EDITORIAL STAFF

Publisher Tom Poberezny

October 1996 Vol 24 No 10

CONTENTS Straight amp LeveV Espie Butch Joyce

2 AlC NewsHG Frautschy

3 AlC Chapter List

4 Mystery PlanelHG Frautschy

6 What Our Members Are Page 9 RestoringlNorm Petersen

8 An Ercoupe From The Amish GT McInerney II

9 The AntiqueClassic Division s 25th Anniversary at EAA Oshkosh 96HG Frautschy and Norm Petersen

21 What Type of Stearman is That HG Frautschy

Page 18 25 Pass it to Buckl

EE Buck Hilbert

26 You Learned To Fly In a WhatCharles Trask

27 Welcome New Members Calendar

30 Vintage T rader

Page 26

FRONT COVER Unusual Stearmans dont show up too often and this one certainly got the attention of the spectators and judges alike a t EAA OSHKOSH 96 Its a Boeing PT-27 Kaydet built for use by the Canadian RCAF under the LendLease p rogram during WW II Jock Roethlisberger of Beaver PA is the proud

~ -~~~ owner and he was awarded the Military TrainerLiaison Champion Lindy during

this years Convention EAA Photo by Jim Koepnick shot w ith on EOS-I n equipped with a 70-21Omm lens 1125 sec 116 on Fuji Provia 100 slide fi lm Cessna 210 photo plane Hown by Bruce Moore

BACK COVER Loren Chantland 4319 Pillsbury Av Minneapolis MN 55409 phone 612827-2356 painted this months featured artwork from the 1996 EAA Sport Aviation Art Competition Awarded on Excellence- ribbon it depicts Maj Francesco Baracca the leading Italian ace from WW I with 34 victories during the downing of on Albatros OVa just prior to his death June 19 1918

Copyright copy 1996 by the EAA AntiqueClassic Division Inc All rights reserved VINTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EM AntiqueClassic Division Inc of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published monlhly al EM Aviation Center 3000 Powezny Rd PO Box 3086 Oshkosh Wisconsin 54903-3086 Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh WISConsin 54901 and at add~ional mailing offices The membership rate for EM AntiqueClassic Division Inc is $2700 for current EM members for 12 month period of which $1500 is for the publication of VINTAGE AIRPlANE Membership is open to all who are interested in aviation POSTMASTER Send address changes to EM AntiqueClassic Division Inc PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES - Please allow at least two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via surtace mail ADVERTISING - AntiqueClassic Division does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising We inv~e constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken EDITORIAL POLICY Readers are encouraged to subm~ stories and photographs Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with the contributor No renumeration is made Material should be sent to Editor VINTAGE AIRPLANE PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Phone 414426-4800

The words EAA ULTRALIGHT FLY WITH THE FIRST TEAM SPORT AVIATION and the logos of EAA EAA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION EAA ANTIQUECLASSIC DIVISION INTERNATtONAL AEROBATIC CLUB WARBIRDS OF AMERICA are reg registered trademarks THE EM SKY SHOPPE and logos of the EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION and EAA ULTRALIGHT CONVENTION are trademarks of the above associations and their use by any person other than the above association is strictly prohibited

Editor-in-Chief Jack Cox

Editor Henry G Frautschy

Managing Editor Golda Cox

Art Director Mike Drucks

Computer Graphic Specialists Olivia l Phillip Jennifer Larsen

Mary Premeau

Associate Editor Norm Petersen

Feature Writer Dennis Parks

Stall Photographers Jim Koepnick Mike Steineke

Carl Schuppel Ken Lichtenburg

Advertising Editorial Assistant Isabelle Wiske

EAA ANTIQUECLASSIC DIVISION INC

OFFICERS

President Vice-President Espie Butch Joyce George Daubner

PO Box 35584 2448 Lough Lone Greensboro NC 27425 Hartford WI 53027

910393-0344 414673-5885

Secretary Treasurer Steve Nesse EE Buck Hilbert

2009 Highland Ave PO Box 424 Albert Leo MN 56007 Union IL 60180

507373-1674 815923-4591

DIRECTORS John Berendt Robert C Bob Brauer

7645 Echo Point Rd 9345 S Hoyne Connon Falls MN 55009 Chicago IL 60620

507263-2414 3121779-2105 Phil Coutson John S Copeland

28415 Springbrook Dr 28-3 Williamsburg Ct Lawton MI 49065 Shrewsbury MA 01545

616624-6490 508842-7867 Charles Harris Stan Gomoll

7215 East 46th St 104290th Lone NE Tulsa OK 74145 Minneapolis MN 55434

918622-8400 612784-1172 Dale A Gustafson Jeannie Hill 7724 Shady Hill Dr PO Box 328

Indianapolis IN 46278 Harvard IL 60033 317293-4430 815943-7205

Robert Uckteig Robert D Bob Lumley 1708 Boy Oaks Dr 1265 South 124th St

Albert Leo MN 56007 Brookfield WI 53005 507373-2922 414782-2633

Dean Richardson Geoff Robison 6701 Colony Dr 1521 E MacGregor Dr

Madison WI 53717 New Hoven IN 46774 608833-1291 219493-4724

Gene Morris George York 11SC Steve Court RR 2 181 Sloboda Av

Roanoke TX 76262 Monsfield OH 44906 817491-9110 419529-4378

SH OWes SchmId 2359 Lefeber Avenue Wauwatosa WI 53213

414771-1545

DIRECTOR EMERITUS SJ Willman

1904-1995

ADVISORS

Joe Dickey Roger Gamoll 55 Ookey Av 3238 Vicoria St N

Lawrenceburg IN 47025 St Poul MN 55126 812537-9354 612484-2303

Steve Krog 93OTora HL E

Hartford WI 53027 414966-7627

STRAIGHT amp LEVEL

by Espie Butch Joyce

Each year I talk about how the fall of the year is one of my favorite seasons Flying this time of year can be one of the most pleasant experiences with the weather coopshyerating and the temperature cooling off Its not always perfect - I do remember when I had the pleasure of owning and flying a Waco UPF-7 That cockpit could get to be very cold Once I was returning in the Waco from an AntiqueClassic Chapter 3 fly-in held in Camden South Carolina after I had melted the ice off the wings that mornshying my feet got so cold and numb that I didnt know if I would be able to use the rudder pedals on landing At touchdown my feet miraculously warmed up in a hurry and everything worked out ok There are many times that we plan or think that our acshytions may produce one outcome only to be surprised when it does not work out that way

Each area of the country has some sort of weather drawback Here in the southshyeast coastal region during late summer and fall we get the pleasure of doing the hurricane watch thing The news shows these storms starting out in the Atlantic ocean moving across to the Caribbean isshylands then becoming a threat to the mainshyland There will be all kinds of speculashytion about when and where these storms will come ashore On the average most of these storms will approach the coastline Then because of the counterclockwise movement of the storm they will hook the coastline and head north out to sea sparing us of any damage Having watched hurrishycanes for a number of years I have come to the conclusion that the important thing to watch is the forward speed and size of the storm Mind you that all of this is my amshyateur opinion but any storm with winds over 100 mph a diameter of over 200 miles and a forward movement of 15 knots or better needs to be watched with respect A storm that size will most likely not be turned by any ground friction conshyflicting weather fronts etc when it hits the coastline This September 5th and 6th we were the host to Hurricane Fran here in North Carolina You can imagine what a

storm of that magnitude can do to light airshyplanes and their hangars

I live some 200 miles from the coast in foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains the Piedmont area of North Carolina Raleigh North Carolina where my daughter is a stushydent at North Carolina State is about halfway between my location and Wilmingshyton North Carolina Fran roared on shore at Wilmington doing a great amount of damage to the barrier islands Wilmington also received their share of damage as Fran passed through that area Fran was on a northwest track headed for us later Thursshyday night or early Friday morning Norma and I went and pulled our boat out of the water at the marina at Belews Lake because of the 10 to 15 inches of rain that we were supposed to get that night Then it was off to the hangar to make sure that the doors were secure that the center pins in the big door were in place and to move all of the loose items inside We headed back home to put away the wind chimes hanging plants trash cans and lawn furniture Fran came to visit us from about II pm until 8 am the next day We got the rain but the wind was not as bad as I had thought that it would be We were lucky we only got washyter in the basement and lost four or five trees but we never lost power as so many did

My daughter Sara at NC State in Raleigh reported the area received quite a bit of damage and was without power for five days There were over 200000 peoshyple who had to do without power for some time and other services Some of the aviashytion related stories coming out of the storm included a group of aircraft owners at a small airport east of Raleigh who decided to move their aircraft to a new large metal hangar at another airport so that they would be more secure A good move exshycept with the large amount of rain there was a lake dam that broke and flooded the airport with about five feet of water One owner told me that he floated his 172 out of the hangar but totally lost a homebuilt that he had been working on for seven years It was almost finished This loss was hard for these people particularly beshycause they had made an extra effort to proshytect their pride and joy

Then there was another owner who moved his aircraft to a small private field

and put his aircraft in an old T hangar for protection the T hangar blew down on his airplane I am sure that everyone can relate a similar story be it the floods in the Midwest or other factors Most weather related losses happen because the owner does not realize or is not given enough advance notice there is going to be a problem With a hurricane you know its coming you know its coming you know its coming AUA Inc the people who administer your AntiqueClassic airshycraft insurance program advised that there were a number of aircraft owners who called in advance of Hurricane Fran wanting to buy hull coverage for their airshycraft AUA Inc would like to me to pass along that when a weather peril threatens an area of the country the insurance marshykets shut down during that period of time and coverage cannot be obtained in these areas

After all of this this past weekend at the hangar was just great The airport was very active A number of friends dropped by to see what was going on and to visit with each other

Henry Miller was rib-stitching his PA-18 wing Emory Chronister was stopping some oil leaks in Sandis new Taylorcraft I was working on my new project of rebuilding a Pitts S-2A (anybody have any parts) and other people were talking hangar flying or telling jokes It does not get much better than this

Your AntiqueClassic Division continshyues to grow in membership we continue to received good comments about your magashyzine Vintage Airplane the quality of your volunteers continues to improve and the quality of the aircraft restorations continues to improve I could not be more proud of activities of the AntiqueClassic chapters and their leadership I am also proud ofthe membership and the support that they have given the Board of Directors and Officers Your Board ofDirectors will be meeting the first weekend in November so if you have any concerns please send them to me so we can talk about these items Lets make the next 25 years even better than the past 25 Ask a friend to join up with us so they too can be part of the next 25 Everyone needs to pull in the same direction for the good of aviation Remember we are better together Join us and have it all

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1

serve a ll of the various machined and cast fittings He has a table full of bagged parts awaiting identification and eventually restoration We ll keep you posted on the AC NEWS Bugattis progress

compiled by HG Frautschy

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS shyA NEW METHOD In response to members requests EAA

will be updating its membersh ip renewal process Currently members who have difshyferent expiration dates for the EAA memshybership and their Division membership reshycei ve renewal notices for each one For some members this could mean receiving a renewal request almost every month

As a benefit to members and to simplify the renewal process a new renewal system will be implemented so Division membershyships will expire on the same date as your EAA membership making it easier for members to renew all of their memberships at the same time The result of this change will be better service to members improved efficiency and cost savings for your organishyzation

A special Pro-rated Renewal Notice is being sent to those members immediately affected by this change If you receive a noshytice it would be appreciated if you respond immediately If you have any questions reshygarding this change please call our Memshybership Services number at 1-800843 shy3612

AlC BOARD RE-ELECTED The results of the voting this past sumshy

mer were tabulated at the business meeting of the EAA AntiqueClassic Div ision on Tuesday August 6 1996 Re-elected were president Espie Butch Joyce secretary Steve Nesse and directors John Be rendt

WHERE DID THIS COME FROM Henry Hoffman 2900 Cypress Ridge

Trail Daytona Beach FL 32124 has a bit of an advertising histoshyry mystery on his hands Some t ime back he found this poster measuring 14x28 in a tobacco bam in Lynchburg VA No one at the NASM was able to identify it nor were any of the cereal or tobacco companies It is printed in color Can anyone help identify it

Robert Brauer Charles Harris Jean Lehman Hill Robert Lumley Eugene Morris Geoff Robison and George York Elected to serve as a director is Dean Richardson who most recently had served as an AlC Advisor

Retiring director Gene Chase was lauded by the Board for his many years of service to the Division as a director volunteer and as an EAA staff member Also treasurer EE Buck Hilbert announced that he will resign that position as of the November board meeting

HYDROGEN EMBRITTLEMENT A few inquiries recently to EAA HQ

lead us to believe that there is still some confusion regarding the chrome plating of steel parts

When chromium is plated onto a steel part excess hydrogen is also introduced into the base metal This extra hydrogen changes the characteristics of the steel making it more brittle The amount of hydrogen introshyduced can vary widely from one plat ing process to another Rea ll y excessive amounts of hydrogen can accelerate corroshysion of the steel

If the part is not a structural component such as a rocker box cover or door handle hydrogen embritt lement is not a big probshylem but if it is a stressed part say a tail brace wire landing gear component or fitshyting a very real potential fo r a catastrophic fai lure is produced It is possible for some components to be heated in a heat treating oven to bake out the excess hydrogen shythis requires the knowledge and expertise of someone experienced in this particular pheshynomena and that isnt always the case when dealing with a plating shop Wed strongly discourage anyone from chrome plating any brace wires or fittings With the excellent epoxy primers and topcoats now available there should be little reason to do so Check with your local IA or FAA office before considering plating parts of your airplane Making it look pretty could have unexshypected and unpleasant results

ERRATA DEPT One little detail slipped through in last

months article on the Bugatti 100 racer The tai l is supported by a hydraulically reshytracted tailskid not a tailwheel Its not curshyrently mounted within the Bugatti as it sits now in the EAA Air Adventure Museum but all of the parts are with the bits and pieces that came with the racer when it was delivered to EAA

Bruce Jovagg of the EAA staff in Oshkosh is busy working to clean and pre-

POLY FIBER LEARN TO COVER WORKSHOPS During the next few months Poly Fiber

and some of their distributors will host these four workshops intended to show you how simple fabric covering can be even if youve never done it before Registration costs vary between each distributor and are in the range of $150-200 Calling to preshyregister is advised Call the number listed or call Poly Fiber at 1-800362-3490 for more information

October 19-20 Reno NY Alexander Sportair Center 800967-5746 770467-9490

November 9-10 Chino CA Aircraft Spruce and Specialty 800824-1903 714870-7551

December 7-8 Marietta OH Aero Coverings 800203-6645

January 11-12 97 EI Cajon CA EI Cajon Aircraft Supply 800888-3227 619448-9000

NE AERO HISTORIANS ANNUAL MEETING

The 32nd Annual meeting of the Northshyeast Aero Historians will be hosted by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia PA Octoshyber 18-20 1996 A reception Friday with special guest Amelia will be held Saturshyday there is a seminar and banquet with Dr Thomas Crouch Chairman of the Dept of Aeronautics at the NASM speaking Sunshyday tours of the American Helicopter Mushyseum and Education Center and then the Boeing Wind tunnel will be conducted Call 610644-7920 fax 610644-9222 or write to Ray Noll 307 Spencer Rd Devon PA 19333 Registration is $75 and the acshycommodations Banquet and Fly Market are at the Holiday Inn 1800 Market St Speshycial rate for Northeast Aero Historians

RAYMOND P BETZOLDT Our condolences to the family and friends

of Ray Betzoldt 84 who passed away this past summer Ray was one of AI Meyers earliest employees working as a designer builder and test pilot for many of the aircraft constructed by Meyers Aircraft As the test pilot for the Meyers 200 he remained a consultant for Rockwell after they purchased Meyers He also had an FBO for the repair and mainteshynance of Meyers and Rockwell aircraft at the Tecumseh MI airport Ray was a member of the EAA OX-5 Club Meyers Aircraft Owners Assoc and the SPA All five of his sons grew up to become licensed pilots something Ray was quite proud of - as any father would

2 OCTOBER 1996

AntiqueClassic Division Chapters

Heres the latest list of the twenty local EAA AntiqueClassic Division Chapters here in the US and overseas

CALIFORNIA 29 Hayward William B Field 229 Rickenbacker Circle Livermore CA 94550-7616 Phone 510784-1168 Meeting Second Thursday 700 pm Hayward Airport

25 Sacramento William H Merwin 47530 N Courtland Rd Clarksburg CA 95612-5059 Phone 916775-1652 Meeting Second Saturday 900 am contact president

COLORADO 19 Grand Junction Danny Nichols 43732 18 Rd Clifton CO 81520-9005 Phone 970434-4535 Meeting First Thursday 630 pm contact president

FLORIDA 1 Lakeland Allan 1 Wise 2517 Caribbean Ct Orlando FL 32805-5854 Phone 407442-5027 Meeting Contact president

ILLINOIS 26 LANSING Peter D Bayer PO Box 134 Monee IL 60449-0134 Phone 708-534-6240 Meeting Winter - Lansing Airport Summer- TBD Contact president

24 Rantoul William R Claxon 205 Willard Gifford IL 61847 Phone 217568-7810 Meeting Third Wednesday 700 pm contact middotpresident or any officer

16 Overland Park Gerald Gippner 14810 W I 59th St Olathe KS 66062-3630 Phone 913764-8512 Meeting Third Friday 730 pm contact Stanley Bank

KENTUCKY 28 Lexington David M Trapp 170 I Alexandria Dr Lexington KY 40504-3149 Phone 40504-3149 Meeting Second Sunday I 30 pm Georgetown Airport

LOUISIANA 30 New Iberia Roland Denison 106 Aline St New Iberia LA 70560-3802 Meeting First Sunday 900 am Acadi ana Regional Airport

MINNESOTA 13 Albert Lea Gordon G Kimber 205 Houston St NW Preston MN 55965-1004 Phone 507765-2567 Meeting Fourth Thursday 730 pm contact president

4 Minneapolis Stanley V Gomoll 1042 90th Ln NE Minneapolis MN 55424-3353 Phone 612-784-1172 Meeting Quarterly - contact president

NORTH CAROLINA 3 Mayodan James M Steele 7683 Mabe Rd Walnut Cove NC 27052-9513 Phone 910595-2637 I NEW HAMPSHIRE 15 Hampton Corey G Jacques 98 Heath Rd Saco ME 04072-9334 Phone 207283-1010 Second Saturday II 00 am Chapter Clubhouse Hampton Airfield

NEW JERSEY 7 Flanders Thomas M Boland 7 Sutton Rd Andover NJ 07821-2018 Phone 201786-5682 Meeting First Tuesday 800 pm contact president

OIDO 27 Delaware Roger R Brown 1201 N Galena Rd Sunbury OH 43074-9590 Phone 614965-9252 Meeting First Saturday 900 am Delaware Muni Airport

22 Zanesville lohn Morczowsky 1629 Wheeling Av Zanesville OH 43701-4528 Phone 614453-6889 Meeting Third Sunday 230 pm every other month on even months lohns Landing Airport

OKLAHOMA 10 Tulsa Michael McCullough 9124 E 49th PI Tulsa OK 74145-7323 Phone 918622-4921 Meeting Second Thursday 730 pm Hardesty Library

TEXAS 2 Houston Fred L Langston PO Box 691444 Houston TX 77269-1444 Phone 73351-4059 Meeting Fourth Sunday 200 pm Dry Creek Airport Cypress

WISCONSIN 11 Brookfield George A Meade 5514 N Navajo Av Glendale WI 53217-5039 414962-2428 Meeting First Monday 730 pm Capitol Airport

ARGENTINA 12 San Pedro Guido A Jontza San Lorenzo 315 P 13 Olivos 1636 Argentina Phone 012991285 Meeting Second Sunday 1000 am Aerodrome Mercedes BSAS

Ifyoll re interested in starting an AC Chapter contact the EAA Chapter Office at 414426-4876 and ask for a AntiqueClassic

Chapter Starter Kit

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3

Imagshy

Swift Model 18

having sold Lindbergh the Spirit of St Louis when he held th e same job with Ryan

Other correct answers were received from Lennart Johnsson Eldsberga Sweden Marty Eisenmann Alta Lorna CA Jos Juptner Laguna Hills CA Charley Hayes New Lenox IL and Fred Mundinger Clear-water FL

by HC Frautschy

First a quick review of the April Mysshytery Plane John Underwood wrote to adshyvise us that it was the creation ofJohn M Miller not to be confused with John M Miller of of Eastern Airlines and Pitcairn autogyro fame The other JMM was a WW I naval aviator who had an FBO at New Brunswick NJ JMM took out a patent on the hull design built a prototype and crunched it on a test flight on 9 August 29 It was a bust in every way The engines are J-5s JMM is perhaps best remembered as the pilot of the Hamilton H-45 in the 1927 Spokane NAR

The July Mystery Plane jumped off the page to a number of you The two photos on the opposite page were sent in by Walter D House Wichita KS His letter is quoted in the caption that accompanies the two shots

The original Mystery plane photos were sent in by Richard E Sampson Ft Laudshyerdale FL He wrote

My knowledge of it is limited but it beshylonged to Ellis Mann who was the head meshychanic at the Packard agency in EVV and was built in Wichita I never saw or heard ofanother

Ellis dismantled it after he bought a Gypsy Moth (in which I had about 30 hours in 1934) and later on this same Hisso was put in a 16ft outboard hull I had on the Ohio rivet

John Underwood recalled the sales manshyager for the Swifts was a fellow by the name of AJ Edwards whose claim to fame was a

Member Richard Sampson had the Hisso from a Swift in a boat he kept on the Ohio river It looks like the craft is mostly engine with a little boat under it ine what those twin straight stacks sounded like as it pounded down the river

4 OCTOBER 1996

We love these old photos so weve got another mystery for you from the EAA Archives A nice looking biplane with decent proportions the fuselage sides appear to be covered in plywood I should tell you that the original print was doctored somewhat around the rudder presumably to show better conshytrast between the milky sky and white fabric on the rudder It looks as though the shape is correct but there could be a slight difference

Answers need to be in no later than November 26 1996 for inclusion in the January 1996 issue ofVintage Airshyplane

From Walter House Wichita KS came this The July Mystery plane caught my eye as it looks like the Swift Model 18 built by the Swift Aircraft Corp Wichita KS 1928-1930 As you will notice the two Swift Model 18s in the enclosed photos have ailerons on the upper wings only while yours has them on the upper and lower wings Also yours has a balanced rudder and one of my two has an unbalanced rudder Swift also built three other models the Sport Model 19 and Model 4000 The models 19 and 4000 were OX-5 powered while the 18 was Kinner K-5 or Wright J-6-5 and the Sport was powered with the Quick converted LeRhone stationary rashydial and also tested with a Warner The model 19 looked a lot like a Swallow TP The 4000 looked like a lot of other OX-5 biplanes and only the 4000 had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings All Swift models had the outrigshyger shock strut main landing gear The one in you July photo looks like a Model 18 with the balanced rudder but with wings and ailerons from the 4000 The The Hisso in your photo was a reshyplacement and I found that 8863 in the enclosed photo also had its J-6-5 reshyplaced with a Hisso 8196 in the other photo has the fin and rudder like yours but not the ailerons Swift may have built more than I have found in old regisshytration lists and their serial numbers do skip

Reg SN Swift Model Engine 4647 1000 SportQuick 6976 1001 SportQuick 7653 1002 SportSuper Rhone 8196 1005 18Kinner K-5 372M 1007 SportQuick 9871 2 4000 0X-5 8863 5 18 Wright J-6-5 (later a Hisso) 8864 6 19 0X-5

Note that serial numbers 1003 1004 1006 and Nos 1 3 and 4 are missing Their engineer was C B Bennett later Thomas M Finnie Of additional intershyest the major investor in Swift was Walt Anderson the founder of the White Castle Hamburger chain here in Wichita in the 1920s Can you read the regshyistration number on your photo (yes it is 8196 when it sported a Hisso on the nose at one time in its existence - HGF) If yours is not a Swift then just forget everything I said after Dear H G

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING --------------------------------- by Norm Petersen

Pete Brucatos Stinson 108-1

This neat photo of Stinson 108-1 N8874K SIN 108-1874 was sent in by owner Peter Brucato (EAA 224456 AC 14719) of Kensshyington NH Featuring the original Franklin 150 hp engine with six-cylinder smoothness Pete s Stinson employs a wooden propeller on the nose and a Scott 3200 tailwheel on the tail end A close examination of the photo reshyvea ls float fittings along the lower longeron and ski fittings on the landing gear Pete plans on rigging the sk is this fall (while it s still warm) so they will be ready when th e snow flies in New Hampshire - which isnt that far away

Richard Lounsburys Aeronca Sedan

This photo of an Aeronca 15AC Sedan on floats N 1398H SIN 15AC-449 registered to Richard Lounsbury of Anchorage AK was contributed by Airl ine Captain Larry Schweitz of Burr Ridge IL The picture was taken at Lake Hood in Anc horage and shows a nice looking Sedan on Edo 2000 floats and powered with a Lycoming 180 hp engi ne The ri ght side door appears to swing upwards as prefered by seaplane pilots With its 200 sq ft of wing area the Aeronca Sedan makes an excellent float plane and can haul a nice load especially with the larger engine

Aeronca 7EC Conversion in Germany

This photo of a neat looking Aeronca 7EC registered D-EUUU SIN 7FC-404 was contributed by owner Gottfried Esser (EAA 423075 AC 19995) of Wi llebadessen Germany He reports the rebui ld lasted from December 1992 to the first flight on September 22 1995 and required about 1500 hours of dedicated work The 90 hp 7FC tri-gear was converted to a 7EC with the work done at Wiirzburg Bamberg Uehlfeld and NeustadtiA isch for fi nal assembly and rigging The stick grips clock and altimeter are from a Yakshy52 purchased during an aerobatic course taken by Gottfried in Kyviskes Lithuania in 1993 The paint scheme is silver with dark blue trim a very pleasing design Note the landi ng light in the left wing near the tip Congratulati ons to Gottfried Esser on a beautiful restoration and Welcome to the world of tail draggers 6 OCTOBER 1996

Tom Hamblets J-3 Cub

Pictured in front of its hangar near Grand Prairie TX is Piper J-3 Cub NC98641 SIN 18867 that is the pride and joy of longtime EAAer Tom Hamblet (EAA 15754 AlC 320) of Grand Prairie TX Featuring a standard A65-8 engine with a metal prop the 1946 metal spar Cub has been flown by Tom for 22 years doing the Crazy Farmer Act at airshows and gatherings throughout the southwest The Cub was restored in 1971 and has since been flown over 1500 hours The colors are bright red with black trim edged in white making it an unusual looking Cub In addition Tom is a member of the three-man Piper Cub Racing Team who often take on such high-speed machinery as balloons going up wind monuments in a cemetery and large machinery digging drainage ditches Notice from the photo how grass and Cubs go together

Ron Tarrsons Waco ARE

This unique photo taken through the wires of a Waco UPF-7 by Forrest Lovley of Jordan MN during the American Waco Fly- In at Creve Coeur Airport near St Louis MO shows Ron Tarrson (EAA 504120 AIC 24996) arriving in the one and only Waco ARE NC20953 SIN 5080 Formerly owned by Dave Jameson of Oshkosh WI and restored by John Cournoyer of Ellsishynore MO the ARE is powered by a 330 hp Jacobs enshygine swinging a Hami lton Standard propeller Formerly owned by the New York Daily News the big cabin Waco has enlarged righthand cabin windows for doing aerial photography and the Daily News logos are painted on the fuselage and lower left wing panel Ron reports the ARE wi ll be receiving a complete new interior this winter and we all look forward to seeing the majestic cabin airplane next summer

Herman Petersons Luscombe on floats

From the far off lands of British Columbia Canada comes this picture of an all-metal Luscombe that has been built up for floats by veteran pilot Herman Peterson of Atlin Be Registered CF-YHQ the Luscombe features a Lycoming 150 hp engine conversion and is mounted on a set of PK 1500 floats Herman says the combination works very well and makes for a good performing seaplane In adshydition Herman has a Smith Miniplane that he built some years ago and still enjoys flying on a sunny afternoon The photo was delivered to EAA HQ by Bill Rorhig of Kaukauna WI who stopped to visit Herman on his way back frArrl A Jct ~

The straight and narrow cart path back to the main road was a bit muddy You can see a number of the ruts were made by a horse drawn carriage the standard method of transportation of the Amish who prefer a simpler way of life After clearing away the small saplings and brush the Ercoupe was loaded onto a trailer and hauled back to EAA Chapter 304s headquarters You can see in the close up view that the sheet aluminum has fared rather well other that the obvious surface discoloration

AN ERCOUPE FROM THE AMISH COUNTRY You a ll have heard stories of restorable

aircraft being found in a barn urban garage or sitting in so m e dilapidated hangar just waiting for someone to step in and blow the dust off of it

Well over the years Jackson EAA Chapter 304 has had it s share of discovershyies an L-19 was found in a chicken coop we found a BT -13 in the middle of a woods with a small tree growing through its fuseshylage and a fellow Chapter member found an original photo reconnaissance P-51 Mustang in an urban garage a few years ago restored it and seized the Grand Champion WW II trophy at Oshkosh The fight er had sat undisturbed in this garage since the mid-1940s and as far as we know is the only representative sample of a Mustang in a photo-recon configurashytion remaining let alone flying

Now Jackson EAA Chapter 304s most recent restoration project is a 1946 Ershycoupe The Coupe less firewall forward was purchased after it had mushed into a corn fie ld in Illinois As usual it turned out to be a ground up restoration project lacking everything forward of the firewall We fo und anothe r Ercoup e which had been sitting in a farmers pig pen for about 15 years It wasnt much to look at s ince the farmer had dragged it around the pen with a backhoe yet we were able to sa lshyvage the engine and a few other associated parts

But by the fall of 1995 we s till were lacking some ve ry majo r Erco upe parts But to purchase these parts e ithe r new or restorable on the open market was out of the question for a Chapter operating on a limited budget - so our Ercoupe proj ect came to a screeching halt

8 OCTOBER 1996

by G Thomas Mcinerney II

Then our fortunes took a turn for the better when fellow Chapter member William R Acock III remembered hearing an old rumor that there was an Ercoupe sitshyting on a Amish farm somewhere east of Co ldwater Michigan just north of the InshydianaMichigan border Since Bill was fashymiliar with the Ami sh nuances we asked him to investigate and report back to our Chapter President Ea rl Sco tt on the rushymor s va lidit y Within a week Bill reshyported that there was indeed an Ercoupe sitting down in Ami sh country and gave Earl its aircraft registration number

Turning to the FAA Reg ister we obshytained the name and address of the Ershycoupes owner But as fate would have it th e address turned out to be out of date But with Bill asking questions in the Coldshywater area we began tracking the owners movements from Michi ga n to Arizona and finall y into Ohio Then with a series of ca lls to directory assistance we located him in Findlay Ohio and ga ined permisshysion to inspect the aircraft of course after he had notified the Amish fam ily leasing the farm property from him of our attended

arrival Driving into an Am ish enclave was a unique experience for all of us After crisscrossing a series of well kept county dirt roads we arrived at the Amish farm where the Ercoupe had been encapsulated for al shymost 30 years

A young Amish gentleman met us at the farms carriage path and guided us to the Ershycoupe What we viewed was a complete airshycraft not damaged its aluminum only tarshynished with little ifany corrosion It had been protected by a slight knoll on one side and a wooded area on the other

We all looked at each other in absolute agreement then asked the Amish who had gathered around if it would be permissible to remove the brush and small saplings which surrounded the Ercoupe so that it could be removed and loaded on our trailer (They were able to use a gas powered chain saw to clear the brush because the chain saw was driven with horsepower ) Without resershyva tion consent was given and within the span of 45 minutes the aircraft was loaded and we were on our way back to the Chapter 304 Sport Aviation Center restoration shop with the trailer and Ercoupe in tow

We had purchased a perfect 1946 Ershycoupe with a low time engi ne and accesshysories and a treasure trove of excess parts and assemblies This purchase amounted to one-fifth of what it would have cost us for the few needed parts to fin ish our waiting project The excess parts and assemblies wi ll be sold and we will better than recoup our original investment

The quintessence of our excursion is to point out that many a rumor finds its basis in fact Now our Chapter philosophy states If a rumor is not followed up an opportushynity has been squandered

EAA Oshkosh 96 nntl

by HC Frautschy and Norm Petersen

The Divisions Silver Anniversary was anticipated by many and a nice turnout of Antique Classic and Contemshyporary airplanes helped make the activities surrounding this milestone a success

The sigllts (a Mylarreg covered Waco) and sounds (the bark of a rarely heard Wright J-4) added to the enjoyment of the Divisions members and volunteers Or how about Richard Mueller from Germany who flew his Comanche from Germany for the second year in a row

Everywhere you looked AIC members were enjoying themselves What a great place to be in 1996

Last years Reserve Grand Champion moved up a notch in 1996 by capturshying the top award in the Antique category Alan Buchner (right) of Fresno CA was presented with the Grand Champion Antique Award for his 1932 Waco QDC Alans father Les Buchner once owned the Waco back in the late 193Os

Alan and his wife Connie once again headed east with the Waco from Calshyifornia Prior to departing Fresno they did have to remove the speed ring as the hot conditions in the area when they departed resulted in the engine temshyperatures bumping against the redline This photo from 1995 shows the airshyplane with the ring installed

A complete article on the restoration was published in the January 1996 isshysue of Vintage Airplane

Doug Fuss Arlington TX recently overshysaw the completion of the restoration of this Laird Commercial by Bob Guttmann complete with a 200 hp Wright J-4 engine A very historical airplane it flew the airmail between Chicago and MinneapoliSSt Paul on a route owned by Charles Pop Dickshyinson After Pop got out of the airmail busishyness the Laird raced in the 1927 SpokaneshyNew York race finishing second to Speed Holman in an identical Laird Later that year it was modified to the Speedwing configuration and was raced with Pop ridshying as a passenger while Ed Blue piloted The 1928 Nationals and the coast- to-coast Air Derby NY-LA saw the Laird compete in the race and even with mechanical difshyficulties it still managed to finish second In 1933 it was returned to the Commercial configuration and then flown for a few years until being placed in storage At EAA Oshkosh 96 it was selected the Golden Age Champion

I

Antique

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

The Reserve Grand Champion Antique is this 1944 Beechcraft D-17 Staggerwing owned and flown by Thomas W Wright Russhysell KY Purchased by Tom a few years ago from Staggerwing legshyend Glen McNabb it spent the past year at Docs Aero Service in Sandshywich Il The reshysults are preshydictable - another award winner

Flown to the Convenshytion by owner Torquil Norman and his friend Henry Labouchere this 1936 DH-90 Dragonfly was originally on its way to EAA Oshkosh 95 via the North Atlantic but it was stopped short by

what turned out to be a faulty oil pressure gauge They were joined by Tom Walthan in the Bill Turner built DH-89 Comet racer replishyca for this once-in-a -lifetime shot taken over lake Winnebago as Torquil and Henry headed east to bring the Dragonfly home to England

In the above photo AlC Division president Butch Joyce presents a special appreciation award to Torquil during this years Convention

10 OCTOBER 1996

Frank Borman (right) and his friend Ron Karp (left) came to EAA Oshkosh 96 in the 1941 Waco SRE reshystored by Frank Ron and other friends over the past couple years

Originally the New York Daily News photographers airplane its been used for crop spraying and cloud seeding It was even pressed into service w ith the mil shyitary in WW II

Powered by the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 many pilots and aviation enthusiasts consider the SRE the finest example of the cabin Waco ever proshyduced

Were planning a feashyture early next year on the SREs that have been seen lately Look for it in ~ the first half of 1997 J

Currently being restored by Mark Grusauski at North Canaan Wingshyworks in Connecticut this Waco ZKC-S owned by Laurence Smith was covered with clear Mylarreg and placed on display in front of the AnshytiqueClassic Red Barn Headquarters

The clear covering allowed conshyvention goers to see the structure unshyderneath and for many who had nevshyer seen a fabric covered airplane naked seeing how light the strucshyture is coupled with its strength was illuminating for many

Originally built as the 2500th Waco and designated a YKC-S equipped with a 245 hp Jacobs enshygine it became a ZKC when a 300 hp Jacobs was installed

Now back in the shop in North Cashynaan the Waco will be completed and covered with certified fabric

John Meyer Hudsonville MI had noted Cub expert Clyde Smith Jr help him complete the restoration of this 1938 Piper J-3C Cub Sport picked as the Bronze Age (1933-1941) Champion

Complete with a Continental Cshy50 with the up-exhaust the Sport had a jazzier interior and a list of 30 options including color schemes other than yellow

Endeavoring to keep the airshyplane as original appearing as possible John and Clyde even inshystalled a three piece windshield

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

Jim Younkin Springdale AR built up this Sushyper G version of a Staggerwing Beech which was finished by Roy Redman at his shop in Minshynesota Owned by Gerard Dederich of Wadsworth IL Originally a D model Jims impeccable workshymanship and engineering as transformed it into the ultimate Staggerwing able to make the most sanguine observer drool in anticipation of flying such a jewel

Roys final finish work and covering is just as spectacular and the two tone red paint reminisshycent of the Travel Air Mystery Ships helps set the tone that this is a fast biplane It was awarded the Antique Customized Champion trophy

E =

Looking for a Stearman How about a 75 scale Stearman kit It has a 24-4 wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 Ibs The airshyframe kit is now available and unshyder development is a small scale radial engine to power the single place machine Contact Vintage 75 518 West St Raleigh NC 27601919664-8906

Our 1996 Antique Judging Corps starting with the back row from left to right Chairman Dale Gustafson Dave Anderson Ken Morris Gene Morris Dave Morrow Dave Clark Bob Wilson John Pipkin Don Coleman Xen Motsinger and Bob Kit shyslaar In the front row we have Gene Chase Phil Coulson Steve Dawson and Mike Shaver Jerry Brown is represented by the hat in front

12 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Clean IOttrade End the Oil Mess

C-195 Cessna -p

~

Stinsons amp Mallards - Grumman Mallard j

For Round Engine Classics Any Size Radial From PTs to 0-17 Staggerwing Beechcraft

Constellations

Over 300 Clean Kitstrade on radial Our proprietary electric oil scavenging

engines worldwide including and shutoff system is 100 foolproof and

antiques classics warbirds and transports

safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

MISCElLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chromoly tubshying throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Road Belgrade Montana 59714 406388-6069 FAX 406388shy0170 Repair station No QK5R148N (0387)

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

EAA AVIATION CENTER PO box 3086

Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 WEB SITE httpwwweaaorg

E-MAIL Vintage eaaorg PHONE (414) 426-4800

FAX (414) 426-4873 OFFICE HOURS

815-500 mon-fri 1-800-843-3612

MEMBERSHIP DUES TO EAA AND ITS DIVISIONS ARE NOT TAX

DEDUCTIBLE AS CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS

catalog EAA1-800-843-3612

Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

ATTENTION AVIATION ART COLLECTORS Add style class and prestige to your collection by adding a selection from Ferris Kodera Galloway (amp many more) Acquiring prints and originals from the masters is easy and affordshyable through American Aviation Art Call now 1900950~2233 and order your 3 5 PC diskette screensavercatalog for $795 receive valuable discounts visit us wwwamavartcom (0991)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

STRAIGHT amp LEVEL

by Espie Butch Joyce

Each year I talk about how the fall of the year is one of my favorite seasons Flying this time of year can be one of the most pleasant experiences with the weather coopshyerating and the temperature cooling off Its not always perfect - I do remember when I had the pleasure of owning and flying a Waco UPF-7 That cockpit could get to be very cold Once I was returning in the Waco from an AntiqueClassic Chapter 3 fly-in held in Camden South Carolina after I had melted the ice off the wings that mornshying my feet got so cold and numb that I didnt know if I would be able to use the rudder pedals on landing At touchdown my feet miraculously warmed up in a hurry and everything worked out ok There are many times that we plan or think that our acshytions may produce one outcome only to be surprised when it does not work out that way

Each area of the country has some sort of weather drawback Here in the southshyeast coastal region during late summer and fall we get the pleasure of doing the hurricane watch thing The news shows these storms starting out in the Atlantic ocean moving across to the Caribbean isshylands then becoming a threat to the mainshyland There will be all kinds of speculashytion about when and where these storms will come ashore On the average most of these storms will approach the coastline Then because of the counterclockwise movement of the storm they will hook the coastline and head north out to sea sparing us of any damage Having watched hurrishycanes for a number of years I have come to the conclusion that the important thing to watch is the forward speed and size of the storm Mind you that all of this is my amshyateur opinion but any storm with winds over 100 mph a diameter of over 200 miles and a forward movement of 15 knots or better needs to be watched with respect A storm that size will most likely not be turned by any ground friction conshyflicting weather fronts etc when it hits the coastline This September 5th and 6th we were the host to Hurricane Fran here in North Carolina You can imagine what a

storm of that magnitude can do to light airshyplanes and their hangars

I live some 200 miles from the coast in foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains the Piedmont area of North Carolina Raleigh North Carolina where my daughter is a stushydent at North Carolina State is about halfway between my location and Wilmingshyton North Carolina Fran roared on shore at Wilmington doing a great amount of damage to the barrier islands Wilmington also received their share of damage as Fran passed through that area Fran was on a northwest track headed for us later Thursshyday night or early Friday morning Norma and I went and pulled our boat out of the water at the marina at Belews Lake because of the 10 to 15 inches of rain that we were supposed to get that night Then it was off to the hangar to make sure that the doors were secure that the center pins in the big door were in place and to move all of the loose items inside We headed back home to put away the wind chimes hanging plants trash cans and lawn furniture Fran came to visit us from about II pm until 8 am the next day We got the rain but the wind was not as bad as I had thought that it would be We were lucky we only got washyter in the basement and lost four or five trees but we never lost power as so many did

My daughter Sara at NC State in Raleigh reported the area received quite a bit of damage and was without power for five days There were over 200000 peoshyple who had to do without power for some time and other services Some of the aviashytion related stories coming out of the storm included a group of aircraft owners at a small airport east of Raleigh who decided to move their aircraft to a new large metal hangar at another airport so that they would be more secure A good move exshycept with the large amount of rain there was a lake dam that broke and flooded the airport with about five feet of water One owner told me that he floated his 172 out of the hangar but totally lost a homebuilt that he had been working on for seven years It was almost finished This loss was hard for these people particularly beshycause they had made an extra effort to proshytect their pride and joy

Then there was another owner who moved his aircraft to a small private field

and put his aircraft in an old T hangar for protection the T hangar blew down on his airplane I am sure that everyone can relate a similar story be it the floods in the Midwest or other factors Most weather related losses happen because the owner does not realize or is not given enough advance notice there is going to be a problem With a hurricane you know its coming you know its coming you know its coming AUA Inc the people who administer your AntiqueClassic airshycraft insurance program advised that there were a number of aircraft owners who called in advance of Hurricane Fran wanting to buy hull coverage for their airshycraft AUA Inc would like to me to pass along that when a weather peril threatens an area of the country the insurance marshykets shut down during that period of time and coverage cannot be obtained in these areas

After all of this this past weekend at the hangar was just great The airport was very active A number of friends dropped by to see what was going on and to visit with each other

Henry Miller was rib-stitching his PA-18 wing Emory Chronister was stopping some oil leaks in Sandis new Taylorcraft I was working on my new project of rebuilding a Pitts S-2A (anybody have any parts) and other people were talking hangar flying or telling jokes It does not get much better than this

Your AntiqueClassic Division continshyues to grow in membership we continue to received good comments about your magashyzine Vintage Airplane the quality of your volunteers continues to improve and the quality of the aircraft restorations continues to improve I could not be more proud of activities of the AntiqueClassic chapters and their leadership I am also proud ofthe membership and the support that they have given the Board of Directors and Officers Your Board ofDirectors will be meeting the first weekend in November so if you have any concerns please send them to me so we can talk about these items Lets make the next 25 years even better than the past 25 Ask a friend to join up with us so they too can be part of the next 25 Everyone needs to pull in the same direction for the good of aviation Remember we are better together Join us and have it all

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1

serve a ll of the various machined and cast fittings He has a table full of bagged parts awaiting identification and eventually restoration We ll keep you posted on the AC NEWS Bugattis progress

compiled by HG Frautschy

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS shyA NEW METHOD In response to members requests EAA

will be updating its membersh ip renewal process Currently members who have difshyferent expiration dates for the EAA memshybership and their Division membership reshycei ve renewal notices for each one For some members this could mean receiving a renewal request almost every month

As a benefit to members and to simplify the renewal process a new renewal system will be implemented so Division membershyships will expire on the same date as your EAA membership making it easier for members to renew all of their memberships at the same time The result of this change will be better service to members improved efficiency and cost savings for your organishyzation

A special Pro-rated Renewal Notice is being sent to those members immediately affected by this change If you receive a noshytice it would be appreciated if you respond immediately If you have any questions reshygarding this change please call our Memshybership Services number at 1-800843 shy3612

AlC BOARD RE-ELECTED The results of the voting this past sumshy

mer were tabulated at the business meeting of the EAA AntiqueClassic Div ision on Tuesday August 6 1996 Re-elected were president Espie Butch Joyce secretary Steve Nesse and directors John Be rendt

WHERE DID THIS COME FROM Henry Hoffman 2900 Cypress Ridge

Trail Daytona Beach FL 32124 has a bit of an advertising histoshyry mystery on his hands Some t ime back he found this poster measuring 14x28 in a tobacco bam in Lynchburg VA No one at the NASM was able to identify it nor were any of the cereal or tobacco companies It is printed in color Can anyone help identify it

Robert Brauer Charles Harris Jean Lehman Hill Robert Lumley Eugene Morris Geoff Robison and George York Elected to serve as a director is Dean Richardson who most recently had served as an AlC Advisor

Retiring director Gene Chase was lauded by the Board for his many years of service to the Division as a director volunteer and as an EAA staff member Also treasurer EE Buck Hilbert announced that he will resign that position as of the November board meeting

HYDROGEN EMBRITTLEMENT A few inquiries recently to EAA HQ

lead us to believe that there is still some confusion regarding the chrome plating of steel parts

When chromium is plated onto a steel part excess hydrogen is also introduced into the base metal This extra hydrogen changes the characteristics of the steel making it more brittle The amount of hydrogen introshyduced can vary widely from one plat ing process to another Rea ll y excessive amounts of hydrogen can accelerate corroshysion of the steel

If the part is not a structural component such as a rocker box cover or door handle hydrogen embritt lement is not a big probshylem but if it is a stressed part say a tail brace wire landing gear component or fitshyting a very real potential fo r a catastrophic fai lure is produced It is possible for some components to be heated in a heat treating oven to bake out the excess hydrogen shythis requires the knowledge and expertise of someone experienced in this particular pheshynomena and that isnt always the case when dealing with a plating shop Wed strongly discourage anyone from chrome plating any brace wires or fittings With the excellent epoxy primers and topcoats now available there should be little reason to do so Check with your local IA or FAA office before considering plating parts of your airplane Making it look pretty could have unexshypected and unpleasant results

ERRATA DEPT One little detail slipped through in last

months article on the Bugatti 100 racer The tai l is supported by a hydraulically reshytracted tailskid not a tailwheel Its not curshyrently mounted within the Bugatti as it sits now in the EAA Air Adventure Museum but all of the parts are with the bits and pieces that came with the racer when it was delivered to EAA

Bruce Jovagg of the EAA staff in Oshkosh is busy working to clean and pre-

POLY FIBER LEARN TO COVER WORKSHOPS During the next few months Poly Fiber

and some of their distributors will host these four workshops intended to show you how simple fabric covering can be even if youve never done it before Registration costs vary between each distributor and are in the range of $150-200 Calling to preshyregister is advised Call the number listed or call Poly Fiber at 1-800362-3490 for more information

October 19-20 Reno NY Alexander Sportair Center 800967-5746 770467-9490

November 9-10 Chino CA Aircraft Spruce and Specialty 800824-1903 714870-7551

December 7-8 Marietta OH Aero Coverings 800203-6645

January 11-12 97 EI Cajon CA EI Cajon Aircraft Supply 800888-3227 619448-9000

NE AERO HISTORIANS ANNUAL MEETING

The 32nd Annual meeting of the Northshyeast Aero Historians will be hosted by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia PA Octoshyber 18-20 1996 A reception Friday with special guest Amelia will be held Saturshyday there is a seminar and banquet with Dr Thomas Crouch Chairman of the Dept of Aeronautics at the NASM speaking Sunshyday tours of the American Helicopter Mushyseum and Education Center and then the Boeing Wind tunnel will be conducted Call 610644-7920 fax 610644-9222 or write to Ray Noll 307 Spencer Rd Devon PA 19333 Registration is $75 and the acshycommodations Banquet and Fly Market are at the Holiday Inn 1800 Market St Speshycial rate for Northeast Aero Historians

RAYMOND P BETZOLDT Our condolences to the family and friends

of Ray Betzoldt 84 who passed away this past summer Ray was one of AI Meyers earliest employees working as a designer builder and test pilot for many of the aircraft constructed by Meyers Aircraft As the test pilot for the Meyers 200 he remained a consultant for Rockwell after they purchased Meyers He also had an FBO for the repair and mainteshynance of Meyers and Rockwell aircraft at the Tecumseh MI airport Ray was a member of the EAA OX-5 Club Meyers Aircraft Owners Assoc and the SPA All five of his sons grew up to become licensed pilots something Ray was quite proud of - as any father would

2 OCTOBER 1996

AntiqueClassic Division Chapters

Heres the latest list of the twenty local EAA AntiqueClassic Division Chapters here in the US and overseas

CALIFORNIA 29 Hayward William B Field 229 Rickenbacker Circle Livermore CA 94550-7616 Phone 510784-1168 Meeting Second Thursday 700 pm Hayward Airport

25 Sacramento William H Merwin 47530 N Courtland Rd Clarksburg CA 95612-5059 Phone 916775-1652 Meeting Second Saturday 900 am contact president

COLORADO 19 Grand Junction Danny Nichols 43732 18 Rd Clifton CO 81520-9005 Phone 970434-4535 Meeting First Thursday 630 pm contact president

FLORIDA 1 Lakeland Allan 1 Wise 2517 Caribbean Ct Orlando FL 32805-5854 Phone 407442-5027 Meeting Contact president

ILLINOIS 26 LANSING Peter D Bayer PO Box 134 Monee IL 60449-0134 Phone 708-534-6240 Meeting Winter - Lansing Airport Summer- TBD Contact president

24 Rantoul William R Claxon 205 Willard Gifford IL 61847 Phone 217568-7810 Meeting Third Wednesday 700 pm contact middotpresident or any officer

16 Overland Park Gerald Gippner 14810 W I 59th St Olathe KS 66062-3630 Phone 913764-8512 Meeting Third Friday 730 pm contact Stanley Bank

KENTUCKY 28 Lexington David M Trapp 170 I Alexandria Dr Lexington KY 40504-3149 Phone 40504-3149 Meeting Second Sunday I 30 pm Georgetown Airport

LOUISIANA 30 New Iberia Roland Denison 106 Aline St New Iberia LA 70560-3802 Meeting First Sunday 900 am Acadi ana Regional Airport

MINNESOTA 13 Albert Lea Gordon G Kimber 205 Houston St NW Preston MN 55965-1004 Phone 507765-2567 Meeting Fourth Thursday 730 pm contact president

4 Minneapolis Stanley V Gomoll 1042 90th Ln NE Minneapolis MN 55424-3353 Phone 612-784-1172 Meeting Quarterly - contact president

NORTH CAROLINA 3 Mayodan James M Steele 7683 Mabe Rd Walnut Cove NC 27052-9513 Phone 910595-2637 I NEW HAMPSHIRE 15 Hampton Corey G Jacques 98 Heath Rd Saco ME 04072-9334 Phone 207283-1010 Second Saturday II 00 am Chapter Clubhouse Hampton Airfield

NEW JERSEY 7 Flanders Thomas M Boland 7 Sutton Rd Andover NJ 07821-2018 Phone 201786-5682 Meeting First Tuesday 800 pm contact president

OIDO 27 Delaware Roger R Brown 1201 N Galena Rd Sunbury OH 43074-9590 Phone 614965-9252 Meeting First Saturday 900 am Delaware Muni Airport

22 Zanesville lohn Morczowsky 1629 Wheeling Av Zanesville OH 43701-4528 Phone 614453-6889 Meeting Third Sunday 230 pm every other month on even months lohns Landing Airport

OKLAHOMA 10 Tulsa Michael McCullough 9124 E 49th PI Tulsa OK 74145-7323 Phone 918622-4921 Meeting Second Thursday 730 pm Hardesty Library

TEXAS 2 Houston Fred L Langston PO Box 691444 Houston TX 77269-1444 Phone 73351-4059 Meeting Fourth Sunday 200 pm Dry Creek Airport Cypress

WISCONSIN 11 Brookfield George A Meade 5514 N Navajo Av Glendale WI 53217-5039 414962-2428 Meeting First Monday 730 pm Capitol Airport

ARGENTINA 12 San Pedro Guido A Jontza San Lorenzo 315 P 13 Olivos 1636 Argentina Phone 012991285 Meeting Second Sunday 1000 am Aerodrome Mercedes BSAS

Ifyoll re interested in starting an AC Chapter contact the EAA Chapter Office at 414426-4876 and ask for a AntiqueClassic

Chapter Starter Kit

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3

Imagshy

Swift Model 18

having sold Lindbergh the Spirit of St Louis when he held th e same job with Ryan

Other correct answers were received from Lennart Johnsson Eldsberga Sweden Marty Eisenmann Alta Lorna CA Jos Juptner Laguna Hills CA Charley Hayes New Lenox IL and Fred Mundinger Clear-water FL

by HC Frautschy

First a quick review of the April Mysshytery Plane John Underwood wrote to adshyvise us that it was the creation ofJohn M Miller not to be confused with John M Miller of of Eastern Airlines and Pitcairn autogyro fame The other JMM was a WW I naval aviator who had an FBO at New Brunswick NJ JMM took out a patent on the hull design built a prototype and crunched it on a test flight on 9 August 29 It was a bust in every way The engines are J-5s JMM is perhaps best remembered as the pilot of the Hamilton H-45 in the 1927 Spokane NAR

The July Mystery Plane jumped off the page to a number of you The two photos on the opposite page were sent in by Walter D House Wichita KS His letter is quoted in the caption that accompanies the two shots

The original Mystery plane photos were sent in by Richard E Sampson Ft Laudshyerdale FL He wrote

My knowledge of it is limited but it beshylonged to Ellis Mann who was the head meshychanic at the Packard agency in EVV and was built in Wichita I never saw or heard ofanother

Ellis dismantled it after he bought a Gypsy Moth (in which I had about 30 hours in 1934) and later on this same Hisso was put in a 16ft outboard hull I had on the Ohio rivet

John Underwood recalled the sales manshyager for the Swifts was a fellow by the name of AJ Edwards whose claim to fame was a

Member Richard Sampson had the Hisso from a Swift in a boat he kept on the Ohio river It looks like the craft is mostly engine with a little boat under it ine what those twin straight stacks sounded like as it pounded down the river

4 OCTOBER 1996

We love these old photos so weve got another mystery for you from the EAA Archives A nice looking biplane with decent proportions the fuselage sides appear to be covered in plywood I should tell you that the original print was doctored somewhat around the rudder presumably to show better conshytrast between the milky sky and white fabric on the rudder It looks as though the shape is correct but there could be a slight difference

Answers need to be in no later than November 26 1996 for inclusion in the January 1996 issue ofVintage Airshyplane

From Walter House Wichita KS came this The July Mystery plane caught my eye as it looks like the Swift Model 18 built by the Swift Aircraft Corp Wichita KS 1928-1930 As you will notice the two Swift Model 18s in the enclosed photos have ailerons on the upper wings only while yours has them on the upper and lower wings Also yours has a balanced rudder and one of my two has an unbalanced rudder Swift also built three other models the Sport Model 19 and Model 4000 The models 19 and 4000 were OX-5 powered while the 18 was Kinner K-5 or Wright J-6-5 and the Sport was powered with the Quick converted LeRhone stationary rashydial and also tested with a Warner The model 19 looked a lot like a Swallow TP The 4000 looked like a lot of other OX-5 biplanes and only the 4000 had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings All Swift models had the outrigshyger shock strut main landing gear The one in you July photo looks like a Model 18 with the balanced rudder but with wings and ailerons from the 4000 The The Hisso in your photo was a reshyplacement and I found that 8863 in the enclosed photo also had its J-6-5 reshyplaced with a Hisso 8196 in the other photo has the fin and rudder like yours but not the ailerons Swift may have built more than I have found in old regisshytration lists and their serial numbers do skip

Reg SN Swift Model Engine 4647 1000 SportQuick 6976 1001 SportQuick 7653 1002 SportSuper Rhone 8196 1005 18Kinner K-5 372M 1007 SportQuick 9871 2 4000 0X-5 8863 5 18 Wright J-6-5 (later a Hisso) 8864 6 19 0X-5

Note that serial numbers 1003 1004 1006 and Nos 1 3 and 4 are missing Their engineer was C B Bennett later Thomas M Finnie Of additional intershyest the major investor in Swift was Walt Anderson the founder of the White Castle Hamburger chain here in Wichita in the 1920s Can you read the regshyistration number on your photo (yes it is 8196 when it sported a Hisso on the nose at one time in its existence - HGF) If yours is not a Swift then just forget everything I said after Dear H G

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING --------------------------------- by Norm Petersen

Pete Brucatos Stinson 108-1

This neat photo of Stinson 108-1 N8874K SIN 108-1874 was sent in by owner Peter Brucato (EAA 224456 AC 14719) of Kensshyington NH Featuring the original Franklin 150 hp engine with six-cylinder smoothness Pete s Stinson employs a wooden propeller on the nose and a Scott 3200 tailwheel on the tail end A close examination of the photo reshyvea ls float fittings along the lower longeron and ski fittings on the landing gear Pete plans on rigging the sk is this fall (while it s still warm) so they will be ready when th e snow flies in New Hampshire - which isnt that far away

Richard Lounsburys Aeronca Sedan

This photo of an Aeronca 15AC Sedan on floats N 1398H SIN 15AC-449 registered to Richard Lounsbury of Anchorage AK was contributed by Airl ine Captain Larry Schweitz of Burr Ridge IL The picture was taken at Lake Hood in Anc horage and shows a nice looking Sedan on Edo 2000 floats and powered with a Lycoming 180 hp engi ne The ri ght side door appears to swing upwards as prefered by seaplane pilots With its 200 sq ft of wing area the Aeronca Sedan makes an excellent float plane and can haul a nice load especially with the larger engine

Aeronca 7EC Conversion in Germany

This photo of a neat looking Aeronca 7EC registered D-EUUU SIN 7FC-404 was contributed by owner Gottfried Esser (EAA 423075 AC 19995) of Wi llebadessen Germany He reports the rebui ld lasted from December 1992 to the first flight on September 22 1995 and required about 1500 hours of dedicated work The 90 hp 7FC tri-gear was converted to a 7EC with the work done at Wiirzburg Bamberg Uehlfeld and NeustadtiA isch for fi nal assembly and rigging The stick grips clock and altimeter are from a Yakshy52 purchased during an aerobatic course taken by Gottfried in Kyviskes Lithuania in 1993 The paint scheme is silver with dark blue trim a very pleasing design Note the landi ng light in the left wing near the tip Congratulati ons to Gottfried Esser on a beautiful restoration and Welcome to the world of tail draggers 6 OCTOBER 1996

Tom Hamblets J-3 Cub

Pictured in front of its hangar near Grand Prairie TX is Piper J-3 Cub NC98641 SIN 18867 that is the pride and joy of longtime EAAer Tom Hamblet (EAA 15754 AlC 320) of Grand Prairie TX Featuring a standard A65-8 engine with a metal prop the 1946 metal spar Cub has been flown by Tom for 22 years doing the Crazy Farmer Act at airshows and gatherings throughout the southwest The Cub was restored in 1971 and has since been flown over 1500 hours The colors are bright red with black trim edged in white making it an unusual looking Cub In addition Tom is a member of the three-man Piper Cub Racing Team who often take on such high-speed machinery as balloons going up wind monuments in a cemetery and large machinery digging drainage ditches Notice from the photo how grass and Cubs go together

Ron Tarrsons Waco ARE

This unique photo taken through the wires of a Waco UPF-7 by Forrest Lovley of Jordan MN during the American Waco Fly- In at Creve Coeur Airport near St Louis MO shows Ron Tarrson (EAA 504120 AIC 24996) arriving in the one and only Waco ARE NC20953 SIN 5080 Formerly owned by Dave Jameson of Oshkosh WI and restored by John Cournoyer of Ellsishynore MO the ARE is powered by a 330 hp Jacobs enshygine swinging a Hami lton Standard propeller Formerly owned by the New York Daily News the big cabin Waco has enlarged righthand cabin windows for doing aerial photography and the Daily News logos are painted on the fuselage and lower left wing panel Ron reports the ARE wi ll be receiving a complete new interior this winter and we all look forward to seeing the majestic cabin airplane next summer

Herman Petersons Luscombe on floats

From the far off lands of British Columbia Canada comes this picture of an all-metal Luscombe that has been built up for floats by veteran pilot Herman Peterson of Atlin Be Registered CF-YHQ the Luscombe features a Lycoming 150 hp engine conversion and is mounted on a set of PK 1500 floats Herman says the combination works very well and makes for a good performing seaplane In adshydition Herman has a Smith Miniplane that he built some years ago and still enjoys flying on a sunny afternoon The photo was delivered to EAA HQ by Bill Rorhig of Kaukauna WI who stopped to visit Herman on his way back frArrl A Jct ~

The straight and narrow cart path back to the main road was a bit muddy You can see a number of the ruts were made by a horse drawn carriage the standard method of transportation of the Amish who prefer a simpler way of life After clearing away the small saplings and brush the Ercoupe was loaded onto a trailer and hauled back to EAA Chapter 304s headquarters You can see in the close up view that the sheet aluminum has fared rather well other that the obvious surface discoloration

AN ERCOUPE FROM THE AMISH COUNTRY You a ll have heard stories of restorable

aircraft being found in a barn urban garage or sitting in so m e dilapidated hangar just waiting for someone to step in and blow the dust off of it

Well over the years Jackson EAA Chapter 304 has had it s share of discovershyies an L-19 was found in a chicken coop we found a BT -13 in the middle of a woods with a small tree growing through its fuseshylage and a fellow Chapter member found an original photo reconnaissance P-51 Mustang in an urban garage a few years ago restored it and seized the Grand Champion WW II trophy at Oshkosh The fight er had sat undisturbed in this garage since the mid-1940s and as far as we know is the only representative sample of a Mustang in a photo-recon configurashytion remaining let alone flying

Now Jackson EAA Chapter 304s most recent restoration project is a 1946 Ershycoupe The Coupe less firewall forward was purchased after it had mushed into a corn fie ld in Illinois As usual it turned out to be a ground up restoration project lacking everything forward of the firewall We fo und anothe r Ercoup e which had been sitting in a farmers pig pen for about 15 years It wasnt much to look at s ince the farmer had dragged it around the pen with a backhoe yet we were able to sa lshyvage the engine and a few other associated parts

But by the fall of 1995 we s till were lacking some ve ry majo r Erco upe parts But to purchase these parts e ithe r new or restorable on the open market was out of the question for a Chapter operating on a limited budget - so our Ercoupe proj ect came to a screeching halt

8 OCTOBER 1996

by G Thomas Mcinerney II

Then our fortunes took a turn for the better when fellow Chapter member William R Acock III remembered hearing an old rumor that there was an Ercoupe sitshyting on a Amish farm somewhere east of Co ldwater Michigan just north of the InshydianaMichigan border Since Bill was fashymiliar with the Ami sh nuances we asked him to investigate and report back to our Chapter President Ea rl Sco tt on the rushymor s va lidit y Within a week Bill reshyported that there was indeed an Ercoupe sitting down in Ami sh country and gave Earl its aircraft registration number

Turning to the FAA Reg ister we obshytained the name and address of the Ershycoupes owner But as fate would have it th e address turned out to be out of date But with Bill asking questions in the Coldshywater area we began tracking the owners movements from Michi ga n to Arizona and finall y into Ohio Then with a series of ca lls to directory assistance we located him in Findlay Ohio and ga ined permisshysion to inspect the aircraft of course after he had notified the Amish fam ily leasing the farm property from him of our attended

arrival Driving into an Am ish enclave was a unique experience for all of us After crisscrossing a series of well kept county dirt roads we arrived at the Amish farm where the Ercoupe had been encapsulated for al shymost 30 years

A young Amish gentleman met us at the farms carriage path and guided us to the Ershycoupe What we viewed was a complete airshycraft not damaged its aluminum only tarshynished with little ifany corrosion It had been protected by a slight knoll on one side and a wooded area on the other

We all looked at each other in absolute agreement then asked the Amish who had gathered around if it would be permissible to remove the brush and small saplings which surrounded the Ercoupe so that it could be removed and loaded on our trailer (They were able to use a gas powered chain saw to clear the brush because the chain saw was driven with horsepower ) Without resershyva tion consent was given and within the span of 45 minutes the aircraft was loaded and we were on our way back to the Chapter 304 Sport Aviation Center restoration shop with the trailer and Ercoupe in tow

We had purchased a perfect 1946 Ershycoupe with a low time engi ne and accesshysories and a treasure trove of excess parts and assemblies This purchase amounted to one-fifth of what it would have cost us for the few needed parts to fin ish our waiting project The excess parts and assemblies wi ll be sold and we will better than recoup our original investment

The quintessence of our excursion is to point out that many a rumor finds its basis in fact Now our Chapter philosophy states If a rumor is not followed up an opportushynity has been squandered

EAA Oshkosh 96 nntl

by HC Frautschy and Norm Petersen

The Divisions Silver Anniversary was anticipated by many and a nice turnout of Antique Classic and Contemshyporary airplanes helped make the activities surrounding this milestone a success

The sigllts (a Mylarreg covered Waco) and sounds (the bark of a rarely heard Wright J-4) added to the enjoyment of the Divisions members and volunteers Or how about Richard Mueller from Germany who flew his Comanche from Germany for the second year in a row

Everywhere you looked AIC members were enjoying themselves What a great place to be in 1996

Last years Reserve Grand Champion moved up a notch in 1996 by capturshying the top award in the Antique category Alan Buchner (right) of Fresno CA was presented with the Grand Champion Antique Award for his 1932 Waco QDC Alans father Les Buchner once owned the Waco back in the late 193Os

Alan and his wife Connie once again headed east with the Waco from Calshyifornia Prior to departing Fresno they did have to remove the speed ring as the hot conditions in the area when they departed resulted in the engine temshyperatures bumping against the redline This photo from 1995 shows the airshyplane with the ring installed

A complete article on the restoration was published in the January 1996 isshysue of Vintage Airplane

Doug Fuss Arlington TX recently overshysaw the completion of the restoration of this Laird Commercial by Bob Guttmann complete with a 200 hp Wright J-4 engine A very historical airplane it flew the airmail between Chicago and MinneapoliSSt Paul on a route owned by Charles Pop Dickshyinson After Pop got out of the airmail busishyness the Laird raced in the 1927 SpokaneshyNew York race finishing second to Speed Holman in an identical Laird Later that year it was modified to the Speedwing configuration and was raced with Pop ridshying as a passenger while Ed Blue piloted The 1928 Nationals and the coast- to-coast Air Derby NY-LA saw the Laird compete in the race and even with mechanical difshyficulties it still managed to finish second In 1933 it was returned to the Commercial configuration and then flown for a few years until being placed in storage At EAA Oshkosh 96 it was selected the Golden Age Champion

I

Antique

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

The Reserve Grand Champion Antique is this 1944 Beechcraft D-17 Staggerwing owned and flown by Thomas W Wright Russhysell KY Purchased by Tom a few years ago from Staggerwing legshyend Glen McNabb it spent the past year at Docs Aero Service in Sandshywich Il The reshysults are preshydictable - another award winner

Flown to the Convenshytion by owner Torquil Norman and his friend Henry Labouchere this 1936 DH-90 Dragonfly was originally on its way to EAA Oshkosh 95 via the North Atlantic but it was stopped short by

what turned out to be a faulty oil pressure gauge They were joined by Tom Walthan in the Bill Turner built DH-89 Comet racer replishyca for this once-in-a -lifetime shot taken over lake Winnebago as Torquil and Henry headed east to bring the Dragonfly home to England

In the above photo AlC Division president Butch Joyce presents a special appreciation award to Torquil during this years Convention

10 OCTOBER 1996

Frank Borman (right) and his friend Ron Karp (left) came to EAA Oshkosh 96 in the 1941 Waco SRE reshystored by Frank Ron and other friends over the past couple years

Originally the New York Daily News photographers airplane its been used for crop spraying and cloud seeding It was even pressed into service w ith the mil shyitary in WW II

Powered by the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 many pilots and aviation enthusiasts consider the SRE the finest example of the cabin Waco ever proshyduced

Were planning a feashyture early next year on the SREs that have been seen lately Look for it in ~ the first half of 1997 J

Currently being restored by Mark Grusauski at North Canaan Wingshyworks in Connecticut this Waco ZKC-S owned by Laurence Smith was covered with clear Mylarreg and placed on display in front of the AnshytiqueClassic Red Barn Headquarters

The clear covering allowed conshyvention goers to see the structure unshyderneath and for many who had nevshyer seen a fabric covered airplane naked seeing how light the strucshyture is coupled with its strength was illuminating for many

Originally built as the 2500th Waco and designated a YKC-S equipped with a 245 hp Jacobs enshygine it became a ZKC when a 300 hp Jacobs was installed

Now back in the shop in North Cashynaan the Waco will be completed and covered with certified fabric

John Meyer Hudsonville MI had noted Cub expert Clyde Smith Jr help him complete the restoration of this 1938 Piper J-3C Cub Sport picked as the Bronze Age (1933-1941) Champion

Complete with a Continental Cshy50 with the up-exhaust the Sport had a jazzier interior and a list of 30 options including color schemes other than yellow

Endeavoring to keep the airshyplane as original appearing as possible John and Clyde even inshystalled a three piece windshield

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

Jim Younkin Springdale AR built up this Sushyper G version of a Staggerwing Beech which was finished by Roy Redman at his shop in Minshynesota Owned by Gerard Dederich of Wadsworth IL Originally a D model Jims impeccable workshymanship and engineering as transformed it into the ultimate Staggerwing able to make the most sanguine observer drool in anticipation of flying such a jewel

Roys final finish work and covering is just as spectacular and the two tone red paint reminisshycent of the Travel Air Mystery Ships helps set the tone that this is a fast biplane It was awarded the Antique Customized Champion trophy

E =

Looking for a Stearman How about a 75 scale Stearman kit It has a 24-4 wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 Ibs The airshyframe kit is now available and unshyder development is a small scale radial engine to power the single place machine Contact Vintage 75 518 West St Raleigh NC 27601919664-8906

Our 1996 Antique Judging Corps starting with the back row from left to right Chairman Dale Gustafson Dave Anderson Ken Morris Gene Morris Dave Morrow Dave Clark Bob Wilson John Pipkin Don Coleman Xen Motsinger and Bob Kit shyslaar In the front row we have Gene Chase Phil Coulson Steve Dawson and Mike Shaver Jerry Brown is represented by the hat in front

12 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Clean IOttrade End the Oil Mess

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Over 300 Clean Kitstrade on radial Our proprietary electric oil scavenging

engines worldwide including and shutoff system is 100 foolproof and

antiques classics warbirds and transports

safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

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Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

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AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

MISCElLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chromoly tubshying throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Road Belgrade Montana 59714 406388-6069 FAX 406388shy0170 Repair station No QK5R148N (0387)

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WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

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Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

ATTENTION AVIATION ART COLLECTORS Add style class and prestige to your collection by adding a selection from Ferris Kodera Galloway (amp many more) Acquiring prints and originals from the masters is easy and affordshyable through American Aviation Art Call now 1900950~2233 and order your 3 5 PC diskette screensavercatalog for $795 receive valuable discounts visit us wwwamavartcom (0991)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

serve a ll of the various machined and cast fittings He has a table full of bagged parts awaiting identification and eventually restoration We ll keep you posted on the AC NEWS Bugattis progress

compiled by HG Frautschy

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS shyA NEW METHOD In response to members requests EAA

will be updating its membersh ip renewal process Currently members who have difshyferent expiration dates for the EAA memshybership and their Division membership reshycei ve renewal notices for each one For some members this could mean receiving a renewal request almost every month

As a benefit to members and to simplify the renewal process a new renewal system will be implemented so Division membershyships will expire on the same date as your EAA membership making it easier for members to renew all of their memberships at the same time The result of this change will be better service to members improved efficiency and cost savings for your organishyzation

A special Pro-rated Renewal Notice is being sent to those members immediately affected by this change If you receive a noshytice it would be appreciated if you respond immediately If you have any questions reshygarding this change please call our Memshybership Services number at 1-800843 shy3612

AlC BOARD RE-ELECTED The results of the voting this past sumshy

mer were tabulated at the business meeting of the EAA AntiqueClassic Div ision on Tuesday August 6 1996 Re-elected were president Espie Butch Joyce secretary Steve Nesse and directors John Be rendt

WHERE DID THIS COME FROM Henry Hoffman 2900 Cypress Ridge

Trail Daytona Beach FL 32124 has a bit of an advertising histoshyry mystery on his hands Some t ime back he found this poster measuring 14x28 in a tobacco bam in Lynchburg VA No one at the NASM was able to identify it nor were any of the cereal or tobacco companies It is printed in color Can anyone help identify it

Robert Brauer Charles Harris Jean Lehman Hill Robert Lumley Eugene Morris Geoff Robison and George York Elected to serve as a director is Dean Richardson who most recently had served as an AlC Advisor

Retiring director Gene Chase was lauded by the Board for his many years of service to the Division as a director volunteer and as an EAA staff member Also treasurer EE Buck Hilbert announced that he will resign that position as of the November board meeting

HYDROGEN EMBRITTLEMENT A few inquiries recently to EAA HQ

lead us to believe that there is still some confusion regarding the chrome plating of steel parts

When chromium is plated onto a steel part excess hydrogen is also introduced into the base metal This extra hydrogen changes the characteristics of the steel making it more brittle The amount of hydrogen introshyduced can vary widely from one plat ing process to another Rea ll y excessive amounts of hydrogen can accelerate corroshysion of the steel

If the part is not a structural component such as a rocker box cover or door handle hydrogen embritt lement is not a big probshylem but if it is a stressed part say a tail brace wire landing gear component or fitshyting a very real potential fo r a catastrophic fai lure is produced It is possible for some components to be heated in a heat treating oven to bake out the excess hydrogen shythis requires the knowledge and expertise of someone experienced in this particular pheshynomena and that isnt always the case when dealing with a plating shop Wed strongly discourage anyone from chrome plating any brace wires or fittings With the excellent epoxy primers and topcoats now available there should be little reason to do so Check with your local IA or FAA office before considering plating parts of your airplane Making it look pretty could have unexshypected and unpleasant results

ERRATA DEPT One little detail slipped through in last

months article on the Bugatti 100 racer The tai l is supported by a hydraulically reshytracted tailskid not a tailwheel Its not curshyrently mounted within the Bugatti as it sits now in the EAA Air Adventure Museum but all of the parts are with the bits and pieces that came with the racer when it was delivered to EAA

Bruce Jovagg of the EAA staff in Oshkosh is busy working to clean and pre-

POLY FIBER LEARN TO COVER WORKSHOPS During the next few months Poly Fiber

and some of their distributors will host these four workshops intended to show you how simple fabric covering can be even if youve never done it before Registration costs vary between each distributor and are in the range of $150-200 Calling to preshyregister is advised Call the number listed or call Poly Fiber at 1-800362-3490 for more information

October 19-20 Reno NY Alexander Sportair Center 800967-5746 770467-9490

November 9-10 Chino CA Aircraft Spruce and Specialty 800824-1903 714870-7551

December 7-8 Marietta OH Aero Coverings 800203-6645

January 11-12 97 EI Cajon CA EI Cajon Aircraft Supply 800888-3227 619448-9000

NE AERO HISTORIANS ANNUAL MEETING

The 32nd Annual meeting of the Northshyeast Aero Historians will be hosted by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia PA Octoshyber 18-20 1996 A reception Friday with special guest Amelia will be held Saturshyday there is a seminar and banquet with Dr Thomas Crouch Chairman of the Dept of Aeronautics at the NASM speaking Sunshyday tours of the American Helicopter Mushyseum and Education Center and then the Boeing Wind tunnel will be conducted Call 610644-7920 fax 610644-9222 or write to Ray Noll 307 Spencer Rd Devon PA 19333 Registration is $75 and the acshycommodations Banquet and Fly Market are at the Holiday Inn 1800 Market St Speshycial rate for Northeast Aero Historians

RAYMOND P BETZOLDT Our condolences to the family and friends

of Ray Betzoldt 84 who passed away this past summer Ray was one of AI Meyers earliest employees working as a designer builder and test pilot for many of the aircraft constructed by Meyers Aircraft As the test pilot for the Meyers 200 he remained a consultant for Rockwell after they purchased Meyers He also had an FBO for the repair and mainteshynance of Meyers and Rockwell aircraft at the Tecumseh MI airport Ray was a member of the EAA OX-5 Club Meyers Aircraft Owners Assoc and the SPA All five of his sons grew up to become licensed pilots something Ray was quite proud of - as any father would

2 OCTOBER 1996

AntiqueClassic Division Chapters

Heres the latest list of the twenty local EAA AntiqueClassic Division Chapters here in the US and overseas

CALIFORNIA 29 Hayward William B Field 229 Rickenbacker Circle Livermore CA 94550-7616 Phone 510784-1168 Meeting Second Thursday 700 pm Hayward Airport

25 Sacramento William H Merwin 47530 N Courtland Rd Clarksburg CA 95612-5059 Phone 916775-1652 Meeting Second Saturday 900 am contact president

COLORADO 19 Grand Junction Danny Nichols 43732 18 Rd Clifton CO 81520-9005 Phone 970434-4535 Meeting First Thursday 630 pm contact president

FLORIDA 1 Lakeland Allan 1 Wise 2517 Caribbean Ct Orlando FL 32805-5854 Phone 407442-5027 Meeting Contact president

ILLINOIS 26 LANSING Peter D Bayer PO Box 134 Monee IL 60449-0134 Phone 708-534-6240 Meeting Winter - Lansing Airport Summer- TBD Contact president

24 Rantoul William R Claxon 205 Willard Gifford IL 61847 Phone 217568-7810 Meeting Third Wednesday 700 pm contact middotpresident or any officer

16 Overland Park Gerald Gippner 14810 W I 59th St Olathe KS 66062-3630 Phone 913764-8512 Meeting Third Friday 730 pm contact Stanley Bank

KENTUCKY 28 Lexington David M Trapp 170 I Alexandria Dr Lexington KY 40504-3149 Phone 40504-3149 Meeting Second Sunday I 30 pm Georgetown Airport

LOUISIANA 30 New Iberia Roland Denison 106 Aline St New Iberia LA 70560-3802 Meeting First Sunday 900 am Acadi ana Regional Airport

MINNESOTA 13 Albert Lea Gordon G Kimber 205 Houston St NW Preston MN 55965-1004 Phone 507765-2567 Meeting Fourth Thursday 730 pm contact president

4 Minneapolis Stanley V Gomoll 1042 90th Ln NE Minneapolis MN 55424-3353 Phone 612-784-1172 Meeting Quarterly - contact president

NORTH CAROLINA 3 Mayodan James M Steele 7683 Mabe Rd Walnut Cove NC 27052-9513 Phone 910595-2637 I NEW HAMPSHIRE 15 Hampton Corey G Jacques 98 Heath Rd Saco ME 04072-9334 Phone 207283-1010 Second Saturday II 00 am Chapter Clubhouse Hampton Airfield

NEW JERSEY 7 Flanders Thomas M Boland 7 Sutton Rd Andover NJ 07821-2018 Phone 201786-5682 Meeting First Tuesday 800 pm contact president

OIDO 27 Delaware Roger R Brown 1201 N Galena Rd Sunbury OH 43074-9590 Phone 614965-9252 Meeting First Saturday 900 am Delaware Muni Airport

22 Zanesville lohn Morczowsky 1629 Wheeling Av Zanesville OH 43701-4528 Phone 614453-6889 Meeting Third Sunday 230 pm every other month on even months lohns Landing Airport

OKLAHOMA 10 Tulsa Michael McCullough 9124 E 49th PI Tulsa OK 74145-7323 Phone 918622-4921 Meeting Second Thursday 730 pm Hardesty Library

TEXAS 2 Houston Fred L Langston PO Box 691444 Houston TX 77269-1444 Phone 73351-4059 Meeting Fourth Sunday 200 pm Dry Creek Airport Cypress

WISCONSIN 11 Brookfield George A Meade 5514 N Navajo Av Glendale WI 53217-5039 414962-2428 Meeting First Monday 730 pm Capitol Airport

ARGENTINA 12 San Pedro Guido A Jontza San Lorenzo 315 P 13 Olivos 1636 Argentina Phone 012991285 Meeting Second Sunday 1000 am Aerodrome Mercedes BSAS

Ifyoll re interested in starting an AC Chapter contact the EAA Chapter Office at 414426-4876 and ask for a AntiqueClassic

Chapter Starter Kit

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3

Imagshy

Swift Model 18

having sold Lindbergh the Spirit of St Louis when he held th e same job with Ryan

Other correct answers were received from Lennart Johnsson Eldsberga Sweden Marty Eisenmann Alta Lorna CA Jos Juptner Laguna Hills CA Charley Hayes New Lenox IL and Fred Mundinger Clear-water FL

by HC Frautschy

First a quick review of the April Mysshytery Plane John Underwood wrote to adshyvise us that it was the creation ofJohn M Miller not to be confused with John M Miller of of Eastern Airlines and Pitcairn autogyro fame The other JMM was a WW I naval aviator who had an FBO at New Brunswick NJ JMM took out a patent on the hull design built a prototype and crunched it on a test flight on 9 August 29 It was a bust in every way The engines are J-5s JMM is perhaps best remembered as the pilot of the Hamilton H-45 in the 1927 Spokane NAR

The July Mystery Plane jumped off the page to a number of you The two photos on the opposite page were sent in by Walter D House Wichita KS His letter is quoted in the caption that accompanies the two shots

The original Mystery plane photos were sent in by Richard E Sampson Ft Laudshyerdale FL He wrote

My knowledge of it is limited but it beshylonged to Ellis Mann who was the head meshychanic at the Packard agency in EVV and was built in Wichita I never saw or heard ofanother

Ellis dismantled it after he bought a Gypsy Moth (in which I had about 30 hours in 1934) and later on this same Hisso was put in a 16ft outboard hull I had on the Ohio rivet

John Underwood recalled the sales manshyager for the Swifts was a fellow by the name of AJ Edwards whose claim to fame was a

Member Richard Sampson had the Hisso from a Swift in a boat he kept on the Ohio river It looks like the craft is mostly engine with a little boat under it ine what those twin straight stacks sounded like as it pounded down the river

4 OCTOBER 1996

We love these old photos so weve got another mystery for you from the EAA Archives A nice looking biplane with decent proportions the fuselage sides appear to be covered in plywood I should tell you that the original print was doctored somewhat around the rudder presumably to show better conshytrast between the milky sky and white fabric on the rudder It looks as though the shape is correct but there could be a slight difference

Answers need to be in no later than November 26 1996 for inclusion in the January 1996 issue ofVintage Airshyplane

From Walter House Wichita KS came this The July Mystery plane caught my eye as it looks like the Swift Model 18 built by the Swift Aircraft Corp Wichita KS 1928-1930 As you will notice the two Swift Model 18s in the enclosed photos have ailerons on the upper wings only while yours has them on the upper and lower wings Also yours has a balanced rudder and one of my two has an unbalanced rudder Swift also built three other models the Sport Model 19 and Model 4000 The models 19 and 4000 were OX-5 powered while the 18 was Kinner K-5 or Wright J-6-5 and the Sport was powered with the Quick converted LeRhone stationary rashydial and also tested with a Warner The model 19 looked a lot like a Swallow TP The 4000 looked like a lot of other OX-5 biplanes and only the 4000 had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings All Swift models had the outrigshyger shock strut main landing gear The one in you July photo looks like a Model 18 with the balanced rudder but with wings and ailerons from the 4000 The The Hisso in your photo was a reshyplacement and I found that 8863 in the enclosed photo also had its J-6-5 reshyplaced with a Hisso 8196 in the other photo has the fin and rudder like yours but not the ailerons Swift may have built more than I have found in old regisshytration lists and their serial numbers do skip

Reg SN Swift Model Engine 4647 1000 SportQuick 6976 1001 SportQuick 7653 1002 SportSuper Rhone 8196 1005 18Kinner K-5 372M 1007 SportQuick 9871 2 4000 0X-5 8863 5 18 Wright J-6-5 (later a Hisso) 8864 6 19 0X-5

Note that serial numbers 1003 1004 1006 and Nos 1 3 and 4 are missing Their engineer was C B Bennett later Thomas M Finnie Of additional intershyest the major investor in Swift was Walt Anderson the founder of the White Castle Hamburger chain here in Wichita in the 1920s Can you read the regshyistration number on your photo (yes it is 8196 when it sported a Hisso on the nose at one time in its existence - HGF) If yours is not a Swift then just forget everything I said after Dear H G

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING --------------------------------- by Norm Petersen

Pete Brucatos Stinson 108-1

This neat photo of Stinson 108-1 N8874K SIN 108-1874 was sent in by owner Peter Brucato (EAA 224456 AC 14719) of Kensshyington NH Featuring the original Franklin 150 hp engine with six-cylinder smoothness Pete s Stinson employs a wooden propeller on the nose and a Scott 3200 tailwheel on the tail end A close examination of the photo reshyvea ls float fittings along the lower longeron and ski fittings on the landing gear Pete plans on rigging the sk is this fall (while it s still warm) so they will be ready when th e snow flies in New Hampshire - which isnt that far away

Richard Lounsburys Aeronca Sedan

This photo of an Aeronca 15AC Sedan on floats N 1398H SIN 15AC-449 registered to Richard Lounsbury of Anchorage AK was contributed by Airl ine Captain Larry Schweitz of Burr Ridge IL The picture was taken at Lake Hood in Anc horage and shows a nice looking Sedan on Edo 2000 floats and powered with a Lycoming 180 hp engi ne The ri ght side door appears to swing upwards as prefered by seaplane pilots With its 200 sq ft of wing area the Aeronca Sedan makes an excellent float plane and can haul a nice load especially with the larger engine

Aeronca 7EC Conversion in Germany

This photo of a neat looking Aeronca 7EC registered D-EUUU SIN 7FC-404 was contributed by owner Gottfried Esser (EAA 423075 AC 19995) of Wi llebadessen Germany He reports the rebui ld lasted from December 1992 to the first flight on September 22 1995 and required about 1500 hours of dedicated work The 90 hp 7FC tri-gear was converted to a 7EC with the work done at Wiirzburg Bamberg Uehlfeld and NeustadtiA isch for fi nal assembly and rigging The stick grips clock and altimeter are from a Yakshy52 purchased during an aerobatic course taken by Gottfried in Kyviskes Lithuania in 1993 The paint scheme is silver with dark blue trim a very pleasing design Note the landi ng light in the left wing near the tip Congratulati ons to Gottfried Esser on a beautiful restoration and Welcome to the world of tail draggers 6 OCTOBER 1996

Tom Hamblets J-3 Cub

Pictured in front of its hangar near Grand Prairie TX is Piper J-3 Cub NC98641 SIN 18867 that is the pride and joy of longtime EAAer Tom Hamblet (EAA 15754 AlC 320) of Grand Prairie TX Featuring a standard A65-8 engine with a metal prop the 1946 metal spar Cub has been flown by Tom for 22 years doing the Crazy Farmer Act at airshows and gatherings throughout the southwest The Cub was restored in 1971 and has since been flown over 1500 hours The colors are bright red with black trim edged in white making it an unusual looking Cub In addition Tom is a member of the three-man Piper Cub Racing Team who often take on such high-speed machinery as balloons going up wind monuments in a cemetery and large machinery digging drainage ditches Notice from the photo how grass and Cubs go together

Ron Tarrsons Waco ARE

This unique photo taken through the wires of a Waco UPF-7 by Forrest Lovley of Jordan MN during the American Waco Fly- In at Creve Coeur Airport near St Louis MO shows Ron Tarrson (EAA 504120 AIC 24996) arriving in the one and only Waco ARE NC20953 SIN 5080 Formerly owned by Dave Jameson of Oshkosh WI and restored by John Cournoyer of Ellsishynore MO the ARE is powered by a 330 hp Jacobs enshygine swinging a Hami lton Standard propeller Formerly owned by the New York Daily News the big cabin Waco has enlarged righthand cabin windows for doing aerial photography and the Daily News logos are painted on the fuselage and lower left wing panel Ron reports the ARE wi ll be receiving a complete new interior this winter and we all look forward to seeing the majestic cabin airplane next summer

Herman Petersons Luscombe on floats

From the far off lands of British Columbia Canada comes this picture of an all-metal Luscombe that has been built up for floats by veteran pilot Herman Peterson of Atlin Be Registered CF-YHQ the Luscombe features a Lycoming 150 hp engine conversion and is mounted on a set of PK 1500 floats Herman says the combination works very well and makes for a good performing seaplane In adshydition Herman has a Smith Miniplane that he built some years ago and still enjoys flying on a sunny afternoon The photo was delivered to EAA HQ by Bill Rorhig of Kaukauna WI who stopped to visit Herman on his way back frArrl A Jct ~

The straight and narrow cart path back to the main road was a bit muddy You can see a number of the ruts were made by a horse drawn carriage the standard method of transportation of the Amish who prefer a simpler way of life After clearing away the small saplings and brush the Ercoupe was loaded onto a trailer and hauled back to EAA Chapter 304s headquarters You can see in the close up view that the sheet aluminum has fared rather well other that the obvious surface discoloration

AN ERCOUPE FROM THE AMISH COUNTRY You a ll have heard stories of restorable

aircraft being found in a barn urban garage or sitting in so m e dilapidated hangar just waiting for someone to step in and blow the dust off of it

Well over the years Jackson EAA Chapter 304 has had it s share of discovershyies an L-19 was found in a chicken coop we found a BT -13 in the middle of a woods with a small tree growing through its fuseshylage and a fellow Chapter member found an original photo reconnaissance P-51 Mustang in an urban garage a few years ago restored it and seized the Grand Champion WW II trophy at Oshkosh The fight er had sat undisturbed in this garage since the mid-1940s and as far as we know is the only representative sample of a Mustang in a photo-recon configurashytion remaining let alone flying

Now Jackson EAA Chapter 304s most recent restoration project is a 1946 Ershycoupe The Coupe less firewall forward was purchased after it had mushed into a corn fie ld in Illinois As usual it turned out to be a ground up restoration project lacking everything forward of the firewall We fo und anothe r Ercoup e which had been sitting in a farmers pig pen for about 15 years It wasnt much to look at s ince the farmer had dragged it around the pen with a backhoe yet we were able to sa lshyvage the engine and a few other associated parts

But by the fall of 1995 we s till were lacking some ve ry majo r Erco upe parts But to purchase these parts e ithe r new or restorable on the open market was out of the question for a Chapter operating on a limited budget - so our Ercoupe proj ect came to a screeching halt

8 OCTOBER 1996

by G Thomas Mcinerney II

Then our fortunes took a turn for the better when fellow Chapter member William R Acock III remembered hearing an old rumor that there was an Ercoupe sitshyting on a Amish farm somewhere east of Co ldwater Michigan just north of the InshydianaMichigan border Since Bill was fashymiliar with the Ami sh nuances we asked him to investigate and report back to our Chapter President Ea rl Sco tt on the rushymor s va lidit y Within a week Bill reshyported that there was indeed an Ercoupe sitting down in Ami sh country and gave Earl its aircraft registration number

Turning to the FAA Reg ister we obshytained the name and address of the Ershycoupes owner But as fate would have it th e address turned out to be out of date But with Bill asking questions in the Coldshywater area we began tracking the owners movements from Michi ga n to Arizona and finall y into Ohio Then with a series of ca lls to directory assistance we located him in Findlay Ohio and ga ined permisshysion to inspect the aircraft of course after he had notified the Amish fam ily leasing the farm property from him of our attended

arrival Driving into an Am ish enclave was a unique experience for all of us After crisscrossing a series of well kept county dirt roads we arrived at the Amish farm where the Ercoupe had been encapsulated for al shymost 30 years

A young Amish gentleman met us at the farms carriage path and guided us to the Ershycoupe What we viewed was a complete airshycraft not damaged its aluminum only tarshynished with little ifany corrosion It had been protected by a slight knoll on one side and a wooded area on the other

We all looked at each other in absolute agreement then asked the Amish who had gathered around if it would be permissible to remove the brush and small saplings which surrounded the Ercoupe so that it could be removed and loaded on our trailer (They were able to use a gas powered chain saw to clear the brush because the chain saw was driven with horsepower ) Without resershyva tion consent was given and within the span of 45 minutes the aircraft was loaded and we were on our way back to the Chapter 304 Sport Aviation Center restoration shop with the trailer and Ercoupe in tow

We had purchased a perfect 1946 Ershycoupe with a low time engi ne and accesshysories and a treasure trove of excess parts and assemblies This purchase amounted to one-fifth of what it would have cost us for the few needed parts to fin ish our waiting project The excess parts and assemblies wi ll be sold and we will better than recoup our original investment

The quintessence of our excursion is to point out that many a rumor finds its basis in fact Now our Chapter philosophy states If a rumor is not followed up an opportushynity has been squandered

EAA Oshkosh 96 nntl

by HC Frautschy and Norm Petersen

The Divisions Silver Anniversary was anticipated by many and a nice turnout of Antique Classic and Contemshyporary airplanes helped make the activities surrounding this milestone a success

The sigllts (a Mylarreg covered Waco) and sounds (the bark of a rarely heard Wright J-4) added to the enjoyment of the Divisions members and volunteers Or how about Richard Mueller from Germany who flew his Comanche from Germany for the second year in a row

Everywhere you looked AIC members were enjoying themselves What a great place to be in 1996

Last years Reserve Grand Champion moved up a notch in 1996 by capturshying the top award in the Antique category Alan Buchner (right) of Fresno CA was presented with the Grand Champion Antique Award for his 1932 Waco QDC Alans father Les Buchner once owned the Waco back in the late 193Os

Alan and his wife Connie once again headed east with the Waco from Calshyifornia Prior to departing Fresno they did have to remove the speed ring as the hot conditions in the area when they departed resulted in the engine temshyperatures bumping against the redline This photo from 1995 shows the airshyplane with the ring installed

A complete article on the restoration was published in the January 1996 isshysue of Vintage Airplane

Doug Fuss Arlington TX recently overshysaw the completion of the restoration of this Laird Commercial by Bob Guttmann complete with a 200 hp Wright J-4 engine A very historical airplane it flew the airmail between Chicago and MinneapoliSSt Paul on a route owned by Charles Pop Dickshyinson After Pop got out of the airmail busishyness the Laird raced in the 1927 SpokaneshyNew York race finishing second to Speed Holman in an identical Laird Later that year it was modified to the Speedwing configuration and was raced with Pop ridshying as a passenger while Ed Blue piloted The 1928 Nationals and the coast- to-coast Air Derby NY-LA saw the Laird compete in the race and even with mechanical difshyficulties it still managed to finish second In 1933 it was returned to the Commercial configuration and then flown for a few years until being placed in storage At EAA Oshkosh 96 it was selected the Golden Age Champion

I

Antique

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

The Reserve Grand Champion Antique is this 1944 Beechcraft D-17 Staggerwing owned and flown by Thomas W Wright Russhysell KY Purchased by Tom a few years ago from Staggerwing legshyend Glen McNabb it spent the past year at Docs Aero Service in Sandshywich Il The reshysults are preshydictable - another award winner

Flown to the Convenshytion by owner Torquil Norman and his friend Henry Labouchere this 1936 DH-90 Dragonfly was originally on its way to EAA Oshkosh 95 via the North Atlantic but it was stopped short by

what turned out to be a faulty oil pressure gauge They were joined by Tom Walthan in the Bill Turner built DH-89 Comet racer replishyca for this once-in-a -lifetime shot taken over lake Winnebago as Torquil and Henry headed east to bring the Dragonfly home to England

In the above photo AlC Division president Butch Joyce presents a special appreciation award to Torquil during this years Convention

10 OCTOBER 1996

Frank Borman (right) and his friend Ron Karp (left) came to EAA Oshkosh 96 in the 1941 Waco SRE reshystored by Frank Ron and other friends over the past couple years

Originally the New York Daily News photographers airplane its been used for crop spraying and cloud seeding It was even pressed into service w ith the mil shyitary in WW II

Powered by the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 many pilots and aviation enthusiasts consider the SRE the finest example of the cabin Waco ever proshyduced

Were planning a feashyture early next year on the SREs that have been seen lately Look for it in ~ the first half of 1997 J

Currently being restored by Mark Grusauski at North Canaan Wingshyworks in Connecticut this Waco ZKC-S owned by Laurence Smith was covered with clear Mylarreg and placed on display in front of the AnshytiqueClassic Red Barn Headquarters

The clear covering allowed conshyvention goers to see the structure unshyderneath and for many who had nevshyer seen a fabric covered airplane naked seeing how light the strucshyture is coupled with its strength was illuminating for many

Originally built as the 2500th Waco and designated a YKC-S equipped with a 245 hp Jacobs enshygine it became a ZKC when a 300 hp Jacobs was installed

Now back in the shop in North Cashynaan the Waco will be completed and covered with certified fabric

John Meyer Hudsonville MI had noted Cub expert Clyde Smith Jr help him complete the restoration of this 1938 Piper J-3C Cub Sport picked as the Bronze Age (1933-1941) Champion

Complete with a Continental Cshy50 with the up-exhaust the Sport had a jazzier interior and a list of 30 options including color schemes other than yellow

Endeavoring to keep the airshyplane as original appearing as possible John and Clyde even inshystalled a three piece windshield

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

Jim Younkin Springdale AR built up this Sushyper G version of a Staggerwing Beech which was finished by Roy Redman at his shop in Minshynesota Owned by Gerard Dederich of Wadsworth IL Originally a D model Jims impeccable workshymanship and engineering as transformed it into the ultimate Staggerwing able to make the most sanguine observer drool in anticipation of flying such a jewel

Roys final finish work and covering is just as spectacular and the two tone red paint reminisshycent of the Travel Air Mystery Ships helps set the tone that this is a fast biplane It was awarded the Antique Customized Champion trophy

E =

Looking for a Stearman How about a 75 scale Stearman kit It has a 24-4 wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 Ibs The airshyframe kit is now available and unshyder development is a small scale radial engine to power the single place machine Contact Vintage 75 518 West St Raleigh NC 27601919664-8906

Our 1996 Antique Judging Corps starting with the back row from left to right Chairman Dale Gustafson Dave Anderson Ken Morris Gene Morris Dave Morrow Dave Clark Bob Wilson John Pipkin Don Coleman Xen Motsinger and Bob Kit shyslaar In the front row we have Gene Chase Phil Coulson Steve Dawson and Mike Shaver Jerry Brown is represented by the hat in front

12 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

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FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

EAA AVIATION CENTER PO box 3086

Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 WEB SITE httpwwweaaorg

E-MAIL Vintage eaaorg PHONE (414) 426-4800

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Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

AntiqueClassic Division Chapters

Heres the latest list of the twenty local EAA AntiqueClassic Division Chapters here in the US and overseas

CALIFORNIA 29 Hayward William B Field 229 Rickenbacker Circle Livermore CA 94550-7616 Phone 510784-1168 Meeting Second Thursday 700 pm Hayward Airport

25 Sacramento William H Merwin 47530 N Courtland Rd Clarksburg CA 95612-5059 Phone 916775-1652 Meeting Second Saturday 900 am contact president

COLORADO 19 Grand Junction Danny Nichols 43732 18 Rd Clifton CO 81520-9005 Phone 970434-4535 Meeting First Thursday 630 pm contact president

FLORIDA 1 Lakeland Allan 1 Wise 2517 Caribbean Ct Orlando FL 32805-5854 Phone 407442-5027 Meeting Contact president

ILLINOIS 26 LANSING Peter D Bayer PO Box 134 Monee IL 60449-0134 Phone 708-534-6240 Meeting Winter - Lansing Airport Summer- TBD Contact president

24 Rantoul William R Claxon 205 Willard Gifford IL 61847 Phone 217568-7810 Meeting Third Wednesday 700 pm contact middotpresident or any officer

16 Overland Park Gerald Gippner 14810 W I 59th St Olathe KS 66062-3630 Phone 913764-8512 Meeting Third Friday 730 pm contact Stanley Bank

KENTUCKY 28 Lexington David M Trapp 170 I Alexandria Dr Lexington KY 40504-3149 Phone 40504-3149 Meeting Second Sunday I 30 pm Georgetown Airport

LOUISIANA 30 New Iberia Roland Denison 106 Aline St New Iberia LA 70560-3802 Meeting First Sunday 900 am Acadi ana Regional Airport

MINNESOTA 13 Albert Lea Gordon G Kimber 205 Houston St NW Preston MN 55965-1004 Phone 507765-2567 Meeting Fourth Thursday 730 pm contact president

4 Minneapolis Stanley V Gomoll 1042 90th Ln NE Minneapolis MN 55424-3353 Phone 612-784-1172 Meeting Quarterly - contact president

NORTH CAROLINA 3 Mayodan James M Steele 7683 Mabe Rd Walnut Cove NC 27052-9513 Phone 910595-2637 I NEW HAMPSHIRE 15 Hampton Corey G Jacques 98 Heath Rd Saco ME 04072-9334 Phone 207283-1010 Second Saturday II 00 am Chapter Clubhouse Hampton Airfield

NEW JERSEY 7 Flanders Thomas M Boland 7 Sutton Rd Andover NJ 07821-2018 Phone 201786-5682 Meeting First Tuesday 800 pm contact president

OIDO 27 Delaware Roger R Brown 1201 N Galena Rd Sunbury OH 43074-9590 Phone 614965-9252 Meeting First Saturday 900 am Delaware Muni Airport

22 Zanesville lohn Morczowsky 1629 Wheeling Av Zanesville OH 43701-4528 Phone 614453-6889 Meeting Third Sunday 230 pm every other month on even months lohns Landing Airport

OKLAHOMA 10 Tulsa Michael McCullough 9124 E 49th PI Tulsa OK 74145-7323 Phone 918622-4921 Meeting Second Thursday 730 pm Hardesty Library

TEXAS 2 Houston Fred L Langston PO Box 691444 Houston TX 77269-1444 Phone 73351-4059 Meeting Fourth Sunday 200 pm Dry Creek Airport Cypress

WISCONSIN 11 Brookfield George A Meade 5514 N Navajo Av Glendale WI 53217-5039 414962-2428 Meeting First Monday 730 pm Capitol Airport

ARGENTINA 12 San Pedro Guido A Jontza San Lorenzo 315 P 13 Olivos 1636 Argentina Phone 012991285 Meeting Second Sunday 1000 am Aerodrome Mercedes BSAS

Ifyoll re interested in starting an AC Chapter contact the EAA Chapter Office at 414426-4876 and ask for a AntiqueClassic

Chapter Starter Kit

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3

Imagshy

Swift Model 18

having sold Lindbergh the Spirit of St Louis when he held th e same job with Ryan

Other correct answers were received from Lennart Johnsson Eldsberga Sweden Marty Eisenmann Alta Lorna CA Jos Juptner Laguna Hills CA Charley Hayes New Lenox IL and Fred Mundinger Clear-water FL

by HC Frautschy

First a quick review of the April Mysshytery Plane John Underwood wrote to adshyvise us that it was the creation ofJohn M Miller not to be confused with John M Miller of of Eastern Airlines and Pitcairn autogyro fame The other JMM was a WW I naval aviator who had an FBO at New Brunswick NJ JMM took out a patent on the hull design built a prototype and crunched it on a test flight on 9 August 29 It was a bust in every way The engines are J-5s JMM is perhaps best remembered as the pilot of the Hamilton H-45 in the 1927 Spokane NAR

The July Mystery Plane jumped off the page to a number of you The two photos on the opposite page were sent in by Walter D House Wichita KS His letter is quoted in the caption that accompanies the two shots

The original Mystery plane photos were sent in by Richard E Sampson Ft Laudshyerdale FL He wrote

My knowledge of it is limited but it beshylonged to Ellis Mann who was the head meshychanic at the Packard agency in EVV and was built in Wichita I never saw or heard ofanother

Ellis dismantled it after he bought a Gypsy Moth (in which I had about 30 hours in 1934) and later on this same Hisso was put in a 16ft outboard hull I had on the Ohio rivet

John Underwood recalled the sales manshyager for the Swifts was a fellow by the name of AJ Edwards whose claim to fame was a

Member Richard Sampson had the Hisso from a Swift in a boat he kept on the Ohio river It looks like the craft is mostly engine with a little boat under it ine what those twin straight stacks sounded like as it pounded down the river

4 OCTOBER 1996

We love these old photos so weve got another mystery for you from the EAA Archives A nice looking biplane with decent proportions the fuselage sides appear to be covered in plywood I should tell you that the original print was doctored somewhat around the rudder presumably to show better conshytrast between the milky sky and white fabric on the rudder It looks as though the shape is correct but there could be a slight difference

Answers need to be in no later than November 26 1996 for inclusion in the January 1996 issue ofVintage Airshyplane

From Walter House Wichita KS came this The July Mystery plane caught my eye as it looks like the Swift Model 18 built by the Swift Aircraft Corp Wichita KS 1928-1930 As you will notice the two Swift Model 18s in the enclosed photos have ailerons on the upper wings only while yours has them on the upper and lower wings Also yours has a balanced rudder and one of my two has an unbalanced rudder Swift also built three other models the Sport Model 19 and Model 4000 The models 19 and 4000 were OX-5 powered while the 18 was Kinner K-5 or Wright J-6-5 and the Sport was powered with the Quick converted LeRhone stationary rashydial and also tested with a Warner The model 19 looked a lot like a Swallow TP The 4000 looked like a lot of other OX-5 biplanes and only the 4000 had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings All Swift models had the outrigshyger shock strut main landing gear The one in you July photo looks like a Model 18 with the balanced rudder but with wings and ailerons from the 4000 The The Hisso in your photo was a reshyplacement and I found that 8863 in the enclosed photo also had its J-6-5 reshyplaced with a Hisso 8196 in the other photo has the fin and rudder like yours but not the ailerons Swift may have built more than I have found in old regisshytration lists and their serial numbers do skip

Reg SN Swift Model Engine 4647 1000 SportQuick 6976 1001 SportQuick 7653 1002 SportSuper Rhone 8196 1005 18Kinner K-5 372M 1007 SportQuick 9871 2 4000 0X-5 8863 5 18 Wright J-6-5 (later a Hisso) 8864 6 19 0X-5

Note that serial numbers 1003 1004 1006 and Nos 1 3 and 4 are missing Their engineer was C B Bennett later Thomas M Finnie Of additional intershyest the major investor in Swift was Walt Anderson the founder of the White Castle Hamburger chain here in Wichita in the 1920s Can you read the regshyistration number on your photo (yes it is 8196 when it sported a Hisso on the nose at one time in its existence - HGF) If yours is not a Swift then just forget everything I said after Dear H G

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING --------------------------------- by Norm Petersen

Pete Brucatos Stinson 108-1

This neat photo of Stinson 108-1 N8874K SIN 108-1874 was sent in by owner Peter Brucato (EAA 224456 AC 14719) of Kensshyington NH Featuring the original Franklin 150 hp engine with six-cylinder smoothness Pete s Stinson employs a wooden propeller on the nose and a Scott 3200 tailwheel on the tail end A close examination of the photo reshyvea ls float fittings along the lower longeron and ski fittings on the landing gear Pete plans on rigging the sk is this fall (while it s still warm) so they will be ready when th e snow flies in New Hampshire - which isnt that far away

Richard Lounsburys Aeronca Sedan

This photo of an Aeronca 15AC Sedan on floats N 1398H SIN 15AC-449 registered to Richard Lounsbury of Anchorage AK was contributed by Airl ine Captain Larry Schweitz of Burr Ridge IL The picture was taken at Lake Hood in Anc horage and shows a nice looking Sedan on Edo 2000 floats and powered with a Lycoming 180 hp engi ne The ri ght side door appears to swing upwards as prefered by seaplane pilots With its 200 sq ft of wing area the Aeronca Sedan makes an excellent float plane and can haul a nice load especially with the larger engine

Aeronca 7EC Conversion in Germany

This photo of a neat looking Aeronca 7EC registered D-EUUU SIN 7FC-404 was contributed by owner Gottfried Esser (EAA 423075 AC 19995) of Wi llebadessen Germany He reports the rebui ld lasted from December 1992 to the first flight on September 22 1995 and required about 1500 hours of dedicated work The 90 hp 7FC tri-gear was converted to a 7EC with the work done at Wiirzburg Bamberg Uehlfeld and NeustadtiA isch for fi nal assembly and rigging The stick grips clock and altimeter are from a Yakshy52 purchased during an aerobatic course taken by Gottfried in Kyviskes Lithuania in 1993 The paint scheme is silver with dark blue trim a very pleasing design Note the landi ng light in the left wing near the tip Congratulati ons to Gottfried Esser on a beautiful restoration and Welcome to the world of tail draggers 6 OCTOBER 1996

Tom Hamblets J-3 Cub

Pictured in front of its hangar near Grand Prairie TX is Piper J-3 Cub NC98641 SIN 18867 that is the pride and joy of longtime EAAer Tom Hamblet (EAA 15754 AlC 320) of Grand Prairie TX Featuring a standard A65-8 engine with a metal prop the 1946 metal spar Cub has been flown by Tom for 22 years doing the Crazy Farmer Act at airshows and gatherings throughout the southwest The Cub was restored in 1971 and has since been flown over 1500 hours The colors are bright red with black trim edged in white making it an unusual looking Cub In addition Tom is a member of the three-man Piper Cub Racing Team who often take on such high-speed machinery as balloons going up wind monuments in a cemetery and large machinery digging drainage ditches Notice from the photo how grass and Cubs go together

Ron Tarrsons Waco ARE

This unique photo taken through the wires of a Waco UPF-7 by Forrest Lovley of Jordan MN during the American Waco Fly- In at Creve Coeur Airport near St Louis MO shows Ron Tarrson (EAA 504120 AIC 24996) arriving in the one and only Waco ARE NC20953 SIN 5080 Formerly owned by Dave Jameson of Oshkosh WI and restored by John Cournoyer of Ellsishynore MO the ARE is powered by a 330 hp Jacobs enshygine swinging a Hami lton Standard propeller Formerly owned by the New York Daily News the big cabin Waco has enlarged righthand cabin windows for doing aerial photography and the Daily News logos are painted on the fuselage and lower left wing panel Ron reports the ARE wi ll be receiving a complete new interior this winter and we all look forward to seeing the majestic cabin airplane next summer

Herman Petersons Luscombe on floats

From the far off lands of British Columbia Canada comes this picture of an all-metal Luscombe that has been built up for floats by veteran pilot Herman Peterson of Atlin Be Registered CF-YHQ the Luscombe features a Lycoming 150 hp engine conversion and is mounted on a set of PK 1500 floats Herman says the combination works very well and makes for a good performing seaplane In adshydition Herman has a Smith Miniplane that he built some years ago and still enjoys flying on a sunny afternoon The photo was delivered to EAA HQ by Bill Rorhig of Kaukauna WI who stopped to visit Herman on his way back frArrl A Jct ~

The straight and narrow cart path back to the main road was a bit muddy You can see a number of the ruts were made by a horse drawn carriage the standard method of transportation of the Amish who prefer a simpler way of life After clearing away the small saplings and brush the Ercoupe was loaded onto a trailer and hauled back to EAA Chapter 304s headquarters You can see in the close up view that the sheet aluminum has fared rather well other that the obvious surface discoloration

AN ERCOUPE FROM THE AMISH COUNTRY You a ll have heard stories of restorable

aircraft being found in a barn urban garage or sitting in so m e dilapidated hangar just waiting for someone to step in and blow the dust off of it

Well over the years Jackson EAA Chapter 304 has had it s share of discovershyies an L-19 was found in a chicken coop we found a BT -13 in the middle of a woods with a small tree growing through its fuseshylage and a fellow Chapter member found an original photo reconnaissance P-51 Mustang in an urban garage a few years ago restored it and seized the Grand Champion WW II trophy at Oshkosh The fight er had sat undisturbed in this garage since the mid-1940s and as far as we know is the only representative sample of a Mustang in a photo-recon configurashytion remaining let alone flying

Now Jackson EAA Chapter 304s most recent restoration project is a 1946 Ershycoupe The Coupe less firewall forward was purchased after it had mushed into a corn fie ld in Illinois As usual it turned out to be a ground up restoration project lacking everything forward of the firewall We fo und anothe r Ercoup e which had been sitting in a farmers pig pen for about 15 years It wasnt much to look at s ince the farmer had dragged it around the pen with a backhoe yet we were able to sa lshyvage the engine and a few other associated parts

But by the fall of 1995 we s till were lacking some ve ry majo r Erco upe parts But to purchase these parts e ithe r new or restorable on the open market was out of the question for a Chapter operating on a limited budget - so our Ercoupe proj ect came to a screeching halt

8 OCTOBER 1996

by G Thomas Mcinerney II

Then our fortunes took a turn for the better when fellow Chapter member William R Acock III remembered hearing an old rumor that there was an Ercoupe sitshyting on a Amish farm somewhere east of Co ldwater Michigan just north of the InshydianaMichigan border Since Bill was fashymiliar with the Ami sh nuances we asked him to investigate and report back to our Chapter President Ea rl Sco tt on the rushymor s va lidit y Within a week Bill reshyported that there was indeed an Ercoupe sitting down in Ami sh country and gave Earl its aircraft registration number

Turning to the FAA Reg ister we obshytained the name and address of the Ershycoupes owner But as fate would have it th e address turned out to be out of date But with Bill asking questions in the Coldshywater area we began tracking the owners movements from Michi ga n to Arizona and finall y into Ohio Then with a series of ca lls to directory assistance we located him in Findlay Ohio and ga ined permisshysion to inspect the aircraft of course after he had notified the Amish fam ily leasing the farm property from him of our attended

arrival Driving into an Am ish enclave was a unique experience for all of us After crisscrossing a series of well kept county dirt roads we arrived at the Amish farm where the Ercoupe had been encapsulated for al shymost 30 years

A young Amish gentleman met us at the farms carriage path and guided us to the Ershycoupe What we viewed was a complete airshycraft not damaged its aluminum only tarshynished with little ifany corrosion It had been protected by a slight knoll on one side and a wooded area on the other

We all looked at each other in absolute agreement then asked the Amish who had gathered around if it would be permissible to remove the brush and small saplings which surrounded the Ercoupe so that it could be removed and loaded on our trailer (They were able to use a gas powered chain saw to clear the brush because the chain saw was driven with horsepower ) Without resershyva tion consent was given and within the span of 45 minutes the aircraft was loaded and we were on our way back to the Chapter 304 Sport Aviation Center restoration shop with the trailer and Ercoupe in tow

We had purchased a perfect 1946 Ershycoupe with a low time engi ne and accesshysories and a treasure trove of excess parts and assemblies This purchase amounted to one-fifth of what it would have cost us for the few needed parts to fin ish our waiting project The excess parts and assemblies wi ll be sold and we will better than recoup our original investment

The quintessence of our excursion is to point out that many a rumor finds its basis in fact Now our Chapter philosophy states If a rumor is not followed up an opportushynity has been squandered

EAA Oshkosh 96 nntl

by HC Frautschy and Norm Petersen

The Divisions Silver Anniversary was anticipated by many and a nice turnout of Antique Classic and Contemshyporary airplanes helped make the activities surrounding this milestone a success

The sigllts (a Mylarreg covered Waco) and sounds (the bark of a rarely heard Wright J-4) added to the enjoyment of the Divisions members and volunteers Or how about Richard Mueller from Germany who flew his Comanche from Germany for the second year in a row

Everywhere you looked AIC members were enjoying themselves What a great place to be in 1996

Last years Reserve Grand Champion moved up a notch in 1996 by capturshying the top award in the Antique category Alan Buchner (right) of Fresno CA was presented with the Grand Champion Antique Award for his 1932 Waco QDC Alans father Les Buchner once owned the Waco back in the late 193Os

Alan and his wife Connie once again headed east with the Waco from Calshyifornia Prior to departing Fresno they did have to remove the speed ring as the hot conditions in the area when they departed resulted in the engine temshyperatures bumping against the redline This photo from 1995 shows the airshyplane with the ring installed

A complete article on the restoration was published in the January 1996 isshysue of Vintage Airplane

Doug Fuss Arlington TX recently overshysaw the completion of the restoration of this Laird Commercial by Bob Guttmann complete with a 200 hp Wright J-4 engine A very historical airplane it flew the airmail between Chicago and MinneapoliSSt Paul on a route owned by Charles Pop Dickshyinson After Pop got out of the airmail busishyness the Laird raced in the 1927 SpokaneshyNew York race finishing second to Speed Holman in an identical Laird Later that year it was modified to the Speedwing configuration and was raced with Pop ridshying as a passenger while Ed Blue piloted The 1928 Nationals and the coast- to-coast Air Derby NY-LA saw the Laird compete in the race and even with mechanical difshyficulties it still managed to finish second In 1933 it was returned to the Commercial configuration and then flown for a few years until being placed in storage At EAA Oshkosh 96 it was selected the Golden Age Champion

I

Antique

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

The Reserve Grand Champion Antique is this 1944 Beechcraft D-17 Staggerwing owned and flown by Thomas W Wright Russhysell KY Purchased by Tom a few years ago from Staggerwing legshyend Glen McNabb it spent the past year at Docs Aero Service in Sandshywich Il The reshysults are preshydictable - another award winner

Flown to the Convenshytion by owner Torquil Norman and his friend Henry Labouchere this 1936 DH-90 Dragonfly was originally on its way to EAA Oshkosh 95 via the North Atlantic but it was stopped short by

what turned out to be a faulty oil pressure gauge They were joined by Tom Walthan in the Bill Turner built DH-89 Comet racer replishyca for this once-in-a -lifetime shot taken over lake Winnebago as Torquil and Henry headed east to bring the Dragonfly home to England

In the above photo AlC Division president Butch Joyce presents a special appreciation award to Torquil during this years Convention

10 OCTOBER 1996

Frank Borman (right) and his friend Ron Karp (left) came to EAA Oshkosh 96 in the 1941 Waco SRE reshystored by Frank Ron and other friends over the past couple years

Originally the New York Daily News photographers airplane its been used for crop spraying and cloud seeding It was even pressed into service w ith the mil shyitary in WW II

Powered by the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 many pilots and aviation enthusiasts consider the SRE the finest example of the cabin Waco ever proshyduced

Were planning a feashyture early next year on the SREs that have been seen lately Look for it in ~ the first half of 1997 J

Currently being restored by Mark Grusauski at North Canaan Wingshyworks in Connecticut this Waco ZKC-S owned by Laurence Smith was covered with clear Mylarreg and placed on display in front of the AnshytiqueClassic Red Barn Headquarters

The clear covering allowed conshyvention goers to see the structure unshyderneath and for many who had nevshyer seen a fabric covered airplane naked seeing how light the strucshyture is coupled with its strength was illuminating for many

Originally built as the 2500th Waco and designated a YKC-S equipped with a 245 hp Jacobs enshygine it became a ZKC when a 300 hp Jacobs was installed

Now back in the shop in North Cashynaan the Waco will be completed and covered with certified fabric

John Meyer Hudsonville MI had noted Cub expert Clyde Smith Jr help him complete the restoration of this 1938 Piper J-3C Cub Sport picked as the Bronze Age (1933-1941) Champion

Complete with a Continental Cshy50 with the up-exhaust the Sport had a jazzier interior and a list of 30 options including color schemes other than yellow

Endeavoring to keep the airshyplane as original appearing as possible John and Clyde even inshystalled a three piece windshield

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

Jim Younkin Springdale AR built up this Sushyper G version of a Staggerwing Beech which was finished by Roy Redman at his shop in Minshynesota Owned by Gerard Dederich of Wadsworth IL Originally a D model Jims impeccable workshymanship and engineering as transformed it into the ultimate Staggerwing able to make the most sanguine observer drool in anticipation of flying such a jewel

Roys final finish work and covering is just as spectacular and the two tone red paint reminisshycent of the Travel Air Mystery Ships helps set the tone that this is a fast biplane It was awarded the Antique Customized Champion trophy

E =

Looking for a Stearman How about a 75 scale Stearman kit It has a 24-4 wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 Ibs The airshyframe kit is now available and unshyder development is a small scale radial engine to power the single place machine Contact Vintage 75 518 West St Raleigh NC 27601919664-8906

Our 1996 Antique Judging Corps starting with the back row from left to right Chairman Dale Gustafson Dave Anderson Ken Morris Gene Morris Dave Morrow Dave Clark Bob Wilson John Pipkin Don Coleman Xen Motsinger and Bob Kit shyslaar In the front row we have Gene Chase Phil Coulson Steve Dawson and Mike Shaver Jerry Brown is represented by the hat in front

12 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

MISCElLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chromoly tubshying throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Road Belgrade Montana 59714 406388-6069 FAX 406388shy0170 Repair station No QK5R148N (0387)

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

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Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

Imagshy

Swift Model 18

having sold Lindbergh the Spirit of St Louis when he held th e same job with Ryan

Other correct answers were received from Lennart Johnsson Eldsberga Sweden Marty Eisenmann Alta Lorna CA Jos Juptner Laguna Hills CA Charley Hayes New Lenox IL and Fred Mundinger Clear-water FL

by HC Frautschy

First a quick review of the April Mysshytery Plane John Underwood wrote to adshyvise us that it was the creation ofJohn M Miller not to be confused with John M Miller of of Eastern Airlines and Pitcairn autogyro fame The other JMM was a WW I naval aviator who had an FBO at New Brunswick NJ JMM took out a patent on the hull design built a prototype and crunched it on a test flight on 9 August 29 It was a bust in every way The engines are J-5s JMM is perhaps best remembered as the pilot of the Hamilton H-45 in the 1927 Spokane NAR

The July Mystery Plane jumped off the page to a number of you The two photos on the opposite page were sent in by Walter D House Wichita KS His letter is quoted in the caption that accompanies the two shots

The original Mystery plane photos were sent in by Richard E Sampson Ft Laudshyerdale FL He wrote

My knowledge of it is limited but it beshylonged to Ellis Mann who was the head meshychanic at the Packard agency in EVV and was built in Wichita I never saw or heard ofanother

Ellis dismantled it after he bought a Gypsy Moth (in which I had about 30 hours in 1934) and later on this same Hisso was put in a 16ft outboard hull I had on the Ohio rivet

John Underwood recalled the sales manshyager for the Swifts was a fellow by the name of AJ Edwards whose claim to fame was a

Member Richard Sampson had the Hisso from a Swift in a boat he kept on the Ohio river It looks like the craft is mostly engine with a little boat under it ine what those twin straight stacks sounded like as it pounded down the river

4 OCTOBER 1996

We love these old photos so weve got another mystery for you from the EAA Archives A nice looking biplane with decent proportions the fuselage sides appear to be covered in plywood I should tell you that the original print was doctored somewhat around the rudder presumably to show better conshytrast between the milky sky and white fabric on the rudder It looks as though the shape is correct but there could be a slight difference

Answers need to be in no later than November 26 1996 for inclusion in the January 1996 issue ofVintage Airshyplane

From Walter House Wichita KS came this The July Mystery plane caught my eye as it looks like the Swift Model 18 built by the Swift Aircraft Corp Wichita KS 1928-1930 As you will notice the two Swift Model 18s in the enclosed photos have ailerons on the upper wings only while yours has them on the upper and lower wings Also yours has a balanced rudder and one of my two has an unbalanced rudder Swift also built three other models the Sport Model 19 and Model 4000 The models 19 and 4000 were OX-5 powered while the 18 was Kinner K-5 or Wright J-6-5 and the Sport was powered with the Quick converted LeRhone stationary rashydial and also tested with a Warner The model 19 looked a lot like a Swallow TP The 4000 looked like a lot of other OX-5 biplanes and only the 4000 had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings All Swift models had the outrigshyger shock strut main landing gear The one in you July photo looks like a Model 18 with the balanced rudder but with wings and ailerons from the 4000 The The Hisso in your photo was a reshyplacement and I found that 8863 in the enclosed photo also had its J-6-5 reshyplaced with a Hisso 8196 in the other photo has the fin and rudder like yours but not the ailerons Swift may have built more than I have found in old regisshytration lists and their serial numbers do skip

Reg SN Swift Model Engine 4647 1000 SportQuick 6976 1001 SportQuick 7653 1002 SportSuper Rhone 8196 1005 18Kinner K-5 372M 1007 SportQuick 9871 2 4000 0X-5 8863 5 18 Wright J-6-5 (later a Hisso) 8864 6 19 0X-5

Note that serial numbers 1003 1004 1006 and Nos 1 3 and 4 are missing Their engineer was C B Bennett later Thomas M Finnie Of additional intershyest the major investor in Swift was Walt Anderson the founder of the White Castle Hamburger chain here in Wichita in the 1920s Can you read the regshyistration number on your photo (yes it is 8196 when it sported a Hisso on the nose at one time in its existence - HGF) If yours is not a Swift then just forget everything I said after Dear H G

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING --------------------------------- by Norm Petersen

Pete Brucatos Stinson 108-1

This neat photo of Stinson 108-1 N8874K SIN 108-1874 was sent in by owner Peter Brucato (EAA 224456 AC 14719) of Kensshyington NH Featuring the original Franklin 150 hp engine with six-cylinder smoothness Pete s Stinson employs a wooden propeller on the nose and a Scott 3200 tailwheel on the tail end A close examination of the photo reshyvea ls float fittings along the lower longeron and ski fittings on the landing gear Pete plans on rigging the sk is this fall (while it s still warm) so they will be ready when th e snow flies in New Hampshire - which isnt that far away

Richard Lounsburys Aeronca Sedan

This photo of an Aeronca 15AC Sedan on floats N 1398H SIN 15AC-449 registered to Richard Lounsbury of Anchorage AK was contributed by Airl ine Captain Larry Schweitz of Burr Ridge IL The picture was taken at Lake Hood in Anc horage and shows a nice looking Sedan on Edo 2000 floats and powered with a Lycoming 180 hp engi ne The ri ght side door appears to swing upwards as prefered by seaplane pilots With its 200 sq ft of wing area the Aeronca Sedan makes an excellent float plane and can haul a nice load especially with the larger engine

Aeronca 7EC Conversion in Germany

This photo of a neat looking Aeronca 7EC registered D-EUUU SIN 7FC-404 was contributed by owner Gottfried Esser (EAA 423075 AC 19995) of Wi llebadessen Germany He reports the rebui ld lasted from December 1992 to the first flight on September 22 1995 and required about 1500 hours of dedicated work The 90 hp 7FC tri-gear was converted to a 7EC with the work done at Wiirzburg Bamberg Uehlfeld and NeustadtiA isch for fi nal assembly and rigging The stick grips clock and altimeter are from a Yakshy52 purchased during an aerobatic course taken by Gottfried in Kyviskes Lithuania in 1993 The paint scheme is silver with dark blue trim a very pleasing design Note the landi ng light in the left wing near the tip Congratulati ons to Gottfried Esser on a beautiful restoration and Welcome to the world of tail draggers 6 OCTOBER 1996

Tom Hamblets J-3 Cub

Pictured in front of its hangar near Grand Prairie TX is Piper J-3 Cub NC98641 SIN 18867 that is the pride and joy of longtime EAAer Tom Hamblet (EAA 15754 AlC 320) of Grand Prairie TX Featuring a standard A65-8 engine with a metal prop the 1946 metal spar Cub has been flown by Tom for 22 years doing the Crazy Farmer Act at airshows and gatherings throughout the southwest The Cub was restored in 1971 and has since been flown over 1500 hours The colors are bright red with black trim edged in white making it an unusual looking Cub In addition Tom is a member of the three-man Piper Cub Racing Team who often take on such high-speed machinery as balloons going up wind monuments in a cemetery and large machinery digging drainage ditches Notice from the photo how grass and Cubs go together

Ron Tarrsons Waco ARE

This unique photo taken through the wires of a Waco UPF-7 by Forrest Lovley of Jordan MN during the American Waco Fly- In at Creve Coeur Airport near St Louis MO shows Ron Tarrson (EAA 504120 AIC 24996) arriving in the one and only Waco ARE NC20953 SIN 5080 Formerly owned by Dave Jameson of Oshkosh WI and restored by John Cournoyer of Ellsishynore MO the ARE is powered by a 330 hp Jacobs enshygine swinging a Hami lton Standard propeller Formerly owned by the New York Daily News the big cabin Waco has enlarged righthand cabin windows for doing aerial photography and the Daily News logos are painted on the fuselage and lower left wing panel Ron reports the ARE wi ll be receiving a complete new interior this winter and we all look forward to seeing the majestic cabin airplane next summer

Herman Petersons Luscombe on floats

From the far off lands of British Columbia Canada comes this picture of an all-metal Luscombe that has been built up for floats by veteran pilot Herman Peterson of Atlin Be Registered CF-YHQ the Luscombe features a Lycoming 150 hp engine conversion and is mounted on a set of PK 1500 floats Herman says the combination works very well and makes for a good performing seaplane In adshydition Herman has a Smith Miniplane that he built some years ago and still enjoys flying on a sunny afternoon The photo was delivered to EAA HQ by Bill Rorhig of Kaukauna WI who stopped to visit Herman on his way back frArrl A Jct ~

The straight and narrow cart path back to the main road was a bit muddy You can see a number of the ruts were made by a horse drawn carriage the standard method of transportation of the Amish who prefer a simpler way of life After clearing away the small saplings and brush the Ercoupe was loaded onto a trailer and hauled back to EAA Chapter 304s headquarters You can see in the close up view that the sheet aluminum has fared rather well other that the obvious surface discoloration

AN ERCOUPE FROM THE AMISH COUNTRY You a ll have heard stories of restorable

aircraft being found in a barn urban garage or sitting in so m e dilapidated hangar just waiting for someone to step in and blow the dust off of it

Well over the years Jackson EAA Chapter 304 has had it s share of discovershyies an L-19 was found in a chicken coop we found a BT -13 in the middle of a woods with a small tree growing through its fuseshylage and a fellow Chapter member found an original photo reconnaissance P-51 Mustang in an urban garage a few years ago restored it and seized the Grand Champion WW II trophy at Oshkosh The fight er had sat undisturbed in this garage since the mid-1940s and as far as we know is the only representative sample of a Mustang in a photo-recon configurashytion remaining let alone flying

Now Jackson EAA Chapter 304s most recent restoration project is a 1946 Ershycoupe The Coupe less firewall forward was purchased after it had mushed into a corn fie ld in Illinois As usual it turned out to be a ground up restoration project lacking everything forward of the firewall We fo und anothe r Ercoup e which had been sitting in a farmers pig pen for about 15 years It wasnt much to look at s ince the farmer had dragged it around the pen with a backhoe yet we were able to sa lshyvage the engine and a few other associated parts

But by the fall of 1995 we s till were lacking some ve ry majo r Erco upe parts But to purchase these parts e ithe r new or restorable on the open market was out of the question for a Chapter operating on a limited budget - so our Ercoupe proj ect came to a screeching halt

8 OCTOBER 1996

by G Thomas Mcinerney II

Then our fortunes took a turn for the better when fellow Chapter member William R Acock III remembered hearing an old rumor that there was an Ercoupe sitshyting on a Amish farm somewhere east of Co ldwater Michigan just north of the InshydianaMichigan border Since Bill was fashymiliar with the Ami sh nuances we asked him to investigate and report back to our Chapter President Ea rl Sco tt on the rushymor s va lidit y Within a week Bill reshyported that there was indeed an Ercoupe sitting down in Ami sh country and gave Earl its aircraft registration number

Turning to the FAA Reg ister we obshytained the name and address of the Ershycoupes owner But as fate would have it th e address turned out to be out of date But with Bill asking questions in the Coldshywater area we began tracking the owners movements from Michi ga n to Arizona and finall y into Ohio Then with a series of ca lls to directory assistance we located him in Findlay Ohio and ga ined permisshysion to inspect the aircraft of course after he had notified the Amish fam ily leasing the farm property from him of our attended

arrival Driving into an Am ish enclave was a unique experience for all of us After crisscrossing a series of well kept county dirt roads we arrived at the Amish farm where the Ercoupe had been encapsulated for al shymost 30 years

A young Amish gentleman met us at the farms carriage path and guided us to the Ershycoupe What we viewed was a complete airshycraft not damaged its aluminum only tarshynished with little ifany corrosion It had been protected by a slight knoll on one side and a wooded area on the other

We all looked at each other in absolute agreement then asked the Amish who had gathered around if it would be permissible to remove the brush and small saplings which surrounded the Ercoupe so that it could be removed and loaded on our trailer (They were able to use a gas powered chain saw to clear the brush because the chain saw was driven with horsepower ) Without resershyva tion consent was given and within the span of 45 minutes the aircraft was loaded and we were on our way back to the Chapter 304 Sport Aviation Center restoration shop with the trailer and Ercoupe in tow

We had purchased a perfect 1946 Ershycoupe with a low time engi ne and accesshysories and a treasure trove of excess parts and assemblies This purchase amounted to one-fifth of what it would have cost us for the few needed parts to fin ish our waiting project The excess parts and assemblies wi ll be sold and we will better than recoup our original investment

The quintessence of our excursion is to point out that many a rumor finds its basis in fact Now our Chapter philosophy states If a rumor is not followed up an opportushynity has been squandered

EAA Oshkosh 96 nntl

by HC Frautschy and Norm Petersen

The Divisions Silver Anniversary was anticipated by many and a nice turnout of Antique Classic and Contemshyporary airplanes helped make the activities surrounding this milestone a success

The sigllts (a Mylarreg covered Waco) and sounds (the bark of a rarely heard Wright J-4) added to the enjoyment of the Divisions members and volunteers Or how about Richard Mueller from Germany who flew his Comanche from Germany for the second year in a row

Everywhere you looked AIC members were enjoying themselves What a great place to be in 1996

Last years Reserve Grand Champion moved up a notch in 1996 by capturshying the top award in the Antique category Alan Buchner (right) of Fresno CA was presented with the Grand Champion Antique Award for his 1932 Waco QDC Alans father Les Buchner once owned the Waco back in the late 193Os

Alan and his wife Connie once again headed east with the Waco from Calshyifornia Prior to departing Fresno they did have to remove the speed ring as the hot conditions in the area when they departed resulted in the engine temshyperatures bumping against the redline This photo from 1995 shows the airshyplane with the ring installed

A complete article on the restoration was published in the January 1996 isshysue of Vintage Airplane

Doug Fuss Arlington TX recently overshysaw the completion of the restoration of this Laird Commercial by Bob Guttmann complete with a 200 hp Wright J-4 engine A very historical airplane it flew the airmail between Chicago and MinneapoliSSt Paul on a route owned by Charles Pop Dickshyinson After Pop got out of the airmail busishyness the Laird raced in the 1927 SpokaneshyNew York race finishing second to Speed Holman in an identical Laird Later that year it was modified to the Speedwing configuration and was raced with Pop ridshying as a passenger while Ed Blue piloted The 1928 Nationals and the coast- to-coast Air Derby NY-LA saw the Laird compete in the race and even with mechanical difshyficulties it still managed to finish second In 1933 it was returned to the Commercial configuration and then flown for a few years until being placed in storage At EAA Oshkosh 96 it was selected the Golden Age Champion

I

Antique

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

The Reserve Grand Champion Antique is this 1944 Beechcraft D-17 Staggerwing owned and flown by Thomas W Wright Russhysell KY Purchased by Tom a few years ago from Staggerwing legshyend Glen McNabb it spent the past year at Docs Aero Service in Sandshywich Il The reshysults are preshydictable - another award winner

Flown to the Convenshytion by owner Torquil Norman and his friend Henry Labouchere this 1936 DH-90 Dragonfly was originally on its way to EAA Oshkosh 95 via the North Atlantic but it was stopped short by

what turned out to be a faulty oil pressure gauge They were joined by Tom Walthan in the Bill Turner built DH-89 Comet racer replishyca for this once-in-a -lifetime shot taken over lake Winnebago as Torquil and Henry headed east to bring the Dragonfly home to England

In the above photo AlC Division president Butch Joyce presents a special appreciation award to Torquil during this years Convention

10 OCTOBER 1996

Frank Borman (right) and his friend Ron Karp (left) came to EAA Oshkosh 96 in the 1941 Waco SRE reshystored by Frank Ron and other friends over the past couple years

Originally the New York Daily News photographers airplane its been used for crop spraying and cloud seeding It was even pressed into service w ith the mil shyitary in WW II

Powered by the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 many pilots and aviation enthusiasts consider the SRE the finest example of the cabin Waco ever proshyduced

Were planning a feashyture early next year on the SREs that have been seen lately Look for it in ~ the first half of 1997 J

Currently being restored by Mark Grusauski at North Canaan Wingshyworks in Connecticut this Waco ZKC-S owned by Laurence Smith was covered with clear Mylarreg and placed on display in front of the AnshytiqueClassic Red Barn Headquarters

The clear covering allowed conshyvention goers to see the structure unshyderneath and for many who had nevshyer seen a fabric covered airplane naked seeing how light the strucshyture is coupled with its strength was illuminating for many

Originally built as the 2500th Waco and designated a YKC-S equipped with a 245 hp Jacobs enshygine it became a ZKC when a 300 hp Jacobs was installed

Now back in the shop in North Cashynaan the Waco will be completed and covered with certified fabric

John Meyer Hudsonville MI had noted Cub expert Clyde Smith Jr help him complete the restoration of this 1938 Piper J-3C Cub Sport picked as the Bronze Age (1933-1941) Champion

Complete with a Continental Cshy50 with the up-exhaust the Sport had a jazzier interior and a list of 30 options including color schemes other than yellow

Endeavoring to keep the airshyplane as original appearing as possible John and Clyde even inshystalled a three piece windshield

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

Jim Younkin Springdale AR built up this Sushyper G version of a Staggerwing Beech which was finished by Roy Redman at his shop in Minshynesota Owned by Gerard Dederich of Wadsworth IL Originally a D model Jims impeccable workshymanship and engineering as transformed it into the ultimate Staggerwing able to make the most sanguine observer drool in anticipation of flying such a jewel

Roys final finish work and covering is just as spectacular and the two tone red paint reminisshycent of the Travel Air Mystery Ships helps set the tone that this is a fast biplane It was awarded the Antique Customized Champion trophy

E =

Looking for a Stearman How about a 75 scale Stearman kit It has a 24-4 wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 Ibs The airshyframe kit is now available and unshyder development is a small scale radial engine to power the single place machine Contact Vintage 75 518 West St Raleigh NC 27601919664-8906

Our 1996 Antique Judging Corps starting with the back row from left to right Chairman Dale Gustafson Dave Anderson Ken Morris Gene Morris Dave Morrow Dave Clark Bob Wilson John Pipkin Don Coleman Xen Motsinger and Bob Kit shyslaar In the front row we have Gene Chase Phil Coulson Steve Dawson and Mike Shaver Jerry Brown is represented by the hat in front

12 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

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The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

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FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

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Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

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Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

We love these old photos so weve got another mystery for you from the EAA Archives A nice looking biplane with decent proportions the fuselage sides appear to be covered in plywood I should tell you that the original print was doctored somewhat around the rudder presumably to show better conshytrast between the milky sky and white fabric on the rudder It looks as though the shape is correct but there could be a slight difference

Answers need to be in no later than November 26 1996 for inclusion in the January 1996 issue ofVintage Airshyplane

From Walter House Wichita KS came this The July Mystery plane caught my eye as it looks like the Swift Model 18 built by the Swift Aircraft Corp Wichita KS 1928-1930 As you will notice the two Swift Model 18s in the enclosed photos have ailerons on the upper wings only while yours has them on the upper and lower wings Also yours has a balanced rudder and one of my two has an unbalanced rudder Swift also built three other models the Sport Model 19 and Model 4000 The models 19 and 4000 were OX-5 powered while the 18 was Kinner K-5 or Wright J-6-5 and the Sport was powered with the Quick converted LeRhone stationary rashydial and also tested with a Warner The model 19 looked a lot like a Swallow TP The 4000 looked like a lot of other OX-5 biplanes and only the 4000 had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings All Swift models had the outrigshyger shock strut main landing gear The one in you July photo looks like a Model 18 with the balanced rudder but with wings and ailerons from the 4000 The The Hisso in your photo was a reshyplacement and I found that 8863 in the enclosed photo also had its J-6-5 reshyplaced with a Hisso 8196 in the other photo has the fin and rudder like yours but not the ailerons Swift may have built more than I have found in old regisshytration lists and their serial numbers do skip

Reg SN Swift Model Engine 4647 1000 SportQuick 6976 1001 SportQuick 7653 1002 SportSuper Rhone 8196 1005 18Kinner K-5 372M 1007 SportQuick 9871 2 4000 0X-5 8863 5 18 Wright J-6-5 (later a Hisso) 8864 6 19 0X-5

Note that serial numbers 1003 1004 1006 and Nos 1 3 and 4 are missing Their engineer was C B Bennett later Thomas M Finnie Of additional intershyest the major investor in Swift was Walt Anderson the founder of the White Castle Hamburger chain here in Wichita in the 1920s Can you read the regshyistration number on your photo (yes it is 8196 when it sported a Hisso on the nose at one time in its existence - HGF) If yours is not a Swift then just forget everything I said after Dear H G

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING --------------------------------- by Norm Petersen

Pete Brucatos Stinson 108-1

This neat photo of Stinson 108-1 N8874K SIN 108-1874 was sent in by owner Peter Brucato (EAA 224456 AC 14719) of Kensshyington NH Featuring the original Franklin 150 hp engine with six-cylinder smoothness Pete s Stinson employs a wooden propeller on the nose and a Scott 3200 tailwheel on the tail end A close examination of the photo reshyvea ls float fittings along the lower longeron and ski fittings on the landing gear Pete plans on rigging the sk is this fall (while it s still warm) so they will be ready when th e snow flies in New Hampshire - which isnt that far away

Richard Lounsburys Aeronca Sedan

This photo of an Aeronca 15AC Sedan on floats N 1398H SIN 15AC-449 registered to Richard Lounsbury of Anchorage AK was contributed by Airl ine Captain Larry Schweitz of Burr Ridge IL The picture was taken at Lake Hood in Anc horage and shows a nice looking Sedan on Edo 2000 floats and powered with a Lycoming 180 hp engi ne The ri ght side door appears to swing upwards as prefered by seaplane pilots With its 200 sq ft of wing area the Aeronca Sedan makes an excellent float plane and can haul a nice load especially with the larger engine

Aeronca 7EC Conversion in Germany

This photo of a neat looking Aeronca 7EC registered D-EUUU SIN 7FC-404 was contributed by owner Gottfried Esser (EAA 423075 AC 19995) of Wi llebadessen Germany He reports the rebui ld lasted from December 1992 to the first flight on September 22 1995 and required about 1500 hours of dedicated work The 90 hp 7FC tri-gear was converted to a 7EC with the work done at Wiirzburg Bamberg Uehlfeld and NeustadtiA isch for fi nal assembly and rigging The stick grips clock and altimeter are from a Yakshy52 purchased during an aerobatic course taken by Gottfried in Kyviskes Lithuania in 1993 The paint scheme is silver with dark blue trim a very pleasing design Note the landi ng light in the left wing near the tip Congratulati ons to Gottfried Esser on a beautiful restoration and Welcome to the world of tail draggers 6 OCTOBER 1996

Tom Hamblets J-3 Cub

Pictured in front of its hangar near Grand Prairie TX is Piper J-3 Cub NC98641 SIN 18867 that is the pride and joy of longtime EAAer Tom Hamblet (EAA 15754 AlC 320) of Grand Prairie TX Featuring a standard A65-8 engine with a metal prop the 1946 metal spar Cub has been flown by Tom for 22 years doing the Crazy Farmer Act at airshows and gatherings throughout the southwest The Cub was restored in 1971 and has since been flown over 1500 hours The colors are bright red with black trim edged in white making it an unusual looking Cub In addition Tom is a member of the three-man Piper Cub Racing Team who often take on such high-speed machinery as balloons going up wind monuments in a cemetery and large machinery digging drainage ditches Notice from the photo how grass and Cubs go together

Ron Tarrsons Waco ARE

This unique photo taken through the wires of a Waco UPF-7 by Forrest Lovley of Jordan MN during the American Waco Fly- In at Creve Coeur Airport near St Louis MO shows Ron Tarrson (EAA 504120 AIC 24996) arriving in the one and only Waco ARE NC20953 SIN 5080 Formerly owned by Dave Jameson of Oshkosh WI and restored by John Cournoyer of Ellsishynore MO the ARE is powered by a 330 hp Jacobs enshygine swinging a Hami lton Standard propeller Formerly owned by the New York Daily News the big cabin Waco has enlarged righthand cabin windows for doing aerial photography and the Daily News logos are painted on the fuselage and lower left wing panel Ron reports the ARE wi ll be receiving a complete new interior this winter and we all look forward to seeing the majestic cabin airplane next summer

Herman Petersons Luscombe on floats

From the far off lands of British Columbia Canada comes this picture of an all-metal Luscombe that has been built up for floats by veteran pilot Herman Peterson of Atlin Be Registered CF-YHQ the Luscombe features a Lycoming 150 hp engine conversion and is mounted on a set of PK 1500 floats Herman says the combination works very well and makes for a good performing seaplane In adshydition Herman has a Smith Miniplane that he built some years ago and still enjoys flying on a sunny afternoon The photo was delivered to EAA HQ by Bill Rorhig of Kaukauna WI who stopped to visit Herman on his way back frArrl A Jct ~

The straight and narrow cart path back to the main road was a bit muddy You can see a number of the ruts were made by a horse drawn carriage the standard method of transportation of the Amish who prefer a simpler way of life After clearing away the small saplings and brush the Ercoupe was loaded onto a trailer and hauled back to EAA Chapter 304s headquarters You can see in the close up view that the sheet aluminum has fared rather well other that the obvious surface discoloration

AN ERCOUPE FROM THE AMISH COUNTRY You a ll have heard stories of restorable

aircraft being found in a barn urban garage or sitting in so m e dilapidated hangar just waiting for someone to step in and blow the dust off of it

Well over the years Jackson EAA Chapter 304 has had it s share of discovershyies an L-19 was found in a chicken coop we found a BT -13 in the middle of a woods with a small tree growing through its fuseshylage and a fellow Chapter member found an original photo reconnaissance P-51 Mustang in an urban garage a few years ago restored it and seized the Grand Champion WW II trophy at Oshkosh The fight er had sat undisturbed in this garage since the mid-1940s and as far as we know is the only representative sample of a Mustang in a photo-recon configurashytion remaining let alone flying

Now Jackson EAA Chapter 304s most recent restoration project is a 1946 Ershycoupe The Coupe less firewall forward was purchased after it had mushed into a corn fie ld in Illinois As usual it turned out to be a ground up restoration project lacking everything forward of the firewall We fo und anothe r Ercoup e which had been sitting in a farmers pig pen for about 15 years It wasnt much to look at s ince the farmer had dragged it around the pen with a backhoe yet we were able to sa lshyvage the engine and a few other associated parts

But by the fall of 1995 we s till were lacking some ve ry majo r Erco upe parts But to purchase these parts e ithe r new or restorable on the open market was out of the question for a Chapter operating on a limited budget - so our Ercoupe proj ect came to a screeching halt

8 OCTOBER 1996

by G Thomas Mcinerney II

Then our fortunes took a turn for the better when fellow Chapter member William R Acock III remembered hearing an old rumor that there was an Ercoupe sitshyting on a Amish farm somewhere east of Co ldwater Michigan just north of the InshydianaMichigan border Since Bill was fashymiliar with the Ami sh nuances we asked him to investigate and report back to our Chapter President Ea rl Sco tt on the rushymor s va lidit y Within a week Bill reshyported that there was indeed an Ercoupe sitting down in Ami sh country and gave Earl its aircraft registration number

Turning to the FAA Reg ister we obshytained the name and address of the Ershycoupes owner But as fate would have it th e address turned out to be out of date But with Bill asking questions in the Coldshywater area we began tracking the owners movements from Michi ga n to Arizona and finall y into Ohio Then with a series of ca lls to directory assistance we located him in Findlay Ohio and ga ined permisshysion to inspect the aircraft of course after he had notified the Amish fam ily leasing the farm property from him of our attended

arrival Driving into an Am ish enclave was a unique experience for all of us After crisscrossing a series of well kept county dirt roads we arrived at the Amish farm where the Ercoupe had been encapsulated for al shymost 30 years

A young Amish gentleman met us at the farms carriage path and guided us to the Ershycoupe What we viewed was a complete airshycraft not damaged its aluminum only tarshynished with little ifany corrosion It had been protected by a slight knoll on one side and a wooded area on the other

We all looked at each other in absolute agreement then asked the Amish who had gathered around if it would be permissible to remove the brush and small saplings which surrounded the Ercoupe so that it could be removed and loaded on our trailer (They were able to use a gas powered chain saw to clear the brush because the chain saw was driven with horsepower ) Without resershyva tion consent was given and within the span of 45 minutes the aircraft was loaded and we were on our way back to the Chapter 304 Sport Aviation Center restoration shop with the trailer and Ercoupe in tow

We had purchased a perfect 1946 Ershycoupe with a low time engi ne and accesshysories and a treasure trove of excess parts and assemblies This purchase amounted to one-fifth of what it would have cost us for the few needed parts to fin ish our waiting project The excess parts and assemblies wi ll be sold and we will better than recoup our original investment

The quintessence of our excursion is to point out that many a rumor finds its basis in fact Now our Chapter philosophy states If a rumor is not followed up an opportushynity has been squandered

EAA Oshkosh 96 nntl

by HC Frautschy and Norm Petersen

The Divisions Silver Anniversary was anticipated by many and a nice turnout of Antique Classic and Contemshyporary airplanes helped make the activities surrounding this milestone a success

The sigllts (a Mylarreg covered Waco) and sounds (the bark of a rarely heard Wright J-4) added to the enjoyment of the Divisions members and volunteers Or how about Richard Mueller from Germany who flew his Comanche from Germany for the second year in a row

Everywhere you looked AIC members were enjoying themselves What a great place to be in 1996

Last years Reserve Grand Champion moved up a notch in 1996 by capturshying the top award in the Antique category Alan Buchner (right) of Fresno CA was presented with the Grand Champion Antique Award for his 1932 Waco QDC Alans father Les Buchner once owned the Waco back in the late 193Os

Alan and his wife Connie once again headed east with the Waco from Calshyifornia Prior to departing Fresno they did have to remove the speed ring as the hot conditions in the area when they departed resulted in the engine temshyperatures bumping against the redline This photo from 1995 shows the airshyplane with the ring installed

A complete article on the restoration was published in the January 1996 isshysue of Vintage Airplane

Doug Fuss Arlington TX recently overshysaw the completion of the restoration of this Laird Commercial by Bob Guttmann complete with a 200 hp Wright J-4 engine A very historical airplane it flew the airmail between Chicago and MinneapoliSSt Paul on a route owned by Charles Pop Dickshyinson After Pop got out of the airmail busishyness the Laird raced in the 1927 SpokaneshyNew York race finishing second to Speed Holman in an identical Laird Later that year it was modified to the Speedwing configuration and was raced with Pop ridshying as a passenger while Ed Blue piloted The 1928 Nationals and the coast- to-coast Air Derby NY-LA saw the Laird compete in the race and even with mechanical difshyficulties it still managed to finish second In 1933 it was returned to the Commercial configuration and then flown for a few years until being placed in storage At EAA Oshkosh 96 it was selected the Golden Age Champion

I

Antique

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

The Reserve Grand Champion Antique is this 1944 Beechcraft D-17 Staggerwing owned and flown by Thomas W Wright Russhysell KY Purchased by Tom a few years ago from Staggerwing legshyend Glen McNabb it spent the past year at Docs Aero Service in Sandshywich Il The reshysults are preshydictable - another award winner

Flown to the Convenshytion by owner Torquil Norman and his friend Henry Labouchere this 1936 DH-90 Dragonfly was originally on its way to EAA Oshkosh 95 via the North Atlantic but it was stopped short by

what turned out to be a faulty oil pressure gauge They were joined by Tom Walthan in the Bill Turner built DH-89 Comet racer replishyca for this once-in-a -lifetime shot taken over lake Winnebago as Torquil and Henry headed east to bring the Dragonfly home to England

In the above photo AlC Division president Butch Joyce presents a special appreciation award to Torquil during this years Convention

10 OCTOBER 1996

Frank Borman (right) and his friend Ron Karp (left) came to EAA Oshkosh 96 in the 1941 Waco SRE reshystored by Frank Ron and other friends over the past couple years

Originally the New York Daily News photographers airplane its been used for crop spraying and cloud seeding It was even pressed into service w ith the mil shyitary in WW II

Powered by the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 many pilots and aviation enthusiasts consider the SRE the finest example of the cabin Waco ever proshyduced

Were planning a feashyture early next year on the SREs that have been seen lately Look for it in ~ the first half of 1997 J

Currently being restored by Mark Grusauski at North Canaan Wingshyworks in Connecticut this Waco ZKC-S owned by Laurence Smith was covered with clear Mylarreg and placed on display in front of the AnshytiqueClassic Red Barn Headquarters

The clear covering allowed conshyvention goers to see the structure unshyderneath and for many who had nevshyer seen a fabric covered airplane naked seeing how light the strucshyture is coupled with its strength was illuminating for many

Originally built as the 2500th Waco and designated a YKC-S equipped with a 245 hp Jacobs enshygine it became a ZKC when a 300 hp Jacobs was installed

Now back in the shop in North Cashynaan the Waco will be completed and covered with certified fabric

John Meyer Hudsonville MI had noted Cub expert Clyde Smith Jr help him complete the restoration of this 1938 Piper J-3C Cub Sport picked as the Bronze Age (1933-1941) Champion

Complete with a Continental Cshy50 with the up-exhaust the Sport had a jazzier interior and a list of 30 options including color schemes other than yellow

Endeavoring to keep the airshyplane as original appearing as possible John and Clyde even inshystalled a three piece windshield

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

Jim Younkin Springdale AR built up this Sushyper G version of a Staggerwing Beech which was finished by Roy Redman at his shop in Minshynesota Owned by Gerard Dederich of Wadsworth IL Originally a D model Jims impeccable workshymanship and engineering as transformed it into the ultimate Staggerwing able to make the most sanguine observer drool in anticipation of flying such a jewel

Roys final finish work and covering is just as spectacular and the two tone red paint reminisshycent of the Travel Air Mystery Ships helps set the tone that this is a fast biplane It was awarded the Antique Customized Champion trophy

E =

Looking for a Stearman How about a 75 scale Stearman kit It has a 24-4 wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 Ibs The airshyframe kit is now available and unshyder development is a small scale radial engine to power the single place machine Contact Vintage 75 518 West St Raleigh NC 27601919664-8906

Our 1996 Antique Judging Corps starting with the back row from left to right Chairman Dale Gustafson Dave Anderson Ken Morris Gene Morris Dave Morrow Dave Clark Bob Wilson John Pipkin Don Coleman Xen Motsinger and Bob Kit shyslaar In the front row we have Gene Chase Phil Coulson Steve Dawson and Mike Shaver Jerry Brown is represented by the hat in front

12 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

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The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

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ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

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The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

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RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

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MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

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Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

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AIRCRAFT

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30 OCTOBER 1996

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING --------------------------------- by Norm Petersen

Pete Brucatos Stinson 108-1

This neat photo of Stinson 108-1 N8874K SIN 108-1874 was sent in by owner Peter Brucato (EAA 224456 AC 14719) of Kensshyington NH Featuring the original Franklin 150 hp engine with six-cylinder smoothness Pete s Stinson employs a wooden propeller on the nose and a Scott 3200 tailwheel on the tail end A close examination of the photo reshyvea ls float fittings along the lower longeron and ski fittings on the landing gear Pete plans on rigging the sk is this fall (while it s still warm) so they will be ready when th e snow flies in New Hampshire - which isnt that far away

Richard Lounsburys Aeronca Sedan

This photo of an Aeronca 15AC Sedan on floats N 1398H SIN 15AC-449 registered to Richard Lounsbury of Anchorage AK was contributed by Airl ine Captain Larry Schweitz of Burr Ridge IL The picture was taken at Lake Hood in Anc horage and shows a nice looking Sedan on Edo 2000 floats and powered with a Lycoming 180 hp engi ne The ri ght side door appears to swing upwards as prefered by seaplane pilots With its 200 sq ft of wing area the Aeronca Sedan makes an excellent float plane and can haul a nice load especially with the larger engine

Aeronca 7EC Conversion in Germany

This photo of a neat looking Aeronca 7EC registered D-EUUU SIN 7FC-404 was contributed by owner Gottfried Esser (EAA 423075 AC 19995) of Wi llebadessen Germany He reports the rebui ld lasted from December 1992 to the first flight on September 22 1995 and required about 1500 hours of dedicated work The 90 hp 7FC tri-gear was converted to a 7EC with the work done at Wiirzburg Bamberg Uehlfeld and NeustadtiA isch for fi nal assembly and rigging The stick grips clock and altimeter are from a Yakshy52 purchased during an aerobatic course taken by Gottfried in Kyviskes Lithuania in 1993 The paint scheme is silver with dark blue trim a very pleasing design Note the landi ng light in the left wing near the tip Congratulati ons to Gottfried Esser on a beautiful restoration and Welcome to the world of tail draggers 6 OCTOBER 1996

Tom Hamblets J-3 Cub

Pictured in front of its hangar near Grand Prairie TX is Piper J-3 Cub NC98641 SIN 18867 that is the pride and joy of longtime EAAer Tom Hamblet (EAA 15754 AlC 320) of Grand Prairie TX Featuring a standard A65-8 engine with a metal prop the 1946 metal spar Cub has been flown by Tom for 22 years doing the Crazy Farmer Act at airshows and gatherings throughout the southwest The Cub was restored in 1971 and has since been flown over 1500 hours The colors are bright red with black trim edged in white making it an unusual looking Cub In addition Tom is a member of the three-man Piper Cub Racing Team who often take on such high-speed machinery as balloons going up wind monuments in a cemetery and large machinery digging drainage ditches Notice from the photo how grass and Cubs go together

Ron Tarrsons Waco ARE

This unique photo taken through the wires of a Waco UPF-7 by Forrest Lovley of Jordan MN during the American Waco Fly- In at Creve Coeur Airport near St Louis MO shows Ron Tarrson (EAA 504120 AIC 24996) arriving in the one and only Waco ARE NC20953 SIN 5080 Formerly owned by Dave Jameson of Oshkosh WI and restored by John Cournoyer of Ellsishynore MO the ARE is powered by a 330 hp Jacobs enshygine swinging a Hami lton Standard propeller Formerly owned by the New York Daily News the big cabin Waco has enlarged righthand cabin windows for doing aerial photography and the Daily News logos are painted on the fuselage and lower left wing panel Ron reports the ARE wi ll be receiving a complete new interior this winter and we all look forward to seeing the majestic cabin airplane next summer

Herman Petersons Luscombe on floats

From the far off lands of British Columbia Canada comes this picture of an all-metal Luscombe that has been built up for floats by veteran pilot Herman Peterson of Atlin Be Registered CF-YHQ the Luscombe features a Lycoming 150 hp engine conversion and is mounted on a set of PK 1500 floats Herman says the combination works very well and makes for a good performing seaplane In adshydition Herman has a Smith Miniplane that he built some years ago and still enjoys flying on a sunny afternoon The photo was delivered to EAA HQ by Bill Rorhig of Kaukauna WI who stopped to visit Herman on his way back frArrl A Jct ~

The straight and narrow cart path back to the main road was a bit muddy You can see a number of the ruts were made by a horse drawn carriage the standard method of transportation of the Amish who prefer a simpler way of life After clearing away the small saplings and brush the Ercoupe was loaded onto a trailer and hauled back to EAA Chapter 304s headquarters You can see in the close up view that the sheet aluminum has fared rather well other that the obvious surface discoloration

AN ERCOUPE FROM THE AMISH COUNTRY You a ll have heard stories of restorable

aircraft being found in a barn urban garage or sitting in so m e dilapidated hangar just waiting for someone to step in and blow the dust off of it

Well over the years Jackson EAA Chapter 304 has had it s share of discovershyies an L-19 was found in a chicken coop we found a BT -13 in the middle of a woods with a small tree growing through its fuseshylage and a fellow Chapter member found an original photo reconnaissance P-51 Mustang in an urban garage a few years ago restored it and seized the Grand Champion WW II trophy at Oshkosh The fight er had sat undisturbed in this garage since the mid-1940s and as far as we know is the only representative sample of a Mustang in a photo-recon configurashytion remaining let alone flying

Now Jackson EAA Chapter 304s most recent restoration project is a 1946 Ershycoupe The Coupe less firewall forward was purchased after it had mushed into a corn fie ld in Illinois As usual it turned out to be a ground up restoration project lacking everything forward of the firewall We fo und anothe r Ercoup e which had been sitting in a farmers pig pen for about 15 years It wasnt much to look at s ince the farmer had dragged it around the pen with a backhoe yet we were able to sa lshyvage the engine and a few other associated parts

But by the fall of 1995 we s till were lacking some ve ry majo r Erco upe parts But to purchase these parts e ithe r new or restorable on the open market was out of the question for a Chapter operating on a limited budget - so our Ercoupe proj ect came to a screeching halt

8 OCTOBER 1996

by G Thomas Mcinerney II

Then our fortunes took a turn for the better when fellow Chapter member William R Acock III remembered hearing an old rumor that there was an Ercoupe sitshyting on a Amish farm somewhere east of Co ldwater Michigan just north of the InshydianaMichigan border Since Bill was fashymiliar with the Ami sh nuances we asked him to investigate and report back to our Chapter President Ea rl Sco tt on the rushymor s va lidit y Within a week Bill reshyported that there was indeed an Ercoupe sitting down in Ami sh country and gave Earl its aircraft registration number

Turning to the FAA Reg ister we obshytained the name and address of the Ershycoupes owner But as fate would have it th e address turned out to be out of date But with Bill asking questions in the Coldshywater area we began tracking the owners movements from Michi ga n to Arizona and finall y into Ohio Then with a series of ca lls to directory assistance we located him in Findlay Ohio and ga ined permisshysion to inspect the aircraft of course after he had notified the Amish fam ily leasing the farm property from him of our attended

arrival Driving into an Am ish enclave was a unique experience for all of us After crisscrossing a series of well kept county dirt roads we arrived at the Amish farm where the Ercoupe had been encapsulated for al shymost 30 years

A young Amish gentleman met us at the farms carriage path and guided us to the Ershycoupe What we viewed was a complete airshycraft not damaged its aluminum only tarshynished with little ifany corrosion It had been protected by a slight knoll on one side and a wooded area on the other

We all looked at each other in absolute agreement then asked the Amish who had gathered around if it would be permissible to remove the brush and small saplings which surrounded the Ercoupe so that it could be removed and loaded on our trailer (They were able to use a gas powered chain saw to clear the brush because the chain saw was driven with horsepower ) Without resershyva tion consent was given and within the span of 45 minutes the aircraft was loaded and we were on our way back to the Chapter 304 Sport Aviation Center restoration shop with the trailer and Ercoupe in tow

We had purchased a perfect 1946 Ershycoupe with a low time engi ne and accesshysories and a treasure trove of excess parts and assemblies This purchase amounted to one-fifth of what it would have cost us for the few needed parts to fin ish our waiting project The excess parts and assemblies wi ll be sold and we will better than recoup our original investment

The quintessence of our excursion is to point out that many a rumor finds its basis in fact Now our Chapter philosophy states If a rumor is not followed up an opportushynity has been squandered

EAA Oshkosh 96 nntl

by HC Frautschy and Norm Petersen

The Divisions Silver Anniversary was anticipated by many and a nice turnout of Antique Classic and Contemshyporary airplanes helped make the activities surrounding this milestone a success

The sigllts (a Mylarreg covered Waco) and sounds (the bark of a rarely heard Wright J-4) added to the enjoyment of the Divisions members and volunteers Or how about Richard Mueller from Germany who flew his Comanche from Germany for the second year in a row

Everywhere you looked AIC members were enjoying themselves What a great place to be in 1996

Last years Reserve Grand Champion moved up a notch in 1996 by capturshying the top award in the Antique category Alan Buchner (right) of Fresno CA was presented with the Grand Champion Antique Award for his 1932 Waco QDC Alans father Les Buchner once owned the Waco back in the late 193Os

Alan and his wife Connie once again headed east with the Waco from Calshyifornia Prior to departing Fresno they did have to remove the speed ring as the hot conditions in the area when they departed resulted in the engine temshyperatures bumping against the redline This photo from 1995 shows the airshyplane with the ring installed

A complete article on the restoration was published in the January 1996 isshysue of Vintage Airplane

Doug Fuss Arlington TX recently overshysaw the completion of the restoration of this Laird Commercial by Bob Guttmann complete with a 200 hp Wright J-4 engine A very historical airplane it flew the airmail between Chicago and MinneapoliSSt Paul on a route owned by Charles Pop Dickshyinson After Pop got out of the airmail busishyness the Laird raced in the 1927 SpokaneshyNew York race finishing second to Speed Holman in an identical Laird Later that year it was modified to the Speedwing configuration and was raced with Pop ridshying as a passenger while Ed Blue piloted The 1928 Nationals and the coast- to-coast Air Derby NY-LA saw the Laird compete in the race and even with mechanical difshyficulties it still managed to finish second In 1933 it was returned to the Commercial configuration and then flown for a few years until being placed in storage At EAA Oshkosh 96 it was selected the Golden Age Champion

I

Antique

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

The Reserve Grand Champion Antique is this 1944 Beechcraft D-17 Staggerwing owned and flown by Thomas W Wright Russhysell KY Purchased by Tom a few years ago from Staggerwing legshyend Glen McNabb it spent the past year at Docs Aero Service in Sandshywich Il The reshysults are preshydictable - another award winner

Flown to the Convenshytion by owner Torquil Norman and his friend Henry Labouchere this 1936 DH-90 Dragonfly was originally on its way to EAA Oshkosh 95 via the North Atlantic but it was stopped short by

what turned out to be a faulty oil pressure gauge They were joined by Tom Walthan in the Bill Turner built DH-89 Comet racer replishyca for this once-in-a -lifetime shot taken over lake Winnebago as Torquil and Henry headed east to bring the Dragonfly home to England

In the above photo AlC Division president Butch Joyce presents a special appreciation award to Torquil during this years Convention

10 OCTOBER 1996

Frank Borman (right) and his friend Ron Karp (left) came to EAA Oshkosh 96 in the 1941 Waco SRE reshystored by Frank Ron and other friends over the past couple years

Originally the New York Daily News photographers airplane its been used for crop spraying and cloud seeding It was even pressed into service w ith the mil shyitary in WW II

Powered by the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 many pilots and aviation enthusiasts consider the SRE the finest example of the cabin Waco ever proshyduced

Were planning a feashyture early next year on the SREs that have been seen lately Look for it in ~ the first half of 1997 J

Currently being restored by Mark Grusauski at North Canaan Wingshyworks in Connecticut this Waco ZKC-S owned by Laurence Smith was covered with clear Mylarreg and placed on display in front of the AnshytiqueClassic Red Barn Headquarters

The clear covering allowed conshyvention goers to see the structure unshyderneath and for many who had nevshyer seen a fabric covered airplane naked seeing how light the strucshyture is coupled with its strength was illuminating for many

Originally built as the 2500th Waco and designated a YKC-S equipped with a 245 hp Jacobs enshygine it became a ZKC when a 300 hp Jacobs was installed

Now back in the shop in North Cashynaan the Waco will be completed and covered with certified fabric

John Meyer Hudsonville MI had noted Cub expert Clyde Smith Jr help him complete the restoration of this 1938 Piper J-3C Cub Sport picked as the Bronze Age (1933-1941) Champion

Complete with a Continental Cshy50 with the up-exhaust the Sport had a jazzier interior and a list of 30 options including color schemes other than yellow

Endeavoring to keep the airshyplane as original appearing as possible John and Clyde even inshystalled a three piece windshield

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

Jim Younkin Springdale AR built up this Sushyper G version of a Staggerwing Beech which was finished by Roy Redman at his shop in Minshynesota Owned by Gerard Dederich of Wadsworth IL Originally a D model Jims impeccable workshymanship and engineering as transformed it into the ultimate Staggerwing able to make the most sanguine observer drool in anticipation of flying such a jewel

Roys final finish work and covering is just as spectacular and the two tone red paint reminisshycent of the Travel Air Mystery Ships helps set the tone that this is a fast biplane It was awarded the Antique Customized Champion trophy

E =

Looking for a Stearman How about a 75 scale Stearman kit It has a 24-4 wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 Ibs The airshyframe kit is now available and unshyder development is a small scale radial engine to power the single place machine Contact Vintage 75 518 West St Raleigh NC 27601919664-8906

Our 1996 Antique Judging Corps starting with the back row from left to right Chairman Dale Gustafson Dave Anderson Ken Morris Gene Morris Dave Morrow Dave Clark Bob Wilson John Pipkin Don Coleman Xen Motsinger and Bob Kit shyslaar In the front row we have Gene Chase Phil Coulson Steve Dawson and Mike Shaver Jerry Brown is represented by the hat in front

12 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

Tom Hamblets J-3 Cub

Pictured in front of its hangar near Grand Prairie TX is Piper J-3 Cub NC98641 SIN 18867 that is the pride and joy of longtime EAAer Tom Hamblet (EAA 15754 AlC 320) of Grand Prairie TX Featuring a standard A65-8 engine with a metal prop the 1946 metal spar Cub has been flown by Tom for 22 years doing the Crazy Farmer Act at airshows and gatherings throughout the southwest The Cub was restored in 1971 and has since been flown over 1500 hours The colors are bright red with black trim edged in white making it an unusual looking Cub In addition Tom is a member of the three-man Piper Cub Racing Team who often take on such high-speed machinery as balloons going up wind monuments in a cemetery and large machinery digging drainage ditches Notice from the photo how grass and Cubs go together

Ron Tarrsons Waco ARE

This unique photo taken through the wires of a Waco UPF-7 by Forrest Lovley of Jordan MN during the American Waco Fly- In at Creve Coeur Airport near St Louis MO shows Ron Tarrson (EAA 504120 AIC 24996) arriving in the one and only Waco ARE NC20953 SIN 5080 Formerly owned by Dave Jameson of Oshkosh WI and restored by John Cournoyer of Ellsishynore MO the ARE is powered by a 330 hp Jacobs enshygine swinging a Hami lton Standard propeller Formerly owned by the New York Daily News the big cabin Waco has enlarged righthand cabin windows for doing aerial photography and the Daily News logos are painted on the fuselage and lower left wing panel Ron reports the ARE wi ll be receiving a complete new interior this winter and we all look forward to seeing the majestic cabin airplane next summer

Herman Petersons Luscombe on floats

From the far off lands of British Columbia Canada comes this picture of an all-metal Luscombe that has been built up for floats by veteran pilot Herman Peterson of Atlin Be Registered CF-YHQ the Luscombe features a Lycoming 150 hp engine conversion and is mounted on a set of PK 1500 floats Herman says the combination works very well and makes for a good performing seaplane In adshydition Herman has a Smith Miniplane that he built some years ago and still enjoys flying on a sunny afternoon The photo was delivered to EAA HQ by Bill Rorhig of Kaukauna WI who stopped to visit Herman on his way back frArrl A Jct ~

The straight and narrow cart path back to the main road was a bit muddy You can see a number of the ruts were made by a horse drawn carriage the standard method of transportation of the Amish who prefer a simpler way of life After clearing away the small saplings and brush the Ercoupe was loaded onto a trailer and hauled back to EAA Chapter 304s headquarters You can see in the close up view that the sheet aluminum has fared rather well other that the obvious surface discoloration

AN ERCOUPE FROM THE AMISH COUNTRY You a ll have heard stories of restorable

aircraft being found in a barn urban garage or sitting in so m e dilapidated hangar just waiting for someone to step in and blow the dust off of it

Well over the years Jackson EAA Chapter 304 has had it s share of discovershyies an L-19 was found in a chicken coop we found a BT -13 in the middle of a woods with a small tree growing through its fuseshylage and a fellow Chapter member found an original photo reconnaissance P-51 Mustang in an urban garage a few years ago restored it and seized the Grand Champion WW II trophy at Oshkosh The fight er had sat undisturbed in this garage since the mid-1940s and as far as we know is the only representative sample of a Mustang in a photo-recon configurashytion remaining let alone flying

Now Jackson EAA Chapter 304s most recent restoration project is a 1946 Ershycoupe The Coupe less firewall forward was purchased after it had mushed into a corn fie ld in Illinois As usual it turned out to be a ground up restoration project lacking everything forward of the firewall We fo und anothe r Ercoup e which had been sitting in a farmers pig pen for about 15 years It wasnt much to look at s ince the farmer had dragged it around the pen with a backhoe yet we were able to sa lshyvage the engine and a few other associated parts

But by the fall of 1995 we s till were lacking some ve ry majo r Erco upe parts But to purchase these parts e ithe r new or restorable on the open market was out of the question for a Chapter operating on a limited budget - so our Ercoupe proj ect came to a screeching halt

8 OCTOBER 1996

by G Thomas Mcinerney II

Then our fortunes took a turn for the better when fellow Chapter member William R Acock III remembered hearing an old rumor that there was an Ercoupe sitshyting on a Amish farm somewhere east of Co ldwater Michigan just north of the InshydianaMichigan border Since Bill was fashymiliar with the Ami sh nuances we asked him to investigate and report back to our Chapter President Ea rl Sco tt on the rushymor s va lidit y Within a week Bill reshyported that there was indeed an Ercoupe sitting down in Ami sh country and gave Earl its aircraft registration number

Turning to the FAA Reg ister we obshytained the name and address of the Ershycoupes owner But as fate would have it th e address turned out to be out of date But with Bill asking questions in the Coldshywater area we began tracking the owners movements from Michi ga n to Arizona and finall y into Ohio Then with a series of ca lls to directory assistance we located him in Findlay Ohio and ga ined permisshysion to inspect the aircraft of course after he had notified the Amish fam ily leasing the farm property from him of our attended

arrival Driving into an Am ish enclave was a unique experience for all of us After crisscrossing a series of well kept county dirt roads we arrived at the Amish farm where the Ercoupe had been encapsulated for al shymost 30 years

A young Amish gentleman met us at the farms carriage path and guided us to the Ershycoupe What we viewed was a complete airshycraft not damaged its aluminum only tarshynished with little ifany corrosion It had been protected by a slight knoll on one side and a wooded area on the other

We all looked at each other in absolute agreement then asked the Amish who had gathered around if it would be permissible to remove the brush and small saplings which surrounded the Ercoupe so that it could be removed and loaded on our trailer (They were able to use a gas powered chain saw to clear the brush because the chain saw was driven with horsepower ) Without resershyva tion consent was given and within the span of 45 minutes the aircraft was loaded and we were on our way back to the Chapter 304 Sport Aviation Center restoration shop with the trailer and Ercoupe in tow

We had purchased a perfect 1946 Ershycoupe with a low time engi ne and accesshysories and a treasure trove of excess parts and assemblies This purchase amounted to one-fifth of what it would have cost us for the few needed parts to fin ish our waiting project The excess parts and assemblies wi ll be sold and we will better than recoup our original investment

The quintessence of our excursion is to point out that many a rumor finds its basis in fact Now our Chapter philosophy states If a rumor is not followed up an opportushynity has been squandered

EAA Oshkosh 96 nntl

by HC Frautschy and Norm Petersen

The Divisions Silver Anniversary was anticipated by many and a nice turnout of Antique Classic and Contemshyporary airplanes helped make the activities surrounding this milestone a success

The sigllts (a Mylarreg covered Waco) and sounds (the bark of a rarely heard Wright J-4) added to the enjoyment of the Divisions members and volunteers Or how about Richard Mueller from Germany who flew his Comanche from Germany for the second year in a row

Everywhere you looked AIC members were enjoying themselves What a great place to be in 1996

Last years Reserve Grand Champion moved up a notch in 1996 by capturshying the top award in the Antique category Alan Buchner (right) of Fresno CA was presented with the Grand Champion Antique Award for his 1932 Waco QDC Alans father Les Buchner once owned the Waco back in the late 193Os

Alan and his wife Connie once again headed east with the Waco from Calshyifornia Prior to departing Fresno they did have to remove the speed ring as the hot conditions in the area when they departed resulted in the engine temshyperatures bumping against the redline This photo from 1995 shows the airshyplane with the ring installed

A complete article on the restoration was published in the January 1996 isshysue of Vintage Airplane

Doug Fuss Arlington TX recently overshysaw the completion of the restoration of this Laird Commercial by Bob Guttmann complete with a 200 hp Wright J-4 engine A very historical airplane it flew the airmail between Chicago and MinneapoliSSt Paul on a route owned by Charles Pop Dickshyinson After Pop got out of the airmail busishyness the Laird raced in the 1927 SpokaneshyNew York race finishing second to Speed Holman in an identical Laird Later that year it was modified to the Speedwing configuration and was raced with Pop ridshying as a passenger while Ed Blue piloted The 1928 Nationals and the coast- to-coast Air Derby NY-LA saw the Laird compete in the race and even with mechanical difshyficulties it still managed to finish second In 1933 it was returned to the Commercial configuration and then flown for a few years until being placed in storage At EAA Oshkosh 96 it was selected the Golden Age Champion

I

Antique

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

The Reserve Grand Champion Antique is this 1944 Beechcraft D-17 Staggerwing owned and flown by Thomas W Wright Russhysell KY Purchased by Tom a few years ago from Staggerwing legshyend Glen McNabb it spent the past year at Docs Aero Service in Sandshywich Il The reshysults are preshydictable - another award winner

Flown to the Convenshytion by owner Torquil Norman and his friend Henry Labouchere this 1936 DH-90 Dragonfly was originally on its way to EAA Oshkosh 95 via the North Atlantic but it was stopped short by

what turned out to be a faulty oil pressure gauge They were joined by Tom Walthan in the Bill Turner built DH-89 Comet racer replishyca for this once-in-a -lifetime shot taken over lake Winnebago as Torquil and Henry headed east to bring the Dragonfly home to England

In the above photo AlC Division president Butch Joyce presents a special appreciation award to Torquil during this years Convention

10 OCTOBER 1996

Frank Borman (right) and his friend Ron Karp (left) came to EAA Oshkosh 96 in the 1941 Waco SRE reshystored by Frank Ron and other friends over the past couple years

Originally the New York Daily News photographers airplane its been used for crop spraying and cloud seeding It was even pressed into service w ith the mil shyitary in WW II

Powered by the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 many pilots and aviation enthusiasts consider the SRE the finest example of the cabin Waco ever proshyduced

Were planning a feashyture early next year on the SREs that have been seen lately Look for it in ~ the first half of 1997 J

Currently being restored by Mark Grusauski at North Canaan Wingshyworks in Connecticut this Waco ZKC-S owned by Laurence Smith was covered with clear Mylarreg and placed on display in front of the AnshytiqueClassic Red Barn Headquarters

The clear covering allowed conshyvention goers to see the structure unshyderneath and for many who had nevshyer seen a fabric covered airplane naked seeing how light the strucshyture is coupled with its strength was illuminating for many

Originally built as the 2500th Waco and designated a YKC-S equipped with a 245 hp Jacobs enshygine it became a ZKC when a 300 hp Jacobs was installed

Now back in the shop in North Cashynaan the Waco will be completed and covered with certified fabric

John Meyer Hudsonville MI had noted Cub expert Clyde Smith Jr help him complete the restoration of this 1938 Piper J-3C Cub Sport picked as the Bronze Age (1933-1941) Champion

Complete with a Continental Cshy50 with the up-exhaust the Sport had a jazzier interior and a list of 30 options including color schemes other than yellow

Endeavoring to keep the airshyplane as original appearing as possible John and Clyde even inshystalled a three piece windshield

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

Jim Younkin Springdale AR built up this Sushyper G version of a Staggerwing Beech which was finished by Roy Redman at his shop in Minshynesota Owned by Gerard Dederich of Wadsworth IL Originally a D model Jims impeccable workshymanship and engineering as transformed it into the ultimate Staggerwing able to make the most sanguine observer drool in anticipation of flying such a jewel

Roys final finish work and covering is just as spectacular and the two tone red paint reminisshycent of the Travel Air Mystery Ships helps set the tone that this is a fast biplane It was awarded the Antique Customized Champion trophy

E =

Looking for a Stearman How about a 75 scale Stearman kit It has a 24-4 wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 Ibs The airshyframe kit is now available and unshyder development is a small scale radial engine to power the single place machine Contact Vintage 75 518 West St Raleigh NC 27601919664-8906

Our 1996 Antique Judging Corps starting with the back row from left to right Chairman Dale Gustafson Dave Anderson Ken Morris Gene Morris Dave Morrow Dave Clark Bob Wilson John Pipkin Don Coleman Xen Motsinger and Bob Kit shyslaar In the front row we have Gene Chase Phil Coulson Steve Dawson and Mike Shaver Jerry Brown is represented by the hat in front

12 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

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The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

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The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

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EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

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30 OCTOBER 1996

The straight and narrow cart path back to the main road was a bit muddy You can see a number of the ruts were made by a horse drawn carriage the standard method of transportation of the Amish who prefer a simpler way of life After clearing away the small saplings and brush the Ercoupe was loaded onto a trailer and hauled back to EAA Chapter 304s headquarters You can see in the close up view that the sheet aluminum has fared rather well other that the obvious surface discoloration

AN ERCOUPE FROM THE AMISH COUNTRY You a ll have heard stories of restorable

aircraft being found in a barn urban garage or sitting in so m e dilapidated hangar just waiting for someone to step in and blow the dust off of it

Well over the years Jackson EAA Chapter 304 has had it s share of discovershyies an L-19 was found in a chicken coop we found a BT -13 in the middle of a woods with a small tree growing through its fuseshylage and a fellow Chapter member found an original photo reconnaissance P-51 Mustang in an urban garage a few years ago restored it and seized the Grand Champion WW II trophy at Oshkosh The fight er had sat undisturbed in this garage since the mid-1940s and as far as we know is the only representative sample of a Mustang in a photo-recon configurashytion remaining let alone flying

Now Jackson EAA Chapter 304s most recent restoration project is a 1946 Ershycoupe The Coupe less firewall forward was purchased after it had mushed into a corn fie ld in Illinois As usual it turned out to be a ground up restoration project lacking everything forward of the firewall We fo und anothe r Ercoup e which had been sitting in a farmers pig pen for about 15 years It wasnt much to look at s ince the farmer had dragged it around the pen with a backhoe yet we were able to sa lshyvage the engine and a few other associated parts

But by the fall of 1995 we s till were lacking some ve ry majo r Erco upe parts But to purchase these parts e ithe r new or restorable on the open market was out of the question for a Chapter operating on a limited budget - so our Ercoupe proj ect came to a screeching halt

8 OCTOBER 1996

by G Thomas Mcinerney II

Then our fortunes took a turn for the better when fellow Chapter member William R Acock III remembered hearing an old rumor that there was an Ercoupe sitshyting on a Amish farm somewhere east of Co ldwater Michigan just north of the InshydianaMichigan border Since Bill was fashymiliar with the Ami sh nuances we asked him to investigate and report back to our Chapter President Ea rl Sco tt on the rushymor s va lidit y Within a week Bill reshyported that there was indeed an Ercoupe sitting down in Ami sh country and gave Earl its aircraft registration number

Turning to the FAA Reg ister we obshytained the name and address of the Ershycoupes owner But as fate would have it th e address turned out to be out of date But with Bill asking questions in the Coldshywater area we began tracking the owners movements from Michi ga n to Arizona and finall y into Ohio Then with a series of ca lls to directory assistance we located him in Findlay Ohio and ga ined permisshysion to inspect the aircraft of course after he had notified the Amish fam ily leasing the farm property from him of our attended

arrival Driving into an Am ish enclave was a unique experience for all of us After crisscrossing a series of well kept county dirt roads we arrived at the Amish farm where the Ercoupe had been encapsulated for al shymost 30 years

A young Amish gentleman met us at the farms carriage path and guided us to the Ershycoupe What we viewed was a complete airshycraft not damaged its aluminum only tarshynished with little ifany corrosion It had been protected by a slight knoll on one side and a wooded area on the other

We all looked at each other in absolute agreement then asked the Amish who had gathered around if it would be permissible to remove the brush and small saplings which surrounded the Ercoupe so that it could be removed and loaded on our trailer (They were able to use a gas powered chain saw to clear the brush because the chain saw was driven with horsepower ) Without resershyva tion consent was given and within the span of 45 minutes the aircraft was loaded and we were on our way back to the Chapter 304 Sport Aviation Center restoration shop with the trailer and Ercoupe in tow

We had purchased a perfect 1946 Ershycoupe with a low time engi ne and accesshysories and a treasure trove of excess parts and assemblies This purchase amounted to one-fifth of what it would have cost us for the few needed parts to fin ish our waiting project The excess parts and assemblies wi ll be sold and we will better than recoup our original investment

The quintessence of our excursion is to point out that many a rumor finds its basis in fact Now our Chapter philosophy states If a rumor is not followed up an opportushynity has been squandered

EAA Oshkosh 96 nntl

by HC Frautschy and Norm Petersen

The Divisions Silver Anniversary was anticipated by many and a nice turnout of Antique Classic and Contemshyporary airplanes helped make the activities surrounding this milestone a success

The sigllts (a Mylarreg covered Waco) and sounds (the bark of a rarely heard Wright J-4) added to the enjoyment of the Divisions members and volunteers Or how about Richard Mueller from Germany who flew his Comanche from Germany for the second year in a row

Everywhere you looked AIC members were enjoying themselves What a great place to be in 1996

Last years Reserve Grand Champion moved up a notch in 1996 by capturshying the top award in the Antique category Alan Buchner (right) of Fresno CA was presented with the Grand Champion Antique Award for his 1932 Waco QDC Alans father Les Buchner once owned the Waco back in the late 193Os

Alan and his wife Connie once again headed east with the Waco from Calshyifornia Prior to departing Fresno they did have to remove the speed ring as the hot conditions in the area when they departed resulted in the engine temshyperatures bumping against the redline This photo from 1995 shows the airshyplane with the ring installed

A complete article on the restoration was published in the January 1996 isshysue of Vintage Airplane

Doug Fuss Arlington TX recently overshysaw the completion of the restoration of this Laird Commercial by Bob Guttmann complete with a 200 hp Wright J-4 engine A very historical airplane it flew the airmail between Chicago and MinneapoliSSt Paul on a route owned by Charles Pop Dickshyinson After Pop got out of the airmail busishyness the Laird raced in the 1927 SpokaneshyNew York race finishing second to Speed Holman in an identical Laird Later that year it was modified to the Speedwing configuration and was raced with Pop ridshying as a passenger while Ed Blue piloted The 1928 Nationals and the coast- to-coast Air Derby NY-LA saw the Laird compete in the race and even with mechanical difshyficulties it still managed to finish second In 1933 it was returned to the Commercial configuration and then flown for a few years until being placed in storage At EAA Oshkosh 96 it was selected the Golden Age Champion

I

Antique

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

The Reserve Grand Champion Antique is this 1944 Beechcraft D-17 Staggerwing owned and flown by Thomas W Wright Russhysell KY Purchased by Tom a few years ago from Staggerwing legshyend Glen McNabb it spent the past year at Docs Aero Service in Sandshywich Il The reshysults are preshydictable - another award winner

Flown to the Convenshytion by owner Torquil Norman and his friend Henry Labouchere this 1936 DH-90 Dragonfly was originally on its way to EAA Oshkosh 95 via the North Atlantic but it was stopped short by

what turned out to be a faulty oil pressure gauge They were joined by Tom Walthan in the Bill Turner built DH-89 Comet racer replishyca for this once-in-a -lifetime shot taken over lake Winnebago as Torquil and Henry headed east to bring the Dragonfly home to England

In the above photo AlC Division president Butch Joyce presents a special appreciation award to Torquil during this years Convention

10 OCTOBER 1996

Frank Borman (right) and his friend Ron Karp (left) came to EAA Oshkosh 96 in the 1941 Waco SRE reshystored by Frank Ron and other friends over the past couple years

Originally the New York Daily News photographers airplane its been used for crop spraying and cloud seeding It was even pressed into service w ith the mil shyitary in WW II

Powered by the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 many pilots and aviation enthusiasts consider the SRE the finest example of the cabin Waco ever proshyduced

Were planning a feashyture early next year on the SREs that have been seen lately Look for it in ~ the first half of 1997 J

Currently being restored by Mark Grusauski at North Canaan Wingshyworks in Connecticut this Waco ZKC-S owned by Laurence Smith was covered with clear Mylarreg and placed on display in front of the AnshytiqueClassic Red Barn Headquarters

The clear covering allowed conshyvention goers to see the structure unshyderneath and for many who had nevshyer seen a fabric covered airplane naked seeing how light the strucshyture is coupled with its strength was illuminating for many

Originally built as the 2500th Waco and designated a YKC-S equipped with a 245 hp Jacobs enshygine it became a ZKC when a 300 hp Jacobs was installed

Now back in the shop in North Cashynaan the Waco will be completed and covered with certified fabric

John Meyer Hudsonville MI had noted Cub expert Clyde Smith Jr help him complete the restoration of this 1938 Piper J-3C Cub Sport picked as the Bronze Age (1933-1941) Champion

Complete with a Continental Cshy50 with the up-exhaust the Sport had a jazzier interior and a list of 30 options including color schemes other than yellow

Endeavoring to keep the airshyplane as original appearing as possible John and Clyde even inshystalled a three piece windshield

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

Jim Younkin Springdale AR built up this Sushyper G version of a Staggerwing Beech which was finished by Roy Redman at his shop in Minshynesota Owned by Gerard Dederich of Wadsworth IL Originally a D model Jims impeccable workshymanship and engineering as transformed it into the ultimate Staggerwing able to make the most sanguine observer drool in anticipation of flying such a jewel

Roys final finish work and covering is just as spectacular and the two tone red paint reminisshycent of the Travel Air Mystery Ships helps set the tone that this is a fast biplane It was awarded the Antique Customized Champion trophy

E =

Looking for a Stearman How about a 75 scale Stearman kit It has a 24-4 wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 Ibs The airshyframe kit is now available and unshyder development is a small scale radial engine to power the single place machine Contact Vintage 75 518 West St Raleigh NC 27601919664-8906

Our 1996 Antique Judging Corps starting with the back row from left to right Chairman Dale Gustafson Dave Anderson Ken Morris Gene Morris Dave Morrow Dave Clark Bob Wilson John Pipkin Don Coleman Xen Motsinger and Bob Kit shyslaar In the front row we have Gene Chase Phil Coulson Steve Dawson and Mike Shaver Jerry Brown is represented by the hat in front

12 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

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One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

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Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Clean IOttrade End the Oil Mess

C-195 Cessna -p

~

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For Round Engine Classics Any Size Radial From PTs to 0-17 Staggerwing Beechcraft

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engines worldwide including and shutoff system is 100 foolproof and

antiques classics warbirds and transports

safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

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SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chromoly tubshying throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Road Belgrade Montana 59714 406388-6069 FAX 406388shy0170 Repair station No QK5R148N (0387)

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

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Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

EAA Oshkosh 96 nntl

by HC Frautschy and Norm Petersen

The Divisions Silver Anniversary was anticipated by many and a nice turnout of Antique Classic and Contemshyporary airplanes helped make the activities surrounding this milestone a success

The sigllts (a Mylarreg covered Waco) and sounds (the bark of a rarely heard Wright J-4) added to the enjoyment of the Divisions members and volunteers Or how about Richard Mueller from Germany who flew his Comanche from Germany for the second year in a row

Everywhere you looked AIC members were enjoying themselves What a great place to be in 1996

Last years Reserve Grand Champion moved up a notch in 1996 by capturshying the top award in the Antique category Alan Buchner (right) of Fresno CA was presented with the Grand Champion Antique Award for his 1932 Waco QDC Alans father Les Buchner once owned the Waco back in the late 193Os

Alan and his wife Connie once again headed east with the Waco from Calshyifornia Prior to departing Fresno they did have to remove the speed ring as the hot conditions in the area when they departed resulted in the engine temshyperatures bumping against the redline This photo from 1995 shows the airshyplane with the ring installed

A complete article on the restoration was published in the January 1996 isshysue of Vintage Airplane

Doug Fuss Arlington TX recently overshysaw the completion of the restoration of this Laird Commercial by Bob Guttmann complete with a 200 hp Wright J-4 engine A very historical airplane it flew the airmail between Chicago and MinneapoliSSt Paul on a route owned by Charles Pop Dickshyinson After Pop got out of the airmail busishyness the Laird raced in the 1927 SpokaneshyNew York race finishing second to Speed Holman in an identical Laird Later that year it was modified to the Speedwing configuration and was raced with Pop ridshying as a passenger while Ed Blue piloted The 1928 Nationals and the coast- to-coast Air Derby NY-LA saw the Laird compete in the race and even with mechanical difshyficulties it still managed to finish second In 1933 it was returned to the Commercial configuration and then flown for a few years until being placed in storage At EAA Oshkosh 96 it was selected the Golden Age Champion

I

Antique

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

The Reserve Grand Champion Antique is this 1944 Beechcraft D-17 Staggerwing owned and flown by Thomas W Wright Russhysell KY Purchased by Tom a few years ago from Staggerwing legshyend Glen McNabb it spent the past year at Docs Aero Service in Sandshywich Il The reshysults are preshydictable - another award winner

Flown to the Convenshytion by owner Torquil Norman and his friend Henry Labouchere this 1936 DH-90 Dragonfly was originally on its way to EAA Oshkosh 95 via the North Atlantic but it was stopped short by

what turned out to be a faulty oil pressure gauge They were joined by Tom Walthan in the Bill Turner built DH-89 Comet racer replishyca for this once-in-a -lifetime shot taken over lake Winnebago as Torquil and Henry headed east to bring the Dragonfly home to England

In the above photo AlC Division president Butch Joyce presents a special appreciation award to Torquil during this years Convention

10 OCTOBER 1996

Frank Borman (right) and his friend Ron Karp (left) came to EAA Oshkosh 96 in the 1941 Waco SRE reshystored by Frank Ron and other friends over the past couple years

Originally the New York Daily News photographers airplane its been used for crop spraying and cloud seeding It was even pressed into service w ith the mil shyitary in WW II

Powered by the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 many pilots and aviation enthusiasts consider the SRE the finest example of the cabin Waco ever proshyduced

Were planning a feashyture early next year on the SREs that have been seen lately Look for it in ~ the first half of 1997 J

Currently being restored by Mark Grusauski at North Canaan Wingshyworks in Connecticut this Waco ZKC-S owned by Laurence Smith was covered with clear Mylarreg and placed on display in front of the AnshytiqueClassic Red Barn Headquarters

The clear covering allowed conshyvention goers to see the structure unshyderneath and for many who had nevshyer seen a fabric covered airplane naked seeing how light the strucshyture is coupled with its strength was illuminating for many

Originally built as the 2500th Waco and designated a YKC-S equipped with a 245 hp Jacobs enshygine it became a ZKC when a 300 hp Jacobs was installed

Now back in the shop in North Cashynaan the Waco will be completed and covered with certified fabric

John Meyer Hudsonville MI had noted Cub expert Clyde Smith Jr help him complete the restoration of this 1938 Piper J-3C Cub Sport picked as the Bronze Age (1933-1941) Champion

Complete with a Continental Cshy50 with the up-exhaust the Sport had a jazzier interior and a list of 30 options including color schemes other than yellow

Endeavoring to keep the airshyplane as original appearing as possible John and Clyde even inshystalled a three piece windshield

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

Jim Younkin Springdale AR built up this Sushyper G version of a Staggerwing Beech which was finished by Roy Redman at his shop in Minshynesota Owned by Gerard Dederich of Wadsworth IL Originally a D model Jims impeccable workshymanship and engineering as transformed it into the ultimate Staggerwing able to make the most sanguine observer drool in anticipation of flying such a jewel

Roys final finish work and covering is just as spectacular and the two tone red paint reminisshycent of the Travel Air Mystery Ships helps set the tone that this is a fast biplane It was awarded the Antique Customized Champion trophy

E =

Looking for a Stearman How about a 75 scale Stearman kit It has a 24-4 wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 Ibs The airshyframe kit is now available and unshyder development is a small scale radial engine to power the single place machine Contact Vintage 75 518 West St Raleigh NC 27601919664-8906

Our 1996 Antique Judging Corps starting with the back row from left to right Chairman Dale Gustafson Dave Anderson Ken Morris Gene Morris Dave Morrow Dave Clark Bob Wilson John Pipkin Don Coleman Xen Motsinger and Bob Kit shyslaar In the front row we have Gene Chase Phil Coulson Steve Dawson and Mike Shaver Jerry Brown is represented by the hat in front

12 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

The Reserve Grand Champion Antique is this 1944 Beechcraft D-17 Staggerwing owned and flown by Thomas W Wright Russhysell KY Purchased by Tom a few years ago from Staggerwing legshyend Glen McNabb it spent the past year at Docs Aero Service in Sandshywich Il The reshysults are preshydictable - another award winner

Flown to the Convenshytion by owner Torquil Norman and his friend Henry Labouchere this 1936 DH-90 Dragonfly was originally on its way to EAA Oshkosh 95 via the North Atlantic but it was stopped short by

what turned out to be a faulty oil pressure gauge They were joined by Tom Walthan in the Bill Turner built DH-89 Comet racer replishyca for this once-in-a -lifetime shot taken over lake Winnebago as Torquil and Henry headed east to bring the Dragonfly home to England

In the above photo AlC Division president Butch Joyce presents a special appreciation award to Torquil during this years Convention

10 OCTOBER 1996

Frank Borman (right) and his friend Ron Karp (left) came to EAA Oshkosh 96 in the 1941 Waco SRE reshystored by Frank Ron and other friends over the past couple years

Originally the New York Daily News photographers airplane its been used for crop spraying and cloud seeding It was even pressed into service w ith the mil shyitary in WW II

Powered by the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 many pilots and aviation enthusiasts consider the SRE the finest example of the cabin Waco ever proshyduced

Were planning a feashyture early next year on the SREs that have been seen lately Look for it in ~ the first half of 1997 J

Currently being restored by Mark Grusauski at North Canaan Wingshyworks in Connecticut this Waco ZKC-S owned by Laurence Smith was covered with clear Mylarreg and placed on display in front of the AnshytiqueClassic Red Barn Headquarters

The clear covering allowed conshyvention goers to see the structure unshyderneath and for many who had nevshyer seen a fabric covered airplane naked seeing how light the strucshyture is coupled with its strength was illuminating for many

Originally built as the 2500th Waco and designated a YKC-S equipped with a 245 hp Jacobs enshygine it became a ZKC when a 300 hp Jacobs was installed

Now back in the shop in North Cashynaan the Waco will be completed and covered with certified fabric

John Meyer Hudsonville MI had noted Cub expert Clyde Smith Jr help him complete the restoration of this 1938 Piper J-3C Cub Sport picked as the Bronze Age (1933-1941) Champion

Complete with a Continental Cshy50 with the up-exhaust the Sport had a jazzier interior and a list of 30 options including color schemes other than yellow

Endeavoring to keep the airshyplane as original appearing as possible John and Clyde even inshystalled a three piece windshield

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

Jim Younkin Springdale AR built up this Sushyper G version of a Staggerwing Beech which was finished by Roy Redman at his shop in Minshynesota Owned by Gerard Dederich of Wadsworth IL Originally a D model Jims impeccable workshymanship and engineering as transformed it into the ultimate Staggerwing able to make the most sanguine observer drool in anticipation of flying such a jewel

Roys final finish work and covering is just as spectacular and the two tone red paint reminisshycent of the Travel Air Mystery Ships helps set the tone that this is a fast biplane It was awarded the Antique Customized Champion trophy

E =

Looking for a Stearman How about a 75 scale Stearman kit It has a 24-4 wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 Ibs The airshyframe kit is now available and unshyder development is a small scale radial engine to power the single place machine Contact Vintage 75 518 West St Raleigh NC 27601919664-8906

Our 1996 Antique Judging Corps starting with the back row from left to right Chairman Dale Gustafson Dave Anderson Ken Morris Gene Morris Dave Morrow Dave Clark Bob Wilson John Pipkin Don Coleman Xen Motsinger and Bob Kit shyslaar In the front row we have Gene Chase Phil Coulson Steve Dawson and Mike Shaver Jerry Brown is represented by the hat in front

12 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

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year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Clean IOttrade End the Oil Mess

C-195 Cessna -p

~

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For Round Engine Classics Any Size Radial From PTs to 0-17 Staggerwing Beechcraft

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safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

MISCElLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chromoly tubshying throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Road Belgrade Montana 59714 406388-6069 FAX 406388shy0170 Repair station No QK5R148N (0387)

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

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Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

Frank Borman (right) and his friend Ron Karp (left) came to EAA Oshkosh 96 in the 1941 Waco SRE reshystored by Frank Ron and other friends over the past couple years

Originally the New York Daily News photographers airplane its been used for crop spraying and cloud seeding It was even pressed into service w ith the mil shyitary in WW II

Powered by the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 many pilots and aviation enthusiasts consider the SRE the finest example of the cabin Waco ever proshyduced

Were planning a feashyture early next year on the SREs that have been seen lately Look for it in ~ the first half of 1997 J

Currently being restored by Mark Grusauski at North Canaan Wingshyworks in Connecticut this Waco ZKC-S owned by Laurence Smith was covered with clear Mylarreg and placed on display in front of the AnshytiqueClassic Red Barn Headquarters

The clear covering allowed conshyvention goers to see the structure unshyderneath and for many who had nevshyer seen a fabric covered airplane naked seeing how light the strucshyture is coupled with its strength was illuminating for many

Originally built as the 2500th Waco and designated a YKC-S equipped with a 245 hp Jacobs enshygine it became a ZKC when a 300 hp Jacobs was installed

Now back in the shop in North Cashynaan the Waco will be completed and covered with certified fabric

John Meyer Hudsonville MI had noted Cub expert Clyde Smith Jr help him complete the restoration of this 1938 Piper J-3C Cub Sport picked as the Bronze Age (1933-1941) Champion

Complete with a Continental Cshy50 with the up-exhaust the Sport had a jazzier interior and a list of 30 options including color schemes other than yellow

Endeavoring to keep the airshyplane as original appearing as possible John and Clyde even inshystalled a three piece windshield

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

Jim Younkin Springdale AR built up this Sushyper G version of a Staggerwing Beech which was finished by Roy Redman at his shop in Minshynesota Owned by Gerard Dederich of Wadsworth IL Originally a D model Jims impeccable workshymanship and engineering as transformed it into the ultimate Staggerwing able to make the most sanguine observer drool in anticipation of flying such a jewel

Roys final finish work and covering is just as spectacular and the two tone red paint reminisshycent of the Travel Air Mystery Ships helps set the tone that this is a fast biplane It was awarded the Antique Customized Champion trophy

E =

Looking for a Stearman How about a 75 scale Stearman kit It has a 24-4 wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 Ibs The airshyframe kit is now available and unshyder development is a small scale radial engine to power the single place machine Contact Vintage 75 518 West St Raleigh NC 27601919664-8906

Our 1996 Antique Judging Corps starting with the back row from left to right Chairman Dale Gustafson Dave Anderson Ken Morris Gene Morris Dave Morrow Dave Clark Bob Wilson John Pipkin Don Coleman Xen Motsinger and Bob Kit shyslaar In the front row we have Gene Chase Phil Coulson Steve Dawson and Mike Shaver Jerry Brown is represented by the hat in front

12 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Clean IOttrade End the Oil Mess

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For Round Engine Classics Any Size Radial From PTs to 0-17 Staggerwing Beechcraft

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Over 300 Clean Kitstrade on radial Our proprietary electric oil scavenging

engines worldwide including and shutoff system is 100 foolproof and

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safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

MISCElLANEOUS

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30 OCTOBER 1996

Jim Younkin Springdale AR built up this Sushyper G version of a Staggerwing Beech which was finished by Roy Redman at his shop in Minshynesota Owned by Gerard Dederich of Wadsworth IL Originally a D model Jims impeccable workshymanship and engineering as transformed it into the ultimate Staggerwing able to make the most sanguine observer drool in anticipation of flying such a jewel

Roys final finish work and covering is just as spectacular and the two tone red paint reminisshycent of the Travel Air Mystery Ships helps set the tone that this is a fast biplane It was awarded the Antique Customized Champion trophy

E =

Looking for a Stearman How about a 75 scale Stearman kit It has a 24-4 wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 Ibs The airshyframe kit is now available and unshyder development is a small scale radial engine to power the single place machine Contact Vintage 75 518 West St Raleigh NC 27601919664-8906

Our 1996 Antique Judging Corps starting with the back row from left to right Chairman Dale Gustafson Dave Anderson Ken Morris Gene Morris Dave Morrow Dave Clark Bob Wilson John Pipkin Don Coleman Xen Motsinger and Bob Kit shyslaar In the front row we have Gene Chase Phil Coulson Steve Dawson and Mike Shaver Jerry Brown is represented by the hat in front

12 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

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The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

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MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

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FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

EAA AVIATION CENTER PO box 3086

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Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

Classic

Pulling in close to the camera with the canopy open is the 1996 Best of Type award winning 1946 Ercoupe 415-C NC94196 SIN 1519 flown by its owner and restorer Syd Cohen of Wausau WI Powered with a Continental C85-12F of 85 hp the pretty two-placer was totally restored over a period of two years sevshyen months and four days - replacing over 80 of the metal in the airplane To date Syd has flown 258 Young Eagles in this highly polished Ercoupe besides runshyning off with the Best of Type award

(Left and below) Robert Hollenbaugh Harry Pratt and David Morgan all Aeronca retirees have spent part of their retirement years rebuilding the oldest post-war Aeronca Chief - SIN 2 the first production Chief built Its unusual color scheme and other slight differences in trim details made

~---r-----------r----~ for interesting study by Aeronca fans It was judged to be the Best Aeronshyca Chief at EAA Oskosh 96

You can almost hear the soft growl of the 300 hp Jacobs radial engine as Jim Sayers cruisshyes by in the 1996 Reserve Grand Champion Classic Cessna 195 NC2197C SIN 16182 Built in August of 1954 this was one of the last of the 195 production and was used for charter work for many years hauling four passhysengers and pilot at 150 to 160 mph Jim Sayshyers of Marion OH used the big cabin Cessshyna for five years in his charter operation beshyfore taking the airplane down for a major restoration The results are quite spectacushylar and the finished airplane all done up in original paint scheme gave the Classic Grand Champion a real run for its money With over 18000 hours in his logbook Jim says it is still a real joy to fly the pampered 195 to aviation events where people can peruse the highly polished airplane and ask a million questions

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

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FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

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Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

CFI Allen Steffey and Matt Miller who is working on his CFI flew this Cessna 140 and Piper Cub Cruiser from Prescott AZ The Cub Cruisshyer is a working airplane providing a mount for those wishing to learn how to fly with a tailwheel equipped airplane at Tailwheels and More located on the airport in Prescott Matt bought the 140 reshycently and has put over 100 hours on it having already flown it to Long Beach CA and back plus his trip to Oshkosh A broken valve in the engine of the Cub meant a two day stay in Hooker OK while a cylinder piston rod etc could be changed but it didnt stop our cross country fliers - nor did a trip to row 150 in the AlC Parking area

(Right) David and Roger Jackson of Broonten MN have fun with Bill Marceys Kidplane parked in front of the AlC Red Barn Their grandshyparents Kay and Brenda Mohr brought the boys to the AntiqueClassic area this year Bill built the Kidplane as a project for his local EAA Chapshyter fly-in and is refining it as more children test fly the airplane Bills the volunteer editor of Aerograms the daily newsletter of the Division during the Convention

14 OCTOBER 1996

This sharp looking triple-tailed 1951 Belshylanca 14-19 Cruisemaster N522A SIN 2075 was flown to Oshkosh 96 by ownshyer Robert Seals and his family of Fresshyno CA Robert has owned the Bellanshyca for over twenty years and did the first restoration in 1992 Six weeks later on a trip to Oregon the Bellanca was parked next to an airplane that was burned by arsonists The fire melted half of the Stits covering on the airplane shybut it didnt burn In 1993 the airplane was totally restored the second time and was brought up to its present awardshywinning condition The Phoenix inshysignia on the side of the cowl refers to the airplane arising from the ashes With a Lycoming 0-435A engine of 190 hp the 14-13 cruises at 140 mph with four people on board It is IFR certified and is regularly flown in IFR conditions

(Left) Its always nice to see a vintage airplane or two in the daily airshow and this year we were treated to the sight of a pretty Waco CTO Taperwing being put through its paces by Stu Moment of Champaign IL

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

With lots of Classics we need lots of judges This year they were (back row left to right) Larry Keitel Frank Moynahan John Swander Clyde Bourgeois Jerry Gippner Frank Bass Steve Bender Chuck Johanson Dean Richardson Paul Stephenson (CoshyChairman) In front are Carol Womack Carol Santone Joan Steinberger Shy Smith Kevin Pratt and Chairman George York Those two hats in front are Kate Tiffany and John Womack

Aviatrix Linda Finch is planning to re-trace Amelia Earharts atshytempted circumnavigation of the world Linda will use this Lockshyheed 10E the same type of airshyplane used by Amelia in 1937 Planning a March 1997 deparshyture from Oakland CA Lindas organization World Flight will make an educational program available to schools and stushydents as well as via the World Wide Web For more informashytion contact World Flight 477 Sandau Hangar G San Antonio TX 78216 Phone 210525-9168

One of the 25th Anniversary special events was a Young Eagle ride with EAA Founder and Chairshyman of the Board Paul Poberezny in the EAA Foundations Stinson SM-8A Our 22500Oth Young Eagle Ian Rosenberger and his father Anshythony thank Paul as he offers his congratulashytions after lans Young Eagle ride

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

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The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

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FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

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Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

Contemporary

Running off with the Contemposhyrary Grand Champion Undy at EAA Oshkosh 96 was this Beechcraft J-35 Bonanza N8370D SIN Dshy5463 flown in by its owner and reshystorer Richard Jones of Everett WA Powered with the original Continental 0-470 engine of 250 hp the beautiful Bonanza drew many an admiring glance during its short stay at the EAA Convenshytion Finished off in the original paint scheme as it came from the factory in 1958 the V-tailed speedshyster was original in all respects inshycluding the Brittain Tip Tanks which were an option This is the first Bonanza to win a Grand Champion Lindy at Oshkosh in the Contemporary Class

One of the first of its type to win big at Oshkosh was this 1960 Piper Colt PA-22-108 N4742Z SIN 22-8298 which garnered the Reserve Grand Champion award in the Contemporary class for its owners Wicks Aircraft of Highshyland IL Discovered in 1992 in a hangar at Fairfield IL where it had been stored following hail damage the perky little two-placshyer had only 1209 hours since new and still had the original cotton fabric from 1960 With no expeshyrience in fabric covered airplanes the employees at Wicks Aircraft decided it was an excellent reshybuild project Under the leadershyship of Bill Weder and Edward Faiss the entire Wicks crew jumped in and totally restored the Colt from the ground up Covershying was done in Stits Poly-Fiber with the final colors matching the original paint scheme to a T The Colt also won an award at Kitty Hawk NC before coming to EAA Oshkosh 96

This 1958 Piper Apache G a PA-23-160shyG with the Miller mods has been all over the US and Europe Owner Smilin AI Oien Roanoke TX has flown it in the 1985 TransAtlantic Air Rally from New York to Paris and back Its one capable Conshytemporary

16 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

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FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

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Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

ATTENTION AVIATION ART COLLECTORS Add style class and prestige to your collection by adding a selection from Ferris Kodera Galloway (amp many more) Acquiring prints and originals from the masters is easy and affordshyable through American Aviation Art Call now 1900950~2233 and order your 3 5 PC diskette screensavercatalog for $795 receive valuable discounts visit us wwwamavartcom (0991)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

j E

One of the classiest DeHavilland DHCshy2 Beavers to show up at Oshkosh was this totally restored custom Beaver on wheels and flown by owner Charles (Cully) Culwell and his lovely wife Marshyilyn of Dallas TX Originally built for the US Army in 1957 this Beaver spent five years flying in SE Asia for Air America (CIA) and then in Viet Nam for several years After a stint in the Arkansas National Guard it hauled parachuters in Dallas before Cully Culshywell bought it in 1986 and totally reshystored the big bird Included in the reshybuild was a Wipline STCd enlarged baggage compartment and new rear deck windows In addition seaplane aux fins were added to the stabilizer in case the Beaver is ever put on floats It is presently used as a first class camping airplane to travel to many remote parts of the world

The Contemporary Judges this year were Oeft to right) Rebecca Greene Tim Greene Chairman Dan Knutson Art Anderson Co-Chairman Dick Knutshyson Rick Duckworth Jeff Anderson

Joel Miller of Solon IA brought this very pretty 1956 Cessshyna 172 to the Conshyvention It wasnt alshyways so nice looking In fact as recent as last year one might have called it well not too nice to look at

Joel and his wife and daughters can now tool around in style in the 172 thanks to a spectacular job of refurbishing done to the airplane in the past year Now he can turn them all loose with polishshying rags to make it really shine

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Clean IOttrade End the Oil Mess

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Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

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The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

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1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

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FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

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Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

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Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

The AntiqueClassic Group Takes All Four Seaplane Awards at Oshkosh 96

by Norm Petersen

Blessed with about five days (out of seven) of excellent flyshying weather the 1996 EAA Oshkosh Seaplane Fly-In was a rousshying success with a beautiful representation of seaplanes from all comers of the country Included in the 114 registered parshyticipants were 31 seaplanes from Canada along with their pishylots and crews These folks always add spice to a fly-in and are usually in the front of the line when it comes to doing vohmshyteer work The peace and solitude of the Vette Seaplane Base is a welcome respite from the busy EAA Convention and many many thousands of people came to visit and enjoy the camashyraderie of the seaplane crowd The Seabase Transit buses were busy from mornirlg til night hauling people between Wittman Field and the Vette Seaplane Base

The armual Seaplane Fly-By down Runway 18 at Wittman Field in front of the large crowd was held Saturday noon Some fourteen floatplanes and amphibians made the fly-by in trail formation led by this authors J-3 Cub on Edo 1320s flown by Mike Weinfurter A second fly-by on Tuesday had to be scrubbed because of too much wind and rough water

The award for the Best Metal Floatplane at EAA Oshkosh 96 was taken by a sharp looking 1958 Cessna L-19E Birddog N32555 SIN 27701 mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats and

flown to Oshkosh by John Wallace (EAA 534076) of Birmingshyham MI John reports the L-19 is a great performer on floats with the large wing flaps helping on takeoff as well as landshying He espeCially appreciates the flat top deck on this modshyel of Edo floats for moving about without slipping into the water

1996 will go down in history as an excellent seaplane flyshyin due to the tremendous help of many many volunteers unshyder the guidance of the new Seaplane Chairman Gordy Olshyson who took over for retiring chairman Bill Brennand With the popularity of the seaplane fly-in growing every year it reshyquires more volunteers to handle all the tasks that need to be done

In a very fitting tribute and ceremony on Saturday evening Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell the two driving forces behind the seaplane base activity for over forty years were honored with a large engraved stone that bears mute testimony to what these two floatplane pioneers have accomplished through hard work and diligent effort A very special Congratulations and heartfelt thanks is extended to Bill Brennand and Al Ziebell of Oshkosh from the entire gang at the seaplane base

Winner of the Best Amphibian Award for 1996 among some very determined competition was a 1956 DeshyHavilland DHC-2 Beaver N622JM mounted on a set of Wipline 6000 amphibious floats and flown to Oshkosh 96 by John Melk (EAA 524869) of Chicago IL Fresh out of the Wipline shops at Inver Grove Heights MN the big DeHavilland looked really sharp with its many mods and fancy paint scheme in white and yellow with black trim The 6000 amphibs have proven to be a very popular float when installed on the Beaver due to excellent flotation and ability to get off with heavy loads

18 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Clean IOttrade End the Oil Mess

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engines worldwide including and shutoff system is 100 foolproof and

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safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

MISCElLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chromoly tubshying throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Road Belgrade Montana 59714 406388-6069 FAX 406388shy0170 Repair station No QK5R148N (0387)

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

EAA AVIATION CENTER PO box 3086

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Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

Seaplane Base

A Special Recognition Award was issued this

The Seaplane judges had a busy time this year and carried out their tasks in a professional manner The winner of the Best Fabric Covered Seaplane was a 1948

Stinson 108-3 registered CF-KJV SIN 108-4841 mounted on a set of Edo 2440 floats and flown to Oshkosh by its reshystorer Ric Henkel (EAA 234398 AlC 10766) of Winnepeg Manitoba Canada A veteran pilot of 20 years experience Ric has owned four seaplanes over the years and purchased this particular Stinshyson 108-3 in 1994 at Timmons Onto It had been converted to Super Stinson status with a Continental 0-470 engine of 230 hp and a constant-speed prop Ric took the Stinson down to bare bones and restored the airplane from the ground up using the Stits process and finished off with Aerothane The proshyject which took nearly two years of spare time work produced a beautiful looking high performance seaplane which cruises at 135 to 140 mph and carshyries a good load with ease

year to an impressive looking antique seaplane a 1930 Waco CSO biplane NC656N SIN 3136 mounted on a set of Edo M-2665 floats that were also built in 1930 (and may be the oldest set of Edo floats presently flying on an aircraft) The Waco owners Larshyry and lise Harmacinski (EAA 241492 AlC 11740) made a dolly takeoff from the airport near South Bend IN and flew nonshystop to Oshkosh where they made the first water landing with the Waco in 32 years Powered with a 250 hp Wright Rshy760 engine swinging a Hamilton-Standard ground adjustable propeller the Waco performed very nicely off the water and was a tremendous hit with the seaplane crowd

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

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The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

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MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

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1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

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FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

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EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

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Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

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Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

A special presentation was made to Kate Morgan the wife of past AlC Division Vice president Art Morgan who had served as the Chairman of the AlC Parking area for many years Art passed away last year just prior to the Convention AlC President Butch Joyce and Andy Anderson a long time volunteer and good friend of Arts present the Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year plaque to Kate Now displayed on the wall of the AlC Red Barn a new name will be added to the plaque each year as a deserving volunteer is named as the recipient of this honor

Georgia Schneider an 8-year AlC volshyunteer was the Back Stage Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award recipshyient Georgia lends her time and talents to the AlC Red barn Sales area

Volunteers

The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Awards were presented by AlC Director and Seshycurity Chairman Geoff Robison

The Flight Line Art Morshygan Volunteer of the Year award was preshysented to Kathy McGurshyran Aurora CO for her work at AlC Point helpshying the endless stream of AlC airplanes find a spot to park

(Right) This beautifulshyly engraved granite boulder commemoshyrates the unfailing volunteer dedication and work done by Bill Brennand and AI Ziebell at the Brenshynand Vette Seaplane Base over the past 40 years

1996 is the silver anniversary of the Division and on Monday night of the the Convention a special program was held in the Theater in the Woods Hosted by E E Buck Hilbert it honshyored many of the men and women who were the charter memshybers of the Division Reminising about the beginnings of the Division as well as the start of the Classic and Contemporary categories were all part of the festivities Special commemoshyrative plaques were presented to the charter members

1997 will be dedicated by EAA as The Year of The Volunteerand we certainly wish to second that motion All we do and all we are within EAA and the AntiqueClassic Division is meant to

serve you our fellow members and the unselfish devotion shown by the thousands of people who give of their time during the annual Convention and beyond continually show why Vintage Airplane people are a special breed To the Chairmen and volunteers alike youre all to be

congratulated and we extend our thanks to each and everyone of you

20 OCTOBER 1996

The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

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OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

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Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

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December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

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RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

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The cockpit is essentially stock and the Boeing deshysigned canopy completely encloses both cockpits You can see that the regular windshields w ere reshytained in the event the military choose to remove the canopy Although Ken Wilson and Jack are certain that more than one of the PT -27s was equipped with the Boeing canopy the exact number made is unknown A t otal of 300 PT-27s were built by Boeing -Wichita Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934

The PT -27 was sent to work under the RCAF as part of th4 they were first (at least on paper) US Army Air Corps airpl Canadian squadron number and markings You can also s

A 50degF temperature isn t too bad until you add a 100 mph wind chill factor to it Some of the winterized PT-27s had gasoshyline powered heaters installed but again in a situation like the canopies not all of the airplanes were so equipped Another limishytation of the full canopy was the distracting glare from the cockpit lights when the slidshying canopy was closed - in fact the current FAA restricts the PT-27 from night flight with the canopy closed Flying at night with the canopy open or removed is okayed Delivered from the factory in Wichita KS between February 1942 and the following October the PT-27s augmented the trainshying the RCAF was doing to support the war in Europe Later many of them were reshyturned to the US to serve with the Navy Of the examples built with the canopy (we dont know the exact number) fewer still kept them after they were brought back to the States Because of that not too many

22 OCTOBER 1996

people have seen a complete PT-27 includshying the Boeing designed canopy

Jack Roethlisberger (EAA 504155 A C 26270) of Beaver PA knew what it looked like and he wanted one In fact hes had more than one A number of years ago he had a PT-27 project from New Jersey he was slowly restoring but he lost interest in it and decided to se ll the project T he fr iend Jeff Lee who bought it to ld Jack that hed cry when it left He was right Jack did when his project pulled out of his driveway Sometimes life has a interesting way of working out That project didnt have the Boeing canopy and it had been painted up in the regu lar yellow and blue PT-1 7 color scheme Seeing his first PT -27 project go was too much and Jack started looking for another What he found was a series of six Boe ings As he d ge t one about ha lf done someone wo ul d co me along and buy it He had projects he found

in New Jersey Kentucky and Georgia Fishyna lly he found what he was looking for in a PT-27 only 20 miles away from his home near Pittsburgh Guess who he bought it from Jeff Lee Not the same airplane he had sold to Jeff but another project comshyplete with a full canopy A rusty old hulk it hadnt flown since 1950 and Jack was only the third owner since it had been musshyte red out of the military Jack and his son Mark dove into the project full force

A Stearman project is not a little job as you can see Its sheer size can be imposshying and it tends to take over whatever space youve allotted and then some Not only is it taller than most garages when sitshyting on its main landing gear there are a lot of parts to keep as you get closer to the end - you ve got to find room to store four of the prettiest wings youve ever seen

As so many of our members have expeshyrienced a fu ll airplane restoration takes the

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

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safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

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The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

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30 OCTOBER 1996

Jack and Mark Roethlisberger of Beaver PA lease program in place during the second World War Since hey carry a US serial number and stencils in addition to their winter front cowl for the Continental R-670-5 engine

airframe down to the last nutplate and screw Everything that is bolted or glued on is removed refurbished and then after the fuselage frame has been inspected for cracks every newly refinished part is re-inshystalled The real fun starts when a part is missing or worn out The search is on and the phone bills show it A trip to consult with the staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum was in order to check on prints for some of the parts they needed Jack and Mark intended to rebuild the PT -27 as close to original as possible so they needed lots of information Fortushynately there are quite a few people who know the aircraft exceedingly well One of them is Ken Wilson of Indiana He was able to provide documentation about the position of some of the unusual equipment and markings on that particular PT -27 inshycluding the mounting of the running lights compartment and panel markings along

with the exact color scheme If Stearmans are your thing the 27 presents some unshyusual markings The airplane carries a US Army Air Corps serial number along with its Canadian roundels Canadian flag banshyner on the vertical fin and squadron number on the aft fuselage This particular PT-27 US Air Corps SIN 42-15-595 RCAP SIN 753784 served in Calgary Alberta for a year before it was returned to the US and serving as a military trainer at a civilian run training school at Thunderbird Field in Arishyzona

Research also led to the construction of the landing light fairings built into the leadshying edge of the lower wings Prints were not available so by carefully scaling up a photograph Jack was able to reproduce the fairing using a sealed beam light instead of the reflectorlens and bulb combination that was most likely used on the original

Jack was never able to put his hands on

one of the heater units and he says hes not too sure hed be willing to install it in his fabric covered airplane even if he had one

Besides building L-4s for the Army Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven also kept busy with subcontracting work One of these contracts was with Boeing building the canopy frames for the Canadian PTs Many of us have seen the Rawdon Hood canopy retrofitted to some PT -17s after the War but the Boeing hood is different The Rawdon is built in a practical way and serves its purpose well The Boeing hood strikes you as very substantial and able to take anything you could dish out Expectshying it to be handled by students in cold conshyditions when they may act a bit quicker and are less likely to take their time the enshygineers put together a canopy thats built to last Jack enjoys flying with the canopy Its real nice on a long cross country - you dont lose your maps

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Clean IOttrade End the Oil Mess

C-195 Cessna -p

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Stinsons amp Mallards - Grumman Mallard j

For Round Engine Classics Any Size Radial From PTs to 0-17 Staggerwing Beechcraft

Constellations

Over 300 Clean Kitstrade on radial Our proprietary electric oil scavenging

engines worldwide including and shutoff system is 100 foolproof and

antiques classics warbirds and transports

safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

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FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

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Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

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30 OCTOBER 1996

The unusual lines of a full cockpit canopy on a Stearman is just one of the changes made by Boeing for the model designated the PTshy27 Other changes included a winter front cowl for the engine with controllable shutters and a full set of running and cockpit lights and landing lights mounted on the lower wings

Research led to completshying the canopy Happily the canopy was complete except for one small part that had to be duplicated Even the origshyinal Plexiglasreg was intact but since it showed the signs of years of neglect Jack farmed out the molding of some new transparencies one of the only pieces he had done outside of his shop

Modern concessions inshyclude a comm radio cleverly hidden behind the throttle quadrant so its not to obtrushysive A Garmin GPS helps Jack and Mark find their way Otherwise the cockpit is stock In the engine compartshyment an oil filter has been added to help make the Conshytinental last longer The Conshytinental turns a Jasco alternashytor instead of a generator making the electrical system more efficient

All of the access panels and inspection windows are as they were and the big bishyplane even has the original Stearman brakes and wheels Jack proudly pointed out that his son Mark who had a very acshytive role in the restoration polished the enshygine parts and firewall dishpan I gave him a couple of Cokes and a buffmg wheel and let him go he recalled

The covering is Ceconite and the airshyplane is finished with the AirTech process The markings have been carefully reshysearched and applied right down to the white inspectors block and stamps The proper paint code is applied to each part and all of the US Army Air Corps fuselage markings are reproduced thanks to the reshysearch done by Ken Wilson

What does an airline captain and his son do with such a pretty prize Why fly it of course This Stearman is no hangar queen 22-year-old Mark was finally turned loose with the Stearman earlier this

24 OCTOBER 1996

n

Jj

year and has been helping his dad add to the over 200 hours theyve put on the airshyplane since it was restored Mark earned his Private license when he turned 17 years old and has been working to master the PT since his Dad let him solo it Flyshying it with the other 5 Stearmans on the field the Roethlisbergers have fun flying in formashy

tion and critiquing each others landings Theyve taken it to EAA Oshkosh and to the big Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg IL so cross-country flying with the biplane is just great fun for this father and son Sharing adshyventures like that are what make aviation more meaningful and to do it with your dad or son is just plain wonderful

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Clean IOttrade End the Oil Mess

C-195 Cessna -p

~

Stinsons amp Mallards - Grumman Mallard j

For Round Engine Classics Any Size Radial From PTs to 0-17 Staggerwing Beechcraft

Constellations

Over 300 Clean Kitstrade on radial Our proprietary electric oil scavenging

engines worldwide including and shutoff system is 100 foolproof and

antiques classics warbirds and transports

safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

MISCElLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chromoly tubshying throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Road Belgrade Montana 59714 406388-6069 FAX 406388shy0170 Repair station No QK5R148N (0387)

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

EAA AVIATION CENTER PO box 3086

Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 WEB SITE httpwwweaaorg

E-MAIL Vintage eaaorg PHONE (414) 426-4800

FAX (414) 426-4873 OFFICE HOURS

815-500 mon-fri 1-800-843-3612

MEMBERSHIP DUES TO EAA AND ITS DIVISIONS ARE NOT TAX

DEDUCTIBLE AS CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS

catalog EAA1-800-843-3612

Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

ATTENTION AVIATION ART COLLECTORS Add style class and prestige to your collection by adding a selection from Ferris Kodera Galloway (amp many more) Acquiring prints and originals from the masters is easy and affordshyable through American Aviation Art Call now 1900950~2233 and order your 3 5 PC diskette screensavercatalog for $795 receive valuable discounts visit us wwwamavartcom (0991)

bull AVIATION INSURANCE bull

All aviation insurance policies are not created equal

Call AVEMCO about Direct Approachreg2000 the new standard in aircraft insurancereg

US and Canada call

800-276-5207 NOl avaiiableill Quebec

CAviMCO~ INSURANCE COMPANY

30 OCTOBER 1996

The Logbook reads

PASSdk BUCK by EE Buck Hilbert EAA21 AC5 PO Box 424 Union IL 60180

Dec 12 1945 Aeronca ChiefN (number missing) Total Time I 05 Private Pilot Flight Exam 35 Solo 30 The Pilots name Harry D Fenton

This is the way it was right at the end ofWW II It was unusual for a student to have more than eight hours dual before solo and in that litshytle length of time he learned to handle an airplane with enough skill to do emergencies a series of seven different stalls spins precision landshyings short and soft field work crosswind work even downwind landing and takeoffs He learned map reading how to use an old E-6-B calshyculator (they called them computers in those days) how to draw a line on the map and do his True Course and then correct for magnetic variation compass deviation wind correction figure his groundspeed and then fly his cross-country

I go back to that time and I knew Harry D Fenton The Fenton name is probably familiar to you cause Harrys son Harry L is the magshyneto guru over at Unison Industries (read Slick) over at Rockford Illinois Harry has done some neat stuff with ignition systems and is alshyways willing to help a fellow pilot or mechanic Unison has that new electronic ignition system installed on Bruce Bohannons Pushy Gashylore that goes around breaking all those time to climb and altitude records

Back to the scenario Heres Harry with his brand new Private Pilot certificate He has a total time of 60 hours and 10 minutes 3955 of this time is solo

His next log entry is December 23rd 1945 and reads 12-23-45 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 120 solo with remarks checking ship and preparing for trip to Florida Lawrence Matheson my first passenger Beloit and Rockford 01-01-46 Aeronca C-3 NCI5290 home to Rockford 30 remarks gas up and start for Florida 01-01-46 Rockford to Lafayette IN 230 Overnight at Purdue U airport 01-02-46 Lafayette to Indianapolis 100 Shank Airport Very nice and friendly - good field 01-03-46 Shank to Ramsey IN 325 Headwind had trouble finding Bush Airport cement runway 01-04-46 Ramsey to Bowling Green Kentucky 245 Bad winds - fog etc very rough 01-04-46 Bowling Green to Nashville Tenn Gillespie Airport nice but sod runways 01-04-46 Nashville to Pelham Tenn 1 453 miles from Pelham in a cove surrounded by mountains too late to make Chattanooga 01-07-46 Pelham Tenn local 30 Clouds and storm forced landing 10 miles from Pelham 01-08-46 Pelham to Winchester Tenn 30 Finally got to University of South airport 01-08-46 Winchester to Chattanooga 55 Clouds near top of mountain at Chattanooga 01-09-46 Chattanooga to Nashville 200 Landed at Berry Field Taxi to Vultee side (looks like he gave up and started home) 01-12-46 Nashville to Bowling Green Kentucky 100 Great to fly at 5700 feet 0112-46 Bowling Green to Louisville 135 Forced to fly at 600 feet account offog 01-12-46 Louisville to Indianapolis 200 Low ceiling 1000 ft with lower scattered 01-13-46 Indianapolis to Villa Grove Illinois 200 Good weather stayed with Burnett 01-13-46 Burnett home to Cooper Airport 10 Ralph rode with me 01-13-46 Cooper to Champain 35 Got tail skid fixed 01-13-46 Champain to Burnetts Farm 030 Landed 30 minutes after sunset Moon up 01-14-46 Burnetts to Dekalb 230 Landed at 515 PM very dark - no moon - bad headwind 01-15-46 Dekalb local and home 45 Landed home at 435 Florida trip finis What an adventure He was enroute 15 days never got to Florida flew through weather that must have been horrible with a 2-cylinder

single ignition engine but loved every minute of it Son Harry added these remarks Dad got his private license in December and a couple ofhours laterfelt ready to make a 2 000 mile round-trip flight to Miami and back in the Cshy

3 He skipped New Years dinner to take off His folks were still angry about this years later The wife ofthe owner ofthe Ramsey Indiana airport wrote to my dadfor a number ofyears after this flight The Pelham Tennessee stop was an interesting one Once dad was on the ground the locals were suspicious he was a revenoor After a while

they got to like him and more or less wouldnt let him leave so that they could entertain him His airplane was one ofthe few contacts the locals had with the outside world Many years later myfamily visited the town on vacation A lot ofpeople hadfond memories ofmy Dads visit

Ralph Burnette was an Army buddy ojDads Ralph was pilot ofa B-17 that was shot down over Germany and spent a good part ofthe War as a POW

The farm where Dad kept the C-3 is still owned by the family The air strip was deactivated years ago due to Commonwealth Edisons wires and surrounding housing development

I guess we were all a little naive in those early postwar days We werent brave or daring we just didnt have much knowledge With all the schooling that the private pilot gets today they still do some dumb things We had an excuse Whats yours

Over to you f(

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Clean IOttrade End the Oil Mess

C-195 Cessna -p

~

Stinsons amp Mallards - Grumman Mallard j

For Round Engine Classics Any Size Radial From PTs to 0-17 Staggerwing Beechcraft

Constellations

Over 300 Clean Kitstrade on radial Our proprietary electric oil scavenging

engines worldwide including and shutoff system is 100 foolproof and

antiques classics warbirds and transports

safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

MISCElLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chromoly tubshying throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Road Belgrade Montana 59714 406388-6069 FAX 406388shy0170 Repair station No QK5R148N (0387)

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

EAA AVIATION CENTER PO box 3086

Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 WEB SITE httpwwweaaorg

E-MAIL Vintage eaaorg PHONE (414) 426-4800

FAX (414) 426-4873 OFFICE HOURS

815-500 mon-fri 1-800-843-3612

MEMBERSHIP DUES TO EAA AND ITS DIVISIONS ARE NOT TAX

DEDUCTIBLE AS CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS

catalog EAA1-800-843-3612

Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

ATTENTION AVIATION ART COLLECTORS Add style class and prestige to your collection by adding a selection from Ferris Kodera Galloway (amp many more) Acquiring prints and originals from the masters is easy and affordshyable through American Aviation Art Call now 1900950~2233 and order your 3 5 PC diskette screensavercatalog for $795 receive valuable discounts visit us wwwamavartcom (0991)

bull AVIATION INSURANCE bull

All aviation insurance policies are not created equal

Call AVEMCO about Direct Approachreg2000 the new standard in aircraft insurancereg

US and Canada call

800-276-5207 NOl avaiiableill Quebec

CAviMCO~ INSURANCE COMPANY

30 OCTOBER 1996

YOU LEARNED TO FLY IN A

WHAT

This is the airp lane that I learned to fly in AeroncaC-3 NC13098 I never flew it solo beshycause I wasnt quite old enough but I learned a lot The floats were Edo 990s probably the smallest size that Edo ever marketed Time and place were summer 1940 at LakeportNew Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee to the left of the dock for the excursion steamer Mt Washington an oldshytime side-wheeler with a walking beam steam engine There was a pulp mill on the other side that required conshystant vigilance for pulpwood that had strayed outside the boom I was 15 that sununer and I worked there for several weeks My inshystructor was Lillian Putnam a college stushydent whose father ran a garage at Newport New Hampshire and a grass airport on the edge of town mostly on weekends I believe she had learned to fly in an Alliance Argo as soon as she was old enough to grip the stick and reach the rudder pedals Together we probably weighed less than 200 pounds

We usually flew in the evening after the passenger hopping was shut down and the other airplanes were secured for the night At first we simply went out on the lake and taxied around and later on whe n we couldnt coax the Aeronca into the air due to excess ive even ing calm we ran about on the step and got soaking wet Some evenings we had a five to ten mile an hour breeze and a bit of a choppy surface and

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 26

by Charles N Trask

NC 31631

were able to head into the wind and take off without incident for a little air work but when we were faced with only a glassy swell a bit of ingenuity was required Alshymost as soon as the takeoff run began there was a feeling as to the possibility of taking off going straight into the wind and the procedure called for a large circle to the left in the first quadrant of the circle a bit of aileron would be fed in in the downshywind quadrant the right float would come out of the water as the left float came up on the step and speed relative to the water would begin to build up as the C-3 comshypleted the circle and came into its own wake at which point the wings would be leveled up and with slight back pressure on the stick the airplane would fly - maybe At times my coordination would be off - or something - and the thing would come down off the s tep and wed go around again in a larger circle just outside the first and then wed fly Failing thi s wed go back to the C-3s tiedown buoy and Id log

a half-hour of taxi practice The rest of my instruction was the same as flying a land plane although landing on a glassy surface is a bit tricky inasmuch as one looks down at the bottom of the lake not at the surface of the water

After the Labor Day weekend the seashyplane operation closed down for the season and the various operators took their airshyplanes home Lillian and I went back to our respective schools I had some 20 or 30 hours of dual in my logbook and when I turned 16 at the end of September I made my first solo flight in a J-2 Cub on wheels The following month I got my private I never flew NC 13098 again but I ran a lot of errands in another C-3 that had a winter enclosure during the 1940-41 winter - even into East Boston (now Logan) several times I ll never sell an Aeronca C-3 short be it on floats wheels or skis 1940 was a very good year for me One more mileshystone was a bit late r - in 1941 [ received my drivers license

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Clean IOttrade End the Oil Mess

C-195 Cessna -p

~

Stinsons amp Mallards - Grumman Mallard j

For Round Engine Classics Any Size Radial From PTs to 0-17 Staggerwing Beechcraft

Constellations

Over 300 Clean Kitstrade on radial Our proprietary electric oil scavenging

engines worldwide including and shutoff system is 100 foolproof and

antiques classics warbirds and transports

safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

MISCElLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chromoly tubshying throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Road Belgrade Montana 59714 406388-6069 FAX 406388shy0170 Repair station No QK5R148N (0387)

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

EAA AVIATION CENTER PO box 3086

Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 WEB SITE httpwwweaaorg

E-MAIL Vintage eaaorg PHONE (414) 426-4800

FAX (414) 426-4873 OFFICE HOURS

815-500 mon-fri 1-800-843-3612

MEMBERSHIP DUES TO EAA AND ITS DIVISIONS ARE NOT TAX

DEDUCTIBLE AS CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS

catalog EAA1-800-843-3612

Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

ATTENTION AVIATION ART COLLECTORS Add style class and prestige to your collection by adding a selection from Ferris Kodera Galloway (amp many more) Acquiring prints and originals from the masters is easy and affordshyable through American Aviation Art Call now 1900950~2233 and order your 3 5 PC diskette screensavercatalog for $795 receive valuable discounts visit us wwwamavartcom (0991)

bull AVIATION INSURANCE bull

All aviation insurance policies are not created equal

Call AVEMCO about Direct Approachreg2000 the new standard in aircraft insurancereg

US and Canada call

800-276-5207 NOl avaiiableill Quebec

CAviMCO~ INSURANCE COMPANY

30 OCTOBER 1996

Fly-In Calendar The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship involvement conshytrol or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please sendthe informashytion to fAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903shy3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date

J M ike Abrahams Des Moines IA Doug J Armstrong Charlotte NC Pau l L Baker Grasonvil le MD Paul Bale Summervi lle SC Eugene R Blair Birchwood WI Howard Bohl Temecu la CA Charles V Boswell Brandywine MD Jon A Braithwaite Moore ID William F Brown Oca la FL Char l ie Buller CaesareaOntario

Canada Carl Burden Sedan KS Garth J Cameron Duned inNew Zealand Lawrence Carlson Solomons MD Charles J Champieux Buffalo MO Charles B Cianchette Pittsfield ME Liane Conway San Mateo CA Leslie C Conwell New Port Richey FL Patricia A Cooke Roanoke TX Rod L Crane Savannah NY James A Dalton E Peoria IL Peter R Davis Wi lmington NC John K Dawson Florence Ms David L De Wolfe Mach ias ME James E Denly Erie CO Joseph E Deruytter Lake Plac id FL Lee Dodd Woodstock GA Greggory L Dohrer Long Vi ew TX Charles D Elms Manteo NC Thure H Er ickson Blaine MN Arthur E Ertel Goshen O H Louis Farhood Fowlervi lle M I David L Fayman Lawrence Ks Pau l R Fedorka Kenai AK Larry G Fischer Waseca MN David M Fischler Elkhorn W I Glynn Frets Ga inesvi lle GA Hargrave Garrison N Yarmouth ME

OCTOBER 9 13 - SAN D IEGO CA - Silver Wings Fraternity National Convention for those who soloed over 25 yea rs ago Open house and Fly- In San Diego A erospace Museum Annex Gillespie Field Pickup at M ontgomery Field and Hanalei Hotel For info ca ll Marian Banks Prophett 619272-79 14 or 800554- 1437

O CTOBER 13 - TOWA NDA PA - Towanda airshyport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat Eggs sa usage pancakes 100 pure maple syrup 7 am - 1 pm

OCT 13 - ZANESVILLE O H - Riverside Airport EAA Chapter 425 and the ARTHRITIS FOUNshyDA TfON Hog Roast 8 am - 5 pm Contact Don Wahl at 614454-0003

OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE SURRY ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In Contact julian C Temple or Peter Edmunds Brooklands Museum Trust 01932857381 or FAX 0 1932855465

New

OCT 18-20 - KERRVILLE TX - Southwes t Regional Fly- In For info ca ll 800221-7958 Vendors should call 2 109 14-3746

OCT 18-20 - GURDON AR - Forest Festival Air Expo Call M ary Burns at 501353-25 14 or FAX 353-4348 for info

O CTOBER 19 - DA YTON OH - Moraine Airpark (173) 11 a m - 4 pm Chili Fly-In Antique Classic and Wacos are all welcome Call 5 13866-2489 for more info

NOV 1-3 - LANCASTER CA - Fox Field National Air Races and EAA Fly-In 1FT races Aerobatics Gee Bee R-2 Long EZ Dash AntiqueClassic aircraft Call 805940-1 709 for info

JANUARY 1 1997 - NAPPANEE IN - EAA Chapter 938 5th annual New Years Day Hangar Over PartyFly- In 11 00 am - 2 pm For info call Fast Eddie Milleman 219546-4997

Members Paul Giebudowsk i Evergreen Park IL Robert Gordon Warner Robins GA Eric W Gray Au rora CO Ronald V Grewell West Carroll ton OH Rodney Hald Burnsvill e MN Roger W Harris Laveen AZ Jon K Heggen Yel low Pine ID H K Herring _ Ashvil le NC Scott C Hersha Cincinnati OH Robert L Horner Boardman OH Terr i L Hull Fort Recovery OH Kathleen L Jaffe Maplewood NJ Colin M Jenkins Houghton M I Thomas Jenkins Fort Worth TX Frank T Johanson Auburn ME Raymond W Johnson Buffalo MN Richard W Johnson Lawton OK James King Indianapol is IN Carole Kr ieghoff Loveland OH Robert Kritz ler Overl and Park Ks Nikita Kushelevsky Livingston TX Edward E Leineweber Lone Rock W I Chris A Manzo Norcross GA Timothy S Manzo Ch icago IL Charles S Maples A lexandria VA Martin Mattingly Frankfort KY Don McC lure Clearwater MN Bruce Mcintyre Campbellvi lle Ontario

Canada Daniel R Mead Aurora IL James M Meisenheimer Frankl in W I Timothy M ickel Scioto Mi lls IL Benjamin R M iller Indianapolis IN Harry M iltner Ellensburg WA All an R Moltzen Jr Menlo Park CA Dav id Money Paremata Porirua

New Zea land Wi lli am B Morr is Holland O H

Bruce R N ield Dumfries VA Steven R Nurnberg Franklin MA Rona ld I Oeh ler Burnsville MN Matthew N O lson Tacoma WA David Oreck New O rleans LA Christopher Pajak Minneapoli s MN Philip W Partee Vero Beech FL Wil lard E Perkins Plainfield IL Peter Petersen IV Chesterl and OH Jim Pou lter Chelsea MI Ian Q uinn Hong Kong Peter D Rawl inson Crossville IL Jean Pierre Riendeau Granby PQ Canada John B Robertson Mount Clemens MI R Malcolm Rose Port MacQuarie Australia Louis J Schmidt Anaheim CA Patrick H Sea le Winona MN Daniel senseman Terre Haute IN Jeffrey C Smith Asheboro NC Samuel V Smith Arlington VA Timothy E Smith Livermore CA Benjamin H Stevens E W indsor NJ Jera ld D Stewart Jr Dal las TX Fred St ite ler Windsor CT Ei ichiro sugita Ushh iku -shi Ibaragi Japan Diran Torigian Jr Simi Valley CA Bernard T Trudeau M id lothian TX M ichael J Turok Norfolk VA Ca lvin E Wal lace 51 Louis MO Donald D Wa ll s Yorba Linda CA Nancy D W alsh Rochester MN Lin Watkins Colorado Spri ngs CO Adam W Weber Hast ings MN Bri tton C Weldon Haymarket VA Dr Gary Weller Ash land MA Dona ld M Wil liamson Bea leton VA Charles Za loom Washington DC

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Clean IOttrade End the Oil Mess

C-195 Cessna -p

~

Stinsons amp Mallards - Grumman Mallard j

For Round Engine Classics Any Size Radial From PTs to 0-17 Staggerwing Beechcraft

Constellations

Over 300 Clean Kitstrade on radial Our proprietary electric oil scavenging

engines worldwide including and shutoff system is 100 foolproof and

antiques classics warbirds and transports

safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

MISCElLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chromoly tubshying throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Road Belgrade Montana 59714 406388-6069 FAX 406388shy0170 Repair station No QK5R148N (0387)

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

EAA AVIATION CENTER PO box 3086

Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 WEB SITE httpwwweaaorg

E-MAIL Vintage eaaorg PHONE (414) 426-4800

FAX (414) 426-4873 OFFICE HOURS

815-500 mon-fri 1-800-843-3612

MEMBERSHIP DUES TO EAA AND ITS DIVISIONS ARE NOT TAX

DEDUCTIBLE AS CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS

catalog EAA1-800-843-3612

Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

ATTENTION AVIATION ART COLLECTORS Add style class and prestige to your collection by adding a selection from Ferris Kodera Galloway (amp many more) Acquiring prints and originals from the masters is easy and affordshyable through American Aviation Art Call now 1900950~2233 and order your 3 5 PC diskette screensavercatalog for $795 receive valuable discounts visit us wwwamavartcom (0991)

bull AVIATION INSURANCE bull

All aviation insurance policies are not created equal

Call AVEMCO about Direct Approachreg2000 the new standard in aircraft insurancereg

US and Canada call

800-276-5207 NOl avaiiableill Quebec

CAviMCO~ INSURANCE COMPANY

30 OCTOBER 1996

Clean IOttrade End the Oil Mess

C-195 Cessna -p

~

Stinsons amp Mallards - Grumman Mallard j

For Round Engine Classics Any Size Radial From PTs to 0-17 Staggerwing Beechcraft

Constellations

Over 300 Clean Kitstrade on radial Our proprietary electric oil scavenging

engines worldwide including and shutoff system is 100 foolproof and

antiques classics warbirds and transports

safe This kit is cockpit-controlled with guarded switches and annunciation lights 12- and 24-volt systems available

Custom engineering is our specialty Darton International Inc Clean Kittrade is eligible for field approval264 Trade Street 1t101

using standard 337 process for all cateshySan Marcos CA 92069 gories of aircraft 800-713-2786

619-471-9304 FAX copy Darton International Inc 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

MISCElLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chromoly tubshying throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Road Belgrade Montana 59714 406388-6069 FAX 406388shy0170 Repair station No QK5R148N (0387)

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

EAA AVIATION CENTER PO box 3086

Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 WEB SITE httpwwweaaorg

E-MAIL Vintage eaaorg PHONE (414) 426-4800

FAX (414) 426-4873 OFFICE HOURS

815-500 mon-fri 1-800-843-3612

MEMBERSHIP DUES TO EAA AND ITS DIVISIONS ARE NOT TAX

DEDUCTIBLE AS CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS

catalog EAA1-800-843-3612

Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

ATTENTION AVIATION ART COLLECTORS Add style class and prestige to your collection by adding a selection from Ferris Kodera Galloway (amp many more) Acquiring prints and originals from the masters is easy and affordshyable through American Aviation Art Call now 1900950~2233 and order your 3 5 PC diskette screensavercatalog for $795 receive valuable discounts visit us wwwamavartcom (0991)

bull AVIATION INSURANCE bull

All aviation insurance policies are not created equal

Call AVEMCO about Direct Approachreg2000 the new standard in aircraft insurancereg

US and Canada call

800-276-5207 NOl avaiiableill Quebec

CAviMCO~ INSURANCE COMPANY

30 OCTOBER 1996

The Board ofDirectors of Ocean ReefClub Key Largo Florida

cordially invites you to attend

ThE 3RD ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND

December 6th7th and 8th 1996 Honoring classic conveyances by air land and sea

~ and including ~

The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in The Concourse dElegance ofAutomobiles

------- ~~ =

The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous

RS VP Participation includes welcoming cocktail Many Kilby - (305) 367-5874 party in a private home Friday evming

Satin-day day-long celebration ofboatsby November 1st cmS and planes gmuine Maine lobstershy

Because Ocean Reef Club is a private bake Saturday roming Ivith special guest elub The Vintage Weekend is open only Maine humorist Tim Sample mvards to members and invited guests staying and fmmiddoteWelllrreakfast Sunday moming

$150 per pmonin the Inn or Marina

OCEAN REEF CLUBmiddot

31 O C E A N R E EF D RI V E S U ITE C-300 bull K E Y LAR G O FL O RIDA 33037

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

MISCElLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chromoly tubshying throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Road Belgrade Montana 59714 406388-6069 FAX 406388shy0170 Repair station No QK5R148N (0387)

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

EAA AVIATION CENTER PO box 3086

Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 WEB SITE httpwwweaaorg

E-MAIL Vintage eaaorg PHONE (414) 426-4800

FAX (414) 426-4873 OFFICE HOURS

815-500 mon-fri 1-800-843-3612

MEMBERSHIP DUES TO EAA AND ITS DIVISIONS ARE NOT TAX

DEDUCTIBLE AS CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS

catalog EAA1-800-843-3612

Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

ATTENTION AVIATION ART COLLECTORS Add style class and prestige to your collection by adding a selection from Ferris Kodera Galloway (amp many more) Acquiring prints and originals from the masters is easy and affordshyable through American Aviation Art Call now 1900950~2233 and order your 3 5 PC diskette screensavercatalog for $795 receive valuable discounts visit us wwwamavartcom (0991)

bull AVIATION INSURANCE bull

All aviation insurance policies are not created equal

Call AVEMCO about Direct Approachreg2000 the new standard in aircraft insurancereg

US and Canada call

800-276-5207 NOl avaiiableill Quebec

CAviMCO~ INSURANCE COMPANY

30 OCTOBER 1996

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $35 for one year including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership

ANTIQUECLASSIC Current EAA members may join the Antique Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIRshyPLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year EAA Membership VINTAGE AIRPLANE magshyazine and one year membership in the EAA AntiqueClassic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVlATION magazine not included)

Something to buy sell or trade An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part 40cent per word $600 minimum charge Send your ad and payment to Vintage Trader fAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 or fax your ad and your credit card number to 414426-4828 Ads must be received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following lteg October 20th for the December issue)

lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club Inc Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 per year EAA Membership SPORT AEROBATICS magashyzine and one year membership in the lAC Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WARshyBIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year EAA Membership WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included)

AIRCRAFT

1950 CaliAir A2 Rare one of 36 STOL 150 Lycoming 620 SCMOH 100 hrs since complete AF rebuild 315677-9900 (1101)

MISCElLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chromoly tubshying throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Road Belgrade Montana 59714 406388-6069 FAX 406388shy0170 Repair station No QK5R148N (0387)

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos How to building and restoration tips historic flying and entertainment titles Call for a free

WANTED-SPARTAN EXECUTIVE 7W stabilizshyer tips or any related 7W parts Anything youve got interiorexterior Please call Ed 201288-4775

A Life in the Clouds - Written by retired Eastern Captain John Anderson An interesting story about Aviation Cadets crop dusting flyshying as a fighter pilot and flying for the airlines 388 pages $1995 + $200 shipping IL resishydents add $145 sales tax Order from Jean Anderson 605 West Spring St South Elgin IL 60177

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine lor an additional $18 per year EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATlON magazine not included)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine andor $6 postage for any of the other magazines

EAA AVIATION CENTER PO box 3086

Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 WEB SITE httpwwweaaorg

E-MAIL Vintage eaaorg PHONE (414) 426-4800

FAX (414) 426-4873 OFFICE HOURS

815-500 mon-fri 1-800-843-3612

MEMBERSHIP DUES TO EAA AND ITS DIVISIONS ARE NOT TAX

DEDUCTIBLE AS CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS

catalog EAA1-800-843-3612

Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper Heath Pitts Duster Triplane Plans $52 Brochure $3 P O Box 39 Townville SC 29689 (0400)

Freshly Minted Aeronca hubcaps and metal placardslabel plates SASE for information 7 AC Specialties 835 New London Turnpike Stonington CT 06378 (1004)

ATTENTION AVIATION ART COLLECTORS Add style class and prestige to your collection by adding a selection from Ferris Kodera Galloway (amp many more) Acquiring prints and originals from the masters is easy and affordshyable through American Aviation Art Call now 1900950~2233 and order your 3 5 PC diskette screensavercatalog for $795 receive valuable discounts visit us wwwamavartcom (0991)

bull AVIATION INSURANCE bull

All aviation insurance policies are not created equal

Call AVEMCO about Direct Approachreg2000 the new standard in aircraft insurancereg

US and Canada call

800-276-5207 NOl avaiiableill Quebec

CAviMCO~ INSURANCE COMPANY

30 OCTOBER 1996

Whats A Comet Made Of

Fly high with a quality Classic interior Complete interior assemblies for do-it-yourself installation

Custom quality at economical prices

bull Cushion upholstery sets bull Wall panel sets bull Headliners bull Carpet sets bull Baggage compartment sets bull Firewall covers bull Seat slings bull Recover envelopes and dopes

Free catalog of complete product line

Fabric Selection Guide showing actual sample colors and styles of materials $300

oieJIRODUCTS INC lei i I

259 Lower Morrisville Rd Dept VA ~Fallsington PA 19054 (215) 295-4115

DoLY-FmER plusr genius perseverence dedication perspiration and a love of classic aircraft

Geoffrey de Havilland designed the Comet racer in 1Y34 A few years later it became the phenomenal Mosquito fighter-bomber

Tom Wathens replica chose Poly-Fiber for its

easy application and unrishyvaled curability and PolyshyTone because it recreated the satin finish of the 30s

Try it yourself at one of our Learn-to-Cover Workshyshops held nationwide Theyre hands on and just $150 a person And look for us at the Oshkosh and Lakeland fly-ins too

Oct 10 thru 13 Nov 2 amp 3 Dec 7 amp 8 Mesa AZ ChinoCA EI Caion CA

Customer Service 800-361-3490

Other Stuff 909-684-4280 Post Office Box 3129

Riverside California 92519 ffHflfiFormerly Stits Aircraft Coatings

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31

William I OBrien

First flight on 9th Birthday in a 1936

Aeronca PC-3

1952 graduate of Air Force Flight Training

Former New York Air Guard

Purchased Swift aircraft in 1986

EAA - AntiqueClassic member

Fly In at Key Largo

tgratuotio(0 11

fROM AUA INC

To become an

EAA Antique amp

Classic Division

Member call

800-843-3612

Marge and I purchased the Swift 1 0

years ago and because we were

EAA members discovered AUAs

excellent aircraft coverage Our

association with AUA is great The

people are helpful and friendly The

premiums are reasonable and fit the

needs of the AntiqueC lassic division

of aircraft - Bill O Brien

The best is affordable

Give AUA a call - its FREE

800-727-3823 Fly with the prosfly with AUA Inc

AUAs Exclusive EAA AntiqueClassic Division Insurance Program

Lower liability and hull premiums

Medical payments included

Fleet discounts for multiple aircraft carrying all risk coverages

N o hand-propping exclusion

No age penalty

No component parts endorsements

Discounts for claim-free renewals carryJng all risk coverages

Remember Were Setter Togetherl

AVIATION UNLIMITED AGENCY

COMAV working with AUA Inc has the broad knowledge it takes to cover the specialized needs of antique

and classic aircraft pJots COMAV coverage is backed by SAFECO InslITance one of Americas most trusted

companies with an A++ rating from AM Best For more about OlIT unique programs contact your aviation

specialist Or if youre an EAA member call AUA at 800-727-3823 Remember were better together

COMAV working with AUA Inc has the broad knowledge it takes to cover the specialized needs of antique

and classic aircraft pJots COMAV coverage is backed by SAFECO InslITance one of Americas most trusted

companies with an A++ rating from AM Best For more about OlIT unique programs contact your aviation

specialist Or if youre an EAA member call AUA at 800-727-3823 Remember were better together