Vintage Airplane - Feb 2006

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Feb 2006

1/44


2/44

G

F

RUA

VOL. 34 , No. 2 2006

ON

TENTS

1 Straight

and

Level

by Geo

ff

Robison

2 VAA News

5 Aeromail

6

A Silver Eagle

A biogra

ph

y o f E.M. "Ma

tt

y" Laird

by

Robert G. Elli ott and Ed Escallon

2 VAA Hall of Fame

200S Inductee Richard

W.

K

nu t

son

by H.G. Frautschy

4

Perfecting Perfection:

To ny S

mith 's

Ultimate

Jungme

ister

by Budd Davisson

9 An Annual Gat

hering

of Howards

at Hayward, Wisconsin

The beasts visit

th

e No

rth

woods

by Sparky Barnes Sa rgent

25 2005 Tulsa Fly -In

Se ptember 16-1

7,

200S

by Char lie Harris

3 Pass

It

to Buck

More

too

ling a ro

und

by Bu ck Hilbert

32 The

Vintage Instructor

Isn 't thi s fun ?

by Doug Stewa rt

STAFF

EAA Pub

li

sher Tom Poberezny

34 Mystery Plane

EAA

Editor-in-Chief

Scott Spangler


3/44

GEOFF ROBISON

PRESIDENT VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

o

the

past

and

to

the

future

By now you have

all

had the

opportunity to read and

enjoy

the January Vintage

magazine. I

am

excited

about what the added

content has done for

this truly

wonderful

publication. Kudos to

H.G.

and

all

involved.

As

good

as

I

think this publication

is,

it

re

mains critically important

that

we

all appreciate

the

challenges be

fore us to

continue

this

initiative

and step forward to spoon-feed the

EAA

Vintage movement with inter

esting ideas

and

technical articles

to

make

it

even

better.

Be

assured

that

your Vintage Aircraft Associa

tion greatly appreciates whatever

efforts

the

membership

may pro

vide to this

important

initiative.

More than a dozen of my good

friends

and

I were privileged

to

attend

the 3rd Annual Wright

Memorial

Dinner at Oshkosh on

December 17th for the

celebration

of the 102nd anniversary of flight.

With

well

more

than 200

avia

tion

enthusiasts in attendance, we

were all enthralled with

the

pre

rience

www.wrightexperience.com).

I

and

my friends, I'm sure, had

prepared

ourselves to

hear

about

Scott's

long and exciting career

as a test pilot and his experiences

in flying the

North

American X-

IS

with

NACA/NASA s

hypersonic

flight

program

from

the

1960s.

Be assured,

there was not

a

hint of

disappointment amongst

all

of these friends

when

Scott

began telling his tales

about

the

cha

llenges he

took on

in engag

ing

himself in this once -in-a

lifetime

opportunity.

I

personally

will

never

forget

sitting on

that

hill at Kitty Hawk, North

Caro

lina, on that

rainy and

cold De

cember

day in 2003,

awaiting the

rollout of the 2003 Wright FLyer.

And

then

watching it fly for a mi

crosecond

in

time and then

flop

into that

mud-covered

field

at

the

base

of the Wright Brothers

National Memoria

l monument.

As disappointing

as that sounds,

you really had to be there

to

feel

the excitement in the air

among

excitement

of that

day in 2003,

and

the

emotion

of

that moment

came rushing

back

to my mind.

Then, to hear Scott explain in

great

detail the challenges he and

the team of pilots faced in prep

aration

for

that

event

over two

years ago proved to be not

only

entertaining, but

also fundamen

tal to

understanding

the real chal

lenges

they

faced that cold

and

rainy December

day in 2003. Scott

showed the audience a number of

video cl ips that

were

shot during

their

training, and

one

of

them

of

particular interest

showed

the

venerable test pilot

at

the controls

of the

1902 Wright

Glider being

towed by a van .

When

the aircraft suddenly

pitched

forward, it struck the

ground

with

such

force

that

Scott

was

physically

pitched out

of

the

front of

the

machine

into

the

grass

and

on

his

back side. Now,

Scott was 82

years

old when this

happened, and it was

amazing

to

watch him jump right up,

dust

http:///reader/full/www.wrightexperience.comhttp:///reader/full/www.wrightexperience.com


4/44

CALLING

ALL

WAYPOINTS

Get noticed on the

EAA

AirVenture website

Every year,

many

facilities pro

vide special offers to EAA mem

bers on their flights to and from

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. We col

lect

listings of these valuable

of

fers and place

them together on

the

EAA

AirVenture

website as a

convenience

to

those

planning a

flight to the World's Greatest Avia

tion

Celebration .

If you'd like your facility to be

among

the

waypoints , FBOs, and

others

listed

on the

EAA

AirVen

ture website, please

send

us

your

information, including name

of

business, airport, phone number,

e-mail address,

and

any special of

fers you'd like to announce. Send to

[email protected] and then watch

for it

on

www airventure

.org.

EAA

AIRVENTURE RIDESHARE

Looking

for

a ride, or have a

spare right seat for Oshkosh? Visit

www.airventure.org

rideshare.

CUTTING MEDICAL

CERTIFICATE BACKLOG

Pilots

would

see

improved

re

sponse times to their medical

certification and

special-issuance

applications if the

FAA

adopts

EAA-

proposed policy

and

process

changes. In a letter and supporting

Sport Pilot Q&A

Q

.

am flying with a special issuance

of

my third class medical

under Title 14

of

the

CFRs

Section

67 401

I desire to transi

tion to

sport

pilot status What is required

of

me to do this?

Your

transition is simple Simply let your

FAA

medical certificate

expire, at which time you automatically switch to

sport

pilot

op-

erations using your valid U.S. state driver'S license in lieu of the

medical certificate. Remember that you need to restrict yourself to exer

Cising only sport pilot privileges and limitations while using your driver 's

license in lieu of a medical certificate, and you are allowed to fly only air

craft

that

fit within the definition

of

a light-sport aircraft (LSA).

You

also

need to continue to keep your flight review current.

A:

or more

inform ation about operating an

aircraft that

qualifies as an LSA please

visit

www sportpilot org/faq

active

aeromedical

examiners

and

volunteer their time to advise and as-

sist on medical issues affecting pilots.

These highly qualified individu

als,

who

are well recognized

within

the aeromedical field, have the ex

pertise and experience to address

the issues

and

develop practical

recommendations and solutions,

Poberezny said.

Poberezny

noted

that, during EAA

AirVenture Oshkosh 200S last July,

the

medical-certification backlog

was the most commonly mentioned

topic

by pilots during

the annual

Meet the Administrator session. Po

berezny

commended

the

FAA

for re

sponding to

EAA

members' appeal

tions addressing all phases

of

the

process,

including

enhancing the

quality of data input, minimizing

or

eliminating

delays in the mul

tiple steps in

the

certification

path

way,

reducing

the input burden to

the [FAA s] Aerospace Medical Cer

tification Division through the del

egation of authority to aeromedical

examiners

[AMEs],

and pursuing

other measures.

EAA

cites a survey that indicates

94

percent of

AMEs are

willing

to

take on additional training and re

sponSibility

to

address

the

problem.

The EAA Aeromedical

Coun

cil has done outstanding work in

outlining

the

current situation and

mailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp://www.airventure.org/ridesharehttp://www.airventure.org/ridesharehttp://www.airventure.org/ridesharehttp://www.sportpilot.org/faqmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp://www.airventure.org/ridesharehttp://www.sportpilot.org/faq


5/44

ing adventure of your life: building

your

own aircraft. Workshops

for

this location include Introduction

to

Aircraft Building; Composite

Construction;

Sheet

Metal Basics;

Fabric Covering; and Electrical Sys-

tems

and

Avionics.

Holding our workshop program

at a location like

the

Michigan Insti

tute

of

Aviation

and

Technology is a

real benefit for EAA members, said

Charlie Becker, director

of

SportAir

Workshops. They get to learn

the

ba

sic homebuilding skills in a first-class

environment so their entire focus can

be on the hands-on training.

If you have any questions, or to get

the full 2006 schedule, call 800-967

5746 toll-free or visit

www sportair org

UPD TE

IRCR FT

REGISTR TION INFORM TION

DE DLINE

W S

FEBRU RY

1

Even though the

deadl ine

has passed, just

in

case you've

missed it,

you

should immedi

ately ensure that your aircraft's

registration

record

is

accurate

and

reflects

the

correct name

and current

address.

As

EAA

reported in early Decem

ber,

the

FAA

announced

on Decem

ber 9 that it is asking aircraft owners

to check their registration records

online to ensure the accuracy

of

the

information.

The

FAA

and TSA be

lieve it

is

in

the

interests

of

national

security and aviation safety to en

sure

that

only properly

registered

aircraft operate within

the

National

Airspace System NAS). The vast ma

jority

of aircraft

owners

are up to

you need

to make

a correction, go

to

www.faa.gov/licensesJertificates /

a rcrafCcertification/a ircrafCregistry/

change_of-address/

and

follow the

change-of-address procedures.

Also inspect

th

Aircraft De

scription information.

Look

for

the Status in the right

column.

If i t

says Valid,

then your

records

are okay-the information was ver

ified within

the

last three years.

If the entry says

In question or

Undel

Tri*,

then yo u need

to

call

the

FAA registry office

at

866

762-9434

or

visit

www faa gov/

I cen ses _certificates/a ircrafccerti

fication/aircrafCregistry/contacC

aircrafCcertification to determine

what you need

to

do.

continued on page 39

Prefer

Grass Runways

Here s some help.

s an

E

member (an important part

of

your

V

membership),

you

can use the E Flight Planner to chart your trip. Just click on the E

Flight Planner link on the left side of the home pages at www.eaa.orgor

www vintageaircraft. org.

s

an added bonus, we have a handy list of airports in the United that

have grass runways and fuel service, compiled by V member Kris

Kor-

tokrax. First published

in

2004

the list has been reviewed and updated

this winter by Kris, and is organized alphabetically and by sectional

chart. Kris also includes airports that have grass and paved surfaces.

The

list is available as a

PDF

download at www.vintageaircraft.org.

Kris flies a variety of old biplanes that are more pleasant to fly when

http:///reader/full/www.sportair.orghttp://www.faa.gov/licensesJertificateshttp:///reader/full/www.faa.govhttp://www.eaa.orgor/http:///reader/full/www.vintageaircraft.orghttp:///reader/full/www.sportair.orghttp://www.faa.gov/licensesJertificateshttp:///reader/full/www.faa.govhttp://www.eaa.orgor/http:///reader/full/www.vintageaircraft.org


6/44

Friends of

the Red

Barn Campaign

Many

services are

provided

to

vintage

aircraft

en

thusiasts

at

EAA

AirVentu re

Oshkosh.

From

parking

airplanes to feeding

people

at the Tall Pines Cafe

and

Red Barn,

more than 400 volunteers do

it all.

Some

may ask,

If

vol

unte

ers are providing the services,

where is th

e expense?"

Glad

you

asked.

The

scooters for

the

flightline crew

need

repair

and

batteries,

and the

Red Barn

needs

paint,

new

windowsills,

updated

wiring,

and other

sundry

repairs, plus we love

to

care for

our vo

lunt

eers

with

spec ial

recognition

caps

and

a pizza

par

t

y. The

list really cou ld go

on and

on, but

no

matter how

many

expenses we

can point out, the need remains

constant.

The

Friend s

of the

Red Barn

fund helps pay

for

the VAA

expenses

at EAA

AirVenture,

and is

a cru

cial

part

of

the

Vintage Aircraft Association budget.

Please help

the VAA and

our 400-plus

dedicated

volunteers make this an

un

forgettable experie

nc

e for

our

many EAA

AirVenture guests. We've made it

even

more

fun

to

give

this

year,

with more

giv ing levels

to

fit

each person s

budget,

and more

inte r

esting

activi

ties for

donors to

be a

part

of.

Your contribution now really does

make

a differ

ence.

There

are six levels

of

gifts

and

gift

recognition

.

Thank

you

for

whatever you can

do.

Here are some of

th

e many activities

the

Friends of

the

Red Barn

fund

underwrites:

• Red Barn nformation Desk Supplies

• Participant Plaques and Supplies

• Toni's Red Carpet Express Repairs

and

Radios

• Caps for VAA Volunteers

• Pizza Party for VAA Volunteers

• Flightline Parking Scooters and Supplies

• Breakfast for Past Grand Champions

• Volunteer Booth Administrative Supplies

• Membership Booth Administrative Supplies

• Signs Throughout the Vintage Area

• Red Barn

and

Other Buildings' Maintenance

• And More

Thank-You Items

by Level

Name Listed:

Vintage, Web

& Sign at

Red Barn

Donor

Appreciation

Certificate

Access to

Volunteer

Center

Special

FORB

Badge

Two Passes

to VAA

Volunteer

Party

Special

FORB

Cap

Breakfast

at

Tall Pines

Cafe

Tri-Motor

Ride

Certificate

Two Tickets

to

VAA

Picnic

Close Auto

Parking

Diamond , $1,000

X X

X

X X

X

2 People/ Full

Wk

2 Tickets X Full Week

Platinum, $750 X X

X X X X

2 People/Full

Wk

2 Tickets X 2 Days

Gold, $500

X X X X X X

1 Person/Full

Wk

1 Ticket

Silver, $250

X X

X X X X

Bronze

100

X X

X

X

Loyal Supporter,

$99 &

Under

X X

-

VAA

Friends

of

the

Red

Barn

Name

EAA

# VAA #

_

Address _


7/44

After reading

about

the Lockheed

Altair/

Orion in this month's

Vintage I just had to

dig out

two

slides that

I

took of

that

very

air

plane at the Mantz

fa

cility in California back

in May 23, 1968. It car

ried

Reg.

No. NC12222,

sin

180.

Occasionally

I

would

learn

that

it

was sold

at

auction to someone in

New

Hampshire,

where

i t

stayed in storage for

quite some time, and

then

was eventually

sold

to

Swissair,

and

fi

nally

after

a beautiful

restoration was put on

display at the transpor-

tation museum in

Lucerne.

In October 1991, I

had the

good

fortune to

be

invited

to speak on

Charles A. Lindbergh, in Lucerne, Switzerland,

at the

41st Interline Sales

Marketing Conference.

As soon

as I

had some

free

time

I

visited

the

transportation

museum there, and low

and

behold, there was

that

very

Lockheed again,

all

done

up

in

bright

red. I t had

been restored

to

flying condition,

and flown,

and

was just gorgeous.

So I am enclosing

both the

slides and

IT S A SWALLOW!

In

the

last Reminiscing With Big

Nick story Uanuary 2006], you asked,

"What is

it?"

on

page

9.

Well,

as

I

am

a

connoisseur

of Swallow airplanes,

I picked right up on this one. I t is

the near to the last Swallow built on

the

1927

model

airframe.

The

1927

model Swallows ATC 21,50, and 51)

were assigned serial numbers 801 and

on.

They were first advertised in No

vember 1926 and built

through

1930.

No Swallow production list has been

discovered, but I have gleaned the old

registration lists and recorded most

of

them.

The highest

serial

number

found

is

1042, NC430N, built in Feb-

ruary 1930 and powered by a Wright

]-6-7. It was built under Group 2

Ap-

proval, 2-186.

10283

caught

my eye

on

the list

by

having

Swallow serial

number

1-R. I obtained its record from

the

FAA

to

see if I could determine

what

model it was. The record shows that

i t is a standard Hisso-powered Swal

low (like ATC 50), but in place of the

USA

27 airfoil, the Clark Y was used.

This photo of 10283 is the only

one

that

I have seen. It shows

that

it is

definitely a Swallow. There appears to

be a little "customizing." The landing

gear legs are covered and the radiator

header tank has been moved from

the upper front of the engine cowl to

the firewall, like the OX-5.

10283 was registered to Bruce E.


8/44

A biography of

E.M

. Matty

Lai

rd

y

ROBERT

G

ELLIOTT

AND ED ESCALLON

September

of 1910,

a 14-year-old lad

of Scottish descent

stood with a crowd

I

Nof

other

curious spec

tators overlooking the Grant Park

area of Chicago.

Soon Walter Brookins, an early

Wright brothers-trained civilian pilot,

took to

the

air in a Wright

Flyer

giv

ing the Windy City its first aeroplane

demonstration. Intently watching the

flight, Emil Matthew Matty Laird

tried to take

in

every

motion and

sensation of

the

biplane

as

it

roared

slowly across the city's skyline.

The flight ended, but its impact

would profoundly affect Chicago.

From

the

early pioneering develop

ments

of its local citizens

through

Matty Laird

sat for

Robert

Elliott

in his home at

on

20 1976. He had

been

sorting

through files making a selection of

his

photo-

graphs to be used in the illustration of this article. Behind on a mobile

stand

is

his

old engine from the Baby Biplane.

passed away in 1909, and to support

his

mother, two

younger

brothers,

and a sister, Matty had gone to work

in the First National Bank

of

Chi

cago as an office boy. Consequently,

his formal education had terminated

with the eighth grade.

farm implement fame backed the

for-

mation

of

the

Aero Club of Illinois.

The Aero Club served to concentrate

interest

and

efforts in developing

flying machines. Octave Chanute

became its first preSident. The en

thusiastic secretary, Harold Robbins,


9/44

Using a ramp

or

the launch, it wasn t

long before he was making brief flights

down the Chicago streets .

much

to

the distress of the nearby school

principal .

who

couldn t get his

students back into class following

these demonstrations.

Matty, on the left, prepares to launch

a

rubber

band-powered

model

airplane

while

his

friend

looks on.

Glenn

Martin

, Max Lillie, DeUoyd

Thompson, Katherine Stinson (the

first

of the Stinson

family

to

learn

to fly , Chance Vought, Ole Flottorp

(the propeller manufacturer), Charles

Day, Matty and his model Aero Club

Young

Matty s mind

was

fonning the shape of

things

to come while watching a

Wright Flyer Model give Chicago

its

irst

look

at

man

in

the

air.

friends Buck Weaver, Charles Arens,

and

later arrivals Ot to Timm

and

Ed

die Stinson, as well as many others.

Consequently, with activity every

where on the field, as well as com

petitive events such as the Air Meet

of 1911, a challenging environment

developed, which proved to be most

perfect for

the

course Matty had cho

r

sen

to

follow.

'

:5 Not

all

of the

creations

coming

out of Cicero were successful. Some

; ;; were

monstrosities

... like the Um

brella Plane,

which

hopped

about

like a kangaroo , attempting

to

be


10/44

COURTESY E M MAny L IRD

The Baby Biplane lifts off the ground with Matty

at

the controls.

This

was

his irst version

of this

Baby

Bi

plane

with the

squared

-

off wingtips.

The

third

version of

the

Baby

Biplane. Outer wingtips and

stabilize

r

surfaces were now curved. In addition near where

his

hand is rest-

ing

was the bolted

coupling that

allowed the

fuselage to be

divided

for

shipment

in cr

ates to

various exhibition

sites

.

forts began to show real promise, as

he began to win

the

model competi

tions. Even in the bank, his designs

didn't

go

unnoticed.

An embarrass

ing incident of a rise-off-the-ground

model airplane launched in the lobby

and

landed upstairs near

one

of the

corporate officers. This model flight

netted him cash orders for 20 more,

to be used as Christmas presents,

rather than disciplinary action.

When Matty felt he'd gathered suf

ficient knowledge from his models to

know what was involved in manned

flight, he set about building a glider to

be mounted about his bicycle. Using

a ramp for

the

launch, he was

soon

making brief flights down the Chi

cago streets much to the distress

of the nearby school principal

who

couldn't get his

students

back into

class following these demonstrations.

By late 1912, Matty had begun con

struction of a powered

monoplane.

He

located a 12-hp Franklin automo

taught him reverse reac

tions to what was required

in a normally rigged flying

machine.

After a series

of

ground runs, Matty finally

decided

the time had come

for a flight. He released

the

blip switch on the engine,

and the small craft acceler

ated smartly.

When things

Matty

seated

proudly in the cockpit of his Baby

Bi-

began to feel right, Matty,

plane. Note the oil tank he mounted directly

above

having little

idea

of

the

the

engine

a

llow

i

ng

controlled amounts of

oil

to

sensitivity required, hauled

be fed

into

the

engine thus helping to prevent

ex-

back on the wheel abruptly

cessive oil

from

floodi

ng

the

upper cylinder areas

and was surprised

when

and fouling

the

spark

plugs.

the little monoplane leaped

into the air. With

the end of the field,

and the

power lines, coming up fast,

he wisely avoided attempting a turn,

but

his

subsequent over-control

on

touchdown ended

the

flight

some

what

unceremoniously

as the flying

machine went over on its back.

In later flights Matty taught himself

the basics of controlling the aircraft

had been doubtful as

to

the

12-hp

monoplane'S ability to fly were quite

surprised when

the

performance of

the

Baby Biplane exceeded

many of

their own aeroplanes with three times

the

power. As a mark

of

excellence

even by today's standards, this craft's

weight, when empty, was

only

375

pounds. Its outstanding performance


11/44

The famous Anzani powered Boneshaker. This

early

exhibition plane

proved

most

s

uccessful

and

permitted

Matty

to

build a

respected

name for

himseH

through

his

exhibition flights.

ceeded by a larger two-place

biplane design called

the

Boneshaker,

intended

pri

marily for exhibition aer

obatics. A

notable

feature

was the automatic massage

that

occupants

received

from the Anzani radial en

gine. Performance was out

standing, however,

and

it

was in this craft

that

Matty

Interior of

early

construction area showing Matty s

instructed the first loop-the

shipping crate

s for

the Baby Biplane

,

stacked in

the

right

com

er.

Matty was

on

that leave of absence

until the day he died.

Flying

engagements soon took

Matty and his friend-mechanic Weaver

all over the Central and Rocky Moun

tain states. Aerial photography, night

flying with flares

on the

aeroplane,

loop-the-loops .

. .

all soon became a

standard part of his repertoire.

The

Baby Biplane was

modified

three times in successive years, with

small

improvements

added

to

the

loop in

the

United States.

Matty lent the

Bone-

shaker

to

Katherine Stinson for

the

first tour of an aeroplane inJapan and

China,

and

his creation became

an

in

ternational thriller overnight.

Success followed Matty from one

engagement to another, as his fame

as a

youthful

aviator was

broadcast

by the newspapers of the day. Head

lines featured

him

as liThe Fearless

Scotch Aviator.

Tragedy struck in San Antonio,

Texas, during March 1917.

Matty

Stinson's tour. Soon after these flights

the government placed a ban

on

all ci-

vilian flying due to the United States'

involvement in World War

I

Matty

returned

then

to Chicago to enter

St

Luke's Hospital for further corrective

surgery to correct deficiencies result

ing from the San Antonio crash.

After his release from this second

hospitalization, Matty concentrated

his efforts to build the Model S Sport

Plane he

had

designed in 1916 after

the close of his exhibition tour.

He

sold

several of them, including one to

Bill

Burke, a Buick-Franklin dea ler from

Oklahoma. Burke was

so

pleased with

the aeroplane that he talked his friend

Jake

Mollendick, an oilman

from

Wichita, Kansas, into offering a finan

cial arrangement in order to establish

manufacturing facilities in Wichita.

The offer was attractive

to

Matty,

so

he

packed

up and

moved, bring

ing his younger brother Charley and

Wa lter Weber with him. Both Charley

and Walter were employed in the pro


12/44

The laird Swallow that was flown by

Shorty

Schroeder on a nationwide

tour

for the

Underwriters laboratories in 1921 to promote the regis

tration

of

aircraft.

This

laird

was

the

first

registered

aircraft

in

the

United

States.

able in that locality and tained within both a grain grader and

aircraft

building talents a wheat show building. To highlight

were hardly commonplace

the new

company,

a Model S was

among the local citizens.

placed on display in the Forum Mu

Matty S new factory nicipal Building during the

annual

was

described

as

being

wheat show.

A laird

Model

S

was

displayed

in

the lobby

of

the

the largest west of Buffalo

During

this initial growth period

wheat forum

in

Chicago

to

call

attention to

the

New York. His initial facil

there were several personnel transi

aircraft

manufacturing activity of the

laird

Co.

ity

consisted of

space ob tions. Burke returned to Oklahoma to

take charge of his automobile agency.

Weaver was hired as a demonstrat ion

pilot. Then, during

the summer

of

1921 when Matty and Weaver

had

taken a couple of Swallows

out

to

th

e

West Coast on a

promotional

tour

Walter Beech was engaged as a dem

onstration

pilot. Additionally Lloyd

and Waverly

Stearman

became em

ployed in the Swallow production.

Business had become a little slow

in 1921 due to the post-war recession

but the

E.M

. Laird Co.

con

tinued

to

keep its fine product in front of th e

public. This was accomplished with

laird

Whirlwind:

three-place

open-cockpit

Wright

Whirlwind J5

220-hp

engine.

the help of the enth usiastic and co

operative newspapers

in

that region

and such projects as the nationwide


13/44


14/44

Like a lot of young people, Richard

"Doc" Knutson was fascinated with

aviation and started building model

airplanes at a young age. He was born

2 5 IIN U TEE

By H.G.

FRAUTSCHY

an Aeronca 11AC Scout. Next came a

Stinson 108-2, a straight tail Cessna

172,

and on up through the

popu-

lar airplanes

of

the 1950s and '60s.

his first project, Doc's enthusiasm was

high. He had the aircraft flying again

in only five

months

although there

were times he would have to peel fab-


15/44

oc far right)

and

a pair of other Lodi Wisconsin pilots started the

Lodi

Lakeland

airport in 1956. It remains in operation

today

a pretty

grass

field

nestled

in the softly rolling hills just northeast of town. oc

has

used the local airport to give rides to as many local folks as he

could

over the

years.

Long before the days of the Young Eagtes program,

oc made sure

every

youth

within three counties got an airplane ride.

He

was

an active member of the Civil Air Patrol until the squadron was

disbanded. In addition, he was

an

Air Scout Leader.

~ .

Right:

A dapper

young Richard Knutson.

Below: Collage of airplane photos.

Many of the airplanes oc has restored.

For

most

of the restoration projects, his

son

Dan assisted him. oc has been

a

judge for Contemporary aircraft at EAA

AirVenture

since

the category was

estab-

lished in 1993, and a judge at the

Annual

Sentimental

Journey

at the former Piper

factory in Lock Haven Pennsylvania.

If it flew he was interested. These are just a pair of the

many radio-controlled model airplanes oc Knutson

Another fabric-covered Piper is attended to

by

the local Lodi Wisconsin chiropractor,

Doc

Knutson.

Known

around

the world within the

Cub Club as one of the experts on the restora

tion of fabric-covered Pipers Doc still takes

time to answer the occasional letter or

phone

call asking him for restoration advice.


16/44

Perfectin

Perfection:

Tony

Smith s

Ultimate

Jungmeister

udd Davisson

Photos Jim Koepnick

wasn't trying to restore it

to

orig

inal

condition," says

Tony

Smith

in

his delightfully English accent.

"I'd

already

done that a number

of

times

to a number of different

Buckers. Airplanes are

meant

to be

flown,

and as

I found out from my

first, very original Jungmeister, even the perfect air

plane,

the

Jungmeister,

isn't

perfect. So,

when

I re

stored this one, I improved those things I'd found

to

be less than perfect."

Tony

is

talking

about

the Bucker Jungmeister (pro

nounced young-my-ster;

in English: young

master)

Bu-133

he'd

flown down from

his

winter home on

the Leeward Air Ranch

in

Ocala to the 200S

Sun

'n


17/44


18/44

into aviation initially, as

many

do,

through model airplanes. However,

his first real exposure

to

airplanes

was anything but typical: joining

the

Royal

Air

Force

(RAF)

at

18,

he

became

part of a special

quick

response safety team.

lilt was our job to parachute into

an

area needing instantaneous re

sponse, specifically

crash

sites

or

lost nukes. We were

moved

all over

the

world, but I spent

much

of my

time in

the

Middle

and

Far East,

moving from

base

to

base

as the

job required.

Tony spent seven

years

in the

RAF. After that

his passion

for

building plastic (polystyrene, actu

ally) models led into his developing

a plastic

packaging

business

that

consumed

his life until 1985.

I

had always

wanted to

learn

to fly but the time and money just

wasn't available. I was married in

'69, had two girls, Katy and Saman

tha,

and

a boy, Jeremy,

and

just

couldn't fit flying in.

When he finally did start flying, he

went at it with something much more

extreme than a mere vengeance.

l iMy first

airplane

was a 90-hp

Super Cub,

but

in '87 I got my first

of four Jungmanns.

I t

was a

CASA

with

the

Tigre engine, which I have

always

thought

was much

misun

derstood and underrated.

He

underscored

his faith

in

the

Tigre engine when

he

flew a Jung

m n n f rom

Darwin,

Australia, to

I had a

big

fuel

tank

installed

in the front seat,

putting

me 200

pounds over gross on takeoff. The

longest over-water leg was 600 miles,

and

this

was

before

GPSs.

Using

a

compass only, I was only 15 miles

off course when I made landfall.

li he biggest problem of

the

trip

was

the

politiCS

and

paperwork. The

trip took 12 flying days, but I was

gone a total of 21,

with the

rest be

ing

consumed

filling

out

forms

and

seeking

permission to

fly

through

foreign airspace.

Over

the years,

Tony quickly

became something

of a Bucker

scavenger

because,

among

other

things,

he enjoys

working on the

airplanes himself.

I 'm

never happier

than when

paddling

around in

buckets

of

bu

tyrate dope. Because of that, the air

planes are never off

my

mind,

and

I'm always looking for parts.

At

that

time, a large percentage of the ex

isting CASA

Jungmann

parts were

owned by Marcus Bates, in Odessa,

Texas, and it was while visiting him,

looking for

an

engine,

that the

sec

ond Jungmeister got its start. I

Prior to

that

time

Tony

had

ac

quired a nearly 100 percent original

ex-Swiss air force Bucker-built Jung

meister and

loved it dearly. Even

so ,

there

were

things about

the

airplane

that he

felt could be

im

proved

upon,

but

he

wasn't

going

to modify such an original airplane.

He had too

much

respect for history

to do

that.

He'd always

wanted to build the

u

ltimate Jungmeister,

and when

standing

in Marcus Bates' hangar in

Texas, sifting

through

piles of parts,

his

dream

took some serious steps

toward reality.

Although Marcus

was selling

primarily Jungmann parts, while

I was digging

through

his piles of

'stuff,' I'd periodically run into a

Jungmeister

part. When

I started

looking closely, it became obvi


19/44

The unusual control stick of

the Jung

meister

is center s

tag

e in the

pilot s

cockpit. The lightweight, multi-tube

German construction of the Biicker is

also

exposed to

those

who are

privi

leged to fly the biplane.

(why do

Texans figure so promi-

nently in the history of German bi-

planes?). England's

sport aviation

certifying

organization, the

PFA

was heavily involved in that proj-

ect and, in fact, granted permission

for six fuselages to be built. The im-

portant part of this tale

is

that Mark

Jefferies is a friend of Tony's, and

there was at least

one

fuselage avail-

able. Problem solved. Sort of.

I collected as

many

of the bits

and

pieces as I could from Marcus

and found

I

had

original

wings,

landing gear, instrument panel,

and

tail ,

along with

many other ancil-

lary pieces. Also, Bitz

in Germany

had

a wide selection of parts, most

of which were new.

I

Tony

Smith

dons

his

face

mask

with

microphone before heading

off

on

another

en

joyable flight with his Jungmeister.

In the end, we

built

all

new

spars, ribs, and

rebuilt

the

ailerons. Ev-

erything

else, however,

including

the

alumi-

num tip bows, was ab-

solutely salvageable.

When

viewing an air-

plane such as a Jung-

meister

and

intending

to

fly it as

often

as pos-

Tightly

fitted

control surfaces

and, in

the

case of the rud

der,

a

gap seal

contribute to

the

well-balanced

feel

of the

Jungmeister s

controls.

Below: Wheel

covers for air

planes have

been

given a

va

riety of names,

but in

this

case, wheel

spats

cer

tainly

seems

to

fit

the

char

acter

of the Biicker.


20/44

needed

improvement

was the

en

gine. The original seven-cylinder,

160-hp Siemens was a fine-running

engine,

but

it was

extremely

lim

ited in its ability to

pump

the

ponies

out,

and things got quiet quickly

when the

nose came up

and the

speed went away. Here again, Texan

Frank Price came to the rescue. Tex

ans can't have an underpowered air

plane. It's against state law.)

In

the

'60s

and

'70s Frank Price

was a larg

er-than-

life air

show

fig

ure who always

left the

crowd

shaking its collective head over his

snap

roll

on

takeoff

in

his 260-hp,

Lycoming-powered Jungmeister

clone.

However, prior to the

Ly

coming/Bucker

, Price flew a 185

hp, Warner-powered Great Lakes,

and the

Warner

was

only

slightly

larger than

the

Siemens in

the

Bucker, something

that didn't

es

cape Tony Smith's notice.

I located a 185-hp Warner Super

conite

that

is only

pulled

up

semi

taut with the iron before

doping.

The rest of

the tightening is

done

by medium-tautening dope.

The

paint

scheme

is

that

of

a pre-war, civilian flying club, al

though obviously we

had

to use a

U.K.

'G'

number

rather

than

a Ger

man 'D.' I

didn't

have to re-register

it here because

the FAA is

very good

about foreign registered airplanes

in the U.S.

that are being operated

by

foreign owners. Their feeling is

that,

if it's

okay in

the U.K.,

then

it's okay here.

The paint used was nothing ex

otic. Just two-part

automotive

ure

thane

with a little plasticizer mixed

in.

I t

looks

terrific,

but it

should

be

remembered

that

the airplane

wasn't built to

be a showpiece.

I t

was

meant

to be flown hard. Tony's

goal of performance

and

lots of

fly

ing

would

be

hampered by

excess

weight,

and paint is where

most

com is the

portal to a truly impres

sive endeavor.

Tony, who is an aviation addict of

the

highest order, established

RAC

on

his airstrip that's located

on

the

site of

the

World War II Breighton

bomber base near Selby. It was to be

a

haven

for pilots

and enthusiasts

who

felt stifled trying

to

engage in

their own brand of aeronautical fun

on

normal

airports. The site has

grown to its

current eight

hangars

and

more

than

40 flying machines

ranging

from Hurricanes, Spitfires,

Mustangs,

and

the

like

to

a

wide

range of antiques, including the ac

tual

Percival Mew Gull

that

Alex

Henshaw used

to

set

many

records

in

1939. It's also

worth

noting

that

Tony's

L-39

was the first certified in

western Europe

and that

he and the

airplane played a starring role in the

opening

scenes in

the

James Bond

film

Tomorrow Never Dies.

So what

does a person who owns


21/44

n

Annual

Gathering

o

Howards

at Hayward

Wistonsin

The beasts visit the Northwoods

Y SPARKY B RNES SARGENT

"They're beautiful, they re husky and strong,

they

sound great, and you can

put

everything but

the

kitchen

sink in them " quips Ellen Rippon with warm admira

tion

and

not

a

moment s

hesitation

when

asked

what

she likes about Howard

DGAs,

including the one that she

and

her husband, Ron, own. Laughing with a knowing

smile, Barbara Moore adds, 'They' re exciting and they're

muscle machines " This is the type of contagious enthu

siasm

that

you'll find prevalent

among

members of

the

Howard Aircraft Foundation at their annual gathering in

Hayward, Wisconsin, just before

EAA

AirVenture.

The group s

membership

is

sprinkled

throughout

49 states, with Howard owners located in 40 states.

Al-

though

their membership

is

relatively small compared

to other type clubs, with 147 members and only 47 fly-

ing airplanes (plus a

few

projects),

the

group easily com

Ed Moore,

president

of

the

Howard Aircraft Founda

tion,

recalls

that

their

first

gathering

was held

in Au-

gust 2003

at

Sawyer

County

Airport HYR) in Hayward,

Wisconsin. Eight Howards

and

about

three dozen peo

ple attended that year, and the

numbers doubled

in

2004,

when the

gathering was moved just a few miles

away to

the Cable Union Airport (both airports are on

the

Green

Bay

sectional, with 100LL available).

In 2005,

the number

of aircraft was down a bit,

but

it was a successful

and

enjoyable gathering nonetheless.

Thirty-eight members, along with well more than a dozen

guests, began arriving

on

Friday afternoon. After a hearty

dinner and bunking down for the night in the rustic lodge

at the Telemark Lodge (which also has suites and 'condo

miniums available), Saturday morning dawned a bit over

cast, but fine enough for flying excursions to neighboring


22/44

Le

roy

and

Peggy Peterson arrive at Cable

Union

Airport

in

their

ex-military Model 15P.

Brian and Debbie Longwill

in

their Model 15p, wearing its U.S.

N

avy mil

ita

ry

colors

as

it

did in

its

fonner

life

as

a

GH

3.

members

as well.

Lund s

sons,

Jim

, Dan,

and

Tom,

cheerfully helped provide ground transportation from

the

airport to

the lake shore, where Al

and

his wife,

Lois, graciously welcomed Howard owners

and their

guests to enjoy delicious hand-prepared refreshments

by

the

water's edge.

But that 's

not all-this past summer

Lund gener

ously provided

the opportunity

for folks

to

enjoy

the

rare

experience of

flying in his float-equipped

twin

Beech, while

another

member, Dale Walker, was hap

pily

hopping

rides

in

his Howard

DGA

also on floats.

Saturday was capped off

with

the annual

pig roast

at

Lund's hangar, back at

the

airport in Hayward.

Lund enjoys having these

folks

gather at his home and

hangar, explaining that the weekend is for Howard own

ers and enthusiasts, whether they have flying aircraft or

projects, and whether they come by Howard, or another

type of airplane, or drive, adding

that

he expects that

the event will

continue as

long as the Howard owners

want to do it. The group also plans to have some regional

fly-ins around the country, and right now we're planning

one

for

West Yellowstone in September 2006.

Paul Bjornstad flies his

Howard

near

Cable Union

Airport

in

Wiscons

in

.

It isn t

too

often you ll

have

the opportunity to see a Howard on

floats, but Dale

Walker

was giving buddy rides in his

during the

Hayward gathering.


23/44

Joe

Dudley

checks

the oil

level

in his

Howard

DGA.

Jim Lund

logged more

than

17 hours

on

NC53386

during

the past year.

AI Lund and his family generously hosted

the annual Howard gathering

for

an af-

ternoon

of

fun

and refreshments

at their

lakefront home.


24/44

Dale Walker s

Howard

taxis into AI Lund s quiet and private

cove.

Ron

and Ellen Rippon s

handsome

Howard

DGA touches

down

at Cable Union Airport.

Paul

Bjornstad s

1944

ex·military Howard (GH

·

2)

was

th

e am ·

bulance

version (with the multipurpose door).

has recently discovered

the

joy of flying

one

of his

fa-

ther's Howards.

Pleasures and hallenges

Jim

Lund has been flying for only three years, but

in

the past year, he's logged 170

hours

flight time in

NCS3386, a 1943

ex-military Howard

DGA-1SP.

He

welcomed

the

transition from flying a Super Cub

and

a Husky

to

flying

the

larger Howard,

and

wears a con

stant smile on his face when he talks about it. Our fly-

ing partner

and

mechanic, Doug

Erby

checked me

out

in the Howard on a grass strip here in Wisconsin,

and

we

went

around a

bunch

of times unti l I was comfort

able with it. I felt confident when I soloed; it's a good,

solid airplane,

and

I wasn t going

to

hurt it. The most

challenging part of flying a Howard is the landings; I

make

wheel

landings

because I feel it's easier

on the

airplane,

and I

can

grease it

in

and very

seldom

get

a

bounce

out of it. I've flown around Minnesota and

Wisconsin

in

it so far

and

made one trip

out

to Aspen,

Colorado, last fall. He heartily endorses not only the

airplane, but the Howard Aircraft Foundation

as

well,

and encourages others to join, and get to know these

people

and

network with

them to

learn more about

the

airplane

and the

available resources.

Paul Bjornstad of Tennessee echoes Lund's feeling

about belonging to the

Howard Foundation. It's im

portant,

simply

because it's

imperative

that we pre

serve

these beautiful old

airplanes. It's a

good

thing


25/44

The

front

two Howards are owned by

Leroy

Peterson and

Mike

Vaughan

.

Right

:

The Telemark Lodge

is nestled

between

a golf

course and runway amidst the evergreen -covered

hillsides near Cable, Wisconsin.

that

I've ever seen. As for useful load, anything we

put in

it, it'll haul it with ease. It's a little bit harder to land in

a crosswind because of the flat bulky side on it, but with

good crosswind technique, it's a good-handling airplane.

I make wheel landings because I have better visibility

that

way, and

the

airplane seems to like it better. Dud

ley flies his ex-military Howard DGA-15P regularly from

his

home

base in Oklahoma to fly-ins across the coun

try, including Sun

n

Fun Fly-In in Florida;

the

Antique

Aircraft Association's fly-in in Blakesburg, Iowa; and EAA

AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. After all, flying cross

country in a Howard

is

a comfortable, fast ride-Dudley s

aircraft generally averages about 160 mph.

Care and Feeding

Mike Vaughan

and

his family (of Illinois) were look

ing for an airplane that would carry them all comfort

ably

and have good

range,

decent

speed,

and plenty

of

room for baggage. Their civilian Howard DGA-15P

meets all those expectations for them. lilt's very com

fortable in the air,

and my

son, Iven,

switches

seats

back

and

forth all

the

time

on

a long trip.

As

far as fly-

ing it, oh, I love it It's easy to fly; landings can

be

chal

lenging at times,

but not bad-it s

a typical tailwheel

airplane. The Howard

is

one

of

the

finest aircraft that

I've ever

had the

privilege to

fly, and

I feel very lucky

uperfljte

NO.1

ING

SYST M

~

YINTAGE


26/44

e a r f a m n ~

NASA

isgoing to beat OON nFUN

cant

wait

ove}

Your

Pilot

In

Comman


27/44

HARLIE

H

ARRIS

OVer the weekend

of

September 6 1 7 ~ 2 5 ~ the lI th annual Tulsa Fly In held in

B a r t l e s v i l l e ~

O k l a h o m a ~

was blessed with great weather and a bumper crop of beau-

tiful airplanes. An added bonus was a special visit

by

Brig. Gen David Lee c 7 e x ~ ~ H i I I ~

World War

I I

triple ace

and one of the most prominent members of the famous

China based Flying Tigers

as

commanded

by

Gen Clair Chennault.

More

than

a dozen forums were held during the weekend f l y i n ~ and a relaxing on-

the field dinner was

served and eltioyed

both

Friday and Saturday night. L e t ~ s

take

a look at the highlights of the fly in.

Best

ClassIc: 1946 Piper PA-12 Super

Cl1Iiser

- NC92592

Scott Haggenmacher

Jonesboro, Arkansas

Best Contemporary:

1957 Piper PA-22-15O - N7432D

Joe Black

Texas

Best

Experimental:

2004 1935)

Waco UMF-S

-

NX14377

John

Hudec

Collinsville,

Oklahoma

Best Warbird

2003

Scout

Experimental SE.Sa -

N12SQB

Jack

C.

Kearbey

Tulsa, Oklahoma


28/44

Barney Petersen of Collinsville, Oklahoma, is well-known for his

Fokker

DV.II WWI fighter. This ircr ft has been flown llover

the

United States for various appearances

and

fly-ins. Both his ircr ft and Kearbey's

SE.5a

Scout

appeared in the movie he Aviator.


29/44

John

and

Kathy

McMurray

o

Burkburnett

Texas,

and their

grand champion level Lus

combe 8-E that was the pro

totype 8-E.

John

is a retired

U.S. Air Force

colonel

and is

at

present

flying with

the

Red

Baron

Steannan team.

Brian Launder

arriving in

his

1937 SR-9E Stin

son

Gullwing.


30/44

This exquisite 1977 Meyers Little Toot is 28 years old and looks new as tomorrow.

It has

remained

in designer George Meyer s

family for

nearly

30 years.


31/44

The

Swift contingent

was

out

in

big

numbers.

This

is

Mark

Holliday s

polished

210

Swift.

Mark

is

from Lake

Elmo,

Minnesota.

Few

fly-ins are privileged to

host

an airplane as

rare as

Dave Wheaton s 1945

NAA

B-25J

artha

Jean Dave

and

his airplane

are

based

at Tulsa s Riverside Airport

and have

attended

the

D0o

little Raiders

Reunion

on a

number

of

occasions.

hese are the irst tools you need to buy


32/44

E.E. BUCK HIL ERT

More

tooling around

I'm still on the proper use of tools.

I know I'm preaching to the choir in

many cases, because I've gotten feed-

back from some of our readers. Most

of them are older friends who, like

myself, apprenticed or learned from

"old guys"

we

worked with and for

Man sure is inventive. I can just

imagine an early Neanderthal man

hitting

something

with his fist.

Ouch,

that

hurts

So

the next time

he hits something, he takes a rock in

his hand and bangs with it. The rock,

not his hand, takes

the

beating.

Next he uses a heavier rock. Then

he somehow finds that if the rock

has a pOinted end, it will do more

damage or

help break

something

more easily.

He

has already

discovered the

Lever. After

some

cogitation

and

several failures,

he

succeeds

in

at-

taching the lever (handle ) to the

rock,

and

now he has a primitive

axe.

To

pulverize

things

,

he

then

uses that same handle and a flat

rock; now he has a hammer.

The hammer hasn't changed too

up on the handle

of

his hammer,

trying to literally push

the

nails into

the work.

The

Swede finally called

the

guy over

and

said, "Give me that

hammer. He

then

took his

hand-

saw and cut the handle off the ham-

mer

and handed

it back to

him.

What did you do that for?" the guy

asked. "Well, you weren't using all

that handle, so I just cut it off to get

it out of your way."

After that seminar there followed

lessons

on

how

to properly

use a

hammer. I

learned something

that

day as well, and every time I pick up

a

hammer

I find myself remember-

ing that day, and the lesson learned.

That old Swede is long gone,

but the

houses he built are still there and so

are

the

memories.

The lesson: The lever gives the

tool its

advantage

. From

the

cave-

man 's axe

to the

pickaxe

to

all those

specialized hammers, the lever prin-

cipal multiplies

the

force

in doing

the work. One needs only to use that

leverage to his advantage.

We don't use too many hammers

ting somewhere. We

could

chisel ,

punch

holes, shave material off an

object

to

make something usable out

of it, and even bore holes.

By

shaping the chisel, we

could

carve, split,

cut

grooves, make bet-

ter handles out of wood for our tools,

and even make utensils.

I

don't

know when the

knife

came into being, but here was an-

other tool that

could

serve

many

uses. Coupled with the hammer, it 's

now an axe or a cleaver. It could be

used for scraping, cutting, or hack-

ing, as a weapon, or as an aid in cut-

ting

not

only

the meat

to

eat, but

also

the

wood to do the cooking .

We 're on a roll now.

Put two knives

together

com-

bined with

two levers

working

against one another, and we have

a scissors. If we design

them

to

do

a specific job, we can cut leather

or paper.

Change

them a bit more,

and we

can

even

cut metal.

Now

we have sheet metal snips. Change

it

a

bit

more,

and

we have shears,

to do all sorts of jobs. We can cut


33/44

Chuck Mattraw

Red

lodge,

MT

• Flew

an

A I Skyraider

and

A 4

Skyhawk

in the Navy in

Vietnam

1963-/968

• NASA research support

pilot

, 1974-/976

• Flew

for

TWA and

retired

from

U Airways

"The personnel at U are a pleasure to work with.

They answer my questions promptly

and

provide the best

insurance for the price. I couldn't be more satisfied."

- Chuck Mattraw


34/44

DOUG STEW RT

Isn t

this

fun?

The pilot in the left seat beside me looked

both

ways,

yoke.

As

we approached the 13S-degree point of the turn,

clearing the area, and, after doing so, started to pitch up

the pilot started a slow roll out of the bank. I noticed the

and roll

into

a

turn

toward the Catskill Mountains, off

rudder deflection was decreasing in direct correlation with

to the west. In the distance, off our wing, a ski area stood the increase in airspeed as we continued our dive. With a

out, its white trails engraved

on

the side of a mountain.

little less than 10 degrees left before

we

had completed 180

Through the first 4S degrees of our tum, the pilot had been degrees of turn, the pilot started adding just a subtle bit of

slowly increasing the pitch and

forward pressure to the yoke.

the bank. We were now banked

As the ski area came abeam

The only way the nose

about 30 degrees,

and

the nose

the

wing opposite where it had

had

pitched up enough that if

been at the start of the maneu

of the airplane would

we kept increasing the pitch, we

ver, I noted we were back at the

would probably stall.

same altitude and airspeed as

we

have stayed up

was if

The pitch did not increase,

had been when we started this

but rather, the pilot maintained

maneuver. The pilot now con

the pilot had added

the pitch right where it was as tinued the same maneuver all

we continued our climb, slowly

over again,

but

this time in the

losing airspeed. The bank, too,

just a bit more back

opposite direction

as

before.

stayed constant at 30 degrees.

It was a mirror image of the

I noticed the pilot was

adding

pressure As it

was

previous climbing and descend

more

and

more right rudder as

ing l80-degree

turn.

As

we

we slowed down, to counter

the

the stall warning horn

reached

the

90-degree point of

increasing left-turning tenden

the turn we were at

the

same

cies. I

was

glad the controls were

was intermittently

altitude as the prior

turn and

coordinated. If we stalled now, within S knots of the same air

without

all that

right

rudder,

honking as the nose

speed. Again the nose of the air

we d spin

for

sure.

plane sliced

down

through the

The pilot also continued to

started its drop

horizon

as the ski area swung

pull back on the control yoke. past. At the completion

of

the


35/44

perhaps one of the most fun to obtain. I often teach these

maneuvers to clients who are undergoing their FAA Wings

training. But why wait until you're working

on

the certifi

cate or undergoing training to learn them?

Because they're

fun.

And more importantly, because

they will teach you so much about energy management,

about the decay of flight controls

as

you slow down, and

about coordination of your flight controls

as

you take your

airplane out toward the corners of its operational enve

lope. They will also get your attention out of

the

cockpit,

forcing you to divide your thoughts between numerous

things while teaching you

to

recognize

and

rely

on the

seat of your pants to help you

fly

through the maneuvers.

Take

the chandelle, for example. It

is

a maximum-per

formance, climbing, l80-degree turn.

At

the

start of

the

maneuver you roll into a 30-degree banked turn, add max

imum climb power, and start pitching up. At the 90-degree

paint

of the

turn

you

should

have reached

your

maxi

mum

pitch attitude, which you will now maintain un

til the completion of

the

turn.

If

you haven't pitched up

enough, you won't get high or slow enough by the end of

the maneuver.

On

the other hand,

if

you have pitched too

steeply, you'll stall before completing the turn .

From the 90 to the 180, you slowly roll out, timing the

rollout so

that

you just finish

the turn as

you

hit

180 de

grees. If you don't roll, slowly and continuously, from the

90 to

the

180, you might have to increase

the

roll rate

at

the end

of the turn. On

the

other

hand,

if you roll

too

quickly, you won't complete 180 degrees of turn.

And

as

you're trying to judge

the

roll rate

to

make it

just right, you also have

to

deal with an elevator that

is

getting increasingly less effective

as

you slow down.

So

you'll have to be pulling back

on

the stick more and more

to maintain the pitch attitude achieved at the 90-degree

point

as

you complete the turn.

You

also have to be adding

more and more right rudder.

You'll

be carrying maximum

power, pitched up fairly steeply, and constantly decelerat

ing. Don't be surprised to find the rudder maxed o

ut

at the

completion of the turn.

When

the chandelle

is

done right, the stall

warning

should be blaring and the first signs of a buffet should be

apparent. Now you have

to

resume your original cruise

where you

enter

a

turn

in the opposite direction about

another pylon.

What determines your pivotal altitude (the altitude

re

quired to keep the reference paint

on

your wing pointed to

the reference

on

the ground)

is

your groundspeed. Thus,

if

there

is

any wind blowing, you will have to climb

as

your

groundspeed increases with a tail wind and descend with a

head wind. The turns will

not

be a constant radius around

the pylon, but an ellipsis, again, if there

is

any wind.

One of the challenges

is

to

not

cheat with your feet, try

ing to

keep the wing on the pylon with the use of your

rudder. The maneuver

is to be flown with the controls co

ordinated. One easy way to th ink about it

is

tha t if the py

lon

is

moving

back

behind

the

wing reference, you will

need to

pull back on

the

yoke (this will

happen as the

wind shifts to a tail wind), and if the pylon

is

moving for

ward (as you turn into the head wind), push forward on

the yoke. Simple instructions from simple folk like me.

All three of these maneuvers offer much to be learned.

Even if you have no inclination to gain your commercial

certificate, learning these maneuvers will go a long way in

making you a better pilot.

So

go

out and

have some fun!

Isn't

that

what it's all about?

Doug Stewart is

the

2 4 National CFI

the

YeaT a

Mas-

ter Instructor and a DPE. He

operates

DSFI Inc.

(www.dsflight.

com)

based at the

Columbia

County

Airport 1B1).

.......

ERO

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36/44

BY H.G.

FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTH'S

MYSTERY

PLANE COMES TO US FROM

THE

EAA LIBRARY'S

GARNER

P. "EMY" EMERSON COLLECTION. WE VE GOT A NUMBER

OF

PHOTOS IN

THAT

ALBUM

THAT MAKE GREAT MYSTERY PLANES.

I

LOOK

FORWARD

TO YOUR REPLIES.

Send your answer to EAA Vintage

Airplane

P.

O.

Box 3086, Oshkosh,

WI 54903-3086. Your answer needs

to be in no later th n March 10 for

inclusion in

the

May 2006 issue of

Vintage

AirpLane.

You can also send your response

via e-mail. Send your nswer to

mysterypLane@eaa org

Be sure

to

include your name, city, nd state

in the body of your note, and put

I/(Month) Mystery Plane in

the

subject line.

NOVEMBER ' S

MYSTERY

ANSWER

The

November

Mystery

Plane

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


37/44

HOMEBUILDER WORKSHOP

March 4-5

Corona, CA

March 11-12

i ~ ~

also

from the

Emy

Emerson

Col-

lection, brought

forth

a

number

of

letters. Here's a letter (with photos)

from Charles F Schultz of

Louis-

ville, Kentucky.

The November Mystery Plane

is

the Stelling Amphibian bu

il

t by the

Cox-Klemin Aircraft Corp. in the

1920s. I am enclosing

cop

ies of sev

eral photographs that were given

to

me many years ago by Mr. Joubert

Juby (pronounced you-bee) Lind

strom, who was a draftsman with

Cox -Klemin in the 1920s. He did not

remember what the N. V.A. meant

on the rudder and doubted if there

was

ever

a No.2.

The plane appears

to

have been

a three-place job, and you will no

tice in the picture

with

the men

grouped

t

the l

eft

th t

under the

lower wing floats have been fitted .

As

for

the picture

of

the plane in the

water, it is not known if this was a

test run or a picture

of

a

t keoff

or

landing. I hope some of our fellow

members can fill us in on the his

tory

of

this plane.

Lynn Towns

of

Holt, Michigan,

sent us a bit more on the Stelling:

I have very little information about

it, but the November Mystery Plane

appears

to

be

the

Stelling Amphibian,

which

was

built by the Cox-Klemin

Aircraft Corp. Cox-Klemin was l

o

cated on Long Island, and the Grum

man Aircraft Engineering

Corp. was

started il January

of

1930 using the

original

Cox-K

lemin factory in Ba l

d

win New York.

I found a good photo of the air

Come

or

the

weekend

BUILD FOR A

LIFETIME

HANDS ON

SCHEDULE

March 4-5 Dallas,TX

• Fabric Covering • Sheet Metal

Bas

i

cs

• Electrical Systems Avionics

• Introduction

to

Aircraft Building

•

Cas

Weld ing

•

RV

Assembly

• Sheet Metal

Basi

cs

• Sheet Metal Basics

• Electrical Systems Avionics

• Introducti on

to

Aircra

ft

Building

• Composite Construct ion

•

Repa

ir

man

LSA

)

In

spect ion- Airplane

•

Rep

airman

L

SA) Inspection- Airplane

• TIC We lding


38/44

SILVER

E GLE

continued from p ge

1

while th e city of manufactur

e,

in this

case Wichita, appeared in a

band

di

viding th e diamond horizontally. The

spacing of the L and

the D in

L-A-I

R-D was pretty wide-set at first, caus

ing people to read the insignia

as L.D.

AIRPLANES. While this was undesir

able as a trademark, it may well have

been the beginning of the word air

planes, because prior to

that

era (and

still so

in

England), flying machines

were referred to as aeroplanes.

Among the many people to leave a

lasting contribution to aviation history

while with Matty was Clyde Cessna.

Cessna had done some early pioneer

ing

work

in the 1910

era, but

had

concentrated most of his subsequent

efforts on his farm in

Rego

, Kansas.

His interest in aviation was re

awakened by the purchase of a Laird

Swallow in

the

fall of 1923. He later

combined efforts

with

Walter Beech and

Lloyd

Stearman in the Travel Air

Co.

Central to the development of the

aviation business

growing

up

at

Wichita was Matty's partner, Mollen

dick. Mollendick was nuts about

fly

ing and thoroughly sold on it. He was

willing to put his money into foster

ing

it also, but unfortunately, Mol

lendick's business methods reflected

his background as a well digger. He

just wasn't happy unless he was ham

mering away at something in

the air

plane business, and unfortunately, he

didn t always know how to go about

it. One by one, through

those

early

Laird Speedwing STD): three-place, open-cockpit, powered y Wright Whirl

wind

330-hp

engine.

pany in 1923, taking with him two

Laird Swallows as

part payment

for

his business interest. Leaving Wich

ita, he flew them

down to St. Louis for

the

National A

ir

Races. Entering sev

eral even ts, he then carried passengers

at the conclusion of the air meet.

He sold the Hispano-Suiza -pow

ered Laird

and

flew the OX-powered

airplane back

to

Chicago. There,

he

operated it commercially,

carrying

passengers

and

flying photographers

to

special events.

Through these

ef

forts

he

was able

to

capitalize a new

manufacturing

plant in

Chicago.

Here, he produced a new line of com

mercial planes, starting

with

OX-S

powerplants

and

progressing through

the larger Wright and Pratt & Whit

ney radials,

synonymous

with Laird

airplanes in succeeding years.

After Matty left

Wichita,

Walter

Beech and Lloyd Stearman remained

with Jack Mollendick to bring out

the Single-bay Swallow. They contin

changes to

the

aviation business.

Among them,

and most

Significant,

was the Air Commerce Act of 1926,

requiring certification

of

pilots, air

craft,

and

manufacturers. Reflecting

the

thoughts of most in the indus

try, Matty felt it

had

come

at

a bad

time, just when business was really

in

the growing stages. It did

nothing

for the

manufactur

ers, other

than

provide them

with

orders for a cou

ple of aircraft. Complying with these

regulations

cost

th

e

industr

y

many

thousands and thousa nds of dollars.

Particularly exasperating for all the

factories was the requirement to sub

mit a stress analysis on airframes, as

there were

only

a few

persons out

side the Bureau , or within the mil

itary manufacturing complexes,

capable of performing the analytical

work involved.

Matty had long been a believer

of testing

subassemblies of his air

craft with various

loading

tests. He


39/44

of Commerce's Engineering Depart

ment. Finally, Heinrich was able to

learn

enough from the

others

to

complete the job and satisfy

ATC

re

quirements for

the

LCBs, LC-R,

and

other special models.

The late '20s brought racing and

record-setting activities into prom

inence as the barnstormers strove

for new sources of income and no

toriety. Matty's airplanes, including

the Junior Speedwings, Speedwings,

Solution,

and

Super Solution, were

consistently among the fastest air

planes of the

day. Excellent pilots

who

flew them were such person

alities as

E.E.

Ballough, Speed Hol

man, Bill Brock, Jimmy Doolittle,

Red Jackson, and Matty.

Characteristically,

Laird

planes

were

known

for

their

ruggedness,

light weight, high speeds, and out

standing

finishes. Consequently,

they

were widely copied in the in

dustry. Many of the

people

who

later started

their own

manufactur

ing concerns found

their

interest

stimulated...one of whom was Maj.

Alexander de Seversky.

Matty's

company capitalization

did not

permit becoming

involved

in quantity production. His airplanes

were largely custom-built, with an ar

rangement that provided him a par

tial payment for the aircraft through

several stages of completion. His cus

tomers

were largely oilmen,

pub

lishers, and industrialists

who

were

interested in owning lithe thorough

bred of the airways. When Dickinson

secured the contract for the Chicago

Gathering of Howards

continued from

p ge

3

perspective on owning and operat

ing a Howard,

noting

with

a laugh,

liThe cost

of

operation is

outra

geous, and they're a beast to clean.

We gals get the cleanup duty Seri

ously, we've really always enjoyed

the Howard just because of its mas

sive size, the sound

of

that Pratt

Whitney 985, and all of the load it

can

carry." Her

husband,

Dennis,

says, As soon as she gets out

of

the

airplane after a flight, she

is

check

ing what needs to be cleaned,

or

al

ready has a cleaning cloth in hand

and is

at

it. I

have to

make

her

stop

Very few

people

, even pilots, real

ize

how much time is spent getting

these big guys ready

to show

off."

Howard

Aircraft

Founda t ion and

Type Certificates

Members

of

the Howard club of

fiCially formed the Howard Aircraft

Foundation

in 1999 to

acquire

as

sets such as Howard type certificates.

Moore

exp

lains that the

previous

president, Dave Schober, initially got

the Foundation going and still hosts

the

Howard website. Soon thereaf

ter, Moore was encouraged to be

come involved,

and he

and his wife,

Barbara, agreed to accept responsi

bility for

the

club newsletter. He's

been

president of

the

Foundation

since 2002 and notes that during the

group's first

gathering

in Wisconsin

three years ago, lilt came

up

that the

course, the Howard Aircraft specifi

cation documents

are

public

infor

mation and available online; they

have recently been updated to re

flect

the Howard

Aircraft Founda

tion as the

type

certificate holder.

We

curre

Documents

Vintage Airplane - Feb 2006