Vintage Airplane - Feb 2008

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Feb 2008

1/44


2/44

GEOFF ROBISON

PRESIDENT VINTAGE I RCR A

FT

ASSOCI TON

Getting out

there!

the

local

community

to visit the air

port during

this well-managed

and

well-attended event.

After

Sun 'n Fun

and Marion,

things

will

start

to get

pretty

busy

for

me

in

preparation

for EAA Air

Venture Oshkosh. The

spring board

meetings

are in early May, and

then

several

Oshkosh

work parties keep

me

pretty

busy right up

through

early August.

With Oshkosh

behind me, I

then

have the

opportunity

to get back out

on the

fly -in circuit.

The weekend

after Labor Day,

in

Hagerstown, In

diana, Chapter 373 President Mar

vin Stohler hosts an overnight fly-in

camping event. This is always great

fun, and has great food and a

huge

bonfire

to

battle the

normally

crisp

air.

With

pancakes

in the

morning

and

a nice trip

home

by early after

noon,

a good time

is

had by all.

This year, our local VAA Chapter

37 is making plans to

host

the re

gional Stinson

fly-in at Auburn, In

diana

(GWB). This event is shaping

up to be a real

hit on

the circuit. Au-

To

help me write this column, I

fig-

ured out

that the

best way to get

my

mind

shifted to "aviation mode" was

to go to the airport, make a pot of cof

fee, turn on a little country radio,"

and just be

around

the many avia

tion

artifacts

at the

hangar.

I

could

hear

the

airplanes

coming

and going

on

the

nearby runway, and there was

no phone

to pester me. Then all of

the

airplane noise got me

thinking

about

the

upcoming flying season,

now just a

couple

of months away.

Suddenly,

the

motivation kicked in,

and

my

mind

started cranking. Deci

sions, decisions I have been trying to

decide

which

fly-in events to attend

in 2008 . To start off my planning, I

thought about the local events

that

are relatively easy

to

get to.

It

starts

every year

on the

first of January

at

Nappanee, Indiana, where EAA Chap

ter 938 members,

the

"Cloudchasers,"

host their annual New Year's Day Han

gar-Over Fly-In/Drive-In Luncheon

event. This year was their

17'

annual

get-together,

and

they put

on

a great

feed

that

attracts a whole

bunch of

chili served up. Sorry I

didn't

make it

this year, Audrey.

It

seems as

though

my 3-year-old grandson is

now

of

the age that he wants to know when

I'm going to be there for

his

birth

day,

which

is now always celebrated

the airplane

noise

got me

thinking

about the

upcoming

flying

season,

now

just

a

couple of

months

away. Suddenly,

the

motivation

kicked

n

that

same Saturday. In the future, my

solution to

this

dilemma

is to

bring

him along


3/44

G

N E

VOL.

36

, No 2

2008

co TENTS

e Straight Level

Getting out there!

by Geoff Robison

2

News

6 Vintage Aircraft Club of Great Britain Fly-In

A delightful aviation day

by David Macready

10

Timeless and Triumphant

The Taylorcraft "Twosome"

"Best buy in the sky!"

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

18

Reziches' Travel Airs

Part II-November Charlie Eighty One Fifteen

by James Rezich

22 What Our Members

Are

Restoring

by David Tunno

24 The Technical Corner

Slotted ailerons

by Robert G. Lock

28 Multiple Organization Listing

3

Pass

It

to Buck

Here I am again

by Buck Hilbert

32

The Vintage Instructor

Kick th e tires: Part I

by Doug Stewart

34 Reviews

Books and Videos

of

Interest to Vintage Members

by H.G. Frautschy

ST FF

EAA Publisher Tom Pob

erezny

Direc

tor of EAA Publications David Hipschman

Execu

t

ive

Direct

or

/Edi

tor H.G. Frautschy


4/44

Cessna

T SO

Bobcat Club

We missed listing Jon Larson and

the

Cessna Bobcat club,

now

in its

49th

year, as a

type club

. Here's its

information:

Cessna

T 50

The Flying

Bobcats

Jon

D.

Larson

P.

O.

Box 566

Auburn, WA,98071

253-670-8218

E-mail: skykingjon@hotmail com

Website:

www.Angelfire.

coml

mi2lbobcat

You

can find

the

rest

of the type

club list

on

our website at

www

.

Vintage

Aircraft.org.

Click

on the

Type Clubs

link at the top of the home page.

Cessna Spring Steel Gear

Leg

F

i

ssues

ai

rw

orthiness concern sheet

In

the

fall

of

last year

the

FAA is

sued an airworthiness

concern sheet

ACS)

for

Cessna models

120, 140,

150,170

, 172,175,180,182, 185,

188, 190, 195,

205,

206,

and 210.

The reason for

the ACS quoted

from

the document was

corrosion

and

fatigue cracking

of the main landing

gear

MLG)

spring struts have caused

MLG

failures on various Cessna air

plane models.

Here

is the

text of the

ACS:

The

left

MLG broke

on

a 172K

that did a ground loop on June 18,

2007. On May 6, 2006, the left

MLG

leg

broke off at

4

inches from the

1987

. We

have reason to believe

that

wear-out for

the

spring struts

is

about 3,000 flight

hours

on

rough

terrain, and

about

8,000 flight

hours

on

paved

runways.

At

th is

time,

we

believe

that our

analysis

is

showing

that

these spring struts should be vi

sual

and

NDI

inspected

every

2,000

flight

hours

.

The

axle

and

hardware

should be at least visually

inspected

every 2,000 flight

hours

.

In

2001, the NTSB issued two

safety

recommendations

:

The

first

recommended an initial inspection

at

the next 100-hour or annual in

spection,; and the second recom

mended repetitive inspections at

appropriate intervals.

At this

time

, the FAA has not

made

a determination

on what type

of corrective action

(if any)

should

be

taken.

The resolution of this air

worthiness

concern

could involve

an

airworthiness Ddirective

AD)

action

or

a Sspecial

Aa

i

rwort

h iness Iinfor

mation

Bbulletin

SAIB), or the

FAA

could determine

that no

action

is

needed at this time

. The initial Rrisk

Aassessment for this concern

indi

cated

that an AD or

SAIB might

be

considered.

Enclosed

are:

(1) the Initial

Risk

Assessment

Evaluation

Chart

(IRAEC), (2) a

photograph

of the

latest failure, (3)

the

previous

ACS

dated 5/23/01,

(4) FAA AC43-16A

article dated July 2002,

(5) a

sche

matic of

a spring strut,

and

(6) Cess

directive or a service

bulletin

.

I t

is

a

method by which the FAA can gather

commentand

field expertise regard

ing a

maintenance

issue prior to

the

FAA making a determination regard

ing follow-up

maintenance

actions, if

any. The follow-up

can

be no further

action

on up

to

and

including

an

air

worthiness directive.

Tom

Carr, technical

representa

tive of

the

Cessna Pilots Association,

forwarded a

copy

of

the

club's com

ments

regarding the

ACS.

Here's

what

the

CPA wrote

to

the

FAA engineer

Mr.

Park:

Cessna

Pilots Association

CPA)

has received very few

comments

from

the

membership on

the

airworthiness

concern sheet (ACS). One member

with a U206F model

with

7,000 hours

on the

aircraft used

on unimproved

strips felt

that

with the amount of

hours

on the

gear

and

his type of op

eration, rough runways, that is was

probably time

to

just

to

go ahead

and

replace his original gear struts.

CPA

feels his

point

about rough runways

has

merit and

feels

that any flight

operations off unimproved runways,

has

to

be harder

on

the gear struts as

compared to the operator

that

stays

on

improved runways.

That

would be

especially

true of any

ski-

equipped

aircraft operations.

The

gear strut

failures

CPA

has

been

made aware of all originated

from a

corrosion point usually on

the bottom

side of

the

strut. The new

mailto:[email protected]://www.angelfire.coml/http://www.angelfire.coml/http://www.angelfire.coml/http:///reader/full/Aircraft.orgmailto:[email protected]://www.angelfire.coml/http:///reader/full/Aircraft.org


5/44

8

/1RVENTLRE

O S K O S

There s Much More Online

Look for more

EM

AirVenture Oshkosh 2008 information

onl

i

ne

at

www AirVenture org

• For admission and hours: www

A

irVe

ntu r

e

org/2008/

planning/admission

html

• For information on accommodations:

w

ww

AirVent

ur

e

org/2008/planning/where_to_stay html

• Find or share a ride to Oshkosh : www AirVenture org/

rideshare/default asp

• For information on flying into Wittman Regional Airport

alternate airports and stops to and from Oshkosh

www

i

rVenture org/2008/f1ying/inde

x html

their struts were fine. The Cessna new

production 206H models still ut ilize

the

flat spring

main

gear, and the in

spection

details

in

its service

man

ual for

the

gear struts are still

pretty

sparse as

compared

to

what

is n ow

contained in the 180/185 manual re

vision . CPA

fee

ls that the 180/185 re

vision should be incorporated

into

all

the

service manuals

that

affect any

Cessna

mode

l equipped

with

the flat

spring gear struts.

CPA was made aware of a

com

pany, XP Modifica t

ions (509-884

3355, www.XPMods.com

that has

the

provisions

to

inspect

(NDI) and

verify

the

bends and angles of the Cessna

mentioned earlier, any back-country

operator has to understand they are

being extreme

mission

specific, and

their

maintenance

program

has

to

be adjusted accordingly

to

make sure

the

l

anding

gear

component

parts are

inspected and determined to be air

worthy on a regular basis.

As per

the Cessna 180/185 man

ual revision,

'Ex

amine

for

signs of

corrosion (red rust) i f damage to

the paint

finish of

the

landing

gear

spring

is

found.

' That simplistic but

very

important detail put

out

in

a

special airworthiness information

bulletin (SAIB) wo

uld alert

owners

and A&P/IAs as well to the firs t in

thereby possibly avoiding becoming

another accident statistic.

CP Final

Comments

Th

ere are

two

failure

modes

in

volved here.

Th

e

first

is

failure

of

the

strut at some point other than

the axles attach point. This type of

failure

is generally

caused

by

corro

sion

that

has

penetrated

through the

shot

peened

surface. CPA

is

unaware

of any gear leg failure of this nature

where

the shot

peened surface

had

not

be

en

penetrated prior to

failure

by damage

or corrosion, either ox-

idation or fretting

corrosion.

This

type of failure is preventable by an

nual visual in s

pection

of the gear leg

for corrosion, damage, and integrity

of the paint film.

The se

cond

failure

mode is

of

the

strut

failing

at the

axle

attach points

.

CPA s experience indicates that

this

type of failure only occurs on aircraft

that

are used

on

rough surfaces

or

operate on

skis

from time to time.

Suggesting periodic inspection of the

bolt holes on aircraft used in such a

manner for cracks and

dealing

with

cracks

that

are

found

as

prescribed

by

Ces

s

na

Aircraft

Company will

prevent

these types

of

failures .

As

far

as the axle and

hardware

inspection

every 2,000 hours,

CPA

fee ls those

items

should

be

being

looked

at

dur

ing

every tire change,

which should

occur

more often

than 2,000 hours.

f

tho

se

additional

details

were

in

cluded in the SAIB , then the owners

changing their

own

tires as

permit

ted under preventative

maintenance

wou

ld be

made

aware

of the

impor

tance of checking the axle and at

http:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp://www.airventure/http://www.airventure/http://www.airventure/http://www.airventure/http://www.airventure/http://www.airventure/http://www.airventure/http://www.airventure/http://www.airventure/http://www.airventure/http://www.airventure/http://www.airventure/http://www.airventure/http:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/index.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/index.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/index.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/index.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/index.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/index.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/index.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/index.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/index.htmlhttp:///reader/full/www.XPMods.comhttp:///reader/full/www.XPMods.comhttp:///reader/full/www.XPMods.comhttp:///reader/full/www.XPMods.comhttp:///reader/full/www.XPMods.comhttp:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp://www.airventure/http://www.airventure/http:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp://www.airventure.org/2008/f1ying/index.htmlhttp:///reader/full/www.XPMods.com


6/44

AirVenture:

Where the Aviation World

Celebrates

Plans are well underway for several

major activities

that

will take place at

the

56th

EAA

AirVenture Oshkosh

2008, The World's Greatest Aviation

Celebration, scheduled for July 28

August 3 at Wittman Regional Air

port in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Already in the works for this sum

mer's aviation extravaganza are:

• The

50th

anniversary of

NASA

with

the people and machines

that

brought a

half-century of

achieve

ment

and history in space

and

aero

nautics, and those who are

planning

what's next.

• Greater

opportunities for

women

to participate in all aspects

of aviation,

including

encourage

ment

for

more

women to

join the

pilot community.

• Acknowledgment of a number

of significant airframe milestones, in

cluding the 70th anniversary of the

sands of aviation

enthusiasts

who

unmatched

anywhere in

the

avia

T-6

trainer,

the

50th anniversary of

make the annual pilgrimage each

tion

world, it's

the annual aviation

the

Nanchang

CJ-6A

the

10th

anni

summer to Northeastern Wiscon family

reunion

element

that

is

the

versary of Cirrus Design, and more.

sin. It's

the unique

family

atmo

most memorable

feature of

what

is

• Aviation innovation displays,

sphere

and culture of

the

event

known simply as 'Oshkosh' around

such as

the

latest developments

and

itself, however,

that brings

people

the

world, he said.

products relating to space tourism, back year after year, says

EAA

Presi

Specific

details

for all

the main

unmanned

air vehicles, electric dent

and

AirVenture Chairman activities, as well as traditional con

powered aircraft, light-sport aircraft, Tom Poberezny.

vention mainstays, will be

updated

and others.

While

the special

events and

regularly over the next several months

These events and much

more

are

activities at

EAA AirVenture

each on

www.AirVenture.org

your source

for

in

store for

the hundreds

of thou-

year offer

experiences

that

are

AirVenture news and information.

John Frank, Executive Director, 3940 market conditions as the primary

would be interested. We hope to find

Mitchell

Rd.

Santa Maria,

CA

93456.

reason

the

company decided to pul l a good use for them,

he

said.

the plug on the popular performing Jayson

Wilson,

director of flight


7/44


8/44

A delightful vi tion d y

Y D VID

M CRE DY

N

estled in

the heart

with

an enforced consideration of

all

things looked good for Sunday

of

rural Bedfordshire

the weight and

balance

chart for

6th October

is the delightful air-

the aircraft for the

return

jour

Saturday

arrived

and

we were in-

field at Sackville

ney

home. This year

once again

deed blessed with a

delightful au

Farm, and the

an the

alternate adverse weather day

tumnal morning

and

reasonably

nual V C members-only

visit

can

Sunday)

was not needed, and our

clear

conditions;

the crosswind

of-

often

be

associated

with the need

chairman agreed several days

be-

ten associated with

Sackville Farm

for

the pre-Christmas diet coupled

forehand with

Tim Wilkinson

that

and

incidentally our old home

at


9/44

Finmere was missing,

and

this day

was set

to

be a delight. First arriv

als, a Beagle D5 Husky G-ATCD

and

a Chrislea

Super

Ace Sky Jeep G

AKVR also signified

the standard

for

the

aircraft types

that

arrived

at

varying times

during the

day. From

a personal perspective , O.K. , my

son, loved Auster JIN G-BLPG . The

aircraft was built in 1959 and flown

in by Peter Gill resplendent in its

Royal Canadian Air Force markings,

and

O.K. insisted on having his

photo taken by it .

It was nice to see our member-

ship secretary, Rob Stobo,

venture

out to field afar, in his diminutive

Volkswagen-powered Jodel D.9 Bebe

G-BDNT. However, of special note

it

was great to see Barbara Schlus

sler

fly

in her Evan VP-l Volksplane

G-BGLF; Barbara

succeeded this

time

despite several

thwarted

at -

tempts previously. Watching the

come and

go

of

aircraft from

the

vantage point

of

a comfortable seat

by

the clubhouse an airmanship

note became all

too

apparent; re

member when landing

toward

the

clubhouse hold off making con-

tact until after the windsock. Sev

eral people were caught out buy

the gently undulating landscape of

this great rural airfield . Of those a

few decided to get value

their

for

money by

landing

a few times all

in

the

same

approach

before finally

giving

up the flying

lark

and park

ing

the

aircraft

before retiring

to

the

clubhouse.

Close

to

lunchtime

the barbe-

cue was fired up,

with

those wisps

The single-place Druine Turbulent is often powered

by an

aero-conversion

of the

air-cooled Volkswagen engine. This one, a Rollason-built example constructed in

the md

-

1950s, is

owned

by John Mickleburgh

and David

Clark of the Tiger Club

one

of the UK s most venerable sport flying clubs. The club just celebrated its

50

th

anniversary. This

Turbul

ent is

one

of

four

cUlTently flown by the Turbulent

Display

team

of the club. Log on to www tigerclu co uk or more

information.

This

Piper

PA-22-108 Colt, G-ARNJ was built in

1961.

http://www.tigerclub.co.ukfor/http://www.tigerclub.co.ukfor/http://www.tigerclub.co.ukfor/http://www.tigerclub.co.ukfor/http://www.tigerclub.co.ukfor/http://www.tigerclub.co.ukfor/


10/44

A

few StaggelWings are

in

Europe

includ

ing this

fine example

owned

by The

Fighter Collection.

It was

originally delivered to

the U.S.

Navy

as a

UC-43B

BuNo

23689 and then

allocated serial

44-67724. It was

assigned to

the

Royal Navy

under

the Lend-Lease

agreement

becoming

FT475 and operating from

Scotland.

After

the

end

of

World War

II it

returned to th

e U.S.

Navy

asBuNo 32874

before

returning

to

the U.S.

civilian registry

as

NC1193V.

Even the

Vagabond

hasmanaged

to

spread

ts

wings ove

rse

as. This is a

Piper

P

A-17,

serial num

ber

15-229, owned

by

B.P

Gardner.

to beckon

all, was

reaching

a fever

pitch as a

huge

table in

the

club

house slowly vanished as more and

more food piled up. A queue slowly

formed, a queue

that

was polite and

in

a

way

both

subdued yet

orderly,

fuelled by eager anticipation adding

to

its growing length. Now

queues

seem to be one of the few national

sports

that

we excel in. The queue

on this occasion was indeed one of

our finer efforts in

both

its

good

natured and controlled manner

tempering

the

desire to

rush

for

ward

for the food. But the urging

from those deep within the queue

a virtual stampede was

tempered

by

knowledge that

savoring the de

lights of the

cooking

was now im

minent

,

yet the volumes

available

to all was

indeed plentiful.

Very

soon the background noise

gave

way

to

contented murmurs

as the

food, a very special element of

the

day

, had once again hit the mark.

Still more

and

more people flew

in. The

growing number

and variety

of aircraft types

and color schemes

acted

as a great visual aid

when

ap

proaching from

the

air

and

was

the

delight of

all

those on the

ground

as

well.

A

rough

idea

of the span

of aircraft types and variety can be

judged

by the

fact

that

at the

oldest

end of the

scale were

four

aircraft

from both

sides of the Atlantic,

an

interesting juxtaposition when con

Sidering the development of

gen

eral

aviation

at

that

time. There was

John

Coker

and

Sue

Thompson in

the

DH Tiger

Moth

G-ANFM

and

Cliff Lovell

in the Luscombe

8E

G-


11/44

BuiH

in

1965

this is

a Beagle

(Auster)

06.

In

1960

Auster

was sold to

British

Executive and General Aviation Ltd

(BEAGLE). Auster production continued

until

1968. This 06

is owned

by D.J. O Gonnan.

Some of the most popular post-war lightplanes

in

Europe

are

the

Druine

Turbulent

series,

designed

by Frenchman Roger

Druine.

This

is

a D5 Turbi, a two-place

model.

The Chrislea

CH3

Super

Ace Sky

Jeep

is certainly

a

unique airplane. Des

igned by

R.C.

Christoforides, the four-place

plane

powered by a

145-hp

Gypsy

Major

en

gine it

has

a

wingspan

of 36 feet and a maximum gross

weight

of 2 350 pounds.

This one is owned by R.B. Webber.

end of the scale was David Cassidy s

MCR-Ol Banbi G-CDLL, which was

only

2 yea

rs

old,

having

been built

in 2005, followed by Derrick Brunt

in his Banbi G-TDVB built in 2004

and Richard Goddin s Skyranger

G-

SKRG, a

head

y 4 years

old

and a

well-traveled

aircraft despite such

tender years, adorned with stickers

from trips both close and afar.

A

lthough

food does

often

form

the central theme when most peo

ple talk

about

Sackville Farm

each

yea r it is

worth

remembering

what

makes i t all so special and why we

really keep

returning.

And that is

the friendliness and welcoming na

ture of Tim and all those involved at

the

flying club whose labors

and our

own sense of well-being and con

tentedness are directly attributed to.

From a

purely

selfish perspective,

the fact that my 2-year-old

daugh


12/44


13/44

The

new

straight stringers

allow

you to

see

the

structure

of the airframe just beneath the

fabric-they re like cheekbones

on

a supermodel

- Joel Severinghaus

Y

SP RKY B RNES S RGENT

Sometimes there are

hidden

treasures tucked

quietly away in the

south

40

at

EAA AirVenture

Oshkosh, far away from the milling crowds. That s

where Joel Severinghaus Taylorcraft BC12-D was

tied down this past summer, and it beckoned

to me

as

I wandered

through

the field. It was

conspicuous by its very presence, with its fresh

ivory paint glowing under the midday sun and

its bright blue trim reflecting

the

sky above. The

judges found it alluring, as well, and awarded it a

Classic Bronze Lindy (Class 1 0-80 hp) trophy.

NC96130 (s/n 8430) was manufactured in

1946 at the Taylorcraft Aviation Corporation fac

tory in Alliance, Ohio.

It

was a

turbulent

year

for Taylorcraft, replete with several factory fires,

storm damages, and financial troubles. The com

pany filed bankruptcy in early November, just six

months

after NC96130 rolled off

the

production

line and

onto

the ramp. NC96130 s

own

saga

began on May 23, 1946, when its airworthiness

certificate was issued.

Six

days lat

er

it flew to its

new home in Kansas and later went to owners in

Missouri. It eventually made its way to several

different owners

in

Minnesota including a fly-

ing club and in North Dakota,

as

well. This par

ticular Taylorcraft, like

the company

itself,

had

its

own

share of hardship including ground

loops, wind damage,

and

a hand-propping inci

dent. Then in August 2005, Severinghaus of Des

Moines, Iowa, became its new caretaker.

Sfrf

€J

t t ~ f € J ' f 1

Chet Peek, aviation historian and author, pro

vides a glimpse back in time regarding

the

devel-


14/44

opment of

the

Taylorcraft: "In 1931,

when e.G.

Taylor married his

E-2

Cub

to Continental's new A-40 engine, he

made personal flying safe and afford

able. Of course, you couldn t fly very

fast, or very far or very high, but you

could get in the air. A few short years

later, Taylor formed a new company

and built his famous Taylorcraft. It of

fered side-by-side seating, wheel con

trol, closed-cabin comfort, and would

cruise at 100 mph with only 65 hp.

Finally, a lightplane could be used for

business trips or even vacation jaunts.

Taylor's Cub made private flying possi

rib stitching. Three versions were

available-the

Standard, Custom,

and

Deluxe. Powered by a Continen

tal A-65-8 engine, the airplane had a

maximum cruising speed of 105 mph

and a landing speed of 38 mph .

It

car

ried 50 pounds of baggage behind the

seat and had a fuel capacity of 18 gal

lons, providing a range of 500 miles.

Like its predecessors,

the

BC12-D

had

a NACA 23012 semisymmetrical air

foil,

as

opposed to

the

flat-bottomed

Clark Y airfoil used on many Pipers.

So its wings, coupled with a stream

lined airframe, allowed it to

fly

faster


15/44

see

and

fly

the new Taylorcrafts

agree-Dollar for Dollar,

Fea-

ture for Feature-Taylorcraft

has earned

the

reputation I est

Buy in the Sky. 1

The publicity that was gen

erated when pilots set records

while flying their Taylorcrafts in

the late 1930s

and

early 1940s

was perhaps some of

the

best

marketing for the company.

Those records included: Hunter

and Humphrey Moody

flew

an

endurance flight of 14 days and

nights aloft in 1938; Dewey El-

dred

flew

975 miles nonstop

from New

York

to Daytona

Beach, Florida, in 1939; Grace

Huntington achieved a world

altitude record for lightplanes

of 24,311 feet in 1940; Jack

Snodgrass won the Firestone

Trophy

Race

during

the

Miami

Air Maneuvers in 1940 and Fon

Stark won it in 1941; and Ev-

elyn Burleson

flew

a nonstop

goodwill flight from Canada

to Mexico in 1941. Burleson

had extra fuel tanks installed

in the 1940 deluxe

Tay

lorcraft

Miss Lib

e

rty and completed her

l,700-mile flight in 16

Vz

hours.

These accomplishments, and

others, were highlighted in a

full-page ad in the April 1946

issue of Skyways.

That same ad also listed

the

firsts for Taylorcraft, such

as:

FIRST

to

introduce side

by-side seating

with

wheel

control in light airplanes.

FIRST

to employ a racing

J f i n ~ f f

j i ) ~

T 9 . f ~ ( i ) ' f e ~ # f ~

Severinghaus' introduc

tion to

tube-and-fabric style

flying occurred while

he

was

a

studen

t pilot

and had

the

opportunity to do part

of his

training in a Piper J-5. He en

joyed it so much that

he

be

gan looking

around

at vintage

airplanes,

and he soon

de

veloped an affi

ni t

y for Tay

lorcrafts. It was

more

than

10 years ago, on one of my

first trips to Oshkosh, he re

calls,

when

I was walking the

flightline

and

looking

at

old

planes,

and

way

down

there

in the

south

forty was a Tay-

lorcraft.

What caught my

eye

was

the

long, elegant taper

of

Look how cleanly the trailing edge

drain hole is opened

up

. ou can see

how taking your time results in fine

fabric work that both the public and

aircraft judges notice.

PHOTOS

SP RKY B RNES S RGENT


16/44

N

9613

Shinn mechanical brake parts are still available from Sky-

Bound

n

Atlanta Georgia.

A new Lang tail wheel was

n

stalled.

A guy told me to see him after the

forum was over. Two weeks later, I

was up in Fargo looking at NC96130,

smiles Severinghaus. liThe appeal of

that

airplane was

that

it was pretty orig

inal. The panel hadn t been cut up to


17/44

~ u ~

}(9 (O .JJ1ufhenf cJfy

Severinghaus won his campaign

and

gained permission from his wife,

Beverly Westra, to begin a full-fledged

restoration of NC96130. One of

the

next steps was finding a mechanic.

While

attending the

Antique

Air-

plane Association's fly-in that fall, he

noticed a pristine 1940 Taylorcraft

BC 6S.

It was owned

and

restored by

john Frisbie of Udall, Kansas, says

Severinghaus,

and

it was his father's

airplane. He

had

inherited his fa-

ther's hangar

and

tools,

and he had

just started his Aircraft Restoration

and Recovering business. My goal for

the

restoration was to be completely

authentic

and have the airplane

looking like it did

the

day it came

out

of

the

factory. It's

tough to

find a

mechanic willing

to do that-to use

all slotted screws and original fasten

ers, such as friction tape

and

cord, as

opposed

to

Phillips-head screws

and

plastic cable ties . After I talked

with

john, I knew

he

was

the one to

re

store my airplane, so I flew it to his

shop in November 2006.

Back

at home

in Iowa, Severinghaus

devoted hours

upon

hours

to

learning

the

answers to myriad questions, such

as: What were the correct colors and

paint scheme,

and

was the glove box

handle originally plastic or metal? His

persistence was fruitful,

and

he found

the

answers he sought. Other Taylor

craft owners had scanned in unfaded

paint samples from old airplanes,

and

then jim

and

Dondi Miller at Aircraft

Technical Support mixed

the paint to

match. Now they have

the

formula

from plastic resin. When it came time

for firewall-forward originality, he in

sisted upon keeping the old Case mag

netos, along with unshielded ignition

harness

and

spark plugs. And after

an

extensive search, he located

an

old,

unfiltered air scoop in good condi

tion, with a factory-original screen

over its

opening

,

and john

carefully

shaped

the

new cowling he'd made

to

fit around it.

Meanwhile, Westra, who good na

turedly

adopted the title of Taylor

craft Financier, patiently

endured

her husband's quest

for

authentic

ity in

the restoration

,

including

the overflowing filing cabinets full

of Taylorcraft research and his self

confessed obsession with

the

smallest

of details.

1 { e f 9 . " ( O ~

9.nJ

JMi(9 (Oe

As

Severinghaus delved

ever

deeper, he realized that parts avail

ability (or lack

thereof)

presented

its

own challenge.

Fortunately,

he was able

to

locate

drawings

for

-

Well, for fabric-covered

airplanes, anyway .. w

got th

idea from Ponce.

It's called rejuvenation, and t works great with re l

dope

finishes.

Spray our rejuvenator overaged dope;

parts that needed to be fabricated

as owner-produced parts, and he

discovered that a few

items

were

still being

supplied

by

vendors,

such

as Shinn

mechanical

brake

parts

(Skybound);

an exhaust

sys

tem (Wag-Aero); an aluminum

nosebowl

(Aircraft Spruce); miscel

laneous

parts for Taylorcrafts (Uni

vair); and

cabin carpet

and

interior

upholstery (Airtex).

As

they

removed the fabric from

the airframe at Frisbie's shop in

Kansas,

they

were

surprised

and

dismayed

at

what

they

saw. Per

haps most

alarming was a crack

and

bend in the compression

tube

at the right front jury strut attach

ment bracket-the fitting was com

pletely

broken

off below

the fabric.

I

learned that some mechanics

don't go into a great amount of

detail

on the FAA

Form

337s,

shares Severinghaus

with a

wry

smile. We found that

every

piece

of

wood on

the airframe

was either

cracked

or

broken. Some

had

been


18/44

Here s the mold for making the new glove box handle. The new glove box handle.

cutaway in the lower cowling.

Sandblasting the BC12-D fuselage.


19/44

The windshield fai

ng was the t rickiest piece to fabricate

says Severinghaus. "He even made

staples by hand, in order to fasten the

wool felt gasket material to

the

en

gine baffles, using the original 1946

staple holes."

As

is common with modern-day

restorations, a few concessions were

made for safety's sake. Shoulder har

nesses were installed, a small fire ex

tinguisher was mounted adjacent to

the seat, and an antenna (for use with

a handheld radio) was routed inter

nally so it wouldn't be visible from

the

exterior of

the

aircraft. And for

longevity considerations, Poly-Fiber

fabric and coatings were selected,

as

opposed to Grade A cotton.

~ ~ ~ ~ f Q t ~ l months,

NC96130 was ready for her test

flight. Frisbie had

the

honor of that

first flight ,

and

then a very eager Sev

eringhaus had his chance

they

were both pleased with what they

long 36-foot wing I get 80

mph

in

dicated at cruise with the Sensenich

wood

prop. She could

fly

faster

with

a metal prop, and I could

push

the

engine faster,

but

I fly at

2,lS0

rpm

as the manual says."

His first cross-country was his jour

ney

home

to Iowa June 23-24, 2007.

"It was wonderful, flying her home

at

l,SOO

feet agl above Kansas and

Missouri," Severinghaus reminisces.

"She flies well,

and

she's lighter now,

too . she lost 17 pounds in

the

res

toration. The new straight stringers

allow you to see the structure of the

airframe just

beneath

the

fabric

they 're like cheekbones

on

a super

model-and

it's just pretty

when

you

can

see

that

underlying structure.

You try

not

to

anthropomorphize

your airplane, but you end up doing

it anyway."

In late July, he flew it to EAA Air

Venture, just as he

did

last year.

But this time, it was his Taylorcraft

n f a e

Va tte

Severinghaus delights

in

flying

his newly restored Taylorcraft, and

he finds it quite economical to op

erate . He typically

plans

for a 4.S

gph fuel burn, "so even with avgas

over $4

per

gallon, it

on

ly costs

me

about $20 per hour to fly the Tay

lorcraft, he comments. My wife,

of course, points out the additional

fixed costs

of

hangar rent

and

in

surance at about

$300

per month,

plus

the capital costs of the plane

and restoration. Even so, she flies

with

me

on

the weekends,

and

she's willing

to hand-prop

it .. .I'm

a very lucky guy /I

Severinghaus has become an am

bassador for the va lue of restoring

vintage airp lanes, enthusiastically

promoting the advantages they of

fer

to

pilots

and

owners. "I wish

more people would

restore old

airplanes . For a

SOK

investment,


20/44

And

here

is

what

air

show smoke

is all about

Although this is actually

NC606K-the

R e z i i c h e ~ s

Travel Air D-4-D Speed

wing

not NC8US.


21/44

This is

the

photo

that Mike first

saw and

started

his

pursuit of

owning

NC8115.

At

this

time the airplane

was owned

y

Eart

Stein of Fostoria Ohio. The ship was then powered with

the

Wright J·6-7 Whirtwind.

These were

commonly

called "El

ephant

Ear" Travel Airs.

Next came

Standard

Wings," which are

com

monly confused

with Speed Wings.

The

Standard

Wings incorporated

the new

"Frieze" ailerons to replace

the

old overbalance design

and

fea

tured round wingtips on both

the

up

per

and

lower wings. The same Travel

Air

No.1 airfoil was retained,

and

the

span

stayed

the same at

33 feet for

the

upper wing

and

28 feet, 10 inches

for the lower.

The unique design feature of the

Frieze aileron was the hinge arrange

ment,

which

had the hinge pivot set

back

to

allow

the

entire leading edge

of

the

aileron

to extend beyond the

Travel Air has

round

wingtips

that

i t

is a

Speedwing,

when

in

reality

it is a Standard Wing. Another mis

conception

is

that

Speed wings were

Standard

Wings,

just

shortened

at

the inboard

ends. The

Speedwing

used

the

Travel

Air

No.2 airfoil,

which

had

a

slight

undercamber

to

the

airfoil

and

featured heavier spar

and rib construction.

The

span was

reduced to 30 feet,S inches

for

the

upper wing and

26 feet for the lower

wing

. But

the most

visible

and

sig

nificant

feature

was

that

the flying

wire terminal ends were

below the

surface of the wing. This eliminated

the small bump fairings at

the

in

tersection of the flying wires and

owners, trying to find an airplane

within

his

budget.

He

finally set

tled on NC8US, SIN 887.

One

thing

about Mike-he was

very thorough

in his research and often knew more

about

the airplane

than

the

owner

He

kept

meticulous notes about

Travel Airs

and had

many detailed

lists of airplanes by

registration

number and serial number,

owner,

and

geographic area.

So

why

was Mike

attracted to

NC811S?

I t

was

the history

of

this

10-year-old Travel Air that Mike was

taken with, along with

the

price. Mike

knew that the airplane was delivered

in early February 1929

to N.R. Air

ways,

the

Travel Air dealer

at

Curtiss


22/44

---

====

-

NC8l1S on

the

south

side

of

"Muni" airport.

You can see

the Joe Marshall

Buick

dealership

on 63

n

Street.

Believe it

or not, the dealership still

remains

at this same location today, under

another

name

and

it

remained

in the

New ork City area for a

number

of years having

several successive own

ers. During this time

it

was never cracked up.

I t

did have a 3 x lO-inch

tail

wheel installed

in

place of the original tail

skid. The ship

received

routine maintenance

and various

airframe

parts were recovered as

necessary.

Then

in

1937

the


23/44

tor. This exhaust system

was one of the keys for

successful skywriting, as

the smoke oil

could

be

injected

into

the

large

exhaust collector where

i t

would

be

heated by

the superheated

ex

haust

from every cyl

inder

before

entering

the tailpipe and being

trailed in a great burned

smoke oil cloud behind

the airplane.

Okay, here's the fam

ily secret to

the

impres

sive amounts of smoke

we are able to get from

the

J-6-7s

on

the Travel

Air : we inject

the

smoke

oil

into the

exhaust col

lector

through an

AN-6

steel elbow

welded

You can

see

the extra longexhaust

pipe

with the front

co

llector on the Wright J 6 7 in

this

view

into the

manifold.

The of the restored NC811S

smoke oil is

pumped

in

under 15 psi of pressure

Now

that's

a

lot of

pressure,

and

i f

hardly

a trace of

unburned

smoke

between

two sawhorses and let him

you have even seen oil being pumped oil. The Pitts drivers with only 180 hang out

out of a 3/8-inch fitting,

you

know

hp

of heat and two headers

that

Most of

the

"training" was done af-

what large

amount of

volume we are

exit the

cowling

pointing straight

ter work,

and

it was hard to get the full

talking about.

down don't

have a chance of leav five hours. In 1933 Milo Burcham had

Once the smoke oil

is

burned,

ing

a

nice

long

smoke

trail

set the record

of

four

hours

and five

you need to keep

it together

in a Okay,

back

to NC811S.

One

of

minutes, so the Rezich boys were out

continuous stream

behind the

the other

air

show

modifications

the to

raise

the

bar quite a bit.

As

it turned

airplane. The key here is a

long

Mackey team did was to add an

in

out, they never did make

the

attempt.

tailpipe,

and where

it exits the air verted

header

fuel tank for

extended While Joe had this

Travel Air,

plane. I f the smoke stack is too

inverted

flying. This was of particu Mike flew it during an air show per

short, the

smoke

will not

be

con lar interest

to the Rezich

brothers, formance

at the Cleveland

National

centrated and will disperse quickly.

as they had

been considering

an

at

Air

Races in 1938. Mike was part of a

The

angle at which the smoke en tempt to

set

a

record.

They had al

three-ship formation act that

trailed

ters the air stream

is

equally impor-'

ready

put some thought into this miles of smoke. Mike Murphy would

tanto f

the

angle is

too

large,

the idea

and even developed

and used

later buy the Travel Air from Mackey


24/44

BY D VID TUNNO

N3N-3

44879 has

been

in my

family

for

29 years. I t

was the

second N owned by my father, a

World War II Marine Corsair pi

lot

who

trained in N s

at

Pensacola

and

always sang their praises, espe


25/44

tion, and with the AT-IO cowl, I think

it s also

the

best-looking combination.

Lots of N s are

out

there with

the

original yellow Navy livery. I chose a

different route. The scheme is pre-war

Marine

Corps, as would have been

seen

on

the

corps' pre-war fighters

and dive bombers.

The windshields are custom built.

The original N windshields are just

like the

Stearman,

with three glass


26/44

E

arly aircraft beginning

with

the Wright

Flyer

through the

development of the airplane

in to

the

1920s

were

often

unstable in flight because there was

little

design

and

wind

tunnel

test

ing data available. In many cases, de

signers relied on data

generated

by

one another.

There was a significant event that

would improve

the

stability and low

speed flight of aircraft, a program

that commenced design and develop

ment

of

more

safe aircraft. In 1926,

philanthropist

Daniel

Guggenheim

offered a $100,000

main

prize

and

five $10,000 secondary awards for air

craft

that

could meet certain require

ments. These requirements were:

• Maintain controlled, level flight

at 35

mph without

stalling.

• Demonstrate hands-off stability for

five minutes at any airspeed between

45 mph

and 100

mph

in gusty

air.

• Glide power off at

less

than

38

mph.

• Land over a 35-foot obstacle with

maximum 300-foot roll.

• From a

standing

start, take off

within 500 feet and clear

that

same

35-foot obstacle.

Those were stiff requirements for

the

time, but

the contest

officially

began

on

April 30, 1927, and

ended

October

I,

1929. Twenty-seven man

lotted ailerons

Y RO ERT

G.

LOCK

Command-Aire SC3-B, serial W-Gl powered

by

a IS0-hp

Axelson

radial engine.

Note full-span Lachmann

slotted

ailerons

on lower wings

.

Only

four

of the model

5C3-B

aircraft were constructed: serial numbers

W-Gl

NCGOS), W-94 NC948E),

W-l

NC973E

),

and W-142

NCI04S7).

These aircraft were

the

ancestors of

the

now common STOL (short take

off

and

landing) aircraft.

When ailerons deflect for lateral

ron

reduces

the

effective

camber

of

that

portion of the wing (decreasing

the effective angle of attack of the left

wing), which decreases the lift gener


27/44

Wolff photograph,

the Lachmann slot

ted aileron

as

used

by designer Al-

bert Vollmecke, is

clearly shown.

You

can plainly

see

the

generous slot be

tween

the wing

and aileron. The

slot

was

formed

on

both the wing and

aileron using hand

carved

and san

d

ed

balsa wood. The

balsa

wood

was at

tached to the chro

moly steel aileron

spar using

bras

s

STALL SPBBD CONTROL

lJmmand-aire ailerons banish

TI

..

•••••,•• • , . slopPl t X J 1 1 t r o L ""'•• ~

. - . . . . . ~ ' o o w

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r s

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.......... b o ; . , p

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..................... _

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.............

, . . ~ . d o o

a 1 , p I ~

... , . . . , ..tf-...l .... ,....._

....... . . . . .

o. i_

...... Lb.o .......

C ~

phOt o.a..c.rr..-." ...... ..., .............

>iI·

, . . , o I . l < , o f t o d ~

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~ . . d < > f t ~ . Io,. ..

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WATC

H THE TRADE PAPERS f OR MORE

ABOUT

COMMANJ).AlRE"S UNCANNY STADIUTY

safety wire

and was

glued in place

on

the

wood

wing. In

Command-A

ire advertisements, the photo served as the ba

sis for a drawing highlighting the excellent roll control

of

their biplane, thanks to the slotted aileron.

(termed aileron differential); a typical travel would be 18

degrees

downand

2S degrees up. Another method

to

deal

Aeroplane, a story titled "I Am an Aircraft Designer," the

text o f a talk given on the "Forces Programme" of the BBC

on Monday

May

2S,

1942,

Mr.

Frise states:

"I have been asked to mention the Frise aileron, which

I

patented

as far back as 1921. The aileron, as you know,

is

the control on the

wing tips used to carry

out

most of

the

aeroplane manoeuvres. This idea was born whilst I was

working on means of improving the safety of flight, and it

was awarded the Wakefield Gold Medal by the Royal

Aero

nautical Society.

"This

control

became practically standard through

out the world,

and

soon its original purpose of improv

ing safety was overshadowed by its ab

il

ity

to

increase

the

fighting manoeuvrability of aircraft in war. The

only

enemy aircraft not so fitted at the beginning of the War

(WWIJ) was the Messerschmitt 109, but

this

suffered so

badly at the hands of the Spitfires

and

Hurricanes using

the

Frise aileron,

that

it is

not

surprising

to

find that the

latest model Messerschmitt, the 109f, has returned to the

fight wearing Frise ailerons.

"Although we have seen so much of our work turned to

the

waging of war, we have in

the

aeroplane

the

strongest

weapon also for peace, in that it can reduce the size of the

world and make isolation and the flourishing of perni

cious doctrines anywhere

pOSSible.

,Ax/so!

~

.5.6% bJ1.2% c.O.62% d.

4.3% b - ~

it I

I-

/

.10

X:;J;..::-2

S:W. i

Slotted ai leron

25

per

cent

chord

by 40 per

cen

t Sen1Jspcr7

C _ -. -Ax/s o f

.- -- ro

taflon

52: - o..¥Z

0,8.4% 0, 18.9%

'I

II

19.37.- 4O.0

J:.

v ,

0

d

OIleron

40

per cent c

hord

by 30p er cen t semispan

fr

ola

f i

on

C

,8.7% 0 ,12.2% < ,1 .= d ~

33%1"'" . 2 l 77-

F

r ise-

f

ype

a

i leron , I

25.07.-

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28/44

SIMULT NEOUS ILERON

DISPL CEMENTS

WITH

SSUMED

DIFFERENTI L

RR NGEMENTS

Average different i l

Extreme di f ferent i l

Upward

displace-

ment

Downward

displace-

ment

Upward

displace -

ment

Downward

displace-

ment

Degrees

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

35 . 0

Degrees

0.0

8.5

13.0

15.0

15.0

Degrees

0.0

10.0

20.0

40.0

50.0

Degrees

0 . 0

7.0

12 . 0

11.5

7.0

Table 1 details th e testing

of

the Frise type

aileron in

NACA s 7-foot by lO-foot wind tunnel. The authors

of thi

s

report are Fred Weick

and

Richard W. Noyes.

The definition of a Frise type aileron is this: an aileron

having a nose portion projecting ahead of the hinge axis and

a lower surface in line with the lower surface of the wing.

G

ustav

Vikt

or

Lac

h

mann

While not a member

of

the Command-Aire organiza

tion,

Dr.

G. Lachmann had a

tremendous

influence on the

aircraft designed by Albert Vollmecke and

produced

by

the Little Rock firm. A WWI aviator, Lachmann crashed

his airplane

into the ground in

1917 after it stalled. Lit

tle was known

of

aerodynamics

in

the early days, and as

Lachmann

lay in a hospital

bed

recovering from his in

juries,

he

began

thinking about the

wings of

an

airplane

and

what could be

done

to improve stall characteristics.

A stall occurs when airflow over the wing

is

too slow or the

angle of attack of the machine is too high; the air is said to

burble, drag

forces

increase, and the lift generated by the wing

can no longer support the weight of the craft and it plummets

to the earth. t low altitude the stall can

be

disastrous, because

the aviator cannot recover before striking the ground.

Lachmann surmised

that

if a wing was

constructed of

several smaller wings, separated by

open

spaces

or

slots

that ran straight outward from the fuselage and parallel to

each other, then the air

would

flow between the slots

at

high angles of attack at low airspeeds. Upon his recovery

The

Handley

Page H.P.39 in 1929. The air-

craft s remarkable periormance

can be di

rectly

attributed to the

high

lift devices designed by

Gustav Lachmann.

It was

Lachmann who

finally

patented the

idea of slots

and the slotted aileron

that

Vollmecke used to make the

Command-Aire biplane a very stable ship.

Lachmann was invited to the factory of Frederick Hand

ley Page

in

England

to

help develop

high

lift-devices for

the

aircraft engineers

intended to enter

in

the

Guggen

heim Safe Aircraft Competi tion. Handley Page decided the

solution

to

stalls was to lay a slot

down the length of

the

leading edge of the wing, from the fuselage to the wingtip.

Handley Page

had

received a patent for the invention

of

slots

on

October

24 1919 and

slotted wings became a key

to

the

firm's fortunes, as sales of patent rights earned about

$3.6

million in

payments from other builders

of

ships.

In turn, slotted wings led to the

development of

flaps for

wings. Handley Page engineers also performed a number

of different tests, including a retractable slot called a slat.

Lachmann, after gaining a

patent

for his slotted wing

and

aileron design,

soon

joined forces

with

Handley Page to

produce the

H.

P.39

Gugnunc

a one-of-a-kind aircraft

to

compete

in

the Guggenheim contest in 1929.

The H.P.39 finished a close second to the winner of the

Guggenheim

Safe Aircraft

Contest

th e Curtiss Tanager.

The

H.P.39

had a simple wing constructed of wood but was


29/44

the

worst, there are houses, barns, etc. In most cases,

and

in spite of all instructions and warnings

to

the contrary,

the

pilot usually makes the famous (or, rather infamous)

'distress curve,' in order to make

the

field . A better way, in

such cases,

is

to fly straight ahead

and

take one's chances

with pancaking or sideslipping

into

a garden. In

the

curve,

he feels

the

pressure leaving

the

controls,

and the

airplane

begins to sink

and

sideslip.

If

he attempts

to

right

the

air

plane

out

of its tilted position, he notices that it does not

respond to

the

ailerons and, instead of

coming out

of

the

curve, begins

to turn

more strongly about

the inner

wing.

Finally,

the

airplane goes over

the

wing or tilts [its] nose

and begins to spin or plunges vertically down. The altitude

at the

disposal of

the

pilot is seldom sufficient to enable

the airplane to flatten out and in most instances the ca

tastrophe

is sealed

by

str iking the ground.

:::::::=:;:: j A

In his research, Lachmann discovered spanwise slots on

wings

and

slotted ailerons improved performance. Lach

mann

wrote,

A

similar principle is followed in

the

simple

slotted-wing aileron, in which there

is

a

wedge-shaped

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30/44

AVIATION ORGANIZATON LIST

Florida Antique Biplane Association,

Inc.

Larry Robinson

10906 Denoeu Road

Boynton Beach,

FL

33437

561-732-3250

Email: [email protected]

Dues: $48/

yr.

Publication: Monthly, The Rying

Wire

Florida

Cub Flyers,

Inc.

Larry Robinson

10906

Denoeu Road

Boynton Beach, FL

33437

561-732-3250


Dues: $48/yr.

Publication: Monthly, The Cub

Courier

National

Biplane Association

Charles W. Harris

P.O.

Box

470350

Tulsa,

OK 74147-0350

91&B6&D75591&B6&D039

Email: cwh@hvsu com

Website:

www.nationalbiplaneassn.org;

www.biplaneexpo.com

Dues: $25 individual; $40 family;

add

$10 foreign

Publication:

Bi-Annual

North American

Trainer

Association

(

T6

,

T28,

NA64

,

NA50,

P51, B25)

Kathy &Stoney Stonich

25801 NE Hinness Road

Brush Prairie, WA 98606

360-256-0066 or 360-896-5398


Website: www.NorthAmericanTrainer.org

Dues: $50 US &Canada; $60 Foreign

Publication:

Quarterly,

NATA

Skylines

WWI Aeroplanes, Inc.

Beverly Williams

PO Box 3235

Cross

Cockade

Bob Sheldon,

Secretary

14329 S.

Calhoun Ave

Burnham,

IL

60633

708-862-1014

Dues: $15/yr.

Publication:

Bi-monthly

Eastern

Reg.

U.s. Air

Rac

ing Association

Jack

Dian

i

ska,

President

26726 Henry Road

Bay Village,

OH 44140

440-871-3781

International Flying Fanners

Kathy Marsh

P.O.

Box 9124

Wichita, KS 67277{)124

316-943-4234, 800-266-5415

Email:

[email protected]

Website:

www.flyingfarmers.org

Dues: $25/yr.

Publication:

6/yr.

United

Flying

Octogenarians

Bart Bratko

19 Bay State

Rd

Nat

ick, MA 10760-2942

334-832-2413

Email

:

[email protected]

Website:

www.unitedflyingoctogenarians.org

Dues:

$12

/

yr.

Publication: UFO

newsletter

(bi-monthly)

International Deaf

Pilots

Association

Jeff

Willoughby

13 Fox Valley Drive

OFallon, MO 63366

Website:

www.deafpilots.com

Dues:

$35/ yr,

active

pilots

Publication:

yes

Int I

Fellowship

of

Flying

Rotarians

International

Wheelchair Aviators

P.O. Box 4140

Big Bear

City,

CA 92315

951-539-2641


Website: www.wheelchairaviators.org

Lake Amphibian

Flyers

Club

Marc Rodstein

7188

Mandarin

Dr.

Boca Raton, FL

33433

561-483-6566, 561-892-3128


Website: www.lakef/yers.com

Dues: $59,

$69

overseas

Publication: Newsletter: Lake Ryer

National Air Racing Group

Betty

Sherman

1932

Mahan Avenue

Richland,

WA

99354

509-946-5690

Email:

[email protected]

Dues:

$15

for first member

in

household ,

$3 for each

additional

Publication: Professional Airracing

(4-13 times

per

year)

National Association of

Priest

Pilots NAPP)

Mel Hemann

127

Kaspend Place

Cedar

Falls,

IA 50613-1683

319-266-3889

Website: www.priestpilots.org

Dues:

$25

Publication: NAPP

OX-5 Aviation Pioneers

Robert Taylor

P.O.

Box 1406

Berthoud, CO

80513

303-651-6692


mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.nationalbiplaneassn.orghttp:///reader/full/www.biplaneexpo.commailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.NorthAmericanTrainer.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.flyingfarmers.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.unitedflyingoctogenarians.orghttp:///reader/full/www.deafpilots.commailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.wheelchairaviators.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.lakef/yers.commailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.priestpilots.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/http://ox5pioneers.orgmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.nationalbiplaneassn.orghttp:///reader/full/www.biplaneexpo.commailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.NorthAmericanTrainer.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.flyingfarmers.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.unitedflyingoctogenarians.orghttp:///reader/full/www.deafpilots.commailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.wheelchairaviators.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.lakef/yers.commailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.priestpilots.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/http://ox5pioneers.org


31/44

Sentimental

Journey

to

Cub

Haven

, Inc.

Carmen Banfill

P.O.

Box

J,3

Lock Haven , PA 177

45D496

57().893-4200

,

57().893-4218

Emai

l:

[email protected]

Website :

www

sentimentaljourneyfly n com

Dues:

$12/ single, $17/

family

per year

Publi

cation:

Twice ayear

Silver

Wings

Fratenily

Barbara J. Evans, Publicity Chairperson

4307 Quail

Run

Rd.

Danville, CA 94606-5850

925-736-1795,925-736-1270

Email:

obconsults@aol

com

Website : www.silverwings org

Dues: $25/yr.

Publication:

Slipstream,

Editor -Don

Fairbanks

, [email protected]

Herman

Schaub

168 Marion Lane

Berea,

OH

44017

44Q.234-2301

Website : www.airrace.com

Dues:

$20

/yr

US

-$23

others

Publication: Bi-monthly

Ninety·Nines,

Inc.,

Women

Pilots Organization

Laura Ohrenberg

4300 Amelia

Earhart

Ln.

Oklahoma

C

ty

,

OK

73159

405-685-7969, 405-685-7985

Email:

[email protected]

Website: www.ninety nines.org

Dues:

$65

/ yr.

Publ i

cation:

Bi-monthly

Vintage Sailplane Association

Linn Buell

1709

Baron

Ct.

Daytona Beach, FL 32128

Website: www.vintagesailplane org

Dues: $25/

yr.

Publication: Quarterly Bungee

Cord

GET

THE

SKILLS

TO

GET

IT

BUILT

AT EAA

SPORTAIR

WORKSHOPS

GET

YOUR

HOMEBUILDING

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OFF

THE

GROUND

BY SIGNING UP FOR

EAA'S

SPORTAIR

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BEGINS

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32/44

BY BUCK

HILBERT

ere

m

again

I ve

been blesse

d

with

a grea t n u

mber

of fr ien ds .

Aviation, automotive, medical, farmers, and neighb ors.

I find it mentally inv igorating listen ing to wha t t hey

have to say, their pet peeves, their litt le tips, jokes,

and

idle conversation. Years ago, my

favorite

uncle made

the st

atement,

Small talk makes th e world go

ro

u

nd

.

Ain't that the truth?

Well, the websites, e-mail, the telephone, an d th e fax

machine have all made small talk more like ly th an ever

before.

We

are besieged with information th ese days,

and

it certainly widens one's horizons. Here's a case in p

in

t .

With acknowledgements to the author, Bill Vatter, a

Rolls-Royce Owners Club member, and

with

thanks

to

the club s executive director, Tim oun s , here s our

take

on the procedure used by Rolls-Royce to neatly

secure

cotter

pins.

U)

z

o

0::

________________________________

J

HEAD SNUG

ALTERNATE

TO

SHANK

Figures 1.

The only installation

version shown in


33/44

ou can't

buy

ready-made twisted pins,

ut they're pretty easy to make. With the

After the castellated nut has been in

ead of the

pin

held

in

a vise, grip the

stalled, install the pin and tap it with a

in's two legs with a pair of pliers about

plastic

or

rubber mallet to seat the head

e bolt diameter in length from the eye

into the notch of the nut , snug against

d

of the pin. Then twist the legs a bit

the bolt.

ore than

90

degrees. The objective

is

have a

pin

that

is

twisted

in

the sec

that passes through the bolt.

your

gonal cutting pliers, and while pulling

Next cut

off

the

end even

with the

rmly to keep the pin's head seated

in

far edge of the notch in the castel-

e

nut,

bend

it around the nut like this.

lated nut.

Whatever is

rightly done,

however

humble,

is noble.

Henry

oyce

One of my good friends and

fellow

VAA

member, Ken Kres

mery, is a wonderful guy who

also has

the

airplane disease,

so much so that he is the prin

cipal mover

in

Chapter 790 and

1414 here in

northern

Illinois.

He's also a

Ro

lls-Royce automo

bile fan. He

shook

me up send

ing me a copy of

the

Rolls-Royce

newsletter, Th e

Flying

Lady with

a note directing me to an article

on cotter pin installation.

I l

ooked

at it, read it , and

spent some

time

appreciating

the

nea

tness

of the

way

it

was

done.

The

question

it raised

in

my mind was, Would it be appli

cab le (legal) to use this method

on

aircraft?

I dug into

my

reference library,

got ou t the mechanic's bible,

AC-43

-

13B, an

d found only

one

paragraph on cotter pin installa

tion, wh

ich

included a

not

too

informative diagram. (Figure

1

Not completely satisfied with

t

ha

t

scant information,

I

dug

a

little deeper into the Aircraft Me-

chanics Handbook AC-6SA,

and

found wh at I was looking for.

The process sim ilar to a twisted

pin is an option and is quite le


34/44

BY DOUG STEWART

Kick

the

tires

Part

I

A few

winters

back I remember

hearing a client of mine call over

the

UNICOM, shortly after

he had

taken

off, that

the

airspeed indicator in

his airplane wasn t working.

My

first

thought was that he probably had not

checked to see that his airspeed indi

cator was "alive" prior to liftoff, for if

he had, he most likely wouldn t be in

his current predicament.

But to give him the benefit of the

doubt, I supposed it was possible (al

though not

probable)

that

some con

densation

might have formed in his

static lines while

the

airplane was in

a heated

hangar

overnight, and now

that

i t

was

exposed to

sub-freezing

temperatures in the winter air, the con

densate had turned to ice. Since the air

plane did not have a static line drain, I

couldn t fault the pilot for not check

ing that item during his preflight in

spection. But I had a strong suspicion

that perhaps this pilot's preflight in

spection had been

less

than thorough.

I told

the

pilot, over the UNICOM,

Before Flight"

hanging

from

the pitot

vane on the bottom of the wing. But

remembering the admonition that folks

who live in grass houses shouldn't play

with matches, I wasn t

about

to set a

large fire under that pilot's ego. For I,

too, had made a similar mistake (that's

when I learned to be sure to check that

the ASI is working prior to rotation), and

I know that if there were to be a gather

ing of pilots who had all made the same

mistake, it would require a very, very

large hangar to hold

all

the attendees.

But this does lead

us

to a discussion

of

preflight inspections.

What

con

stituted a proper and thorough pre

flight? What types of conditions might

ground

the

airplane, even if it were in

a flyable condition? How should we

proceed if we find a squawk? Is there

any time when a "kick

the

tires, light

the fires" mentality might suffice? And

last,

but

far from least,

what

ramifica

tions might we expect if we miss some

thing

on

a preflight inspection?

Let's take a look

at

the last item

to the same type

of

denial that I ex

perienced when

the

fuel line broke in

my Cardinal (described in a recent ar

ticle) and continued on with his flight,

all

the

while

rationalizing

away the

problem. But unfortunately his C-195

turned into a glider just 5 miles short of

his destination when it ran completely

out of fuel, and in

the

ensuing forced

landing,

when

faced

with the

choice

of trying to fly above the power lines

that were between the airplane and the

chosen landing

spot

or

below

them,

the

airplane hit some trees

and

ended

up rolling into a ball. Literally Miracu

lously no one was killed, and the pilot

and passenger suffered only minor in

juries. (The way it was discovered

that

the

fuel cap had been ajar was by the

red stains [remember 80 octane?]

that

covered what remained of the wing

and empennage.)

The question arises: how did the pi

lot miss

the

fact that his fuel cap was

loose?

The answer could

be one

of

many. In my experience I have seen

caused

by

a bystander's innocent "in

vent

everyone

of the scenarios I

As

we have seen, missing just one


35/44

terference," to miss

an important

item

(like a loose fuel cap) . Thus I recom

mend

to all

my clients that

they tell

their

passengers

that

if

the

passenger

distracts th

em during

their

preflight

inspection, it

might

very well lead

to

their demise. Admittedly this mes-

sage might be construed as harsh,

but

I guarantee you it is effective.

Other

distractions

might not come

from our passengers, but from the en

vironment

or

perhaps

other

operations

being

conducted

on

the

airport,

like

the

flyby

of that

beautiful Staggerwing

. (Oops, I

just got distracted

from

writing this article as I visualized that

wonderful biplane flying by). We have

to be cautious

that

nothing distracts us

from the critically important job

of the

preflight inspect ion.

Even

when the

temperatures

are

well below freezing,

and the

winds are

gusting

into the

20s as you inspect

the

airplane out of doors, it

is not the

time

to hurry

that inspection.

We

have

to

be vigilant

that nothing

causes us

to

rush that inspection. Okay...you prob

ably

should

have

done the

inspection

before you called for

your

instrument

flight

rules

clearance, and

now

you

face a void time

that

is looming large;

however, it

is much

better

to

call flight

service and let them

know

that you

missed

the void

time

than

to

depart

into the clag with

something not

right

with the airplane. The phrase

that

i

Documents

Vintage Airplane - Feb 2008