplane fly? One or two that haveflown it claim it handles with all the charm of a DC-3.Jack thinks it is very similar to one of the big TravelAirs of the thirties . Jack also reports that it gets off theground in less than 500 feet and that the engine doesn teven get up to full power before the ship is airborne.Economy cruise is around 105 mph. The plane is verystable, in fact Jack smiles when he tells of his fearsthat it wouldn t be a good flying airplane, and that hewould have a hangar queen on his hands after therestoration. t is a pleasure to fly, he reports .

The rudder is slightly heavy and the ailerons arevery light. t is, however, easy to overcontrol and thepower technique must be mastered. In the cockpitbulkhead a normal conversation can be carried on.t is tight and fairly warm up front also. The passenger

cabin is roomy and the seats are marvelously comfortable.Northwest Airlines hired Jack to fly and featurethe Hamilton in a promotional film geared for theirtravel agents. Jack spent a week during the summerof 1975 flyin g in and out of a small grass field for thecameras.In August of 1975 the ship flew to the AAA national convention at Blakesburg and won the GrandChampionship, along with four o ~ h r trophies. Thattrip was certainly the highlight of the Hamilton careerand of Jack Lysdales as well.In July of 1976 the ship was flown to the OshkoshEAA convention and won the Silver Age Champion,trophy 1928-1932) .

Editor 's Note: Jack Lysdale is to be commendedfor his fortitude in tackling such project s theHamilton . It is unfortunate this article could notcontain the biographies and the credits to themen who helped in this restoration, but space didnot allow it. The article was written by Noel Al-lard, who followed the project from its instigationto completion. It is truly awe inspiring to realizehow much work of perfectionist quality has gonein to the making of this historic big mother bird.- AI Kelch

Silver Age Runner UpWaco QCF-2 - N11427By Lee Parsons5043 Kensington Road N.E.Carrollton, OH 44615

I purchased my Waco QCF-2 from Bill Gieb ofStrongsville, Ohio on September 1, 1962, thus ending a long and frustrating search for an open biplanein good, flying condition.At the time of purchase, I didn t fully realize whata fine aircraft I had happened onto. After a few hoursof flying I knew that all the fine things that I hadhea rd about the F-2 were true and then some.The sensations of flying it were exactly what Ihad always felt flying should be like, but until I flewthe F-2 I had begun to think that an airplane of suchperformance was just a left over boyhood dream ofwh a t flying an airplane would be like.Such an attachment, brought about the realization that later it would have to be restored. I began

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to collect both parts and knowledge to be preparedfor the coming day of reckoning.At the fly-ins I would pick out the airplanes thatimpressed me most, and try to determine if any ofthe ideas used on their restoration could be adaptedto my aircraft. I felt it prudent to stick with ideasproven by usage on someone elses aircraft. Over theyears, my WACO INFO notebook was filled tooverflowing.Hundreds of hours of operation of my own airplane made it evident that there were numerous modifications which were desirable.The que stion of what type of fabric and finish touse was slowly answered by Vince Mariani and thebeautiful restoration of his VKS-7F. Each year , itdefied the predictions of those who claimed that itsfantastic 30 coat finish would crack and peel. Vincewa s most helpful in patiently answering my questions. Few people are willing to go to the extremesof pointing out the mistakes that they made on theirairplane as Vince did .Cliff DuCharme provided much of my 220 Continental engine education, and eventually agreed tobuild up a custom engine from new surplus parts tomy specifications. Unfortunately, this was to be oneof the last engines Cliff would build up prior to hisuntimely death.As the time for starting the restoration approached,I asked my friend, Jim Shannon who is an AI and anatural born mechanic, if he would assist me withthe restoration . Not realizing what he was gettinginto, Jim agreed and during the month of October1970 we disassembled the aircraft and prepared tostart the restoration. t had given me 8 years and approximately 650 hours of pleasure and ample time toprepare for its restoration.

The fuselage needed the most work, so that iswhere we began. The fuselage was stripped, sandblasted and every weld dye checked, and the samefor the landing gear and tail surfaces . The brakesand landing gear were completely rebuilt, includingreplacing the shock strut packing riut with a newlydesigned nut utilizing 0 rings. All tubing wasprimed and painted in the original Waco gray. Twoapplications of hot tube oil were injected into alltubular structures.

At about this point in the project (Spring of '71),I was fortunate enough to purchase a property witha 2500' licensed landing strip. This necessitated selling my house and moving, building a hangar, preparing the long-neglected landing strip for use, etc.One of my new neighbors, Raymond Guess, was

found to have a very well-equipped she et metal shop.Raymond's assistance with the new stainless firewalland other sheet metal work filled a need that I hadbeen unable to fulfill prior to moving . Work was againunderway .

With the exception of the turtle deck aft of therear cockpit, all new wood was used . The luggagecompartment door and the headrest fairing were theonly sheet metal parts to be reused.Waco's method of anchoring metal cowlings andfairings with wood screws, screwed into wood fairing blocks taped to the longerons, was replaced byextruded aluminum angle strips fastened to the longerons.

The landing gear was reinstalled, along with theold engine and center section. Now all new fuel andoil lines were made up and installed and all enginecontrols and instruments were hooked up .I decided to go first class and install a Mott interior. Waco had failed to provide access to the spacebetween the interior liner and the outside fabric, youhad to cut through the interior material or cut throughthe outside fabric cover. Having faced this option onseveral occasions, I installed the new interior on thin2024-T panels that could be removed to provide access for ip.spection and maintenance. These panels,along with the rear bucket seat, the old front seatinstallation and various other patterns were then

Color scheme is exactly the s me s AI Williams' Gulfhawk. Well he copied it from Waco.flown to Fort Wayne, Indiana so that Ned could workhis Mott Magic on them .With the fuselage nearing completion, I had stillnot found a way to punch satisfactory louvers in theforward fuselage cowl panels . Through regular correspondence with Dick Jackson of Rochester, NewHampshire , who owns a whole squadron of Wacos,one of which is an F-2 under restoration, it becameevident that I had the prints and an old section oforiginal Waco louvers plus some firewall forwardparts excess to my needs, which Dick needed for hisF-2. At the same time, he knew of someone who couldmake up the badly needed louver punch. The obvioustrade was negotiated and my blank panels were sentto Dick to have the louvers pressed in them.

When my panels came back, they had some of themost perfectly formed louvers of exact original dimensions that you could ever hope to see. t made fittingthe panels one of those extra care jobs, as I certainlydidn ' t want to goof up. After much trimming andforming, these beauties were fastened in place withquick release type fasteners. Progress now hit a temporary snag, as Jim and I took time to admire whatwas beginning to look like a Waco s h O l ~ l dHowever, our head scratching sessions weren'tover, as we still hadn't thought of any satisfactorymethod of making the tail wheel steerable and at thesame time retaining the capability of free swiveling


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for easy ground handling of the aircraft.With much head scratching, ingenious engineering and patience, we designed a full swivel conversion for the existing tail wheel assembly.

With this success, the fuselage was set aside toallow the start of work on the wings and center section. The wings were uncovered and inspected. Withthe exception of beefing up the wing walk, very littlewas required other than the routine sanding and acouple of coats of polyurethane varnish. My oldestson, Doug, was a big help, as he did much of the sanding and varnishing, while I proceeded with otherthings.With the wings ready for cover, my wife, Donna,got into the act by sewing up the Ceconite slip covers,which were carefully shrunk to the proper tautnessand the doping sequence was begun. Three coats ofnitrate for adhesion, followed by seven more coatsof clear butyrate non-tautening build up, and tencoats of silver, sanded by Donna and I until our fingers bled. (Those silver coats are where you get thebase for a fine finish.) This was followed by ten coatsof color butyrate.I chose not to use the original color scheme, asthere are so many other Wacos with this same vermillion color scheme. With the help of the staff ofthe EAA Museum, I copied the AI Williams Gulfhawkcolor scheme exactly. After all, as the story goes, hecopied the color scheme from a Waco TaperwingI intended to rub the finish out to a high gloss.At least ten coats of color would lead to an unacceptably thick dope film in places along with a very pronounced ridge at the edge of each color change.Therefore, Jim and I decided to mask off the design and spray the ten coats of orange, pull the tapesoff, mask over the orange and where the blue wouldgo and spray the ten coats of white, then remask andfinally spray the blue in the channel remaining between the orange and white. This resulted in eachcolor being applied directly to the underlying silvercoats, giving an even dope film and after being rubbedou t, with no noticeable ridge between colors. Now Iknow why you don t often see a three-color dope finish .

The wings were completed during November of1974. t was a real morale booster to see the wingssafely stored in my own barn.The fuselage was now prepared for cover. The fuselage was replaced on the homemade jig, which al

lowed it to be rolled 3600 for easy access to all surfaces.t was then covered in the same manner as the

wings . The tail surfaces and gear legs were coveredand finished at the same time.With the doping completed, the rubbing out of

the finish began. Three cuts of rubbing compoundwere used with a power polisher, using a lambs woolbonnet, followed by a good buffing, with just goodclean water. A final coat of polishing compound wasapplied by hand to eliminate any swirl marks left bythe polisher. All this was topped off by two heavycoats of Blue Coral Wax. The polishing wore out onepower polisher and most of my family.The fuselage was now reassembled for a final timeand transported to my newly completed hangar . Thecenter section was mounted and rigged along withthe tail group. Friends Raymond Guess and John McLain assisted Jim and me in the hanging of the wings.Several days of the usual last minute preparationsreadied the plane for the engine run-in, and none toosoon. t was now late May, 1976 and the '76 Waco F y-In was coming up fast. This was the goal, to be readyfor this Memorial Day weekend get together of theWaco clan. The time finally came when we couldn tthink of anything else to do prior to running all in theengine.

t was a real thrill to hear the 220 Continental cometo life amid a cloud of preservative oil smoke. However, as the rpm increased, it became evident thatthe oil pressure wasn t coming up as it should .

t was decided the engine had to be pulled and Ihauled it to Bernie Hogan, one of the most respectedradial engine mechanics that I know of. I wanted theopinion of the very best. Once we had the rear caseoff, we found there was a plug missing from one ofthe internal oil passages.Flying the F-2 to the Waco Fly-In, our original goal,was now out of the question.I returned home with the engine and Jim and I reinstalled it and I resumed the run-in program. I wasnow ready for that long-awaited first flight. Thiscame June 23, 1976.I cannot properly describe the thrill of returningthis fine aircraft to the sky. The flight was letter perfect and the only adjustment required was a slightrealignment to the top left tail wire, to eliminate atendency to vibrate at cruise speed.

51 2 long years of devoting every spare moment tothe complete restoration of a fine aircraft had passed.t was difficult to believe that it was now over. Nomore driving two hours each day that I wanted to

work on the plane. I had reached the goal of havingmy own restored F-2 awaiting me in my own hangar,on my own airstrip.

Fuselage prior to being disassembled for applicationof cover.Fuselage during rigging of center section and tail sur-faces.

t was a long hard grind with a good many sacrifices along the way . Any form of a normal family lifewas impossible to maintain. About the only time thatI saw my wife and kids was when they helped me onthe plane. A special recognition of their understanding and assistance must be made.

The same recognition must be given to Jim Shannon whose patient guidance and experi.enced assistance made it possible for me to see the job through.Without his assistance, I would not have been able toundertake such a task, let alone achieve the resultsthat we were able to by working together.Beyond these two special recognitions, I can onlysay a humble thanks to the many friends who assistedme along the way.

The rest is history, having won bushels of trophiesinc\uding Runner Up Silver Age at Oshkosh, GrandChampion at Blakesburg, Grand Champion at Marion,Ohio and Grand Champion at Tulsa.


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Silver Age - Outstandingpen Cockpit Biplane

928 Waco ASO N6930Dale and Dean Crites Twins)By Dale CritesWaukesha, W 53186

In the Fall of 1969, I acquired the remains of whatwas to turn out to be a J5 Waco Whirlwind A.S.O.This Waco came out of the factory as a Waco lOW A. T.O.(Taperwing), powered with a Wright J4 Whirlwind inJune 1928, Serial A-14 . As years went by, and hoursaccumulated, modifications came about. The landinggear was changed to a bulldog gear, with the air overoil shock struts, the J-4 was removed for the bettermodel J5 The taperwings disappeared and straightwings were bolted on (the taperwings and straightwings are identical other than wing structure).

The airplane came with 3 beat up wings, no center section and a lot of parts missing, which had tobe manufactured from drawings obtained from EAAand the Smithsonian. The fuselage tubing was re-

Dale and Dean Crites Waco Straightwing.placed from the .rear cockpit aft, including tail posts there were no cowlings, gas tank, struts or flyingwires available. With the help of many friends likeRoyal Woodchrik, of Texas, with some J5 parts, andthe parts that Dean and I had saved from the two identical Wacos that we flew barnstorming in 1935 and1936, we came up with a beautiful running engine.Dean did all the work of the rebuilding of the J5 andbuilt a new center section in his basement.

With Dean and I, and some dedicated help onweekends, we were able to do the rebuilding andmodification of the wings, and recover job with GradeA fabric. We used butyrate dope and repainted theairplane in exactly the same color scheme as our 1936barnstorming planes. These were still in their originalcolors from the factory, and we had adequate picturesto go by.With all this work done, we cranked up the J5,and it flew like a bird, getting off as fast as a Cub andclimbing out even faster. t operated just like it usedto when we flew out of little pastures carrying passengers. The admiration of people who come to seeit and take a ride in a 1928 biplane is a great satisfaction to us. We have barnstormed this airplane andalready have 300 hours time on it. We have won atrophy for each time it has been shown. Almost everySunday in the summer when the weather is nice, youwill find us at Aero Park hauling passengers from dawnto dusk, just like the good old days . We've even developed a lot of regular customers. The whole project has been a great satisfaction and the old Wacostraightwing is still the best flying barnstormer airplane that was ever made.

From left are shown the crew that helped in the restoration from a severe basket case to a winner. Dean Crites,Robert Felzing Woodrow Lund Dale Crites HarryPeterson and John Higgins.Below Dale and Dean come home with the bacon thefirst time out. Burlington Fly-In 1975.

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Silver Age . OutstandingClosed Cockpit MonoplaneStar Cavalier N14860By Gary Hanson4352 Nicollet Ave. So.Minneapolis, MN 55409

I d like to thank the AntiquelClassic Divis ion forth e award given to my Star Cavalier. Im sure yo uknow the thrill of getting a trophy after all the workthat is required to ge t to the ly-in s.The ea rly histor y of my Cavalier is missing, andIm now in the process of trying to fill it in. After muchres earch, including visits with Billy Parker, formerpresident and co-designer of the Star Aircraft Co. ,it s been determined that my Cavalier was built latein 1928. The plane was destroyed by fire in the Oklahoma City area in 1932. At that time, all of the records, including the N number disappeared . The paperwork I have begins in 1936 when the ship was totallyrebuilt by th e Fanta-Reed Air Service of La Crosse,Wisconsin . The ship has bee n in the Minneapolisarea, and flying fairly regu larly since the late 1930 s.My father, Wally Hanson , who never held a pri-

The appropriate sign behind the strut reads " Flown in the Memory of Wally Hanson .

The Star Cavalier held its own at Oshkosh, attract-ing its share of attention. Its rarity made a guessinggame of " what is it? .vate license due to a long history of heart trouble,bought the Cavalier in 1951, because he felt sorry forit. He saw it sitting outside at the airport, sufferingfrom negligence, bought it, and brought it home. Afterthe usual delays and tinkering, he had it flying againin 1957. It was recovered to its present appearance in1970. Wally died in March of 1971 and I have beenflying it in his memory since. It s th e only known flying Star Cavalier out of 38 built. The Star Aircraft

A Star Cavalier has never been hard to ide ntify theunusual tail, squat gear and parallel struts give it away.

Company was based at Phillips Airfield at Bartlesville, Oklahoma>. Even though the company was financed by the Phillips Petroleum Company, the Cavalier could not compete with the ever popular Monocoupe, and halted production in 1932.I would be very interested in hearing from anyone concerning a Star Cavalier being destroyed byfire in Oklahoma in 1932 - filling in the missing history from 1928 to 1932 would make quite a story.

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Contemporary Age1933 1946Rearwin Sportster N20723y Alfred NagelRt. 3, Box 41

Montello WI 53949

h i ~ story began with an ad in a Chicago news-paper listing a basket case Rearwin Sportster forsale. Two years had gone by since my friend, KenGatzke, and I finished the . construction of a CorbenJr. Ace homebuilt . Ken and I have both been interest-ed in antique airplanes for some time, so when Kenran across the ad for the Rearwin, he called me to seeif I might be interested in working on another air-craft project. He also informed me that he wouldn'thave time to work very much on this aircraft, but ifI wanted to restore it, he would buy the project andpay all expenses for the restoration. How could I gowrong on a deal like that? I do the work and own halfinterest in the completed aircraft.Well, when we unloaded all the parts of a com-pletely disassembled Rearwin Sportster, I was be-ginning to wonder if this craft would ever fly again.

The workmanship of AI Nagel was superb . At press time we had not located a picture. The final resto-ration results were beautiful .

t was even worse than I expected a 1938 airplanewould be, after last flying in 1959. t had been storedin Florida since 1959, and as a result, all the woodwas rotten , and several metal parts on the wings werebadly rusted . The fuselage tubing didn't look too bad,but I found some rusted out tubes after sandblasting.I started the restoration in the fall of 1970, andsince I was going to do all the work at home in mylimited space basement, I decided to rebuild the wingsfirst. Completed wings Can be hung up to the base-ment ceiling to allow room to work on the fuselageand tail group later. The 5 cylinder 85 hp LeBlond en-gine was also torn down and came in a large woodbox. Since I am not an A&P mechanic, I turned theengine rebuild job over to Mr. Kenneth Long, whoworked at the Waupun, Wisconsin airport. He wasmy instructor when I took flight instructions. Mr.Long is also an A&P mechanic. He rebuilt the engine

at his home . 'The engine required new rings, valves,valve springs, cylinders honed, new oil pump gears ,new timing gear, master rod bearings rebuilt , newvalve guides. Ken Williams also helped on severaloccasions with the engine rebuild.Going back to the aircraft rebuild, the wings werethe first items worked on . They were not much morethan patterns for building new wings . The right wingwas built completely ne w, and the left wing was re-built using the existing spars and all new ribs. Somemetal wing fittings had to be made new from 4130sheet steel. t was two years of spare time work be-fore both wings were ready for cover.Since I do not know of any p.lans or manuals availa-ble for the Rearwin Sportster, the fuselage proved tobe the most difficult part to rebuild . All the woodfairings were missing, so some research was requiredto get the right shape . After sandblasting the fuse-

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lagc, it was necessary to replace th e lower rustedlongerons from the tailpost forward for about 5 ft.Some other cross tubes on the bottom tru ss were alsoreplaced. Parts of the control sys tem linkage weremissing, so new parts were built up . The cabin doorwas so badly rusted, it had to be built new . t is allsteel tubing so didn't prove to be too difficult.Other items requiring rebuild on the fuselage included repair of the landing gear fittings to take careof elongated bolt holes, new instrument panel andinstruments, new floor boards, repaired broken steeltube on front seat frame, repaired window frames,building new windshie ld frames using fiber-glass,since the old frames were compound curves .The tail group req ui red very little work. Aftersandblasting, I replaced the tail brace wire lugs andsome tubing on the bottom of the rudder trailing edge.The tail wheel spring was missing so I made up a setof springs from a 108 Stinson. Just had to cut the leafsprings to different lengths .

The fuselage required one year of spare time work,so we now have 3 years time spent so far.

The wing lift st rut s required very little repair, soit was now time to assemble the bones and see if itw ill pass pre-cover inspection. The inspection wasdone after new fuel lines from the wing tanks wereinstalled and checked for leaks. No changes wererequired on the inspection , so the old Rearwin wasnow ready for cover.

The aircraft was covered with Grade A cotton andnitra te dope up through silver. A total of 10 coats ofdo pe seemed to be enough to give the amount of fabric fill I wanted. The aircraft was then painted Napayellow, with dark blue trim.Next, th e engine was ins talled, and parts of thecowling had to be made new, du e to cracks in the oldpieces. The propeller is original and I refinished itas bes t I could. By now it was April 1974, 4 years sinceI s tarted thi s project, and getting close . to completion.Th e firs t moment of truth was when we first tried torun the eng ine . t s tarted up eas ily , but would nottak e throttle above 1000 rpm. t see med to run toolean at higher speeds. After going through the Holley carbo 4 times, I finally found the mixture jet closedoff with a small piece of lint. I even wrote to HolleyCarbo Co., and received from them copies of everything they still had on file on the model 419 and 429carbs. Th eir detail explanation of how the carbo worksput me on the right track of what to look for. Aftergetting the carbo working right, and using differenttiming settings , the engine now ru ns ve ry good . Ifound that 26 B.T.C. is just right for the 85 hp Le-

eautiful newwings for AI Nagel to fly on .Blond. t see ms to run ve ry easy at that se tting, andfuel consumption is 5 gph at 2025 cruise rpm.Ground running the engine for 5 hours at shorttim e intervals and different spee ds was completedbefore the first flight. Mr. Ken Williams of Portage,Wisconsin, was selected to be the test pilot, since healso owns and flies a Rearwin Sportster. The testflight was conducted and the only problem was slightright wing heaviness , which was quickly remediedwith wing s trut adjustment. The aircraft now fliesvery well and is a real pleasure to fly. I would highlyrecommend a Rearwin Sportster as an antique project to anyone. There is not ve ry much cost, and areal joy to own and fly . The aircraft was completedin 1974 and flown to the EAA meet at Oshkosh . Theantique judges must have liked it, since it was awarded Reserve Grand Champion in 1974. The sameaward again in 1975, and Contemporary Age Champion in 1976, which is best in class for aircraft in 1933to 1946 age group.I also was awarded the Rearwin Family Trophy atBlakesburg, Iowa. in 1974. When I tell people that thisis a $2500 airplane, they don't believe it. The baske tcase cos t $1000, and $1000 was required to rebuildand recover it, $500 was spent to rebuild the engine .Of cour se, thi s cos t has no labor costs involved no work was farmed out.I operate the Rearwin from a 1900 ft. grass strip,with obs tructions on both ends. I have never usedmore than half the runway length . The Rearwin willcarry two 200 pound people with full fuel tanks, withno noticeable loss in performance. t has a fuel capa ity of 24 gallons in two 12 gallon wing tanks . Cruiseis 95 mph with a full load. Climb seems to be about600 ft. per minute at full load.I am very pleased with the aircraft, and haven'tfound any o ther antique I would rather own for theamount invested.

Contemporary AgeRunner-UpPiper Cub Coupe 14#NC26716By Dan Kulman166 Rosemont Dr .Coraopolis, P 15108

To my friend, Dave Coller, and I who have beenlooking at and admiring airplanes practically all ourlives, the trip to Oshkosh is a really great experience.We had gone to Oshkosh '71 and came back with thedesire to build something or rebuild something. Wewere impressed with what we saw and determined tosee if we could measure up to it all.A few months later we located a basket case PiperJ4A 1940 model with a Continental 65. This airplanewas a real challenge because it needed every kindof rebuilding that can be done . From replacing tubing that had filled with water, frozen and burst, tosending the cylinders away to be ground oversize, itall had to be done .

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We decided to go for authenticity as much as practicable and kept the airplane as we thought it musthave been when it came off the assembly line in 1940.The maroon color is the same as we found under several coats of paint, and the stripe on the sides of thefuselage and wheel pants were copied from pictures.New cowling doors were made using the old hinges .Many hours were consumed ironing the dings in thenose bowl and other cowling parts. New baffles werefabricated for the A65. The cabin doors are lucky tobe saved because they were really shook up . Theyare good now, thanks to welding and riveting andfabricating new sliding windows. Strut fairings werehammered out of soft 032 aluminum.On arrival at Oshkosh '76 we were pleased to complete the journey from Herron Airport near Pitts-burgh with no problems. t was nice to talk to admir-ing people who stopped by to look at our Cub Coupeand take pictures of it. Some commented that it wasjust as they remembered it 5 years ago. This was reward enough. We couldn t stay the whole Conventionthrough to the end so we took off Thursday morningfor our return to Pennsylvania .Ten days later a letter and a trophy came in themail. We were surprised and ela ted.

We will recommend this fun to anybody who isha nging in the balance. Get started . Or if you havealready started, press on, and if you have a friend inthe project with you , you will be doubly rewarded .is Cub Coupe was a real challenge becauseit needed every kind of reb ui ld ing that can bedone

The comments that Cub Coupe NC26716 was just s they remembered i t 35 yews ago were rewardenough for the effort

Contemporary AgeOutstanding Open CockpitBiplane Stearman N44JPOWNER: Charlotte W Parish, Tullahoma, TN

October, 1972, my husband made a business tripto Jamaica. During a layover in Kingston he was looking around on the f1jght line when he came across aStearman needing a lot of TLC. The prop was bent,engine corroded, wood in wings rotten and fabrichanging . After quite a bit of negotiation, the planewas purchased and transported by air freight andtruck to Tullahoma, TN as a Christmas gift to me . Ha

The project began by completely disassembling it.Every nut, bolt, and screw came off. The metal wass"lndblasted, cleaned and primed with epoxy and allthe wood was replaced and finished with spar varnish.New wings and center section were purchased fromBob Yankin of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The entire aircraft was covered with grade A cotton fabric and finished with Butyrate dope . One hundred sixty-five gallons of dope, enamel and thinner were used. Thepaint scheme was taken from a November 1943 copy

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The aircraft was finished and test flown on my birthday - July 19, 1974, by Capt. W . C. "Dub" Yarbrough, U.S.N. Ret. His report was a good one. Itflew hands off with no rigging adjustments necessary .

Paperwork and inspection was completed on July29, 1974, by the Nashv ille FAA office. This was necessary because the airworthiness certificate was cancelled when the aircraft was taken to Jamaica.) Thenext morning Bob Graves and I took it on the firstlong cross-country - Oshkosh

At last a two year project was completed. Hoursand hours were spent by many of the "T u llahomaBunch" who made it possible for this plane to flyagain . All th e credit goes to them.To da te it has made three trips to Oshkosh and

averages being flown a little over 100 hours each year.

Contemporary AgeOutstandingClosed Cockpit Biplane1933-194694 Waco VKS-7F N 31653

By Vince Mariani500 W. Sandusky St.indlay Ohio 45840

or a better view of N31653 see the cover of VINTAGE ebruary 1976.

1941 Waco UKS N31653 taken at Oshkosh 1976.The aircraft was built in 1941 was a VSK-7 andlater converted to a VKS-7F by Waco in 1944 F in dicates a standard cabin with flaps) . This airplane

was used by Waco as their executive airplane until1949. I purchased the Waco in 1963 and took 3 yearsto rebuild it. approx. 3,000 hours of labor). New topwings were built, cowling, wheel pants were hammeredout from almost nothing . Also, I put in new interiors.The aircraft was covered with Ceconite, plus 30 coatsof CAB, hand rubbed out. I did most all of the workmyself, with the exception of welding. It was myfirst aircraft restoration.

I test flew the Waco in July 1966, and it trimmedout perfect. Since then, I have flown it approx. 1000.hours, attending most all of the fly-ins the past 10years. t has been almost trouble free, with theexception of an engine overhaul, at which time I installed roller bea rings in the 220 Continental, coupledwith a balance crank assembly. This makes for one finesmooth engine. t us es 1 pint of oil per hour, andabout 111/2 gallons of fuel per hour. This gives it acruise of 120 mph.To me, this is one of the finest cabin biplanes everbuilt . Like all antiques , you have to pay attention tocross winds.

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Outstanding Contem poraryAge Open CockpitMonoplaneRyan PT - #N 47210

By Kent McMakin425 Center St.Rockton IL 61072t was one evening about two years ago when myfather, Don, mentioned to me, Hey, I drove by the

Stoughton, Wisconsin airport today and saw a PT-22sitting out there. Did you know it was there?Yes, I replied. It's been there a couple of yearsslowly going downhill. It s supposedly for sale.Why didn't you tell me it was there?I didn't think you would be interested in a Ryan.Well, about two weeks later it was sitting in ourbackyard. We really didn't need another airplane . My

dad and a partner had a Bonanza at the local airport,and a Minicab homebuilt project progressing steadilyin the basement that he'd been working on for a fewyears. And I have a Waco 10 restoration that wasprogressing very slowly at the time. But now dadhad a 1941 Ryan PT-22, N47210, needing a completerestoration. The Minicab's completion date was still

One o f the most in teresting times of the fly -in was sitting beside the plane and talking to the peoplewho came to admire it

a couple of years off and the Waco would not be donefor another decade or two. So we decided to devoteour full attention to the Ryan. We figured it wouldtake about eight or nine months of steady work, butit actually took a year and nine months. Oh well.We agreed from the start that the PT should be

restored to its stock configuration with military paint.We started out with the fabric work covering all

the surfaces with Ceconite. The only real headacheduring the recovering process was wearing out threefor four small Phillips screwdrivers on the zillions oflittle screws that hold the fabric down. t is goodwrist therapy though.

Next came the Kinner R-56 engine. The logs showed560 hours SMOH but with a couple of weak jugs anda couple of years of inactivity, a complete major overhaul was in order. The old Kinner proved to be aneasy engine to overhaul at home . The only tool wehad to make was a thrust nut wrench and the onlyone we had to buy was a valve spring depresser tool.We obtained all of our engine parts from the Carl FBaker Co. They provide fast service and reasonableprices.

After the engine came the part that was no funat all, the fuselage. As with most war-time Ryans,the green chromate prime inside the fuselage waschipped and worn. In order to reprime it and do it

right, everything had to come out. Anything thatwasn't rivited down was eventually laying on thebasement floor. The stub wings, main gear and tailwheel were also removed.

The inside of the fuselage was sanded and reprimedwith the aid of a good spray gun. f you are planningon doing this to your Ryan, be sure to wear a paintersface mask and use a small fan for ventilation., especiallywhen you crawl down towards the tail end of that bigaluminum tube. f you don't, you'll come bailing outspittin' and gaggin' just like dad did.

The landing gear and tail wheel assembly werecleaned and rebuilt, then painted with DuPont silver

Don McMakin owner running up the engine for ifirst time.19

acrylic enamel. This paint will provide a beautiful eyed friends rolled in for the big move. It turned outi -

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finish and will not chip off from landing on fieldswith tall grass.The brakes, if you want to call them that, wererebuilt new all the way through with new linings,brake cylinders and master cylinder inerds. Brakeparts, and also decals for fuselage interior, can beobtained from Lou Leibee of Selma, Calif.

As with most lengthy restorations, if it weren'tfor a little help from your friends, your pride and joywould probably still be in your garage instead of inyour hangar. One such person that helped us immenselyis Dick Varnell of Beloit, Wis. Dick is a retired machinistand could devote a lot of time towards the PT, which isexactly what he did. He completely rebuilt the steerable tailwheel, that was a full swivel one when he gothold of it. Dick also refurbished the rusted out trimactuating assembly, the brake system, and refinishedthe flying wires, along with a million other things.Whenever there was something' to be done on theRyan, he was right there chomping at the bit.And while I'm on the subject of good friends,promise them anything when it comes time to polish thatfuselage. But long before we could do any polishing,we had to strip the coat of clear lacquer that someunkind person had sprayed on years before. What amess. Next came the Aluminum Jelly to clean the metaland eat up any corrosion. Then we polished it withMet-All and elbow grease.Finally the time came to put everything back together. The plane soon was back on its feet with thefresh Kinner hanging on its nose. Starting the enginefor the first time was a real ego boost due the factthat it caught on the first hot pull.

According to the Ryan erection manual, the wingsshould be rigged on a level surface. The only suchsurface nearby was the driveway. So why not putit together in the front yard in the middle of townand let people wonder how we were going to get itout to the airport. It sat out front for a couple of weekswhile we put the finishihg touches on it and to get itlicensed. During that time there sure were a lot ofsight-seers and rubber neckers eyeing over that oldairplane. Some people would drive around the blocka few times, just to get another look. One lady stoppedby and asked if we were fixing it up to put in the Bicentennial 4th of July parade. It was tough trying to keepa straight face.

The local police said they would help us when itcame time to move the plane out to the Wagon WheelAirport on the south edge of town. So it was beforedaylight on Saturday morning when several bleary-

it wasn't as big a move as we figured. We only heldup two cars and we were there in fifteen minutes.The next week or so was spent putting some run-intime on the engine and bleeding the brakes a few dozentimes.Soon the big day came. It was a beautiful July

evening when Ron Rippon dropped in with his Cessna140. Dad and I elected to let Ron make the first flight.I had very little taildragger time and my dad hadn'tflown one for years. Ron is an excellent pilot and at onetime owned a couple Ryans, so he was the right manfor the job. Incidentally, Ron will soon be finishinga restoration job on his Howard DGA and it. willundoubtably be one of the best Howards in thecountry.Ron blasted off with the PT for the first time on aflight to last about fifteen minutes or so. After a perfect landing, Ron reported that everything was justfine and it flew hands off. Ego boost No.2. He thenproceeded to make five or six' take-offs and landingsto reaquaint himself with the Ryan. After that we kepthim busy giving rides until dark.We were hoping for a completion date before theEAA Convention at Oshkosh and we made it with acouple weeks to spare. i ~ n d Elif Alseth and I flewthe Ryan to Oshkosh the Thursday evening before thestart of the fly-in, without a hitch.One of the most interesting times of the fly-inwas sitting by the plane and talking to the peoplewho came to admire it. We learned a lot of thingsabout the PT and maintaining it that we never wouldhave known about if we hadn't been there. If the education we received at the Convention wasn't enough of areward, the judges decided to award us with theOutstanding Open Cockpit Monoplane Award.It was a fantastic end to a fantastic week.After many hours of flying the Ryan, we havefound it an absolute delight to fly. During the restoration, we heard quite a few war stories discreditingthe PT-22. Many pilots have gotten themselves intosituations they couldn't get out of, not because theyweren't good pilots, but because they weren't versedin the flying characteristics of the Ryan before theyflew it. It's like most any airplane. You have to flythem like they are meant to be flown . As Ron Rippontold us from the start, it's an airplane not to be hurried.Don't rush into things with it but just take your timeand fly it right. It's an airplane to respect but not bescared of. We have found it to be a lot of fun, and Ithink you would to.

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Champion VintageReproduction1908 Curtiss June BugOwn er: Mercury Aircraft

ammondsport, New York

Joseph Meade, Jr., President of Mercury Aircraft,Inc. in Hammondsport, New York, supervised the progress on the construction of the replica Glenn H. Curtiss'June Bug . Mr. Meade has been instrumental in thedevelopment of the replica, which was flown June23 to June 27 in Hammondsport, then disassembledand trucked to Oshkosh for the EAA Convention,where several hundred thousand people viewed it.Glenn Curtiss flew the original June Bug on July4, 1908, capturing the Scientific American Trophy.

The replica, as the original, won the ChampionVintage Reproduction, and received a Lucky Lindytrophy . For the complete story, see September 1976issue intage Airplane

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Bellanca Skyrocket NX237By Preston SnyderR.R. 1, Box 270Ringtown P 17967

This plane was bought by Alaska Star Airlines inNovember 1928. They flew it for about ten years ,then sold it to Jack Peck and Wyman Rice, who flewt for several years. Then they sold it to Nicholsen

Air Service, and they flew it until 1948, then soldit to Bristol Bay Airlines. They then sold it to twojokers, and I mean two jokers, who were going torebuilt it. t was parked on the shore on Lake Spenardat Anchorage, and it was slowly deteriorating fasterthan they could repair or whatever they were tryingto do , and the reason I say jokers is because they weretrying to do it outsideWell , in 1962 when I wo rked in Fairbanks for Alas kaAirlines, I flew do wn to Anchorage. I had heard aboutthe Bellanca, so I out to the Lake to look it over.t looked almos t impossible - th e fabr ic was ro ttedoff, ha nging dow n between the ribs, lower longerons

ru sted out etc.I inquired around and found a n old bu sh p ilo tnamed Howard Gillam, w ho knew th e man w ho ranthe sea plane base on th e Lake. Gillam hasse led th ebase opera tor to get after th ese two ow ners to ei th erge t th e BeliJ nca out of th e Lake, or he wo uld cut itup and junk it. I told the operator I wo uld bu y it fo r$600.00, so he told th e ow ners eith er take the $600. 00or else I'll cut it up . They accepted my $600, so I bu ilta trailer a nd haul ed it from Alas ka to Sea ttl e, th enon h ome.The res toration ha s been done over a long time,and 1976 saw its co mple tion . Th e trip to O shk os hfollow e d , and la ter to Bridge port w here Cl aren ceChamberlin go t to see it. Next

vintage airplane - nov 1976

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