Vintage Airplane - Jul 1991

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jul 1991

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STRAIGHT LEVEL

by Espie "Butch" Joyce

Hopefully, most of you will have thisJuly issue of Vintage irplane in handbefore you depart for the Oshkosh Convention this year. There have beensome improvements to your area thisyear to bett er serve you while at theconvention. The Antique/Classic Headquarters (known to all as "The RedBarn") has been en larged so that we candisplay more A/C merchandise. TheType Club tent will be placed on anasphalt pad this year. We have had atleast 21 clubs ask for space this year.This area continues to grow inpopularity . I think that it is important topoint out that this tent is provided to

1 Butch JoyceA/C Convention Management919/427-0216

2 John BerendtA/CForums507/263-2414

3 Art MorganA/C Parking

414/442-36314 Dale Gu stafson

Antique A wards317/293-4430

5. George YorkClassic A wards419/529-4378

6. Gloria Beecroft

A/C Manpower213/427 -18807 Steve Nesse

Parade of Flight507/373-1674

8 Kate MorganA/C Headquarters Staff414/442-3631

9 Geoff RobisonA/C Security219/493-4724

10.Larry D' AtilloA/C Press414/784-0318

11 . Stan GomollA/C Maintenance612/784-1172

12 Charlie Harri sInterview Circle918/742-7311

13 . Joe and Julie Dick eyType Club Headquarters812/342-6878

19 Jack McCarthyA/C Photo Contest317/371-1290

20. George MeadeA/C Workshop414/926-2428

21. Buck HilbertA/C Flight Safety

815/923-459122. Jeannie Hill

Pioneer Video815/943-7205

23. Bob WallaceOX-5 Pioneers301/686-9242

24. Thomas Auger

Data Process715/287 -426225. Phyllis Brauer

A/C Aerogram312/779 -2105

As you can see jus t by th eChairmen's List, there will be quite a lotof activity during the week of Convention. f you have so mething or a tidbitof information that could be of benefitto any of these Chainnen, you mightwant to contact them directly, or youcan track them down by inquiring at theRed Barn .

During EAA Oshkosh, there will bemany Antique/Classic special events,including the A/C Picnic, which will b eheld on Sunday night of the Convention .The A/C Parade of Flight will take plac eon Monday of the Convention. The A/CFly-Out is schedu led for Tuesday morning.


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PUBLICATIONSTAFFPUBLISHER

Tom PobereznyVICE-PRESIDENT

MARKETING& COMMUNICATIONSDick Molt

EDITORHenry G. FrautschyMANAGING EDITOR

Golda Cox

ART DIRECTORMike DrucksADVERTISINGMary Jones

ASSOCIATE EDITORSNorman Petersen Dick Covin

FEATURE WRITERSGeorge A. Hardie, Jr. Dennis Parks

EDITORIALASSISTANTIsabelle Wiske

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERSJim Koepnick Carl Schuppel

Mike Steineke

EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSICDIVISION, INC.

OFFICERSPresident Vice-President

Espie "Butch" Joyce Ar!hur R. Morgan604 Highway St. 3744 North 51 st Blvd.

Madison, NC 27025 Milwaukee, WI 53216919/427-0216 414/442-3631Secretary Treasurer

George S. York E.E. "Buck" Hilber!181 Sloboda Ave. P.O. Box 424

Mansfield, OH 44906 Union,IL60180419/529-4378 815/923-4591

DIRECTORSJohn Berendt Rober! C. "Bob" Brauer

7645 Echo Point Rd. 9345 S. HoyneCannon Falls, MN 55009 Chicago, IL 60620

507/263-2414 312/779-2105Gene Chose John S . Copeland

2159 Carlton Rd. 9 Joanne DriveOshkosh, WI 54904 Westborough, MA 01581

414/231-5002 508/366-7245Philip Coulson George Daubner

28415 Springbrook Dr. 2448 Lough LaneLawton, MI 49065 Hartford, WI 53027

616/624-6490 414/673-5885Charles Harris Stan Gomoll

3933 South Pearia 104290th Lane, NEP.O. Box 904038 Minneapolis, MN 55434Tulsa, OK 74105 6121784 1172

918/742-7311Dole A. Gustafson Jeann ie Hill7724 Shady HillDrive P.O. Box 328

Indianapolis, IN 46278 Harvard, IL60033317/293-4430 815/943-7205

Rober! Lickt eig Rober! D. "Bob" Lumley1708 Bay Oaks Drive 1265 South 124th St.

Albert Lea, MN 56007 Brookfield, WI 53005507/373-2922 414/782-2633

July 1991 Vol. 19, No.7

Copyright 1991 by the EAA Antique/Classic Division, Inc. All rights reserved .

Contents

2 Straight & Levelby Espie "Butch" Joyce

4 Aeromail5 A/C News/compiled by H.G. Frautschy

8 Vintage Literature/by Dennis Parks

12 Dwain Pittenger's Cessna UC-78/by Norm Petersen

14 Pioneer Airport - The Meyers OTW /by Norm Petersen

17 Pioneer Airport Opening Weekend/by Norm Petersen

19 What Our Members Are Restoringby Norm Petersen

21 The Hendersons And Their Piper L-4/by H.G. Frautschy

25 Pass I t To Buck/by E.E. "Buck" Hilbert26 Installing Shoulder Harnesses In Your

Airplane/by Charlie Lasher

29 Vintage Trader

32 Calendar

33 Mystery Plane/by George Hardie

Front Cover ...Up in the clear, cold (Honest!) atmosphere overcentral Florida, Dave Henderson (in the rear seat) flies his wifePaula's Sun 'N Fun '91 Reserve Grand Champion Antique Piper L-4.Photo by Jim Koepnick, shot with Canon EOS-1 with 80-200 lens.1/500th sec. at F5.6 using Kodachrome 64. Photo plane flown byBruce Moore.

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Page 17


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GREAT LAKES AMPHmIAN(John Underwood, our fellow Anti

que/Classic member and noted aviationhistorian, h d this item to correctGeorge Hardie and I on on a historical

point sent in by Charley Hayes for theJanuary Mystery Plane -HGF)

Hi George and H.G.,Why do you guys persist in fingering

J .S . McDonnell (Jr.) as the perpetratorof the Great Lakes 4A-1? H e had absolutely nothing to do with it It wasHolden Richardson's project. Mc D .was busy with the Guggenheim Contest"Doodlebug " and did not go with GreatLakes until 1931. I f you don't believeme, just ask his sons, lS . III or John,both high up at McDonnell Douglas .Incidentally, it was not a 4T . The Tstood for Trainer; A for Amphibian.

The "unidentified buyer" in Wiscon

sin was Paul Trierof

Mpls, and it already had Wright J-6-5s when he got it.Believe the original engines were CirrisHermes of 130 hp or thereabout. SteveWittman may have put one in his racer.Better ask SJW where he got the Hermes. It might not have come from theGreat Lakes 4A-1. Hermes w ere veryrare this side of the Atlantic.

Cheers,John Underwood, Glendal e , CA

Thanks for clarifying the designerissue. I did indeed ask Steve Wittmanabout the Cirrus Hermes installed in

Chief Oshkosh . He recalled that hewas told t the time he purchased the

engine on the East Coast, that the engine had come from a Sikorsky airplane .In the spring of 1962 the Journal of theAmerican Aviation Historical Society(AAHS) published an article on theSikorsky S-39. So did Paul R Matt inhis Historical Aviation Album , VolumeXIV Sure enough, the prototype S-39

had a pair of British Cirrus Herm esMark / 4-cylinder engines of 5 hp .Urifortunately, it crashed on it 's thirdtestfligh t after it was unable to maintainaltitude following an engine failure .

The S-39 would then be redesigned witha single rudder and a single 300 hpPratt & Whitney Wasp Jr powerplant .The story that Steve Wittman was toldwhen he bought his Hermes certainlymakes sense, given these circumstances . - H .G.F

The Cirrus Hermes Mark I engine installed in Steve Wittman's Chief Oshkosh (below)came from the only twin-engine version of the Sikorsky S-39, the prototype that lastedonly until its third flight, when it was unable to maintain level flight after an engine failure.


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compiled by H.G. Frautschy

here s how the new h ng r t Pioneer Airport looked n l te June.


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fall of that year would not allow theMS-l to go into production, but one

component of the airplane, the stampedsteel exhaust collector ring, would leadto a product line that grew to the currentSolar Turbines company . DuringWorld War II, Solar would produceover 300,000 exhaust collector rings.

In the archives at Solar Turbines,Inc., a complete set of drawings andspecifications exist for the MS-l. Inspired by this find, a group of approximately 50 Solar employees andretirees have joined together to form theSolar MS-l Restoration Club, with thegoal of building an airworthy MS-l.Construction of the replica will takeplace at the Solar Harbor Drive facilityin San Diego. For more information,contact the Solar MS-1 RestorationClub, P.O. Box 85376, San Diego, CA92186.

OSHKOSH W A YPOINTDiscount FuelfWing Camping will be

available to EAA ers at Watoma

place of prominence at their headquarters in Watertown, Wisconsin. f

anyone has a Lewis propeller that theywould be willing to part with, contactJim Patton, HRD Manager,LEWISystems, at 1-800-999-TOTE,extension 320.

UNIV AIR ANNIVERSARYJust after the war, UNIVAIR started

as a small parts manufacturer, and havenow grown to become the largestmanufacturer and supplier of parts forclassic and vintage aircraft in the world.Parts and supplies for many aircraft, aswell as the type certificates for the Ercoupe and Stinson 108, allow U nivair tokeep our older aircraft flying. Thisyear, Univair will celebrate their 45th

anniversary . Congratulations to thededicated folks in Aurora, Colorado .

AERONCA SEDAN TYPECERTIFICATE SOLD

Earlier this year Aeronca sold the lastpost war Type Certificate they held,ATC No. 802 for the 15AC Sedan. William (Brad) Mitchell of Anchorage,Alaska has bought the certificate, and isinterested in hearing from people concerning their needs. Specifically, Bradwould like to know what parts Sedanowners are most in need of, modifica

tions of the airplane, interest in purchasing new aircraft , or any othersuggestions they may have. Brad andhis company are still examining the bestcourse of action to pursue. You cansend your suggestions to Brad Mitchell,P. O . Box 111510, Anchorage, AK99511-1510.

DON LUSCOMBE'S NIECEVISITS EAA HQ

Cris Luscombe Kapitan, the niece ofDon Luscombe, visited the EAA AirAdventure Museum recently, and wasgiven a guided tour of the museum andPioneer Airport by EAA Ford TrimotorCaptain Dick Hill and Antique/Classic

director Jeannie Hill. Mrs. Kapitan wasvisiting her son, who lives in Milwaukee, and was urged to visit themuseum. In a note to Dick and Jeannieafter her visit, she wrote her visitbrought back a wealth of memories

about my uncle, Don Luscombe, and myearly childhood.


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- . R I J . s : R : J h _ ~.

M ~ , . , Om '0.' lff', / _ ~ NTIQUE CL SSIC ONVENTION NEWS

ITWON'T RAINON OUR PARADE A HAPPENING. FAMILYREUNIONThe AIC Parade of Flighl starn lOday at 4:00 We regara OshkOSl'l as a happenong and a

; > m .. and rt wo n ' I rain on our parade. We:II also family reunoon: said Gloria Beecroft AIC marcnave fair winds and good wealhef. predicled power chairman.Phil Coulson, chairman of the evenl . Gloria explained that the marl-pawer commrt

ApprOXimately SOplOnes will lake part n the tty tee supplies all of the volunleers tor lhe Might line

oyslartlngwrth Vem Dollmanlna 1911 era Lincoln w h c h Includes Ihe wrng walkers, bike nders . ana

Beachy reconstruction. Eddie Wagner who CNIf ; ~ n parkers. SecurTly guarcls for the AIC and

and pllols the aNy ftyIng Spartan C31s al O In the Ultralight areas al so come from the marl-pawer

lineup along wrth Ed Sweeney's MOOfe Taylor commrttee.Gloria an d he r husband Paul live n Long BeaCh.Aerocoup. Ihe only one like rt in the world still

CA and tell everyone they know from Califomla toflYing.volunleer for A/C. Of course , anyone w h wontsAircraft after ~ c r f twill continue 10 tty-by into work is appt'eciated. and Gloria will find a jobchronolQglcal order unlillale 3O's mOdels. ThenfO/' any WIlling soul.planes are grouped by family and air speed so

Uke many others Gloria and Paul keep cominglhal Ihey are compartlble In lakeoH and landing.

back 10 OshkOSh because of the many goocPhil Coulson has been an EAA member SIf'1Ce friends they hOVe mOde here. Several years ag o

\972.a memberof AIC Division sinc e rts Inception. they were adopfed by a family from Michigan.and Parade of RIght Chairman for the past 15 and since then there has been some vISiting bockyears. and forth with them.

The Beecrofts 01 0 hOVe gotten to know FartherJoIY\ McGIIlvary wha says the masses at the Theo

ler In the WoocLs. and they tty him bock 10 Michigan after the convention .

Paul al O has a jo b at the convention gIVing outWHArS YOURTYPE? the plaques. They are earty aITTVers at the COl'\-

The Type Clubs located In the tenl just souIih of vention (a week ahead) not aNy to help wherever they can. but also 10 see lhe many gooclhe AIC Red Bam invtteeveryone Interested n arlfriends they hOVe made here .Ilque airplanes to visit.

Peaple who ownantique airplanes can get informahon about parts. maintenance. aircraft for

TH INltRVlEW CIRCLETHANKSsale. and air worthiness requiremenls of the FAAMosl of lhese clubs al O hOVe news efters 10 keep The AIC Division and Chart le Hams would like tomemoers informed about their favome planes . lhank the aircraft owner s whO so far hOVe gener

The Clubs at the tent this year are as follows : ously shared their accampllShiments and planes3elionca. Aeronca. Ercoup . lntematlonal WACO wrth us by pomcipartlng In Ihe Interview Circle .ASSOCiation,Curtiss Robin. Short Wing Piper Club. They ar e : Martin Probst of Jacksonville FL. 1946'nc . .Staggerwing Club. National BIplane As.IocIQ Fairchild 24. Warner powered; Tom Collier.lion . Luscombe As.Iocialion. Cub Club (Piper), Jonesboro. GA. 1929 WACO ATO; SIeve Givens.Fairc hild Club. and Inlematlonal Cessna As.Iocla 1941 CulverCadet; BillQuinn. BuCher JungmelStlon . ler; and Jim Rushing. 1947 Luscombe BE.

When your are looking for Bill Marcy,Volunteer, this is the man you're lookingfor!

for a 3 .00 donation to the A/C division .This can be done by contacting BobBrauer at the Chapter Membership andInformation booth or writing to him at

9345 S. Hoyne Av., Chicago, IL 60620.

EDITOR OFFSIDEI made a couple of errors in the past

two issues that I'd like to correct.First, in last months news, the photos

for Dave Bennett and Dave Marcy w ereswapped, and both wound up with newidentities. The pictures on this pageshow you how Bill and Dave reallylook!

Second, Budd Conyers wrote to pointout that the fine restoration of hisAeronca L-3 Defender was accomplished by the outstanding crew ofJim Kimball and his gang at Zellwood,Florida, not Joe Hindall and his people .

Jim and his gang also restored Bob andThe pioneers of the aircraft industry

were a special breed. Thank you forhonoring them and keeping that spiritalive today in the EAA."

Anne Lindley's Great Grand ChampionStinson SR-8E, as well as the BestBiplane Stearman PT-17 of BillChilders. Joe Hindall and his crew restored the IlBC Aeronca Chief on floatsflown by Bob Everts


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V ~ TA f 3 ~L T ~ V U V ~

by Ue n nisa - k s ~

Lib. a. y / A. chivesUi.-ect ).

THE NATIONAL AIR RACESTHE GOLDEN AGE (Pt. 6

9341933 was not a banner year for air

racing. First there was the confusion ofthree large race meets in one year - twosanctioned ones and one maverick racethat resulted in pilots being suspended.Few new aircraft appeared and notmany records were broken, and the onlytrend in design seemed to be in mounting higher horsepower engines.

The same year the air racing community suffered two fatalities in com

lawrence Brown designed and built t h e B-2 for the 1934 Nat iona ls where it won the 55cubic inch Shell Speed Dash and placed second in t he Thompson.


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had established the Aerol Trophy Race,the first of its kind for women pilots.

The 1934 Greve Trophy was a tokenof Mr. Greve s desire to encouragegreater speed and efficiency in the lowerpower groups. The trophy was for thepilot who had accumulated the greatestnumber of points during the three racesfor the 550 cubic inch displacementgroup. The winning pilot must havecontinuously flown the same ship ineach of the three races which made upthe award. The distance of the race was50 miles, 1 laps over a five mile course.

The contestants must have established aqualifying speed of 200 miles per houror better in order to be eligible for eachevent.

A QUARTER CENTURYOF COMPETITIVE AVIA TIONIn the 1934 National Air Race pro

gram, Clifford Henderson gave histhoughts on that year s events. The1934 National Air Races have been conceived and are being developed to fittingly commemorate A QuarterCentury of Aviation Progress' - toproperly portray the significance of thismilestone of aviation advancement to emphasize the colorful inception to recognize the now firmly establishedutility of the airplane in the field oftransportation and its pre-eminentprominence in the world of sport.

Aviation is no longer a game. Ithas proven itself a useful and vital factorin a thousand lines of business - in athousand details, requiring SPEED intransportation and UTILITY in movingTHINGS and MEN. C l e v e l a n d

often the focal point of epochal aviationachievement - again assumes the roleof host to the major aviation competition - the fourteenth annual NationalAir Races.

The true objective and hope is thath 1934 N i l Ai R ill

Roscoe Turner failed to start the Bendix with his No. 57 racer in 1934 but he would winthe Thompson Trophy at 248.13 mp h .

Steve Wittman won both of the 200 cubic inch races with the Pobjoy Special.


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The brutish looking business end of Roscoe Turner's racer carried the most power of any racer until that time, the 1,000 hp PrattWhitney Hornet.

tivity, providing according to an ad inAERO DIGEST, more grueling competitions - more numerous innova

tions - and a greater concentration ofthe newest creations in racing craft everbefore seen.

The ad continued, This year's classic will be the most pretentious everstaged. The program included Free-forAll competitions in all cubic inch motorclassifications - and demonstrations ofevery phase of aviation . Land Plane

Speed Classics - Massed Flights Foreign Flying Aces - Night Spectacles - Autogiro, Blimp andParachute Jumping contests, etc.$35,000 cash prizes and valuabletrophies will be awarded.

H ld l d l d

~

The Miles Atwood Special was cleaned up for 1934 Uncowled wheels were replacedby smaller panted wheels and the struts faired into the pants. Lee Miles won the GreveTrophy and the Shell Speed Dash for its class at 227.95 mph


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1934 NATIONAL AIR RACES

TEN DAYS INTO FOUR

AV I AT I O N S M O S T C O L O R F U L S P O RT S C L A S S I C

Sanctioned byNa t nal A eronaut i c As s n.

Aug. 31 -Sept. 1-2-3

CLEVELAND

Again Cleveland furnishes the setting for theNational Air Races. Again-this world's premiersports classic will serve as the rendezvous of theindustry.

A ten day program concentrated into four days ofintense activity, presenting-more gruelling competitions- m o r e numerous innovations-and a greater concentration of the newest creations in racing craft ever beforeseen.

This year's classic will be the most pretentious everstaged. The program includes Free-for-All competitionsin a. I cubic inch motor classifications-and demonstrationsof every phase of aviatio n. Land Plane Speed ClassicsMassed Flights-Foreign Flying Aces-Night Spectacles-Autogiro, Blimp and Parachute Jumping contests, etc.$35,000 cash prizes and valuable trophies will be awarded.

Here, new world's land plane speed records are destinedto be shattered. Here, the industry will again receiveinspiration for future progress and development. Everybody in Aviation will be in attendance_

For information and details write, Clifford W. and PhillipT Henderson, Managing Directors, National Air Races,103 Terminal Tower Arcade, Cleveland, Ohio.

They came not only from Cleveland- urged on by posters, window displays, downtown ticket booths - butfrom elsewhere in Ohio and from manyneighboring states. Over 40 percent ofcars counted came from outside ofCuyahoga County. On Labor Day, over4,000 foreign licenses were recorded .

SCHEDULEThe AVIATION article also men

gree of overlap could be introduced andsome closer approach be made to theinterest holding qualities of the two- orthree-ring circus.

THE RACERSThe lack of new aircraft was also

discussed in A VIA TION. Airplanedesigners seeking new ideas for increased performance were keenly disappointed, as almost all of the ships in

An airplane representing the most advanced stage of Ben O. Howard'sdesign philosophy had been damaged intrial flights and could not be repaired intime to get to Cleveland.

The time honored practice of clipping wing area was very much inevidence, the chief example being S . JWittman's Chief Oshkosh in which thearea had been successively reduced


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Uwain V i t t e n Q e ~ ~ ~e ~ ~ n aUC 7S

by Norm PetersenFew items i n this world will cause the

pulse rate of a true antiquer to skip afew beats and then go into fast rhythmthan a nicely restored aircraft that youjust know s one of the surviving few.This story is about just such an airplane,a genuine Cessna Bobcat, nee: Crane,nee : Bamboo Bomber, that is fast approaching its 50th birthday.

Restored by a Texas ag pilot namedDwain Pittenger (EAA 353900, IC15435) from Hereford, Texas, whooperates a firm called Dea f Smith Aero,


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could begin. The trip was comp letedwithout incident in four hours of flyingtime on September 25, 1986 .

Not content with the old registrationnumber, Dwain had the Cessna reregistered N78UC, deno ting the ArmyAir Corps designation of UC-78, whichstood for Utility Cargo, Model 78.(N64120 has since been taken up by adistant relative - a Cessna 172 in Aurora,Oregon )

The extensive restoration took threeand a half years to complete with thefirst flight taking place on January 14,1990. As is so often the case with really

good restoration work, the big "doublebreasted Cub" flew like a homesickangel according to Dwain .

The Razorback fabric covering wasnot removed during the restoration, butdue to an A.D. note, the rib stitching hadto be replaced . All the old stitching wasremoved before new rib stitching wascarefully done and the ribs were retaped. Both fuel cells were removed forwood inspection and both wing walkswere rebuilt and recovered.

To bring the fabric to painting stage,it was filled and sanded at least threetimes before the surface was ready forthe final coats of Irnron "Moon Dust"and medium blue trim. The resulting

color scheme is very pleasing to the eye,being accented by chrome plated spinners and polished propellers on the 245"Shaky Jakes".

A new interior was tastefully done inblue and grey tones that combined toquiet the interior of the airplane and anew instrument panel was fabricated toallow a better positioning of the instru

ments and the modern radios. All newwater transfer decals were ordered fromNoel Allard in Chaska, MN and installed on the panel to give it thatfinished look. All controls and controlwheels were refurbished to where the

The aft seat shows off the neatly done new upholstery .


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Pioneer AirportThe Meyers TWLabor Day weekend back in 1961

was CA VU for all three days in southern

Minnesota. I remember the circumstances well. Our newly recoveredTay]orcraft BC-12D ($610 - completejob ) was available to make the flightbreakfast at Estherville, Iowa. The 60mile jaunt from St. James, MN tookb 45 i h l l

by N o r m Pe te r senI finally finished my pancakes and

went over to inform Art that $2150 was

too much money for "that old hunk otin", and proceeded to fly home in the

T-Craft. Needless to say, I haveregretted that decision many times since

1961A month or two later, Dick Martin


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5u

Designed y I Meyers to e a forgiving primary trainer the OTW shows off its simplelines .

(EAA 62813, IC 3099) bought theMeyers with two other pilots and flew itto Green Bay, WI. To this very day,nearly thirty years later, Dick still hasNC34311 and is presently building anew set of wings (with its ModifiedRAF-15 airfoil) for it (At least there isone wise man among us )

When the EAA Aviation Foundationdecided to activate their Meyers OTW145, NC34357, S N 102, for PioneerAirport duty, I was asked if I wanted toget checked out in the neat, old biplane.(Do Norwegians eat lutefisk?) I had avery difficult time waiting for the mo-ments to pass until our check pilot, GeneChase could run me through thetakeoffs and landings. The long-throwshock struts really cushion the landingjolts - it's almost uncanny how you canplant the wheels on the grass, and thenput the weight of the airplane on thegear. Obviously, the airplane wasdesigned with ham-fisted students in

mind.Conceived in the fertile mind of

Allen H . Meyers, the OTW was probably influenced by the thinking of notedaircraft designer , Martin Jensen (EAA100450), who barnstormed with AlMeyers in the early 1930's. (Althoughalong in years, Martin Jensen stillresides in El Cajon, CA) . There is littledoubt that Al Meyers came by his talenthonestly; his father was a graduate ofthe ETH engineering school in his native Switzerland . (This same schoolproduced noted aeronautical engineer,Chris Heintz, of Zenair fame.)

The design and construction work onthe OTW was done from 1933 to 1936

with the first flight of the prototypetaking place on May 10, 1936 at WayneCounty Airport in Michigan. Workingtowards CAA certification requiredanother three years of hard work beforethe A TC #736 was issued in 1939.Ab t thi ti f i t


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Among the many dedicated workersat Meyers Aircraft Company were threenotables who made significant co ntributions: Ray Betzo ldt , Pard Diver andOtto Meier. Both Ray and Pard have

been working on Meyers aircraft forfifty yearsFour different powerplants were used

on the OTW (which stands for Out ToWin) models. The Warner 125 hp and145 hp models were most common withone OTW powered with a Ken-Royce120 hp engine . The later models used aKinner five-cylinder engine of 160 hp.As the surviving Meyers OTW aircrafthave been restored over the years (theFAA Regis ter lists 55 Meyers OTWaircraft), many have been upgradedwith Warner 165 hp engines for a littl emore sprite\y performance.

The OTW is a two-place, tandem,open-cockpit biplane with an ovalshaped, fully monocoque aluminumfuselage . The wings are constructed ofspruce spars with wooden ribs andcovered with fabric . Total wing area is262 square feet which gives a very lowwing loading of 6.5 pounds per squarefoot. All contro ls operate on ball bearings which exude a unique feeling of

smoothness to the pilot. The largeailerons arelilstalled on the lower wingson ly and are quite adequate for theaircraft. One has to be careful oncrosswind landings as the lowered winghad a limited amount of groundclearance and the wingtip can often bevery close to the ground

Perhaps the finest part of the entireairplane is the long-throw landing gearthat really does its job to absolute perfection. Not only is it wide enough tolimit the groundloop tendency, but thesoft cushion of the internal spring in the

Dick Martin of Greey Bay Wisconsin withAI Meyers during the annual fly in atMeyers Airport about 965 .

Meyers OTW, N34357, S N 102, wasassembled as a personal ai rplane for AlMeyers, himself, in 1944. It was madeup from parts on hand, including twofuselages that were riveted together,justbehind the rear cockpit. It remained atTecumseh during the next 25 years and

was always the host airplane for theMeyers Fly-In each year, when pilotswould return to Tecumseh for a gathering of the cIano Al Meyers flew thebiplane until illness caught up with thedesigner in the late 1960's. He passed

for its stint as a Pioneer aircraft. Thecenter section was recovered and thecylind ers on the 145 Warner were overhauled. In addition, the aluminumfuselage was polished until it matched

the polished aluminum landing gearstrut fairings. With the orange wingsand horizontal tail surfaces, it is a mostattractive biplane.

Dick Martin of Green Bay reportsthat most OTW airplanes left the factorywith some shade of yellow on the wings,all the way from lemon yellow to orangein color. It is nearly impossible to pointto a particular aircraft and say it is factory original in color, because therewere so many different shades used.

Having formerly been Al Meyerspersonal airplane, N34357 does havesome extras on it that are very nice. Anelectrical system with a push buttonstarter is real class. It also has a wobblepump for building up fuel pressure anda retard system on the left magneto forstarting the engine without the usualkick-backs. Perhaps the only drawbackto these niceties is the reduced usefulload - only 296 pounds left for the pilotand passenger - so one has to watch thesize of your passenger

Flying the OTW is a most pleasantexperience as the performance is firstrate and the handling qualities aresmooth and predictable . The Warner145 (499 cu. in.) is a very willing engineand pulls the Meyers along at about 105to 110 mph cruise. Yet the airplane canslow down easily and the good handling

characteristics continue right on downto the stall at about 45 mph. Landingsare almost anti-climatic as the soft gearsoaks up the impact and makes the pilotlook like a "pro" . The sound of theWarner, with its low-pitched radial


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Pioneer AirportOpening Weekend

by Norm Petersen

The Weather Gods smiled onEAA's Pioneer Airport as the crowdsgathered on May 11 and 12 1991, forthe Grand Opening of the 1991 season .Unseasonably warm and mild temperatures brought on by bright sunshine and

h l b ll d h d

aircraft to present a good appearance to

the public, yet allow the flying aircraftto have easy access to the flight line. Amost willing crew of EAA volunteersresponded well to the c9mmands of(Master Sergeant) George Blechel, whonot only volunteers huge chunks of timeh h h

and Nick Coletti, Randy Hytry, as well

as a crew from EAA HQ including Boband Paul Mackey, Vic Goyke, Normand Loretta Petersen, Vern Lichtenberg,Kyle Barnhart, Greg Anderson, CarlSwickley, H.G. Frautschy and RonTwellman. With that many hands, quick

k d f th t k h d


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what was happening during the entireweekend . John Burton and (01 SilverTongue) Steve Buss, both completewith carnival barker's costumes, did anoutstanding job, especially for their firstexposure to such a diverse crowd, inter

spersed with airplanes taking off,people-mover trams rolling by andyoungsters hollering for more icecream. VINTAGE AIRPLANE editorH.G. Frautschy helped out with additional announcing duties.

An additional star attraction for thePioneer Grand Opening was theprototype Aerocar I, designed and certified by Molt Taylor of Longview,Washington. Recently restored toflying condition by the Emil BuehlerTrust in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, the brightyellow and polished aluminum machinewas a unique addition to the weekendfestiviti es. And to add credence to theoccasion, Molt Taylor and his lovelywife, Neil , were on hand as very specialguests to accept plaudits from the entirecrowd and answer at least a millionquestions about the Aerocar. This fascinating couple has spent a lifetime inaviation and can only be spoken of as"the salt of the earth". Married for 52years, Molt and Neil began their lifetogether by ferrying two Luscombes at

a time from New Jersey to their LongBeach, CA dealership in 1939

Other activities at the Pioneer GrandOpening included a hot air balloon,parachute jumpers with Gerry Walbrunmaking smoke rings with his T -6, amusical jazz band and an old fashionedice cream social. Veteran EAA pilot,Gene Chase, made the fly-bys with theAerocar as well as the newly completed"Spirit of St. Louis" replica . PaulPoberezny inaugurated the FordTrimotor rides from Pioneer Airport,personally signing many of the flighttickets. Captain Dick Hill made many

Vintage planes and vintage cars set the atmosphere for the opening weekend ofPioneer Airport.

of the passenger flights with his lovelywife, Jeanne, selling the tickets. Thiswas a first for the Foundation Ford, andit has been announced that weather permitting, the Ford will be available forrides every weekend throughout thePioneer Airport flying season. Othervintage aircraft flown each hour included the Meyers OTW, Lincoln PTK, Piper J-4 Cub Coupe and Ed Wegner

with his immaculate Spartan C-3biplane, as well as Charlie Bell and hisformer Grand Champion Fairchild24W. Mark Lokken and his HeathParasol showed the crowds what theword "ultralight" meant in the early1930's.

A new artifacts storage hangarwith an attached manager's office isbeing constructed on the PioneerAirport site and should improve thearea a great deal. Janet Vette and theSNC Foundation is sponsoring thePioneer Airport Artifact StorageFacility with a pledge of 50 000

This area will be dedicated to thememory of John L. Vette , Jr., one ofOshkosh's early aviators. A $30,000contribution in honor of Dale Crites forthe construction of the AirportManager's office had been pledged b yDavid Lau and Aunt Nellie's FarmKitchens . Other contributions to thisexciting new addition to this area ofPioneer Airport include a $10,000 con

tribution from Bill Rose , $10,000 fromR.W. Kaplan and $10,000 from Johnand Dick Bergstrom. The Board ofDirectors of the Antique/ClassicDivision voted to approve a $5000 contribution towards both new buildings atPioneer Airport. Workspace for themuseum staff will definitely improvewith the new addition and a new"Barnstorming Theater will add to thecolor of the weekends.

All in all, the excellent weather andthe mood of the large crowd combinedto make a memorable weekend . Welook forward to the many weekends


19/36

Waco 1 (GXE), NC3807, S{N 1197

This photo of a sharp looking Waco10 with a bright red and dark blue paintscheme was sent in by Harold Salut(EAA 92575, IC 1772) of Bemidji,Minnesota. A former PBY "Black Cat"pilot from WW II Harold restored the

Waco and enjoyed its company fortwenty years, 1955 to 1975. The Wacois presently registered to George Drayof Dallas, TX and is one of 41 GXEmodels still on the U S. Register.

Harold Salut is the author of the book,"Fragile Wings and Gentle Giants", abeautiful book about the barnstormingand airshow days of the 1930's in thewestern U S. and Canada. This 75year -old pilot has had a fantastic careerin aviation that spanned sixty years andover thirty thousand hours of flying .

Piper Super Cruiser, N3461M,S{N 12 2316

These two photos of a pristine PA-12

Super Cruiser were sent in by ownersMike and Nancy Murphy EAA298870 IC 12541) of Columbus, MS.Mike reports the PA-12 was purchasedin 1989, following another party doingconsiderable restoration work on the


20/36

Faust 301, NS901V, SjN 301Here is an airplane to stump the ex

perts This rather neat looking machineis a cross between a PA-12 SuperCruiser and a Fairchild 24. It was constructed by Elmer Faust of CodyWyoming, back in the 1950's (It wasfeatured in the May 1957 Experimentermagazine). t is presently owned by Al

Peterson of Wasilla, Alaska, who sent inthe photos . The fuselage and wing arePA-12 , but the additions include PA-14flaps, PA-18 tail feathers, Fairchild 24landing gear (with extended PA-12 gearlegs), five-gallon oil tank behind paneland a 165 Warner Super Scarab cowledwith a Cessna Airmaster ring . Two of

the upper cylinder baffles are plasticwhich help the visibility during landingand taxi work .

The three place aircraft does a goodjob of hauling a load, gets in and out ofsmall plac es and, of course, sounds likean airplane is suppos ed to sound lPeterson reports he is looking for a newhome for this unique bird as he wouldhate to see it end up on a forlorn sandbarin the Alaskan bush. f you can give theFaust a good , safe home, call l Peterson at 907 -376-0146 in Wasilla, AK .


21/36

The Hendersonsnd Their Piper L 4

During World War II , the lightairplane would contribute to the wareffort in a way that many would nothave believed just a few naive yearsbefore. At a Washington meeting, William T . Piper, Sr. remarke d that the lightairplane had not been given the chanceto show what it could do for the military.Later he and representatives fromAeronca and Taylorcraft would agree toput on a demonstration for the Army . Afew forward-thlnking individuals both

by H.G. Frautschy


22/36

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Tr ue t o every detail the stenciling on the side of the boot cowl show the mount of c ret ken by Dave nd Paula Henderson in the restoration of their l-4.

hopper Wing Newsletter of the CubClub, the Grasshopper got it's nameearly on. At the maneuvers held that fallat Fort Bliss, Texas, Major GeneralInnis P. Swift looked out the flap of histent at a Piper 0-59 bouncing throughthe mesquite and grass clumps of thewest Texas hills. After the landing, he

remarked to the pilot, Piper employeeHank Wann, " You looked ike a darngrasshopper when you l nded th tthing in the boondocks and bouncedaround " The name stuck for the duration, and would be adopted by the Armyfield artillery and infantry as the unofficial title of the light plane class .

The order for the L-4 was cut inFebruary, 1942 and on June 6, 1942 thedie would be cast, setting the standardby which all other liaison aircraft wouldbe judged. On orders from theSecretary of War, Frank Knox,Brigadier General l H Edwards would

the hands of highly skilled and speciallytrained pilots, able to land in smallunimproved strips. It would enablethese pilots to perfonn their assignedmissions, as well as many more thatwould be improvised as the situationdemanded.

The Piper Cub would be destined to

be the most prolific Grasshopper in thesecond World War. Almost 5600 of theL-4 family would be delivered to theu.S. Anny Air Forces, with 200 servingwith the u.S. Navy . Others in the PiperCub line would serve, including thePiper HE-1 air ambulance, a variation ofthe J-5C Cruiser. The L-4 would be theIightplane that would earn the affection

of many servicemen and women duringthe war. It would be put on floats, skisor wheels, meeting the Army's needswhen called upon. Many people are notaware of one other launch and retrievalmethod, one that many thought went out

with the Curtiss Sparrowhawks on theairship Macon. Everybody remembersthe stubby little fighters that werelaunched and recovered in mid -air byusing a hook on the airplane and atrapeze on the airship. How many ofyou know about the Brodie Device ?This ingenious contraption consisted ofa cable and hook system that allowedthe launch and recovery of an LAwithout it ever having to touch theground. A Navy LST (Landing Ship,Tank), rigged with poles and the cable,could support naval shelling with LA'sthat were launched and recovered withthe Brodie . Other LSTs would bemodified to become Poor Man's Flat

tops , with the addition of a woodenflight deck. With a 10 knot wind on thenose, and a slightly downhill ramp, theCub could be off the deck in 50 yards.From there they would proceed to smallstrips along the beachead to land afteraccomplishing the mission.

Stories about L-4 exploits are legendary. From the delivery of blood plasma

to the pounding of Gennan tanks withbazookas mounted on the wing struts,the Cub in war clothes performedwhatever task it was called upon to execute. In The Stars And Stripesnewspaper of November 6 1944, writerEarl Mazo detai led the exploits of MajorCarpenter of Moline, Illinois , knownsometimes as Bazooka Charlie , who

t tt d t t Oth th th t ll


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How about an original checklist in the original plastic holder? The panel for the L 4should look very familiar to any Cub pilot.

had 4 tanks to his credit. The L-4 couldalso help ground troops out of adesperate situation. According to thissame story, Lieutenants Egbert Petersand John Cramer "saved a Sherman tankcrew by dropping a hastily-sketchedsituation map enabling the tank to getinto position to beat off attacking German armor." Until the advent of thehelicopter, few aircraft could offer thelow speed utility the L-4 could boast.

The LA would serve in both theatersof operations throughout the war, until itwas slowly augmented in some areas bythe Stinson L-5, which had a better loadcarrying capability, as well as a betterperformance at higher density altitudes.

It's 49 years later and as I walk downthe showplane line at Sun 'n Fun '91,Dave and Paula Henderson have justarrived. With just a glance you couldalmost hear the crackle of radio calls

d th h k f fi ld till

that one had 195 hours of actual combattime on it. We learned a lot of thingsabout what was authentic and what wasnot on that one, so we carried those overto this one here." Dave explained. TheHenderson couple make their living atthe Henderson Air Ranch in Felton,Delaware. They specialize in the restoration and repair of Piper J-3 Cubs,and usually have a bevy of Cubs waitingto get their wings in the hangar. Theyboth gave me the tour as I checked outtheir handwork. It's got a ContinentalA-65-8, which is the original engine theairplane was delivered with. All thecomponents of this airplane are theoriginal components of it, with the exception of the stabilizers, which were

too rotted out to use. Other than that, allof the parts came on the aircraft." Its nottoo often you get an aircraft these dayswithout it having some parts replaced .But wait. It gets better. This LAB hasthe original Sensenich five laminate

prop, which, Dave tells me, is a very rareprop to see with the Lititz, Pennsylvaniadecals on 'em. Sensenich has long sincemoved their operation to Lancaster, PA.

The authentic color scheme on theL-4 is accurate too. The aircraft hasmarkings for the 82nd Airborne.Dave's research indicated they had acontingent of eight aircraft in England,France and Germany during World WarII. They were used for special purposesas well as artillery observation. Daveand Paula painted it with the originalfactory type colors - olive drab withthe gray on the bottom, and invasionstripes that were used during the Normandy invasion to identify the aircraftso it didn't get shot down by friendlyfire. One of the only changes for thesake of longevity is the covering. Itscovered with Ceconite and finishedwith Randolph dope, and they'vematched the colors. Randolph was theoriginal producer of the paint for Piperand they matched the paint exactly tothe old specifications. About the only

other change they made was also madein the interest of keeping the airplane inone piece - they installed a full swiveltail wheel The full swiveling actionalso makes it a lot easier for Paula tohandle the airplane as she "womanhandles" the L-4 in the hangar. Paula?The L-4 is Paula's airplane, and fly itshe does. According to Dave, she flies

it well and as often as she can than a Cub


24/36

it well and as often as she can.The restoration is complete, with the

entire a i r f rame stripped and allhardware replaced, including the control cables. Even on a simple airplanelike a Cub it's not a task to be takenlightly, and particular attention was paidto the steel tube fuselage.

With a "regular" restoration, you normally only have to worry about findingairplane parts, but with an L-4, you haveto contend with finding items like a fieldartillery radio. That's when you startscouring the military memorabilia collectors and surplus sellers, hoping to

find just the right item to make yourrestoration complete. In Dave's casethe search was on for a BC659A radioset. As Dave explained: Theyproduced these aircraft at the factorywith HF radios, and they found that theyworked fine in the States but nobodythat the L-4 pilots wanted to talk to wereon the same frequency All the artilleryunits were on different frequencies, so,instead of getting new radios with newfrequencies, they simply grabbed all theradios out of the jeeps, bolted' em downon the back deck and threw the whipantenna up through the roof, and theyhad their radio The battery pack wasmounted underneath the front seat.

Later, that seemed to be a field modification that was done on all the LAs.Details usually will determine how

successful a restoration is, and theHenderson's L-4 is loaded with them.How about an original silk parachuteused now as a seat cushion, or the checklist carefully contained in an originalplastic holder? The stencils markingthe servicing requirements of the engineare flawless. But the one detail thatstands out the most is the cone on theradio trailing wire antenna. Daveagrees. "The cone is probably the mostunique item on the aircraft. You can see

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Documents

Vintage Airplane - Jul 1991