vintage airplane - sep 2008

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Sep 2008

1/44


2/44

GEOFF ROB ISON

PRESIDENT VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATON

What

is EAA to

you?

It's often difficult for me to put into

print

my

perspective on

what

EAA

means to me. I'll bet the same

is

true

for you. Because it means so much to

us,

and it's about so many things, it's

hard to get your head

around

it. It's

such a large part of my life, yet trying

to

quantify it

is

hard. The challenge

to

communicate the emotion and

passion I personally

feel

for this orga

nization

is

daunting.

So, why is

this

guy from

the

Vintage Aircraft Asso

ciation singing the praises of

EAA?

It's

simple; first and foremost, I'm an

EAA

member. Everything else I choose

to

engage in, including the

VAA

and the

B-17

tour,

is

an important part of

the

whole package.

A

long time

ago,

when

I was al

lowed

to

engage myself deeper

and

deeper into the soul of

EAA,

I came to

realize that all of the residual fun and

entertaining aspects of my member

ship had to be measured

as

secondary,

for it was the broader mission of the

organization that locked me in.

So many doors were opened for

me along the way, it hardly seemed

possible, but getting involved was

many

friends you have

met through

EAA

,

whether

it's an Oshkosh friend

or a local chapter friend. How

many

fewer friends would you personally

have?

For

me it would certainly have

meant not

having

had the

opportu

nity

to meet

so many

great people

like Steve Wittman, or

John

Miller, or

the Pobereznys. Maybe my life would

have been a little less fast paced, but it

for certain would have

had

a lot less

excitement in

it

Do

you see

yourself

as

part

of

a

larger organization ,

one

whose goal is to

further the causes

of

recreational

aviation

and

expose

it

to

as many fol

ks

as

possible?

it

is

a perfectly fair assessment of

EAA's

annual convention.

Many EAA

members

have

stated

before

that

it

is

truly impossible

to

properly describe

in

total the

event

with

mere words.

EAA

continues

to

improve our web sites with videos and

stories of what goes

on

at these events,

and

even those individuals who pore

over all of these offerings will

not

be

totally prepared

for

what

they will

eventually witness

when

they attend

their first AirVenture.

I really enjoy talking

to

the youth

who attend this event

for

the

first

time. They are typically

compl

etely

overwhelmed with

the

magnitude of

the event, and they will talk in run-on

sentences

as

they describe

what

they

observed

and

participated in

on that

first

day.

Their day may have included

a ride in (on?) a Breezy or a flight in

the Ford Tri-Motor, or maybe they

were just

hanging around

KidVen

ture, or perhaps they had the chance

to high-five Sean D. Tucker. It's just

so fun to listen to these first-time im

pressions. One would swear that their

smile

is

forever frozen

to their

face.


3/44

G

SEPTEM ER

E

VOL.

36,

NO 9

2008

CONTENTS

Fe

Straight Level

What is EAA to you?

by Geoff Robison

2

News

5

2008

EAA

Aircraft Award

6

The Robin Alights at Sun

In

Fun

An

early cabin-class monoplane from 1929

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

4

Carolinas-Virginia VAA hapter 3 Fly-In

Alamance County Airport

by Jack Cox

8 Light Plane Heritage

Remember the Klemm

Part III, The Young Baron's Great Adventure

by Bob Whittier

4 The Vintage Mechanic

Part One: Maintenance and troubleshooting

ignition systems

by Robert

G.

Lock

8 Restoration

of

Porterfield LP-65

Serial Number 842, NC32412

by Randall Krystosek

3

The Vintage Instructor

Maintaining proficiency

by Doug Stewart

34 Mystery Plane

ST FF

EAA

Publisher Tom

Poberezny

by H.G. Frautschy

Director of

EAA

Publications

David

Hipschman

36

Wanna Be Famous?

Executive

Director

/Editor H.G . Frautschy


4/44

AirVenture Oshkosh

2008

In the months prior to the start of

EAA

AirVenture Oshkosh 2008,

EAA

President Tom Poberezny said he was asked one question nearly

every day: Will anyone come to the fly-in convention with high fuel

prices and a struggling economy?/I

To

paraphrase the movie Field o

Dreams

If you build it, they will

come./I

EAA

developed the deepest and broadest lineup of events, an

nouncements , flight demonstrations, entertainment,

and

happenings

than ever before. And

as

a result, people did come and created one of

the most event-filled, memorable conventions on record.

The idea was to provide more value for the members and at

tendees than ever before,/I Poberezny said. Attendance at this year's

event, coupled with the fuel and economic issues, validates the

unique relationship

between

the

EAA

members and Oshkosh, be

tween the aviation community and Oshkosh, and between govern

ment

officials

and

Oshkosh.

All

EAA

members should be proud of the results and, more impor

tantly, the impact their event has on the entire aviation community./I

Numbers were up for homebuilts, warbirds, and vintage planes on

the field. The North 40 was full much of the week. A record 23,000

youths visited KidVenture. Theater in the Woods saw its largest crowd

2008

EAA Sweepstakes Winners

AeroShell Square was abuzz with

anticipation

as

the cement

mixer

with sweepstakes entries rolled into

place for the EAA Share the Spirit

Sweepstakes drawing. And the win

ners were:

First grand prize: A new Cir

rus

SR20

with a year's supply

of

fuel-Greg

Thompson,

EAA

652822, Fairfax, Virginia

Second grand

prize: A Rotor

Way A600 Talon kit-Mike

Schoenmann,

EAA

656186,

St

Clair, Michigan

Honda ST13 A

motorcycle:

John

Thibout,

EAA

374572, Na

poleonville, Louisiana

John

Deere

Select

Series X700

Ultimate

tractor: Martin Ger

hard, Chandler, Arizona

Bose

Wave

radio CD system:

Steve Hill,

EAA

583395, DeWitt,

Illinois

Canon

OS

40D

camera:

Edward Leddy,

EAA

14448,

Maryville, Tennessee

Tickets for the 2009

EAA

Share

the

Spirit Sweepstakes

aircraft-a

new Flight Design MC light-sport

aircraft-will become available later

this fall.

Pelton

Receives

EAA s

igbest onor


5/44

Freedom of Flight Award, EAA s

highest honor, bestowed annually

to an individual whose contribu

tions to aviation closely mirror

the

integrity, entrepreneurship, and in

novativeness of

EAA

members.

EAA

President Tom Poberezny

said Pelton received

EAA s

high

est award for three reasons. We're

recognizing Jack for his leadership

as

chairman of EAA s Gathering of

Eagles; for his vision for supporting

the light-sport aircraft initiative,

as

evidenced by the announce

ment of Cessna building the Sky-

Catcher; and lastly, for his longtime

involvement in

EAA

that goes back

to his days

as

a youth growing up

in southern California

as

part of

Chapter 1.

Jack's contributions go beyond

his position

as

chairman, presi

dent, and chief executive officer

of Cessna Aircraft Company-

where he actively influences na

tional policy on general aviation

and is highly involved

with

indus

try organizations.

He

is an

EAA

Lifetime member,

belonging

to EAA Warbirds

of

America, Vintage Aircraft Associa

tion, and International Aerobatic

Club. Jack also supports numerous

grassroots activities to expose kids

to aviation, including the Build

A Plane organization that gives

young people the opportunity to

build airplanes.

The access and venues for youth

are not like they were for me 40

years ago, he said. Security at air

ports and fewer local air shows just

week. Spend some time browsing

these videos, stories, and photos to

relive the exci tement of The World's

Greatest Aviation Celebration.

Videos:

Link: www.EAA.org/video/

airventure.html

Photos:

Link:

www.AirVenture.org/photos

News and Feature Stories

From AirVenture

Today

Upcoming

Major

Fly-Ins

Southeast Regional Fly-In

Middleton Field Airport (GZH), Evergreen,

Alabama

October 24-26, 2008

www.SERFI.org

Copperstate Regional Fly-In

Casa Grande Municipal Airport (CGZ),

Casa Grande, Arizona

October 23-26, 2008

www.Copperstate.org

U.S. Spor t Aviation Expo

Sebring Regional Airport SEF),

Sebring, Florida

January 22-25, 2009

www.Sport Aviation Expo.com

Aero Friedrichshafen

Messe Friedrichshafen,

Friedrichshafen, Germany

April 2-5, 2009

www.Aero Friedrichshafen.com/html/en

Sun n Fun Fly-In

Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL),

Lakeland, Florida

April 21-26, 2009

www.Sun N Fun.org

Golden West Regional Fly-In

Yuba County Airport (Myv),

Marysville, California

June 12-14, 2009

www.GoldenWestFlyln.org

Virginia Regional Festival

of

Flight

Suffolk Executive Airport SFQ),

Suffolk, Virginia

May 30-31 , 2008

www.VAEAA.org

Rocky Mountain Regional Fly-In

Front Range Airport

FTG),

Watkins, Colorado

TBD

http://www.eaa.org/videohttp://www.airventure.org/photoshttp:///reader/full/www.SERFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.Copperstate.orghttp:///reader/full/www.Sport-Aviation-Expo.comhttp://www.aero-friedrichshafen.com/html/enhttp:///reader/full/www.Sun-N-Fun.orghttp:///reader/full/www.GoldenWestFlyln.orghttp:///reader/full/www.VAEAA.orghttp:///reader/full/www.RMRFI.orghttp://www.eaa.org/videohttp://www.airventure.org/photoshttp:///reader/full/www.SERFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.Copperstate.orghttp:///reader/full/www.Sport-Aviation-Expo.comhttp://www.aero-friedrichshafen.com/html/enhttp:///reader/full/www.Sun-N-Fun.orghttp:///reader/full/www.GoldenWestFlyln.orghttp:///reader/full/www.VAEAA.orghttp:///reader/full/www.RMRFI.org


6/44

It s

Amazin

g

What

Can

Be

Accomplished

in

Week

The

dozens

of meetings,

work

groups, and brainstorming sessions

held annu

ally

at

AirVenture Oshkosh involve many

of aviation's

movers and

shakers,

from

the

grassroots level to the top.

The

2008

fly-in

continued that tradition, as

EAA

hosted

representatives

from

the FAA,

all

levels of industry,

EAA

chapters,

type

clubs, other

aviation interest groups,

and

thousands of individual aviation enthusiasts.

The

flying community flocks to

Oshkosh

because this is

where

you can

see

ev

erything and

everyone.

People identify problems and opportunities and are able to

work

on

ideas, solutions,

and

strategies, all to keep airplanes flying, amateur build

ers building, aviators aviating, and preserve the

dream

of flight.

Representatives from

the

FAA

always

come

to

Oshkosh because

it's a

unique

opportunity to meet

and

interact

with aviation

's grassroots,

hear concerns, and

work

to

solve problems.

Here

's a list of just

some

of what

was

accomplished:

.VAA

facilitated a series of

six

meetings

with FAA

staffers

and vintage

aircraft

type clubs who

requested

face-to-face

meetings to address their

concerns.

•

FAA

representatives

from

the

Small Airplane

Directorate in

Kansas City

met

with VAA and EAA

staff to discuss the

next

steps in creating a

new

category of

des

ignated

engineering representatives.

• Members ofthe U.S.

House

of Representatives

Aviation

Subcommittee spent

a full

day

at

AirVenture

listening

and

talking

with

manufacturers,

EAA

members,

and

other aviation enthusiasts.

A number of working groups met to discuss refining light-sport aircraft (LSA)

ASTM

standards to make them more user-friendly

and

to help usher

in

ground

breaking technological deve l

opments,

such

as electric-powered airplanes.

.One

day FAA

officials outlined

proposed changes

for administering

and enforc

ing

the 51

percent

rule.

The next day, EAA

staff

and members had

their

say, and

in the

end,

both

sides

did

a lot of listening.

.

Warbirds

of

America and

the National Association of

Flight

Instructors

rep

Welch

Airplane Help

Brandon Abel, the grandnephew

of Orin Welch, is looking for infor

mation regarding the Welch air

plane. Any information regarding

the

aircraft, plans, etc.,

is

welcome.

Please call Brandon Abel at 850

685-9207 (he s in the Pacific time

zone) or e-mail

him

at

brandon.

[email protected].

V Hall

of

Fame Nominations

As

mentioned

in last month s

issue

of

Vintage Airplane

the

time

is

at

hand

to

submit

nominations

for the 2009 VAA Hall of Fame. We

have a preferred address for those

of you who wish

to

send in a nom

ination.

See last

month s

issue for

the nomination

details,

and send

it

to:

Charles Harris,

P.O.

Box 470350,

Tulsa, OK 74147-0350.

TFRWebsite

I f you re

like most

of

us, read

ing

a

temporary

flight restriction

TFR) listing written

in

all capital

letters

as

it tries to delineate

the

boundaries of

a TFR can be very

confusing

.

The

Federal Aviation

Administration

FAA) recognizes

that the

nature of

the text-only

TFR can

be perplexing and may

lead to inadvertent

TFR intru

sions.

To

help combat that issue,

the

FAA has

created a website that

you may wish to make a

part

of

your preflight briefing ritual.

The

website, http://TFR.FAA.gov high

lights in

both

text and graphical

form the lateral

boundaries

of the

mailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/http://TFR.FAA.govmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/http://TFR.FAA.gov


7/44

2 8

E

AIRCRAFT AWARDS

ANTIQUE

Antique

Grand

Champion

(Gold Lindy)

Addison

Pemberton, Spokane,

WA,

1928 Boeing

40C, 5339

Antique Reserve Grand

Champion

(Silver Lindy)

Jerry

Wenger,

Faribault,

MN,

1935

Waco

YPF,

N15700

Transport Category,

Champion

(Bronze Lindy)

Jim

Hagedorn, Old Crow Aviation, Columbus, OH, 1943 Grumman G-44 , N135MG

Customized

Aircraft

Champion (Bronze

Lindy)

John Hill, Jr.,

Washington,

NC ,

1941

Waco UPF-7, N32071

Runner Up

John Leppien, Alma, MI, 1940 Waco UPF-7,

N30107

Outstanding

Kenneth

Kreutzfeld, Port Clinton,

OH,

1940

Howard

DGA-15P,

NC1227

WORLD W R II ER

Champion

(Bronze Lindy)

William

Rose,

Barrington,

IL,

1944

Grumman

G-21A,

N600ZE

Runner-Up

J. Holmquist,

1949

Beech

Staggerwing

D17S, N19493

BRONZE

GE (1937·

1941)

Bronze

Age

Champion (Bronze Lindy)

Michael

Vaughan, Charleston, IL,

1940

Howard DGA-15P, N22410

Bronze Age Runner-Up

Larry Boehme , Jacksonville,

NC

, 1941 Waco UPF-7, N180LN

Bronze

Age

Outstanding Closed-Cockpit Monoplane

Glenn

Larson, Sarasota,

FL,

1939 Cessna C-165, N19498

Bronze Age

Outstanding Open-Cockpit

Monoplane

Gary

Kozak ,

Downers Grove,

IL,

1940 Ryan

Aeronautical ST-A

Special,

N8146

Bronze Age Outstanding Open-Cockpit Biplane

Curtis Arnold, Toronto, ON, Canada,

1941

de

Havilland

Tiger Moth, CFTBS

SILVER

GE (1928·1936)

Silver Age

Champion

(Bronze Lindy)

Ted Davis,

Broadhead,

WI, 1929 New Standard D-25A, NC7286

Silver Age Runner-Up

John Seibold, Rancho Santa Fe,

CA,

1929

Curtiss

Wright Travel

Air

A-6000-A

N4942V

Silver Age

Outstanding Closed-Cockpit Biplane

John

Thomason, Sonoma,

CA, 1936 Waco YKS-6 ,

N16522

Silver

Age

Outstanding

Open-Cockpit

Biplane

Historic Aviation

Museum, Creve

Coeur, MO,

1929 Zenith

Z6A,

N392V

CLASSIC SEPTEMBER

1945 THRU 1955)

Grand Champion (Gold

Lindy

)

Joe Dobransky,

Allen,

TX, 1946

Piper

J-3C-65 ,

N70111

Reserve

Grand Champion, (Silver

Lindy

)

Outstanding

Cessna

120/140

D. Troy

Westrum

,

Des MOines,

lA,

1946 Cessna

120, NC76189

Outstanding

Cessna

170/180

Donald Lindholm, Phoenix, AZ, 1951

Cessna

170A, N1424D

Outstanding

Cessna 190/195

Beau Bradley, Sheridan,

MT,

1952 Cessna

195A,

N252BB

Outstanding

Ercoupe

Ward Marsh, Dixon , CA, 1946

Ercoupe

415-CD,

NC93337

Outstanding

Luscombe

Joe Champagne,

Fairland,

OK, 1949

Luscombe

8F,

N48RR

Outstanding Navion

Gary Rankin ,Camas,

WA,

1947

Navion,

N8969H

Outstanding

Piper J 3

Raymond Cook

,

Spring

Grove

,

IL,

1946

P

per

J-3C-65,

N70971

Outstanding Piper Other

James

Hudgin,

Lewisburg,

TN, 1948 P

per PA-17,

N4612H

Outstanding Stinson

Earl Muenze,

Columbus,

OH,

1947

Stinson 108-2, N8055K

Outstanding Swift

Swift Museum,Athens, TN , 1948 Globe GC-1B, N78271

Outstanding Limited

Production

Richard

Epton,

Brooks,

GA,

1949

BOcker

BU-181, N94245

Preservation

Ray

Johnson, Marion,

IN, 1947 Aeronca

11AC

,

N3469E

Preservation

Terry

Chastain,

Pacific,

MO

,

1952

Rawdon T1 , N5160

Custom Class A(0-80 hpj

Tim and Larry Geldermann, Hartland, WI, 1947 Aeronca 7AC, N3506E

Custom Class

B

(81-150 hpj

Merrel Kenneth, Mayflower, AR, 1946

Funk B-85-C,

NC81137

Custom Class

(151-235 hpj

Hal

Cope,

Spring

,

TX

,

1946

Temco GC-1B,

N3303K

Custom Class

D

(236 hp

&higher)

James Nezgoda

,

Sandy Valley

, NV, 1947

Republic

RC-3 , N6325K

Best Custom

Runner

-

Up

Michael Lewis,

Carmel

, IN , 1953

Cessna

170B,

N4567C

CONTEMPORARY 1956·1970) W RDS

Grand

Champion,

(

Gold

Lindy)

Stephanie

Allen,

Mukilteo,

WA, 1969 Cessna

172K,

N78797

Reserve Grand Champion, (Silver

Lindy)

Mark Malone

&Miles

Malone, Camarillo,

CA,

1963 Beech

Travel Air,

N234M

Class

I

Single Engine

(0-160 hpj, (Bronze Lindy)

Bob McBride,

Mineola, TX, 1963

Cessna

150C,

N14TX

Class

II Single Engine (161-230 hpj, Bronze Lindy

Roger

Florkiewicz,

Schererville,

IN,

1968 Pper PA-28R-180,

N65KF

Class

11 Single Eng ine (231-up hpj (Bronze Lindy)


8/44

An gr cabin class monoplane from 1929

BY SP RKY B RNES S RGENT


9/44


10/44

Corti

f

CbaUeo,er

iD

tailed.

RobiD

3 place

C.biD ooo

plane

929

ad fr

om

viation magazine.

hi

s is a Robin with a Curtiss Chal-

lenger engine excerpted from the entire ad .

-

The poster board leaning against the Robin

is

promoting the Curtiss

World Endurance Record.

Built for Durability

The Curtiss

Robin debuted in

March 1928. Designed and built by

Curtiss Aeroplane Motor Com

pany of Garden City, New

York,

the

monoplanes were manufactured at

Curtiss-Robertson Airplane Manu

facturing Company in Anglum St .

Louis County), Missouri. (This is

now the location of Lambert Field.)

In

1929,

Curtiss Aeroplane and

in

the

June 1928 issue of The via-

tor touted

the

fabric-covered Robin

as

the

first closed-cabin plane in

the "popular-price field, " selling for

less

than $4,000

. Its fuselage was

built of

chrome-molybdenum

steel

tubing,

the

main

gear

had

a wide,

96-inch tread for safe landings and

taxiing, and a steerable tailskid fa-

cilitated

ground

maneuvering. Its

wing ribs were built of lightweight,

borne out in actual flight tests ....

Its stability and easy

fl

ying qualities

were also carefully worked

out

in

wind tunnel tests, and pilots who

have flown it say that it is the nic

est flying plane,

and the

easiest

to

fly,

in its class."

Additionally, a

company

adver

tisement in a 1929 issue of

viation

magazine promoted the Robin's "ri

gidity, ruggedness

and

durability,"

proclaiming

that detail

after de

tail, the Curtiss Robin proves itself

a

plane that's built to

last." Epton

heartily bears tes tament to the Rob-

in's performance and durability; he

delights

in

owning and flying his

79-year-young Robin.

Flying the Robin

"She flies beautifully straight,

and

she's

got

a big wing, so

short

field

performance is

quite

exceptional,

even with full fuel and three heavy

men aboard," says Epton. "She flies

and

performs like a very heavy

Piper Cub. I fly it every weekend,

and

I give rides all the time. After

all, these airplanes are for sharing. I

own it today,

and

in 50 years' time

I won't own

it-somebody

else will,

so we're all just caretakers."

Recalling

his

first

flight

in

the

Robin, Epton chuckles

and

says,

When I went to Florida to col

lect this from

Ron Waldron and

his 'partner in crime' Harry Wool

dridge, I asked

them to put

the orig

inal dual controls back in it, just so

one of them could sit in the back,"

recounts Epton. "Well, Harry was

elected, and he promptly folded


11/44

Removing the old fabric from one of the Robin s The fuselage is painted and on its gear, with the

wings in May 1996

Wright J -5 Whirlwind engine mounted.

Waldron, Wooldridge, and Epton (left to right)

on

Epton lifts off, with Wooldridge

in

the rear seat.

the occasion of Epton s first Robin flight.

"So that was basically it.

We

indi

cated 80 mph cruising around,

and

my recollection of landing speed

is somewhat vague

because

I was

ki

nd

of busy

on that

first flight, stir

ring the soup with a big stick But I

seem to reca

ll

it was around 55 mph

over

the

fence,

and

as

soon

as

the

throttle's pulled back

an

d

th

e nose is

raised slightly,

the

airspeed immedi

He's a natural with the airplane."

He advised Epton

to

remove

the

dual controls for his flight home to

Georgia,

since

the installation

of

the

rear controls required

the

pilot's

seat

to

be moved 6 inches forward,

th

us

making

it uncomfortably close

to the instrument

panel. But Epton

didn't

heed

that

suggestion,

and

af

ter battling

a

strong head wind to

I have

to

shuffle

to

the edge of the

seat, take a very good look around

the sky then dive

down

to the floor

and reach for the valve while bend

ing

around the

control

stick

and

trying not to push it

around "

Epton's second

cross-cou

ntry in

the Robin

was

from his home

in

Brooks, Georgia,

to

Lakeland, Flor

ida. He

departed on Sunday

after


12/44

marvelous

TIG welder,

showed up

and

took the

collector to his shop.

y 10 o clock that night, he

had

finished welding it, and we took it

back to

the

airport where Walt and

his mechanic Ben worked until 1:30

the next morning. They really did a

great job, very willingly. I t was all

about

getting

me

to Lakeland.

Passenger s view of the cabin.

The engine bolts to a 1-1/2-inch

With the skylight and full-length

thick metal-reinforced plywood

windows up front, the pilot and

board , the plywood bolts to the en-

passengers have a great view.

gine mount, and then the engine


13/44

obin estoration

N781M's return to flying

status

is primarily due to Waldron's

ef

forts . In 1996, after

Waldron had

finished bui lding a Travel

ir

4000,

he

was offered

the opportunity to

buy

a Curtiss Robin

project-and

he just

couldn't

refuse. After all, he

had grown up around scale mod

els

of the

Curtiss Robin because it

was his

father's

favorite

airplane.

So he

and his buddy

Wooldridge

flew the airlines from Florida out

to

California.

Waldron purchased

the

project from

Charlotte

Nelson

and says

he actually

ended

up

with one

and a

half

Robins. I

had

four

wings, a fuselage

of another

Robin, lots

of

parts, and a

Wright

J6-5

engine. We rented aU-Haul

and

drove 50

mph

all the way back

across

the

country."

Although he had

numerous

parts, there were

items he didn't

have-such

as seats.

Scanning

through Trade A Plane one

day, he

saw an ad for original Robin wicker

Below: The Robin has oleo spr

g

outrigger style gear.

seats.

He

called

to

inquire,

thinking

that the seller would

want

a fortune

for

them

if

they

were in

good

con

dition.

"He was an

older guy and

told me that

when

he

put

them

in his

barn

in

1940,

they

were

in

good shape," recalls Waldron. "He

only wanted $300 for

them,

but

wouldn't ship them, so Harry and

I

drove

up to

Toledo,

Ohio,

to

get

them,

and

we also picked up

some

extra wing lift struts from him."

Waldron built two new doors for

the

airplane, using

one

old

and

rot

ting door frame as a pattern.

The

Robin

originally

had a skylight as

well

as

sliding windows in

the

doors

and

on

the

left-hand side of

the

fu

selage-plus full-length windows

on

either side of

the

pilot's seat. He

fabricated the

wooden

framework

and

metal trim

pieces

for

those

and discovered that

there's some

pretty

fancy

woodwork

up around

the

skylight,

and

the luggage com

partment was originally bigger

and

deeper-you could

crawl inside it

So

I

built

a little

one,

because

you

really don't need all that space."

He

ordered new spruce

for

the

heavy

"

I-beam wing spars and

spent

a

considerable amount

of

time straightening the original

wing ribs.

II s

far as I know,

this is one

of

the

first airplanes

manufactured

with

metal ribs, says Waldron,

II and

a few years later,

the

ribs were

all

bending

because

the cotton

was

stretching so tight

across

them .

Cu rtiss-Wrigh

t

came

out

with

a

manufacturer's service letter stating

that plywood had

to

be attached to

the ribs. [That letter stated

• ••

the

stamped metal ribs have a tendency

to collapse, especially

on

the

top

side

and

to roll

down

until

they

are

flat on top, on a line with the tops

of

the

front

and

rear spars.'] So I

straightened

the

ribs that I had

and

riveted plywood the

whole length

of

them, front to

rear,

to make

a

solid rib."

When

it came to

the landing

gear, Waldron

needed

a bit of help

from another source.

So

he con

tacted

Dick Fischer

in

California.

"He was the

biggest

help of

any

body. I

needed

springs for

the

oleo

gear legs, and

he

had

some

extras

on hand

that

he'd had made

up,

recalls Waldron. II

He

also had some

tail wheels made up

that

looked like

the

ones that Robins had, after they

switched over from

the

tailskids."

The most

challenging

aspect

of the

project was

the paper

work, since the type certificate for

the

Curtiss Robin

C 1

listed the

Curtiss Challenger

R600 as

the


14/44

approved engine installation, and

not a Wright J6-5. Waldron chuck

les

in

retrospect,

explaining

, "The

FAA guy told me I had

to

get a let

ter

from

the manufacturer

regard

ing the change in engine types. He

didn t

know what a Curtiss Robin

was A DAR [designated

airworthi

ness representative] came out and

gave me

an

airworthiness certifi

cate,

and the

next day he called

me and told me

to

send it back to

him. I asked him,

What

do you

mean? ' He told

me

he had

to

come

back out

and

give me a special air

worthiness

certificate

for experi

said

he

had a standard airworthi

ness

certificate for me,

so

it all

worked

out

okay."

Waldron installed Ceconite fab

ric on

the

airplane

and

finished

it with Air-Tech Coatings, using a

color scheme similar to the origi

nal-cream

for

the wings

and tail

and orange for the

fuselage. The

Curtiss

Robin took

to

the skies

again

in

2004.

It

was

the

first

time

i t

had

flown since 1942, when

it

was dismantled and placed in

storage

during

World

War II.

As

for

Waldron,

he and

Wooldridge

bought a 1929 Travel Air Model

Mississippi, brothers Fred and Al-

gene

Key

set a world record for sus

tained flight when

they

flew

Ole

Miss a Robin J-l Deluxe, for 653

hours

and 34 minutes during the

summer

of

1935. These Robins re

ceived aerial refueling in order to

stay

aloft

and had

been

modified

with catwalks for in-flight engine

maintenance and a larger fuel tank,

plus

an

access

panel atop

the

fuse

lage for

receiving

supplies while

airborne . Robins were also flown in

air races

and National

Air Tours

in

the

1920s

and

early 1930s. Perhaps

the

most amazing feat was

that

of


15/44

wasn't among

those

flown for re

cord-setting flights, it is

just

that

type

of

history that inspired him

to own and fly a

Curtiss

Robin.

And

perhaps

it may

be

said

that

N781M

is

on

its way

to making

its

own

mark in modern-day

aviation.

Among

the appreciative

onlook

ers

at Sun 'n

Fun were the aircraft

judges, who awarded it Best Silver

ge antique.

True to his English roots,

Epton

has fondly given N781M the nick-

When I would tell them Lincoln

shire,

they

would say, 'Ah

The

Poacher ' Hence my

nickname

has

been

'The Poacher' for many years.

My

mother, Marjorie

Epton, still

lives

in

Lincolnshire,

and

not

only

does she make the world's greatest

shepherd's pie, she has also been

my biggest supporter in everything

do So when she asked me if was

going to put The Poacher's name

on the

Robin, 'Of course' was my

reply. Hence the Poacher s Pony was

It's just a beautiful aeroplane.

Every time I go into

the

hangar

and she's there in her glory

with

the

morning sun oming in on her, I

can't wait to push her out and turn

her

into

the wind "

- Richard

pton


16/44

Carolinas-Virginia

VAA

CHAPTER

3

FLy I

N

Alamance County Airport

T

he Carolinas-Virginia An

tique Airplane

Founda

tion, otherwise

known

as

EAA-VAA Chapter 3, held

its annual Spring Fly-In at

the

Ala

mance County

Airport

BUY)

near

Burlington, North Carolina, dur

ing

the first weekend in May. In

contrast to

the past few weather

plagued years, the 2008 event en

joyed good weather and, as a result,

an encouraging turnout of

both

air

craft and drive-ins. Encouraging

Y

J CK

ox

because

everyone was concerned

about

the

effect of high fuel prices

on attendance

.

I t

didn t seem to

matter a lot- the display area was

full of airplanes

on

Saturday, and

the

awards

banquet

that

evening

was a full house.

Chapter 3 is a rather unique

group. It was chartered

as

a three

state

nonprofit foundation in the

early 196 s by

the late

Evander

Britt, a Lumberton,

North

Caro

lina, attorney

and antique

airplane

collector and restorer. It was from

Bri tt

that

author

Richard Bach ob

tained the Parks

P-2A

he would im

mortalize in his books Biplane and

No t hing by Chance. By the

late

1960s

the

group s

annual

Spring

and Fall Fly-Ins had become the

largest sport aviation events held

on the East Coast and would main

tain that distinction until the Sun

n Fun Fly-In

at

Lakeland, Florida,

came along

in

the mid-1970s. With

members spread

out

over three


17/44

stat

es-North

an d

South

Carolina

and Virginia-the group has never

held monthly meetings, as do most

local chapters, relying instead

on

its

two fly-ins and its bimon thly news

letter,

Antique

Airways, for

com

munication and cohesiveness .

When EAA's Antique/Classic Di

vision (now VAA)

was

formed in the

early 1970s, the Carolinas-Virginia

Antique Airplane Foundation be

came affiliated

as

Chapter 3 and has

been an active part of EAA activities

ever since. A number of its members

became part of the national scene.

Brad Thomas and Butch Joyce each

served long terms

as

president of the

EAA Antique/Classic Division

and

its successor-in-name, the Vintage

Aircraft Association. Evander Britt

and Morton Lester served as mem

bers of the Antique/Classic board of

directors, and Morton also served

as

a member of the EAA Aviation Foun

dation board of

directors.

Susan

Dusenbury is a current and longtime

member of the EAA board of direc

tors-and is the current president of

Chapter 3. Jack and Golda Cox, who

produced

Antique Airways

during

the

1960s, became members of the

EAA headquarters staff in January of

1970 and would head

EAA's

editorial

department until

their retirement

and subsequent return to North

Carolina

and

Chapter 3

in

1999. A

number of Chapter 3 members have

served

as

showplane judges

at

Sun

n

Fun and

EAA

AirVenture Oshkosh

over the years,

and

several continue

to do so today.

Chapter 3 s fly-ins are

open to the

Chapter

3 s

logo features

Er

nie Webb's award-winning

1928

OXX-6

powered Travel Air 2000,

which brought widespread recog

nition

to

the

chapter in

its

early

days in

the 1960s.

The evening ended with the

presentation

of awards by Chief

Judge Xen Motsinger. The winners were:

Best Experimental-2002 RV-6 , N164N, Tommy Newkirk, Gar

land , North Carolina

Best Warblrd

1943

North American

SNJ-5C

N3JC Larry Morris,

Concord, North Carolina

Best Single Engine

Contemporary-1957

Cessna 172A, N8377B,

Bob

Schaefer,

Tryon

, North Carolina

Best Multi-Engine

Contemporary-1967

Cessna 310, N221MB,

C.T.

Mendenhall, Sophia, North Carolina

Best Classic

0-

65 hp 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D,

N95525,

Bill

Brown, Gibsonville, North Carolina

Best Classic 66-100 hp-1947 Cessna 120, N2613N, Joe and

Roxanna Mancusi, Raleigh, North Carolina

Best Classic 101-150 hp-1948 Swift, N3849K, Jeff and Donna

Smith, Asheboro, North Carolina

Best Classic over

150

hp-1946

Bucker Jungmann, N191X,

Steve Hawley St. Matthews, South Carolina

Custom Classic 1948 Piper PA-15/

17

Vagabond , N4309H, Frank


18/44

Stan

nd

Sandy Sweikar s Grand Champion Classic 1952 Cessna

195

,

N1571D

nearby

facility, followed by a get

together at the host motel for more

visiting and viewing vintage

avi

ation movies. An awards banquet

is held

on

Saturday

night

that in

cludes a featured speaker.

The speaker

at

Burlington in May

was V Treasurer Charlie Harris of

Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Harris is one of the founders and

the

driving force

behind the

Biplane

Fly-In held each year at Bartlesville,

Oklahoma

the longtime

editor

of

the

V Chapter 10 Tulsa) news

i:3 letter,

and

the owner of a collection

of beautifully restored showplanes.

- -

An excellent,

entertaining

speaker,

Charlie Harris and Susan Dusenbury.


19/44

Harris detailed the purposes a

nd

fo unding of the Biplane Fly-In

an

d

its ancillary effort s

to

h ono r the

men

and women who have served

our country in the military services.

He

concluded by urgi

ng

su

pport

of

the construction of the EAA Found

ers Wing within

the EAA

AirVen

ture Museum at Oshkosh-a facility

to display Paul and Audrey Pober

ezny s 55-year collection of EAA

historical material.

Special guests

at the

Burling

ton

fly-in were

VAA

Na t

iona

l Di

rector Bob Lumley of Brookfield ,

Wisconsin, and Director Emeritus

John Turgyan of New Egypt, New

Jersey. Harris, Luml

ey

and Turgyan

have

been

members of Chap ter 3

for years, even th ough they reside

Jeff

and

Donna Smith's Best Classic

101-150 hp

1948

125

Swift, N3849K.

in

other areas of the country.

On Sunday morning, a

num

ber of pilots flew

to

the nearby

im

Wilson (in the black cap) hard

at

work interviewing subjects

for

a

r-

ticles in Chapter

3's

newsletter, Antique Airways, with his Waco YK5-6 in

t

he

background.

im

a

nd

his wife, Eileen, flew the Waco

to

Alaska last year.

Roxboro, North Carolina, airport

for a fly-out brunch at the Home

stead Restaurant, with reservations

and

arrangements for ground trans

portation made by Skip Carden.

Special thanks are due to Chapter

3 President Susan Dusenbury and

Vice President Ron Normark,

who

handled most of the advance prep

arations

for

the

fly-in, plus all

the

chapter volunteers

who

assumed

the various on-field duties during

the

weekend.

Next up for Chapter 3

is

its Fall

Fly-In,

to be

held

the weekend

of

October

3-5, 2008,

at

Woodward

Field (CDN) in Camden, South Car

olina. For fly-in formation, call Jim

Wilson

at

843-753-7138 or e-mail

him at

cross

w n j m

@homesc com

Everyone

is

welcome.

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


20/44

Light Plane Heritage

ORI

GI N LLY PUBLISHED IN E Experimenter DECEMBER

99

Remember the Klemm

Part III, The Young Baron s Great Adventure

BY B

OB

W HITIIER

Last month we told you about how

in

1929, 22-year

old EK. Baron von Koenig-Warthausen of Germany made

a nonstop flight from Berlin to Moscow-and kept on go

ing. We left him making his aerial way from Shiraz to

Bushire in what was then Persia and is now Iran.

The

latter city

had

a

good airport on which

were

based representatives of

the

Junkers aircraft firm

and

some

of

their

all-metal

commercial monoplanes.

They took their

young

fellow

countryman under

their

wing-both figuratively

and

literally

.

They showed

him the town and

sheltered his little Klemm from

the

broiling

sun

under the

wing of a big Junkers.

In Bushire,

EK.

was thrilled to receive a telegram in

forming

him that

his Berlin

to

Moscow

nonstop

flight

had won him the

coveted

Hindenburg Cup

. There

he

also

met

his hero, Baron

von

Huenefeld

pronounced

Hoonfeld),

who

had been

one

of

the

crew of

the

Junk

ers re

men that made the

first

east-to-west crossing

of the

Atlantic

in

1928. This

airman

had

stopped in

Bushire while

on

a flight

to the

Far East.

EK. s

stay

in

Bushire had its amusing moments. A lo

cal

potentate

heard that

EK.

was on his way there

and

became quite excited. Expecting a monarch

in

a

top

hat

and

swallowtail coat

to

emerge

with

great

pomp

from

a

polished

and majestic Junkers, he was

indeed

flus

tered

when

what looked to

him

like a kid

hopped out

of

the

cockpit of a travel-begrimed little Klemm.

I t

seems

of U-2s overflying

their

country. However, a visit was

somehow arranged.

Alas, on passing

through

the magic door, EK. found

himself inside an ordinary-looking

home in

which four

not at all glamorous women were going

about

routine

household tasks. This, he was solemnly assured, was

one

of Bushire's finest harems. Well, so

much

for harems.

Talking

with the

Junkers

people,

F.K.

decided

that

the most logical option open to him would be to fly on

to Karachi on the west coast of India (now Pakistan).

There

he

could get a steamer

bound

for Germany.

So he

said farewell

and

headed eastward along a coast

line where

the

climate proved to be so unbelievably

hot

and

arid

that

he sighted

not one

speck of green. By

that

time he had learned

that

pilots of open-cockpit

air

planes

in

that

part

of

the

world routinely wore typical

pith

helmets while flying in order to avoid sunstroke.

He stopped for

two

days at

Bandar

Abbas on

the

north side of the Strait of Hormuz. The British consul

there (remember,

EK.

spoke English well)

had the only

car

in

town and also the

only house with

electricity.

This place was said to be

the hottest town in the

world

and

was made all

the

more oppressive

by high humid

ity

and

thick swarms of flies.

He sighed

with

relief as

he

left this hellhole

behind

,

both for the

foregoing

reasons and because

the

soft

sand there had

so

hindered

his takeoff

that

he barely


21/44

As he glided

in

to land, he

was startled to see the whole

huge crowd was running

righ t

into

his

path.

None

of

them

had the slightest

know

ledge of

the operating

peculiarities of these new fly-

ing machines, of

course, so

he

gunned

the

engine

and

came in

on

a

different

ap

proach-and the

same

thing

happened

again This insane

game went on for 20

mad

dening minutes until the

o local telegraph operator real

ized what was going

on

and

managed somehow to

clear

the

field.

The sand was so

soft

that only

the

Klemm's very

low

landing

speed avoided

a

nose

over.

The

pith

hel

met had shielded the top of

F.K.'s head, but

the

intense

n

California, Baron

von

Koenig-Warthausen center) poses with Tommy Tomlinson,

sunlight

unequally reflected

then

ch

ief pilot for Maddux Airlines and later prominent in th development of ma

from

the

broiling desert and

jor U.S. airlines, and Charles Spicer, builder of Grand Central Air Terminal . Ripples

the sea had badly sunburned

on

the fuselage below

th

cockpit indicate thinness of

th

plywood covering.

where

the

consulate's

mechanic made up

a

new

bolt.

Unfortunately

,

he

used

one

of

the

shop's British taps

and

the

resulting thread simply would

not

go into the

engine's metric-threaded hole. After searching all over

the

plane, F.K. removed

one

of

the

propeller hub bolts

and was relieved to find that it

would

fit the engine

properly. He replaced

the

"stolen"

bolt

from

the

hub

with

a British

one

for

which

a suitable nut was avail

able. A test

hop

showed no noticeable vibration, so

he

landed, loaded up,

and

took off again.

He found Cape Jask to be

another

godforsaken town,

it

having

no car

at

all. This required him to quickly

learn the fine techniques of riding a donkey. The help

ful telegraph operator there advised

him to

follow

the

the shoreward side

of

his

face,

while leaving

the seaward side

unaffected.

He

didn t

realize this

until

later

when he

was shocked

to

look

into

a mirror and see

that

he now had a black

and-white face.

Pressing on, he finally reached the large city of Ka-

rachi

in

India

and

was

happy

to land at a good airport

having ample facilities. Royal Air Force personnel sta

tioned there made

him

their guest of

honor at

their

fa-

cility, which was like a country club . They

made

him

so

welcome

,

in

fact,

that

he remained there

for five

enjoyable weeks. As but one example

of

the interest

ing things

he

did,

the

city's mayor took him on several

hunting trips.

Intriguing things

his RAF

acquaintances told him


22/44

2008 -HGF]). He learned that

the

airfield at Allahabad

was at that time

the

only civilian

one

in all of India,

the

rest being

RAF

establishments.

While sightseeing on the ground,

he

observed that

many

people were spitting blood, and he shuddered

at how prevalent

tuberculosis was

in

that

backward

county.

Then

he

chanced to

learn that

what he was

seeing was merely spittle-stained red from the natives'

habit of chewing betel nuts.

He then flew on to the

holy

city of Benares

where

he was quickly informed

that

a cholera epidemic was

raging

and

advised

that

he

should

not stay

there any

longer than necessary. Hundreds of corpses were being

cremated

on the

riverbank,

and

as

he

circled

to

gain

altitude he gagged as

he

flew through a pall of smoke

carrying the odor of

burning

flesh .

The next stop

was

Gaya, and

when

he

arrived

there

he

circled

repeatedly trying

to

locate the air

field. Failing to find it, he set down

on

a dried-out rice field.

Someone

then

informed him

that

the

air

port was 10 miles outside the town.

He had to

get

workmen to

make

an

opening in

a clay dike that bor

dered the rice field, to get enough

room to take off.

Gaya

to

Calcutta was a six-hour

flight, which he was

obliged

to

make at

an altitude

of

only

500

feet because the engine had devel

oped a falling off of power. It ap

pears that

the

desert dust

drawn

in through the carburetor was the

cause. But happily this flight was

he

had done

quite

enough of risking his neck

in

wild

and remote places and should forthwith come home.

But

RAF

personnel at Calcutta

's

airfield had helped him

do an excellent overhaul on the Klemm's engine, and it

now ran beautifully. So on to Singapore it would be

On

February IS, 1930,

he took

off

and headed

for

Akyab

in

Burma

(now

Sittwe,

Myanmar),

a SOO-mile

flight

which

would

take

at least six hours. The first

part

of

this

flight

took

him over an

extremely

lonely

200-mile-wide muddy lowland

in

the region where the

Ganges and

the

Brahmaputra River merged. That bad

stretch

behind

him,

he

then flew over alternating jute

fields and stretches of forest . Then

he

picked up and

began to follow

the

shoreline of

the Indian

Ocean. He

noticed that there was

no

beach. The ocean

and

forest

met in a very distinct line

with

no place

at

all to set

On the morning of

July 12 he left his

hotel

and

hailed a

taxi to go out to

the airport.

The

next thing he

knew

he

woke

up at

5 p m in a hospital

room with doctors

hovering over him

down

safely in an emergency.

Looking

down on

the

forests, he

sighted many wild

elephants and

real

ized that even though he might make

a safe forced landing in

the

treetops,

getting to

civilization

would

pose

an

entirely new set of difficulties. Fortu

nately, the

little Mercedes kept purr

ing steadily.

He knew he had entered Burma

when

he began

to

spot more

and

more

pagodas and was glad to

land on

the

Fokker company s excellent field at

Akyab.

That turned

out

to

be a large,

modern city that was full of

automo-

biles. The funny thing was, they were

all quite unable

to

travel beyond the

city limits because there were just sim

ply no roads out there

over flat river valley country,

and

once

in

Calcutta,

he

was glad

to

be offered a

room in

the

German

consul's

comfortable home.

There he observed Christmas

and

New Year's Day

and

found it to be a strange feeling

to do

so

in

swelter

ing

hot

weather. He made sightseeing flights over the

country and was invited to go along on some hunts. A

He

planned

to

continue

on to

Rangoon as

soon

as

he had refueled, but had

to accept

an

invitation

to

stay for a few days

at the home

of

the

manager of

the

British Oil

Company

establishment. I t seems

that the

only available field in

Rangoon

was

being

used for a

bog polo match, and it would be much better to arrive

there the day after.


23/44

hisphoto gives an idea of the baron's slight stature and the size of

his

Klemm

monoplane. The ship was big but light and was really what used to be referred

to

as

a power glider. Colors appear

to

have been natural varnished wood and

clear, doped fabric.

remained at Rangoon, he noticed

that the

culture there

differed appreciably from

what he had

encountered

in

some

other

countries

he had

visited. The people were

much

more energetic

and

progressive.

Local fliers

and

officials painted a grim picture of

the

proposed next step in EK.'s journey,

the hop

from Ran

goon

to

Bangkok

in

Siam (now Thailand). I t would be

necessary to cross high

mountains and

vast swamps.

Some regions had no t been mapped,

and

indeed, a few

had

not

even

been

explored. But

by now

EK.

consid

ered

himself to

be quite

an experienced and

capable

long-distance flier.

So to

Bangkok it would be.

Leaving

Rangoon, he hea

ded

southwest

over

the

Gulf

of Martaban and

passed

over

Bilugyun Is land.

By prearrangement, he

circled twice over

the

city of

Moulmein so

that his

progress could be noted and

telegraphed

back

to Rangoon

.

With

six

more

hours

of flight

ahead

of

him, he

was dismayed

to

find that

bad

weather

and worrying

abo ut navigation.

He had

thought

he might

stay

in

Bangkok for 10 days

but ended up staying there

for five

memorab

le weeks.

A royal

coronation

was go

ing

on, and he was intro-

duced to the new king

and

his family. The crown prince

had

been

Siam's

minister in

Berlin for several years, and

both

he

and the

crown prin

cess

spoke German. They

and F K got along

splen

did

ly.

The princess

gave

F K

a

beautifu

l Siamese

cat

named Tanim . A special

box was made for Tanim

and

fitted into

the

Klemm's

cockpit. From there

on

he

traveled

along with

his new

owner.

His first few flights

left

him

a bit wobbly,

but

he

soon

got accustomed

to ric;ling in

a plane.

An idea

had been

growing

in

F.K

.'s mind . He was

then

13,000 miles out from Germany.

Why not

con

tinue

on all

the

way arou

nd

t

he

world

and

enjoy con

founding

the it

can't be

done

skeptics? Accordingly,

he

proposed

to

fly from Bangkok across French

Indo

china

(now

Vie

tnam) to

China

itself

and then on

to Ja

pan. But people

in

Bangkok

who

knew that part of the

world very we ll earnestly discouraged him from doing

so. There would surely be

many

vexing complications

and

grave dangers.

So

again

the

Klemm's

wi

n

gs

were

removed

and the

plane, pilot,

and

cat traveled to Hong

Kong by steamer.

At

Hong

Kong,

permission to

fly

over

China

was

flatly refused.

So there

was nothing to

do but

stay

on

the ship until it reached Shanghai. There

he ma

naged

to

get permission

to

assemble

the

Kl

emm and fly

150

miles

inland to Nanking, where he met an

d

talked


24/44

sight

and

led

him to

Tokyo, where

he landed after a nervous and tiring

six-hour flight.

There he

was given a

great

wel

come by Japanese

and

German offi

cials. During the

five

weeks

he

spent

in that city,

he

stayed with a Japa

nese family in their home of tra

ditional design

and

construction.

They all sat on cushions, slept on

the

floor,

and

ate

with

chopsticks.

EK.

was surprised at how quickly he

adapted to this lifestyle and, once

back in Germany, delighted in dem

onstrating to friends his proficiency

with chopsticks. While in Tokyo, a

fine day came along that

prompted

him to fly to and circle

around

12,OOO-foot

Mount Fujiyama, a ma

jestic and

thrilling

spectacle

from

the cockpit of his little plane.

Then plane, pilot,

and

cat boarded

a shop in Yokohama

and on

May 25

headed for the United States. During

a brief stopover in

Honolulu,

a lo

cal pilot

took him

for a sightseeing

flight

in

a Waco.

Just

as

they

came

alongside it,

Mount

Kilauea decided

it was time to erupt, providing

them

with a very unanticipated spectacle.

On June 19,

he

headed south for

Los Angeles. A

short time out he

heard

a

terrific

roar approaching

from behind. His first thought was

that

the dreaded "United States Air

Police"

that

some joker

had

warned

him about was after him for

some

unwitting transgression.

But

the

racket proved to be

coming from

the big radial engines of three Ford

Tri-Motors being flown by pilots

he

had

met

at

Alameda and Oakland.

When these

big

planes came

alongside, people in

the

win

dows flashed

placards on which

had

been painted messages such

as

"Good

Luck!"

and

"Have a Safe

Journey!" Ah, the camaraderie of

the air! Then the Fords turned

back, and F K continued south

feeling just wonderful.

The flight

was

generally

pleas

ant

and

interesting,

save for

some

Baron

von

Koenig-Warthausen

and

rough

air over desert country. EK.

his Siamese c t anlm nicknamed

was amazed at

the

immensity of

Felix y the U.S. press during his

agricultural operations in the

Im

vi

sit here.

The

ship

arrived

at

San Francisco on June 28.

The

press

had

heard all

about the boyish but intrepid

young baron,

his

adventurous journey

over

strange

lands,

and

his exotic cat Tanim. At

that

time the me

dia was

much

more

air-minded than it

is today,

and

they

lionized

EK.

Siamese cats were

then

rare

in this

country, and

they

insisted on

renaming

his

pet

Felix

after a popular comic strip character. The cat became

as

famous as his master.

The Klemm was

unloaded

and taken over Alameda

for

reassembly and

a

general

checking over.

Some

of the

pilots

there had

flown

against Germany

dur

perial Valley. The appearance of

more and

more palm

trees, some

old

Spanish missions,

and then

oil

rigs

told

him

he

was

approaching

the

Los Angeles

area . He landed at

dusk

at Beverly Hills Airport just

in time to

witness a glorious sunset. After shivering

in the

cold spring air of

China and Japan,

little Felix

reveled in the

balmy

air of

Southern

California.

The flight was made

on

8 gallons of gasoline, which

at the

prices

then in

effect cost

EK.

exactly $1.08. The

stay in Los Angeles was another whirlwind of visits

to

movie studios,

the

local

German

Club,

and aviation

groups.

Maddux

Airlines

made it

possible for him

to

realize a longstanding desire by allowing

him

to fly

one

of its Ford Tri-Motors.

Then

he paid

a

brief

visit

to

San Diego and

did

a


25/44

Paso,

another

severe storm struck, and

he

wondered if

thunderstorms were following him

On the morning of July 12, he left his

hotel

and

hailed a taxi to go out to the airport. The next thing

he

knew,

he

woke up

at

5 p.m. in a hospital

room with

doctors hovering over him. The taxi

had

been

in

a vi

olent collision

that had

knocked him

out and

caused

bad head, face,

and

leg injuries. The doctors told him

he

had

been in critical condition for a while, but was

now out of danger, yet facing a long recovery.

Terrified by the crash, poor little Felix

had

shot

up

the nearest tree. Someone

eventually

got

him

down

and took him to the hospital, where

EK

was delighted

and

relieved

to

see

that

his little pal was all right.

During

the

two moths EK was obliged

to remain

in EI Paso, many Americans helped him with money

and legal problems arising from

the

accident.

By

Sep

tember

IS, he

had

recovered sufficiently to

resume

his travels.

A

six-hour

flight got him to Big Springs, where

yet

another

downpour soaked

the

field

and

obliged

him to

wait

until

late

in the afternoon to hop

off for

Sweetwater. He

somehow

got the impression that the

airport there was lighted, when in fact work on run

way lighting was still in progress. So

he

was obliged to

land

in the dark. The Klemm's left wheel rolled into

a

mudhole,

causing the plane to ground loop and

wreck

that

wheel and its landing gear vee.

So EK

telegraphed Aeromarine Klemm

at

Keyport,

New Jersey, for new parts. These were shipped

to

Dal

las, for some reason

involving

slow freight service

to

Sweetwater.

EK

hired a

truck

and driver, and

the

plane, with its wing folded (how many times had that

feature saved the day?), set out for Dallas. The driver

had brought along a good supply of tequila

and

drove

accordingly

on

this

nine-hour

trip.

EK

did not enjoy

it much.

Once

the

gear

had been

repaired,

he

flew

on

to

Oklahoma

City, St. Louis,

and

Chicago

more or

less

uneventfully. The rotating beacon at

Detroit's

Ford

Airport helped him find his way to that field and land

after dark. There it was discovered that the Mercedes

New York City and set

down on

the first piece of clear

land he

sighted. As luck

would

have it, it turned out

to

be Roosevelt Field

There

ensued

several days of receptions and a trip

to

Washington, D.C. On

November

IS, plane, pilot,

and cat

left America

aboard

the

steamer

Bremen for

Germany and

a

reunion with his

proud

but enor

mously relieved parents. He had

been

gone for 15 ad

venturous

months.

Baron von Koenig-Warthausen's world flight nearly

eight

decades ago gives us rich food for thought. To-

day's pilots will feel that he took unacceptable risks

with weather, terrain, and navigation. But it must be

acknowledged

that

his

only

serious

mishap

involved

a taxicab. He convincingly showed that

the

ability

to fly and land slowly can resolve assorted bad situa

tions. He showed what can be done by a patient flier

in a basic airplane.

The

sum

of aviation progress since his time, based

on preoccupation with getting from point A to pOint

B as swiftly as possible, has been

to

make private fly-

ing so complicated

and

expensive

that

it

is

becoming

out of reach for more and more people who

would

really love

to

fly.

EK

dealt

with

his plane's modest

speed by regarding it

as

being an observation platform

in

addition to

a conveyance. Remember, today many

people greatly enjoy viewing the sights below from

even slower hot air balloons. Man does

not

live by

bread alone."

By not

being a slave to a

tight

schedule,

he showed

that

a leisurely

journey

in

a small

plane

can add immensely to a person's "quali ty of life."

He

returned home with a head full

of

grand

memories

that remained with him throughout his long life.

His journey around the world gave him a postgrad

uate course in geography, the customs and cultures

of many

lands,

human nature,

politiCS, officialdom,

self-reliance, and practical aviation unobtainable

at

any

university.

The 500-

to

l,OOO-mile flights

he

made using mostly

a pocket compass and landmarks underscore the neg

ative and paternalistic mindset of bureaucrats who

feel that recreational pilots should not be allowed to


26/44

BY RO ERT GLOCK

Part One: Maintenance

and

t

roubleshooting ignition

systems

First, let s review the entire igni

tion system

as

installed

on

a typical

seven-cylinder radial

engine. The

magnetos provide the spark; the

switch either grounds one or both

magnetos or opens

the

circuit

so

both magnetos operate via the pri

mary

(P)

leads. The harness carries

high-tension voltage

to

the spark

plugs, and the

ensuing arc

that

jumps the gap between the spark

plug s electrodes ignites

the

fuel/air

charge in the cylinder

combustion

chamber. Simple enough.

When

ev

erything works properly the engine

runs smoothly

and

produces rated

power. If one

component

causes a

problem, the

outcome

is anything

from an rpm drop

to

a

complete

loss of power. I ve had em all

Let s start with

the

magneto

and

cover

some problems

from

rough

running to not running at all. First

we ll look at timing of

the

magneto

to

the engine. The

manufacturer

specifies the full advanced firing

position

in

relation to crankshaft

the

right

magneto and 29 degrees

for the left magneto.

• I f

the magneto is

not

properly

timed

to the

engine, then the drop

will

be

excessive (greater than 75 rpm)

but the engine will run smoothly.

•

I f

the magneto has

a

shorted

lead or if a spark plug is fouled,

the

drop will be 150

rpm

and the en

gine will run roughly. In

this

case,

leave the

magneto switch

on the

roughly running magneto, even

though the engine

drop beyond the 75 maximum allow

able but

the

engine runs smoothly,

the

cause might be

the point

open

ing. The point gap should be checked

every 100

hours

of

operation.

To

check the pOint gap opening (Figure

I),

assure that the

magneto

switch

is in the OFF position and always

treat

the

propeller as

if

the magne

tos were HOT. Rotate the propeller

until the point cam follower is

on

the

highest part of

the

cam lobe. At

this

moment the points

should

be

opened to

the

maximum.

Insert a

feeler gauge

to

check for clearance.

It is normally 0.012-0.014 inch for a

Scintilla VMN magneto. If this clear

ance does

not

exist, carefully open

the points and check for

pitting

or

burning.

I f

the pOints are good, us

ing a small open-end wrench, loosen

jam

nut

A

and turn the points

at B until the

proper

clearance is

achieved. Hold

the

points at B with

a wrench and tighten jam nut A to a

snug torque. Rotate the propeller so

the magneto moves through four


27/44

gap

on

a Bendix

SF magneto

. The

point

opening should be 0.010 inch

minimum,

0.012

inch

desired,

and

0.014

inch maximum

.

•

Closely

inspect

the

felt

wick

that

lubricates

the phenolic

plas

tic

point

cam follower

as

it rides on

the

hardened steel cam. Points that

slowly lose their gap opening can

be traced

to

non-lubrication of the

felt wick. Carefully

app

ly a

coup

le

of drops of oil

to

the wick

at

every

100-hour inspection to

keep

the

wick lubricated

and

pliable .

• Check

the

points for

burning

or

pitting. This

is

normally caused by

a

faulty

condenser assembly.

The

condenser keeps the

points from

arcing when

they

open, and exces

sive arcing will

eventually

destroy

the platinum surface by

creating

pits

and

valleys.

I f

this

happens,

both

the pOints and condenser

should be replaced.

• If

the

magneto suddenly fails to

operate, first check the connections

to the unit.

Occasionally

a P-lead

will

chafe

and cause a

ground,

so

the problem

is

not in the magneto,

but

in a wire

that

connects the mag

neto to

the

switch. (This commonly

occurs

as the

P-lead passes

through

the

firewall.) Or the switch

may

be

faulty

. I

have had both problems

on occasion, so it

is

worth

the

time

to inspect

the magneto

switch and

P-lead and associated connections.

I once advised

on

a 300-hp Lycom

ing R-680 installed

in

a Stinson

Re-

liant. The Lycoming

engine

uses a

dual magneto,

which is

essentially

two

magnetos incorporated

into a

send it out

for an

overhaul.

I

know

of

no mechanic who

will disassemble

a

magneto and try to

troubleshoot

it.

I

replace points and

condenser, but that

is

just about all.

f

the

magneto

drop

is around 150

rpm

and the en

gine runs roughly

,

the problem

is

most

likely a fouled spark

plug.

Conduct

a cold cylinder check

to

locate

the plug. As explained

above,

run the eng

i

ne

on

the

rough

magneto to isolate the plug. Remove

and

replace, or clean, gap, test,

and

reinstall. I usually keep a couple of

spare

good

spark plugs

in

the

bag

gage

compartment

with necessary

tools

to

remove

and

replace

them.

With

lOOLL

fuel, spark plug fouling

in these old engines

is

a continual

problem

. I'll

address that in

a fu

ture

column

on maintenance.

Figure 2

.

Once in

a great while a harness

lead

will

break down, causing an

indication of

a fouled

spark plug

.

You can

trace this by removing

the

cold plug and swapping it to the

other bank

of plugs. Run

the en

gine

and if

the problem moved to

the

other

magneto, the problem

is the plug.

I f

the problem stayed

with the

initial magneto,

the

prob

lem

is the lead.

Sometimes mois

ture

will

manifest itself in

the

terminal

end

(sometimes called

the

cigarette

end

of the lead) . Porce

rminal

sleeve

Figure 3


28/44

Figure

average drop

in rpm

the plug not firing will

be cold. In

the

military

we used a grease

pen

cil

touched

to the ex

haust

pipe

to

check for

a cold cylinder. Another

easy method is to tape

a small

cloth

ball

to

a

pencil, drop the cloth in

water, and move to each

cylinder,

touching the

exhaust pipe

with

the

wet cloth.

If

it

is

hot

, it

will sizzle; if it is cold,

the moisture will remain on the

igure

orrect

Round wire

pipe for a short period

of time. The plug will be

so cool that you can grab

on

to it. You have just

found the

faulty plug

When

removing

a plug,

should

it

be dropped to

the floor it should be dis

carded, so be very care

ful.

At

the price of spark

plugs you

should

ex

ercise extreme caution.

Look into the firing end

of the plug (Figure

4

for

clearance

gauge traces of carbon or chem-

Figure 5

ical deposits that bridge

between the center elec

trode and the plug body;

you may be able to detect

a small carbon or chemi

Spark plug

I recall

him

saying that the spark

plugs were "frosted over." I main

tained

that since there was fire

cal deposit from

the

fuel

burn

bridging

the

gap.

If

this

is

the case, clean the

plug, check

the

gap,

and

reinstall

the plug. To equalize wear, the spark

plugs should be removed every 50

oil change. I use a special gapping

tool that can be purchased from

all suppliers. I slowly and carefully

bring the tangs to the correct gap,

making sure not to overshoot and

make the gap too narrow. Always

use a wire gauge

and

never

a flat

feeler

gauge

. Figure 5 shows the

correct

method

to reset

the

gap in

a spark plug.

.On

a trip east, the Continental

R-670-5

engine

began

to

have in

termittent rough operation. I tried

everything to determine what was

happening-carburetor

heat, power

changes, etc.,

but

the problem per

sisted . We made a precautionary

landing at a nearby airfield and dis

covered

that

the left magneto was

running roughly, with a large drop

in

rpm. I

installed

a

spare

mag

neto

and

we

went on

our way. I

later opened

the

bad magneto

and

discovered

the

rotor assembly was

broken in two,

thus causing

the

magneto to go in and out of timing

to the engine.


29/44

Chalies

and

Sue Stites

Chapel Hill NC

1

wouldn't entrust my

49 Ryan

Navion to

just

any insurance

company. For the past seven years, I've been a very satisfied

customer

of

AUA and their

M

Vintage Program. AUA

understands what a classic means to an owner, and that care

shows in their rates and their customer service.

Charles

Stites

_

Charles

received

his

pilot s

certificate in 1980

_

Aviation

writer/photographer

for u s

and

European aviation

publications

_

Has owned Ryan Navion

N4891

K

for

over 10

years

_ Oshkosh award

winner

_

Executive Director of

Able

Flight


30/44

Serial u b r 842, NC32412

his particular aircraft was

completed

on

Decem

ber 10, 1940,

at

the Por-

terfield factory in Kansas

City,

Missouri, and

en

tered

service on

December

22

at

the

Springfield

Flying Service

in

Springfield, Missouri. Almost cer-

tainly,

it

was

initially

used in

the

Civilian Pilot Training Program. In

1943 it was

turned

over

to

the

De-

fense Service Corporation, where it

BY

RANDALL

KRYSTOSEK

in 1976.

I t

vintage airplane - sep 2008

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