Vintage Airplane - Nov 2008

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 2008

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2/44

GEOFF ROB ISON

PRESIDENT VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOC IATION

AirVenture

planning

and

the

EAA

Founders' Wing

H

oly cow

Where did the

year go? 2008 is going by

so fast it makes my head

spin. With fall weather

having completely fallen upon

us now, we are

already

facing

the

wrath of

Old

Man Winter blowing

hard over

the

northern half of the

country. But what a year it has been

I don't recall

any recent

years that

have had so many strings

of

great

weather days. The most memora

ble was just before

and during

EAA

AirVenture

Oshkosh 2008.

t just

doesn't get any better than that.

In

the aftermath

of

AirVenture

2008, we

learned

we had

annoyed

a number of members who became

quite vocal

about

their

discontent

about this year's aircraft

parking

plan. They

were

particularly dis

tressed

about

how areas

set

aside

for type club parking

impacted

the

ability for at large" members who

arrived early

to

access a

parking

spot

that

wasn't

south

of the Ultra

light area.

There were

enough comments

that

it's

pretty

clear there probably

are even more of you who were also

annoyed,

but have not yet con

tacted us.

In

the

Vintage showp lane park

ing area, we have always felt it was

important

to

provide

vintage

air

craft parking and camping on a

first-come, first-served basis.

Not

only is this the fairest of approaches

to this

issue, it also

happens to

be

the

easiest

plan

to

implement

.

The only real exception to this plan

over

the

decades

of

providing this

service

to

our members has been

the limited

amount

of type club air

craft parking. Depending

upon

the

wingspan

of

the

various approved

type club aircraft, we typically have

capacity for somewhere between

80

and

100

aircraft

parked

in

this

special parking area.

A bit of quick

history

is in

order

at this point. The 2008

conven

tion

was

my 25th Oshkosh event.

Thanks

to the configuration

of the

airport and surrounding roadways,

the real estate available for parking

. . . the cat got out

of

the

bag

,"

when

increasingly

more

members became

aware of our

type club

aircraft

park-

ing area

opportunities.

and camping in our

area

has not

been able to enlarge, while expecta

tions and requests for parking have

continua

ll

y increased.

Six or seven years ago, the

cat

got

out

of the bag," when increas

ingly more members became aware

of our type club aircraft parking area

opport

unities. Since

then

we

have

experienced

a

growing number of

Vintage type clubs requesting per

mission to be approved to partici

pate in this

popular VAA

offering.

With

a

limited

number of spaces,

we've done our best

to rotate

the

clubs chosen for participation, with

different clubs chosen over the

years.

That

way, we

could share

the

wealth" with as

many

members

and clubs as possible. We 've been

pleased with the response both by

the

participating members

and the

public,

who are often looking for

specific types of airplanes

when

they

come

to

the convention.

Recognizing the

increasing

de

mand for type club parking, we at

tempted to grow the available real

estate by dedicating additional rows

of parking

and

camping. That was

not

at all well-accepted

by

many

members, and I take full responsi

bility for this misstep. Our Parking

Committee and the flightline vol

unteers

were operating under my

specific directions.

This year we simply bit off more

than we could chew

and ended

up

annoying a fair number of you.

Even before

the comments

began

arriving in my

e-mail

and in the

mailboxes of the various leaders

at EAA and VAA it was quite clear

that we had irritated a bunch

of

folks who took the time and en

ergy to bring their aircraft to Osh

kosh. Your letters

and

e-mails

only

reinforced this

be lief. Obviously,

we

stretched

the

rubber

band a

little too tight, and

we

now know

we

have to get

back to the plan

ning board on this

important

is

sue. A

top-to-bottom

review

of the

overall

plan

needs to commence.

continued on p ge


3/44

G

NOV M R

E

OL. 36, No. 11

2008

I

Fe

Straight

Level

AirVenture

planning

and the EAA

Fo

unders'Wing

byGeoffRobison

2 News

4

PreservingEAA's Culture

forfuturegenerations

byGaryDikkers

6 AirVenture2008

Abrightspotinaviation,PartII

byH.G.Frautschy

and

SparkyBarnesSargent

4

The1928Boeing40C

"Sailon,silvergirl

.allyourdreamsare

on their

way"

bySparkyBarnesSargent

LightPlaneHeritage

Rememberthe RazorbackAeronca

by

Bob

Whittier

28

TheVintageMechanic

Inventionof the magneto

byRobert

G.

Lock

ST FF

EAA Publisher

TomPob

erezn

y

34

MysteryPlane

Director of

EAA Publications

Mary Jones

byH.G.Fra utschy

Executive

Director

/

Ed

i

tor

H.G.Fra

ut

schy

Product

ion/Special Project

Kathle

en Witman

N

ews Editor

Ric Re

yn

o

ld

s

36

On

StearmanWings

Photography

Jim Koepn

ic

k

Where

anything is

possible

Bonni

e

Kr

atz

byPhilipHandleman

Advertising Coordinator SueAnder

so

n

Classifi

ed

Ad

Coordinator

Le

sl

ey

P

obe

r

ez

ny

39

ClassifiedAds

Copy Editor C

oll

eenWalsh

Director of Advertising

Katrin

aBradshaw

39 Calendar Display

Adv

e

rti

sing Re

pr

esentatives:

u s

Eas

tern

Time

Zone·

Northeast:

Ken

Ross

Specialized Pnblica

ti

ons

Co.

609-822

·

3750

Fax: 609·

957

·

5650

[email protected]

OVERS

U.S.

Eastern Time

Zone·Southeast:Chester Baumgartner

Specialized Pnblica tions

Co.

COVER:

The

Pemberton family restored their amazing Boeing 40C with the help of more

727-532-4640 Fax:727·532-4630

6 volunteers. Sparky Barnes Sargent fills us in on the project in her article starting on page

baum 111@milldspring com

, and

we

have a few of the details of the transcontinental airmail re-enactment flight in

VAA

U.S.Central Time Zone:

Gary

Worden

starting on

page

2.

Jim Koepn

ick photo; Cessna

18

photo plane flown by Bruce Moore.

Spec

ialized

Pnblica ti

ons

Co

.

800 ·44 4-9932 Fax: 816-741-6458

Member Bob Hollenbaugh, a company retiree, reminded us earlier this year that

gary.

worden

pc-mag.com

by its contracted name, Aeronca, turns

U.S.Mo

un

tainand

Pacific Time Zones:

John

Gibson

years old this November. Its first offerings to the general public were the Aeronca C·2 and

Specia lized

Pn

b

lica

ti

ons

Co.

916·784

-9593

Fax: 510-217-3796

-place follow-

up

design , the C-3. The production of the lightweight airplane powered by

io/mgi

bson pc mag.com

-hp engine signaled the beginning of the lightplane industry in the United States. See Bob

Europe:

Willi Tacke

on the beginnings of the company, starting on page 22. Artwork from an origi

Pho

n

e:

+4

9(0)17

1

698087

1Fax: +4

9(0

)

884

1/

4960

12

; additional watercolor wash by Theresa Books.

willi@{lyillg-pages.com

VINTAGE

AIRPLANE

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:io/[email protected]:io/[email protected]:io/[email protected]:io/[email protected]:io/[email protected]:io/[email protected]:io/[email protected]:///reader/full/willi@%7Blyillg-pages.comhttp:///reader/full/willi@%7Blyillg-pages.commailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:io/[email protected]:///reader/full/willi@%7Blyillg-pages.com


4/44

PEMBERTON-TOBIN-SCOTT

Transcontinental air mail re enactment

"I don't know

how they

did it day

after day," says Addison Pemberton

after

the

conclusion of a re

enactment of the transcontinental

air-mail flights pioneered in the

1920s. Addison was

recalling

the

difficulties encountered

in

the

previous week as he

and three

friends

flew

across

the country

on a more leisurely pace than the

schedule imposed

on

the early air

mail pilots. To have done that on

a regular

schedule in

all

types of

weather with the equipment

they

had

was remarkable,"

he

tells us in

an interview after

the

flight .

The 2008 flight, which included

three

airplanes , flew

across

the

country from Republic Field on

New York's Long Island

to

the

San Francisco Bay area . The trip,

an

"official" route of the U.S. Post

Office Department (700 pieces

of

mail were carried by

the

flight of

three), took place

over

an eight

day stretch, including a four-day

weather delay in Rochelle, Illinois.

It took 28 flying hours

to

cross

the

continent. A special

educational

display was planned for

each

of

the 15 original air-mail stops

during

the

flight

re-enactment,

which

commemorates the 90th

anniversary of air-mail service.

Pemberton flew

his newly

restored 1928 Boeing Model 40 (for

more

on the

Boeing, see

the

article

startingon page 13). Accompanying

the Boeing were Larry Tobin, flying

his 1927 Stearman C3B, and Ben

Scott, flying his 1930 Stearman 4E .

Tobin, who

retired from a career

as a

pilot

for

TWA,

flew

his last

trip with a 767 from New

York

to

San Francisco. Repeating it with

his

restored Stearman was a real

- - -

- - - - - -

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o ... ... Refuel i

n9

Stop'

Di

st

anc

es

in

Statute

Miles

Jt G

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'-''-''--'''''''-'1 '.000

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o

Then and now : 1928 Grant Donaldson (pilot) standing on the wheel of

5339

, shaking the

hand

of Bill Boeing.

2008 Addison

Pemberton (pilot) standing on

5339

shaking the

hand

of Bill Boeing

Jr

., with Boeing

CEO

Scott Carlson.

N OVEMBER 2008


5/44

Two

of the three commercial biplanes

that

made the transcontinen

tal air-mail re-enactment flight: Larry Tobin s Stearman C3B and Addi

son

Pemberton s Boeing

40C

. Photo

by

George Perks from Ben Scott s

Stearman 4E.

the

same airplane

when

it was new

1930. Now splendidly restored

having been

away from

the

the 4E is , like

biplanes, a design

ally intended for commercial

Thanks to sponsorship of Bill

Jeppesen, the three

modern

Field on September 10 with

in

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania,

ending the day in Cleveland.

sing, Illinois. The next overnight

was to be Iowa City, Iowa, but a

put a

kink in that

plan,

and

trio descended into Rochelle,

what

would wind up

a

three-night

stay, with a

as

the weather began to

on September 15.

Ducking

out under the cloud

deck, a hundred miles to the west

the skies cleared up

and

it was

on

to Iowa City and Grand Island,

Nebraska, for

an

overnight

stop.

With clear skies and the Rockies

ahead, the gang departed at dawn

on the 16th, headed

for

North

Platte, Nebraska.

Then

it was

on

to the only

state with three stops-Wyoming.

Stops were made

in

Cheyenne and

Rawlins,

and an

overnight stop was

made

in

Rock Springs. The next day,

September 17, the three biplanes

were

in

the heart of the Rockies and

on to the Sierras, with stops in Salt

Lake City, Utah,

and

Elko, Nevada,

before

stopping for the night in

Reno. On the last day,

it

was over

the mountaintops; a nice downhill

run to Hayward, California; an air

mail salute

as

the biplanes disgorged

their cargo of special air mail; and

then a tour of the San Francisco Bay

area. Hosted by VAA

Chapter

29,

the pilots had a great time before

Tobin

and

Addison

headed

home

with

their mail planes, while Scott

returned to Reno.

Unfortunately,

Tobin s Stearman

had

an

engine

failure

over

inhospitable terrain

(both

he

and Addison

believe it

was due

to

heavy carb icing) . A

forced landing

in

a very small field

resulted in extensive damage to

the Stearman but, thankfully,

not

a

scratch to the pilot.

George Perks flew

with the

trio

and

created a beautiful photo blog

of the adventure. You can view it at

www irSpaceMag com

Upcoming

Major Fly-Ins

U.S.

Sport Aviat ion Expo

Sebring Regional Ai r

port

SEF) , Sebring,

FL

January 22-25,

2009

www.Sport Aviation Expo.com

Aero Frledrlchshafen

Messe Friedrichshafen, Friedrichshafen,

Germany

April 2-5, 2009

www.Aero Friedrichshafen.com/

html

/ en

Sun n Fun Fly-In

Lakeland Linder Regional Airport

LAL ),

Lakeland, FL

April 21-26, 2009

www.Sun N Fun.org

Virginia Regional Festival of fl ight

Suffolk Executive Airport

SFQ

), Suffolk,

VA

May 30-31 , 2009

www.

VirginiaFlyln.org

Golden West Regional Fly-In

Yuba County Airport

MYV)

, Marysville, CA

June 12-14 ,

2009

www.GoldenWestFlyln.org

Rocky Mountain Regional Fly-In

Front Range Airport FTG), Watkins,

CO

TBD

www.RMRFI.org

Ar

li

ngton Fly-In

Arlington MuniCipal Airport AWO),

Arlington, WA

July 8-12, 2009

www.

NWEM org

EAA AlrVenture Oshkosh

Wittman Regional Airport

OSH

), Oshkosh,

WI

July 27 -August 2, 2009

www.AirVenture.org

M Id-Easte

rn

Regional Fly In

Grimes Field Airport 174), Urbana, OH

September 12-13 2009

www.MERFI.info

Southeast Regional Fly-In

Middleton Field Airport GZH ), Evergreen,

AL

October

23

-25 2009

www.SERFI.org

Coppe

rs

tate Regional Fly-In

Casa Grande Municipal Airport CGZ

),

Casa Grande, AZ

October 22-

25

2009

www.Copperstate.org

For details on

EM

chapter fly-ins and

other local aviation events ,

visit www.EAA.org/ events.

VI N

TAGE

AIR P L

AN

E 3

http:///reader/full/www.AirSpaceMag.comhttp:///reader/full/www.Sport-Aviation-Expo.comhttp:///reader/full/www.Sport-Aviation-Expo.comhttp:///reader/full/www.Sport-Aviation-Expo.comhttp:///reader/full/www.Aero-Friedrichshafen.comhttp:///reader/full/www.Aero-Friedrichshafen.comhttp:///reader/full/www.Aero-Friedrichshafen.comhttp:///reader/full/www.Sun-N-Fun.orghttp:///reader/full/www.Sun-N-Fun.orghttp:///reader/full/www.Sun-N-Fun.orghttp:///reader/full/VirginiaFlyln.orghttp:///reader/full/VirginiaFlyln.orghttp:///reader/full/www.GoldenWestFlyln.orghttp:///reader/full/www.GoldenWestFlyln.orghttp:///reader/full/www.GoldenWestFlyln.orghttp:///reader/full/www.RMRFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.RMRFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.RMRFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.NWEM.orghttp:///reader/full/www.NWEM.orghttp:///reader/full/www.NWEM.orghttp:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp://www.merfi.info/http:///reader/full/www.SERFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.SERFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.SERFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.Copperstate.orghttp:///reader/full/www.EAA.orghttp:///reader/full/www.AirSpaceMag.comhttp:///reader/full/www.Sport-Aviation-Expo.comhttp:///reader/full/www.Aero-Friedrichshafen.comhttp:///reader/full/www.Sun-N-Fun.orghttp:///reader/full/VirginiaFlyln.orghttp:///reader/full/www.GoldenWestFlyln.orghttp:///reader/full/www.RMRFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.NWEM.orghttp:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp://www.merfi.info/http:///reader/full/www.SERFI.orghttp:///reader/full/www.Copperstate.orghttp:///reader/full/www.EAA.org


6/44

Preserving EAA s

Culture

•

• •

for future generations

GARY

DIKKERS

EAA

634044

KEY: 1 EAA Legacy mezzanine gallery 2. Reconstruction of Paul

and

Audrey s original basement office

3. Founder s Library 4. Accessable storage space 5., 6. , and 7. Baby Ace, Waco Primary Glider

and

Little

Audrey

8

Education and Event space

T

he newest

exhibit

being

de

veloped for the

EAA

AirVen

ture Museum-the Founders

Wing-is dedicated to preserving

EAA s

herita

ge

and culture

for fu

ture generations of EAA

members .

The exhibit, which is expected

to open for EAA AirVenture Osh

kosh 2009, will occupy the former

Cess na Restoration Center. The

mezzanine

level exhibit will

in

clude a re-creation

of th

e first of

fices of

EAA,

which were located

in

the basement of Paul and Audrey

Poberezny s home

in Hales Cor

ners, Wisconsin.

I t

will also include

the Paul H. and Audrey L. Pober

ezny Founders Library, which will

be open to visitors to

peruse

the

NOVEMBER

2 8

volum

es

of books

an

d artifacts that

Paul and Audrey

ha

ve retained and

preserved over

the

years.

A third element of the exhibit will

be the Legacy Wall, which will high

light

the

initiatives that have

been

keystone achievements during EAA s

history,

includin

g its emph asis on

homebuilding freedoms as its found

ing theme, as we ll as chapter and

Young Eag les programs, and more.

The main floor of th e exhibit will

be a

spec ial-use area reserved for

out reac h activities and

events

for

youth and adult aviation education.

The

wa ll displays s

urroundin

g

th

e

event

space will recall

th

e

history

of

EAA s

annual fly-in convention

throughout

th

e years, from its origin

in

Milwaukee, through its days in

Rockford, Illinois, and on to today s

recognition as the world s greatest

aviation celebration.

This

artist

rendering depict the

current planned

use of

the

exhibit

space,

as construction begin s in

earnest

within

the next couple

of

months.

As

Tom Poberezny wrote

in his Position Report in the Octo

ber issue, liThe Founders Wing will

preserve the

culture

and core val

ues of EAA,

which

are essential

to

our future Organizations spend

millions of dollars

to

build their his

tory after it s too late

... EAA

has

not

made

that

mistake./I

To

learn more, or to contribute,

visit EAA org/FoundersWing

4

http://www.eaa.org/FoundersWinghttp://www.eaa.org/FoundersWinghttp://www.eaa.org/FoundersWing


7/44

Experimental Aircraft Association

Paul H. Poberezny

Founder

Chairman of the Board

I have been very pleased and proud of the progress that our EAA vintage

aircraft division has made over the many years

of

its existence. It seems like only

yesterday when, in the basement meeting room of our new EAA headquarters

in

Hales Corners in the mid 1960s, I called together a small group

of

EAAers

whose interests were of airplanes

of

the "good old days." Look at the progress and

dedicated enthusiasm that the officers, directors, and members have given to this

part ofEAA's story.

Some may have wondered about

my

personal interest in vintage airplanes or

may have felt that my heart lies with homebuilt or warbird aircraft. Not so. I care

for anything that flies and the folks who make it all possible. I was interested in

vintage airplanes long before my thoughts of founding an organization such as

yourEAA.

In high school, I was the proud owner

of

a 1928 long-nose OX-5- powered

American Eagle biplane (no brakes and a tailskid) that my dad and I purchased

from Dale Crites

of

Waukesha, Wisconsin, for $250 ($125

of

which dad borrowed

from the bank ). It was a learning lesson- piloting and being a mechanic, both

learning and doing- including a few forced landings. As part

of

my early career,

during World War II I flew my OX-5 Waco 1 to Helena, Arkansas- 16 forced

landings- where I was a primary flight instructor in PT-23s and -19s.

Some

55

years have passed since the founding ofEAA A lot has happened,

and thousands or maybe millions of lives have been touched by your organization.

As many

of

you know, Audrey and I are donating our collection

of 55

years of

your organization's history to the planned Founders' Wing that will be built in the

current EAA Restoration Center

in

the main EAA AirVenture Museum building.

Plans have been drawn up, contractors selected, and financial contributions have

gotten the project underway. The Founders' Library dedication ceremony and

completion date is scheduled for the opening

of

EAA AirVenture 2009.

Sincerely

,

EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT

ASSOCIATION

...

/

EAAAviation Center,

Po. SC

3086, Oshkosh, WI

54903·3086 · 920/426·48 4·

FAX

920/426 6504

VINT GE AIRPLANE

5


8/44

by

H G Frautschy and Marcia Sparky Barnes Sargent

NOVEM ER

2 8


9/44

With a six-cylinder inline Ranger engine under the long cowl, the Fairchild 24R has always been a favorite

of

free

flight scale modelers. These pretty examples belong to Terry Blaser, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin (foreground,

NC81361), and the Grand Champion Antique of the

1974 EAA

fly-in, N77661, is now owned and flown by Mike

and

Barb Thern of Winona, Minnesota.

The Reserve Grand Champion Contemporary award winner is this beautiful

1963

Beech Travel Air restored by

the father-and-son team of Mark and Miles Malone of Camarillo, California. We'll have much more on this resto

ration in a later issue

of

Vintage Airplane

LEFT

A gathering storm that passed to the north of the airport certainly didn t stop the Hay family and their

most welcome return to the convention grounds after a couple

of

years absence. Their decidedly flightless orni

thopter is powered

by

an antique one-Iunger gasoline engine. Welcome home, Hays

VINTAGE

IRPL NE 7


10/44

This nice 1959 Cessna 175

on

a pair of Baumann amphibious floats anchors the row of Cessna 175s set up to

commemorate the 50th anniversary

of

the 175.

There's

no

truth to the rumor that Sha-

ron Krengel VAA volunteer Larry's wife)

is actually spinning thread to weave new

Grade A cotton For more than a decade,

Sharon has brought her spinning wheel

to the EAA convention, spinning alpaca

wool into yarn throughout the week.

NOVEMBER 2 8

"

Hey,

Dad, look at that " says Blake Deaton as he and his fa-

ther, Jeff, haul some of their camping supplies to storage.

The

Deatons bring their Beech E35 Bonanza to the convention from

Morehead City, North Carolina.

With the new Wittman tower rising above the trees, Gerald

Bau

-

erle

of

Hammond, Louisiana, taxis out for departure on Runway

36L with his Globe GC-1B Swift.

8


11/44

' N b k

We

asked VAA member and Vintage irplane contribut ing editor Marcia

S

P

k

Y

ot Sparky Bar,nes a ~ g e n t to visit with VAAers on the flightline. Here are

some of the interesting folks she met. Ph otos by Sparky Barn es Sargent

EAA and VAA member Hal Cope started

his trip to AirVenture by flying his Conti

nental IO-360-powered 1946 Temco Swift

from Spring,

Texas

to

Lake

Elmo, Minne

sota, where a gathering of Swifts takes

place virtually every

year.

Eight Swifts

flew into Wittman Fie ld together after the

gathering. Cope, whose Swift is only two

days older than he is, has been flying

N3303K into Oshkosh for

15

years now

and keeps coming back because he likes

the camaraderie and friendship-every

body seems to r

ax

here a lot more than

they no rmally would . They let loose and

allow themselves to be friends with other

people.

And

since

it

is the largest fly-

in in

the world ,

you

have all of the new electronics , new airplanes, and

just everything here

in

one spot. Cope 's Swift previously

won

the Preservation

Award

(2007) and a Lindy

Award at AirVenture , Grand Champion Custom Classic award at Sun 'n Fun (2002) , and the Grand Cham

pion award three times at the Swift Museum Foundation's Swift National Fly-In in Athens, Tennessee.

NC33587, a Piper J-3C-65 registered to

Joel McKinzie of Lake Crystal, Minne

sota, was out enjoying a late-afternoon

flight during AirVenture. I t was photo

graphed as

it

taxied into the EAA Sea

plane Base,

in

the golden glow

of

the

setting sun. Seaplane attendance was

good this year, as evidenced by the

planes in the background.

These two look-alike Cessnas caught the photogra

phe

r's eye

in

the Vintage camping area. N2538D is

a

1952

145-hp Cessna

170B

, registered to Larry

Schleinat of Denton, Texas. The 1950 100-hp Cessna

140A , N5313C, is registered to James Huff also of Denton, Texas.

V I NTAGE IRPL NE 9


12/44

This striking conversion of an early Cessna

150

to a taildragger belongs to Bob McBride

Jr.

It was the winner

of

the Contemporary Class I (0-

160

hp) Single Engine award .

We suspect the crew of Madonna and Merrill McMahan's

Stearman prefers camping in Audrey's woods to staying in

a hotel.

Steve Krog (left), president

of

the Cub Club

and editor of the club's newsletter (and

VAA

di

rector/Type Club Tent

chairman-phew

Good

thing he 's retired now.

,

was this year's hon

oree presented with the Bax Seat Trophy at

EM's

Theater in the Woods.

Bax

was known

for his unbridled love of flight, and the Bax

Seat Trophy is presented annually by LYING

magazine for perpetuating the Gordon Baxter

tradition of communicating the excitement and

romance of flight.

Tom

Benenson (right)

of

LYING presented the award to Steve.

Departure morning, Oshkosh . The tent's rain fly is draped

to dry

in

the morning sun and breeze as the wings are

wiped down.

1 NOVEMBER

2 8


13/44

Alan Reber's Interstate S-1A Cadet was flown in from Indianapolis.

Tony

Miller's Twin Beech E18S was the winner

of an

Outstanding Customized Contemporary aircraft Bronze Lindy.

John Seibold s

1929

Curtiss-Wright Travel Air

A-6000-

A,

restored

by

Chuck Wentworth s An

tique Aero , was flown

to the convention along

with the Grand Canyon

Ford Tri-Motor, N414H.

The

Travel Air was se

lected as the Silver

Age

Runner-Up.

VINTAGE IRPL NE


14/44

Remember seeing this on the flightline

in

1969? Stephanie Allen sure does, and now she can relive the Sixties

with her Grand Champion Contemporary Cessna 172K. Her

172

was last year's Reserve Grand Champion Con

temporary. A bit more work on a couple of items gave the Cessna a few more points to put it on top.

Long shadows from the last hour of sunlight highlight the lines of the Grand Champion Classic, this

1946

Piper

J-3C.

The

accomplished restoration was done

by Joe

Dobransky

of

Allen, Texas.

The last pilot and air

plane to depart the Vin

tage parking area were

Ed

McLaughlin and his

Cessna

172.

Ed was on

his way back to Pittsfield,

Massachusetts. Ed told

us that what 's left of the

paint is the original ap

plied by Cessna in 1956.

We li have more coverage of the

people and planes of AirVenture in

next month s intage Airplane.

2 NOVEMBER 2 8


15/44

IIWhile some companies

shy

away

from older aircraft

U

welcomes them with great rates

as

well. It is obvious they are

owners and pilots as it shows

in

the

way

they

do

business. t is also

nice to see the people you talk to on the phone at Sun-N-Fun and

Oshkosh. It adds a nice personal touch to their business. I could not

be happier with the service I receive from

them.

I

Michael

orton

Michael Norton

Rineyville

KY

• Sw i t

G

B N78097 is

fourth plane

owned

• 8 hours

and

an

instrument rat

i

ng

•

Regular

attendee

of

Sun

N Fun

and

Oshkosh

AUA is

intage

Aircraft Association approved To become a member of

V

call

8oo·843·36J2

Aviation insurance with

the E

Vintage Program oHars:

Lower

premiums

with

payment options Additional coverages Flexibility

on the use

of your

aircraft

Experienced agents

On line quote request available AUA

s

licensed in all states


16/44

T

his silver Pacific ir Trans

port mailplane shines

and

sparkles

rivaling

the diamonds she carried

that fateful October day

in

1928,

when the mountainside

claimed her in Canyonville, Oregon.

Thanks to Addison Pemberton s per

sistent dream of

owning and

flying

4

NOVEMBER

2 8

Y SP RKY B RNES S RGENT

a Boeing 40C, NS339 exists today

as the only 40C and

the

oldest air

worthy Boeing.

Finding

and

restoring the Boeing

was partially a tribute to his father s

childhood memories of watching

the mailplanes flying the contract

air-mail (CAM)

route

over Iowa,

and

also Pemberton s way of bring

ing history

to

full-fledged life. After

bartering for the biplane s remains

with

the Oregon Aviation Histori

cal Society,

he

eventually brought a

veritable village together to accom

plish

the

memorable and monu

mental

task of restoration.

I t is quite an experience to per

sonally

behold

this fabulous flying


17/44

SMELL

OF HOT

COLATE AND

T CIDER;

OF

WITH

THE

OF THE

TABLE

HUM OF

E TIG

WELDER,

THE

AND

OF

THE

WHEEL."

ddIson Pemberton

JIM KOEPNICK

machine and

listen as its inertia

starter

whines into

a crescendo,

watch

the

propeller

slowly turn

while the

engine sputters

to

life,

and

hear

the

16-foot exhaust stacks

pipe their

ancient

melodious tune.

This past

summer and

fall,

numer

ous

people

had

that

opportunity.

After flying from Felts Field in Spo

kane, Washington, to Oshkosh,

Wisconsin, for

the

week of

EAA Air-

Venture Oshkosh 2008,

Pemberton

flew the 40C to Blakesburg, Iowa.

There,

in

the

fields of

summer

corn

and soybeans,

N5339

was one of

nine original-type

air-mail

planes

to

actively

participate in the An

tique

Airplane Association

and

Air

Power Museum's 90th

anniversary

celebration

of

the first scheduled

air mail

in

the United States. Along

with

others,

Pemberton

was sworn

in

as

an

air-mail

pilot, signed

a

contract, and flew

the

official

U.S.

postal mail from Antique Airfield to

Ottumwa, Iowa,

and

return.

Soon afterward,

Pemberton

and

the Boeing,

accompanied by

Larry

Tobin in

his 1927

Stearman

C3B,

and Ben Scott in his 1930 Stearman

4E, flew

to

New

York to

begin

their

carefully

planned re-enactment

of

the

transcontinental air-mail

route. The "Transcon"

commenced

September 10 and was successfully

completed September

18, after 29

hours'

flying time. They carried of

ficial U.S.

mail

across

the

country

and

stopped at

each of the 15 orig

inal

air-mail stops,

where

an

edu

cational

program was

shared

with

the

public. Afterward, Pemberton

described

the

flight as "a

trip into

a

time

warp," and himself as

being

"a very

humble

pilot

to

have lived

history up

close and personal, with

an

increased

respect

for

the

air

mail pioneers."

N5339 is

not only

recreating air

mail history; it s making

history

of

its own now-but just how was

it

transformed

from

those charred

remnants

of

a fiery

crash in 1928

into

an airworthy beauty in 2008?

A VILL GE OF VOLUNTEERS

A

proj

ect of

this

magnitude

wouldn't

be easily accomplished

without help-and

Pemberton

was

pleasantly astonished by

how many

volunteers

showed

up

at his

Felts

Field hangar. "They're not so

much

antique

people; I

had

stockbrokers,

doctors, all

walks

of

life-and

i t

was amazing to

me

the talents that

some of these people

had,

reflects

Pemberton, adding, "There are vol

unteers

that

you can give a giant

task to,

with

minimum supervision;

there are

other

ones that have to be

shown how to hold

a

paint

brush.

So the key is to

pair

a

challenged

person

with

a helper."

The entire restoration

process

was

thoughtfully

orchestrated to

best utilize everyone's time. "Be

lieve

i t or

not

,

this

airplane was

built on Wednesday nights over

eight

years, shares

Pemberton,

explaining,

and it took me

five

nights to

make a Wednesday

night

efficient.

I f people show

up and

they have direction, and they've

got

material

and

know what

to

do, they keep

coming

back. If

they stand around, they

go away.

Of the 61 volunteers, there were

21

that did significant

work, and

there

were 10 people

who

virtually

didn't

miss

a Wednesday

night.

My wife, Wendy, fed

them dinner

at 6 p.m. and

we

worked until 2

a.m.-she

fed 14 to 16 people every

Wednesday night for eight years. I t

was really a hoot; it was great!"

Numbering among the volun

teers were

Pemberton's

own fam

ily members. Wendy married

into this

[aviation] disease,

and

she appreciates

aviation

not just

for

the

airplanes, but for

the

peo

ple. They are

usually

the

people

you

want

to have as

friends,

be

cause

they're interesting, moti

vated,

and

active-and a lot of

times, successful.

Our kids

were

raised

in

this environment, and

to my

wife's credit,

she

cooks our

dinner

meal

in the hangar

ev

ery

night.

So our sons did

their

homework there, while

their

dad's

banging

away

on

stuff. There's

a

glider

club

in

Spokane, and

when

my boys

got

to be 14, I

towed

for

them in my

Stearman,

and they

soloed

at 14-1/2.

They

went

right

into power, and

we

built

a

Cub

together. Ryan, my younger son,

learned to become

a

very

accom

plished

TIG

welder

through

the

Boeing

restoration.

Jay

is

a

main

tenance

pilot-he 's a flight in

structor, not

a builder."

VINT GE IRPL NE 5


18/44

The Boeing factory with

at least

16 of

the

model 4 fuselages

await

-

ing completion.

Pacific

ir

A

shot

dated 9 13 28

of

5339 when it was

being used

by Pacific ir Transport.

HI HLI HTS OF

THE PRO ESS

The

cold

Spokane

winters

were

especially productive

at

Felts Field,

and Pemberton poetically describes

those

long seasons

when

he states,

Winter: The

smell

of hot

choco

late and hot cider; the whine of

the

jointer, mixed with

the

buzz of

the

table saw, hum of the TIG welder,

roar of

the

planishing hammer,

and

swirl of

the

English wheel."

The volunteers were armed with

appropriate tools, materials, and 800

original Boeing drawings. Painstak

ing care was exercised to fabricate

new parts, and old parts were used

1 6

NOVEM ER

2 8

where

possible. "We

consider

the

airplane a restoration," emphasizes

Pemberton,

explaining, The

data

plate in there

is

the original one,

and there

are 70

components that

we moved over from

the

wreck, in

cluding

the footsteps

and handle,

the throttle quadrant bracket and

fuel selector assembly,

the landing

gear forgings, the top

cap

for the

oleos,

and

one wing fitting."

By

late April 2007, the wood

wings were installed

on the

fuselage

for a check fit prior to covering,

and

Pemberton happily announced

that

N5339 could finally hold up her own

wings, for

the

first time in 79 years.

It was

not

a small feat. Describing it,

he

gave "thanks to

my

son Ryan for

all

the

wonderful

compound

sheet

metal work, and to Andy Bradford

for

many late

hours on

the

mill

ing machine

and

file work to make

all the compound angles work out

perfect

on

all

the

wing struts. These

struts are

ot

adjustable and are made

to

pin

center with a .060-inch toler

ance. The airplane has a total of 20

struts

and 30

flying, landing, inci

dence,

and

tail wires.

We

were able

to

rig the airplane closer

than

I could

have imagined,

and

that's a tribute to

Art Swenson

and the

squareness of

the wings, and

the

perfection of

the

fuselage work that

Matt

Burroughs

did seven years ago. The airplane

is

in

rig

within

1/4-inch in

span

(44

lIZ-inch) and 3/8-inch from the

outer

wing struts to the

tail post.

The

one

surprising discovery

is the

firmness of

the

aileron control sys

tem and the

heaviness of

the

eleva

tor-which brings new meaning to a

quote by Les Towers, the Boeing test

pilot: 'The controls are effective

but

feel as

if they are cast in concrete.'"

The wing trailing

edges

have

a

distinguished scalloped appearance,

formed

by stranded and soldered

copper wire, which required careful

attention

during fabric installation.

Wendy used a template to keep

the

scallops symmetrical while shrinking

the

Ceconite fabric,

and

rib-stitched

with flat cord, taking care to ensure

that the

stitches weren't twisted

on

top

of

the

ribs. "Wendy did all

the

covering, taping, and brushing Ran

dolph

nitrates on

the

fabric," shares

Pemberton, "and that's

when

I took

it over, except she didn't allow me

to touch sandpaper to the

fabric

She

had

1,000 hours

putting

fabric

on,

and we put another

1,000 hours

in the paint booth."

The painting

process was

going

strong during the late summer

of

2007,

and

copious

amounts

of dope

were applied

on the

massive wings

with a

high-volume

, low-pressure

HVLP) system. Each of

the

17 coats

per wing required 47 trips

up

and

down the

paint

booth

.

One

of

my

friends, Randy

Ingraham

, vol


19/44

unteered

to

help

me

in the paint

gun, and he 's like a robot I asked

booth," chuckles Pemberton, "so

he

him,

What

are you not telling me?'

was going

to

be the

grunt and

mix

He told me he worked in a body

the

paint and hand

me hoses.

Then

shop for 12 years.

So

I said, Okay

he

wanted

to

try it, so

he

gets

the

now I m

the

grunt,

and you re the

While th wings are built

up

using wood spars and ribs, there s plenty of

metal used in

th

structure. Here are

th

metal parts ready for final fab-

rication and installation.

One of th four wing panels built for

th

Boeing.

endy

Pemberton was

in

charge of covering the massive airframe. She also

took

on

the task of feeding the regular Wednesday night volunteer corps.

shooter '

So

Randy did all the final

finishes,

and

I did all

the

buildup."

By January 2008, the Boeing was

nearly complete. Its S2S-hp Pratt

Whitney (overhauled by Covington

Aircraft Engines Inc.) was hung, and

with the installation of the impres

sive 16-foot-Iong polished exhaust

stacks (fabricated

by

Acorn Weld

ing

LTD

of Canada), it was time to

hear the

Boeing come to life. Pem

ill berton says that

on

February II, his

;

son

Ryan climbed

into

the cockpit

g

and

"engaged the inertia starter for

the first

time

in 80 years.

He

ran it

iii through six blades, hit

the

mags,

ff

strong and

>

and

the

1340 Pratt lit

0

o

smooth, before

he

could even get to

the booster coil on the first try."

J

Q.

FLIGHT PR P

After NS339 received its standard

airworthiness certificate and the snow

had melted from

the

runway, it was

time for the test flight. Pemberton had

previously taken steps to make sure

that

he

was personally ready

to

fly

it. Having accumulated 10,000 hours

of flying "mostly the old stuff," he

was especially grateful for an oppor

tunity

that

was generously bestowed

upon him in August 2007. His friend

Glenn

Peck kindly arranged a visit

to Creve Coeur, Missouri,

where

Pemberton was invited to solo Al

Stix's Liberty-powered 1919 de Havil

land DH4-M2 mailplane. "The vision

of looking down that long DH nose

at Lambert Field from 1,000 feet over

St. Louis

is

burned into my brain for

the rest of my life," says Pemberton,

adding, "I

had 'flashbacks' to

lind

berg, Jack Knight, Dean Smith,

and

'Wild' Bill

Hopson

flying these air

craft cross-county

on

daily mail runs.

I do

not

think that any other aircraft

could have prepared me better for my

pending Boeing 40C test flight."

Additionally, having logged 1,000

hours in

an

AT-6 he was able to bor

row one from a friend and flew it

from the

back

seat, with the seat

lowered almost to the floorboard so

that

his head was below

the

instru

ment panel-and then he shot land

ing

after landing . Later,

knowing

how well that had prepared him for

VINT GE IRPL NE 7


20/44

Addison's son Ryan was a integral part of the restora

Addison works

on

the massive landing gear.

All

of the

tion team. Like his brother

Jay

they literally grew

up

parts of this biplane are big

around the project.

The wingtip's hand grip

is

neat

ly

trimmed with cord t reduce wear and

give a ground handler a good gri

p.

Pemberton's attention to detail is

visible even

on

the wheel covers.

The wheels were bu

il

t

up

by

Do

n

McMakin.

the lack of visibility

durin

g Boeing

landings, he had his son Jay practice

the

same routine before letting

him

solo

the

big biplane.

FLYING TH

40C

The

sce

nt

of

aviation

res

tora

tion productivity is such a sweet

fragrance-nearly inebriating

in

and

of itself, and overwhelming in

8

NOVEM ER

2 8

Close-up view of the flare tubes.

its heady final test, wh

en

airplane

and

pilot burst

into

the

sky, home

at long last. That final

test

took

place

on

February 17, 2008, when

the Boeing flew for the first time

in 80 years . Pemberton's sons flew

chase

in

the

family 's

Cessna

185,

with camera

and

video to record

th

e

20-minute flight . They were

as

pleas

antl

y surprised

as

Pemb

erton him

self to discover just how stable

the

Bo

eing was . Afterward, Pemberton

shared that he had the fee ling

The Boeing's fuel gauges are

lo-

cated

on

the inboard section of

each wing.

that

I

cou

ld

have

cr

awled out of

the cockpit and walked

around

the

wings

for a

while

if I had wanted

to- then re tu

rned

to the cockpit

when

it was time

to

land "

Th e

Boeing's powerful perfor

mance was also

notable-and is

ev

ident even to

t

hose

who

watch

it

eagerly th rust itself from the run

way into the air. "The acceleration

is

pr

etty

impressive, I

mean better

than

an

T

-6-when you give the

thing

the needle, it sinks you

in the

sea t .

I t

came

off

on the

very first

flight

in

unde r 10 seconds,

which

I

wasn'

t ready for. And

it's just

a

pretty

flat, levitating feeling-then

you pull

th

e nose up

and the thing

climbs over 1,000 fpm. Within a

minute

of flight, I was ab le to fly

hands-off, so th

at

was rea

ll

y amaz

in g. The ailerons are

heavy

,

but

very

powerful t h e biggest sur

prise was th at the rudder forces are

en

ormous

.

On

t akeoff,

you've got

50

to 70 pounds of

rudder

force ,

but

once

yo u' re

in

cruise,

it

loves

to go

straig

h t. The control forces


21/44

Specifications

Empty

Weight

4,080 pounds

GrossWei

ght

6,075 pounds

Length

34

feet

Height

13

feet

W

ngSpan

44-1/2 feet

Wng

loadi

ng

10 pounds/squ re feet

Power

loading

10 pounds/horsepower

ruise

115

mph with fuel burn of 28 gph

uel

apacity

120 gallons In three tanks

The airframe

is

nearly complete. Addison refers to the

Boeing construction as hobbyist

in

the sense that

since it uses few cast ings

or

forgings, the airplane

can

be

hand built. Given Its size, that means there

were a lot of hands Sixty-one volunteers were logged

by

the Pembertons, 10 of whom hardly ever missed a

Wednesday night restoration session.

This

40C is powered by a 525-hp Pratt & Whitney 1340

are about three times

that

of a PT

as

straight

as

an arrow, with excel·

q uired after the first flight; they

Stearman with half of its control reo

lent control responsiveness, even

moved the vertical fin over one hole

sponse. In

smooth air, it s a joy and

in healthy crosswinds.

to alleviate rudder force. Pemberton

very relaxing

to

fly; in turbulence,

Only one minor change was reo

continued

testing t

he

flight charac·

it's a workout "

It didn't take long for Pemberton

to learn

that

slipping approaches

to landing are, quite simply, are·

quirement.

He

'll slip it

to within

5

feet of the ground before kicking it

out; otherwise,

he

completely loses

sight of

the

runway. The oleo gear

has nearly a foot of travel, which,

Pemberton says, make touchdowns

"imperceptible

at

times. It's a real

weird feeling-you just feel

you

must be on the ground , because

you're going slow. I wheeled it in

the

beginning to learn

where

the

wheels were,

and now

I'll

three

·

point it, because t just does the

Cub

thing

and

settles

on.

Once

on the ground,

the

Boeing tracks

VI

NT

GE IR P L N E 9


22/44

The luxuriously detailed cabin interior, with brown leather seats comple

menting natur

al

wood and an engraved Boeing logo on the forward

bu

lk

head. The cabin interior is handsomely detailed, right

down

to the cab in

phone

, which allows a passenger to communicate with the pilot

in

the

rear open cockpit. The original throttle quadrant.

The neatly laid-out instrument

panel

and

cockpit note the

Boeing logo on the rudde r pedals

teristics and experienced an interest

ing tendency. We put the airplane

into a

7

percent power climb at al

titude and lowered the left wing 20

degrees and tried to pick the wing up

with rudder. But with

the

wing held

down, it will rudder lock-the rudder

just snaps over

and

locks.

You can

put both feet

on

the opposite rud

der, and you still can t move it, ex

2 0 NOVEM ER 2 8

The Boeing's voluminous mail pit and the leather straps securing it.

plains Pemberton, but you can raise

the wing, and the rudder pops back.

We also determined

that

at about 34

percent mean aerodynamic chord,

it started

to

lose its longitudinal sta

bility-so

we've reduced

the

CG en

velope to about 32 percent max. We

fly

it between 28 and 32 percent, and

the airplane's wonderful. To safely

carry

four passengers, we

have to

throw

200

pounds in

the mail pit,

and it does fine.

BIT 0 HISTORY

Through

the project, Pemberton

became well-acquainted

with Bill

Boeing Jr.,

and

gained a special ap

preciation of the early air-mail indus

try from

him

. Prior to 1926, all the

air mail in this

country

was carried


23/44

by post office-employed pilots flying

DH-4s. In 1925,

the

post office went

to several aircraft manufacturers for

a

r ~ p l c e m e n t

for

the

de Havilland

DH

-

4. So

Douglas submitted

an

air

plane,

as

did

Boeing, Curtiss,

and

a couple of others. Boeing lost that

first bid;

they had

built a wooden

fuselage Liberty-powered Boeing 40

that

was not very successful, Pem

berton

recounts, adding,

"A

year

later, Congress decided

to

let con

tractors haul

the

mail, which meant

they had to come up with their own

airplane.

Bill

Boeing came back with

a

concept

in January

of 1927,

and

by July, he had to build 25 airplanes,

train 50 pilots, place them from Chi

cago

to

San Francisco,

and

have an

operating

airline. And

he

did

that.

Even

in

today's terms,

that s

pretty

overwhelming. That's when he came

up with the steel-tube Pratt Whit

ney-powered version of

the

Boeing

40

that

was successful. The other part

of

that

whole story was

when

Pratt

&

Whitney came

out

with their en

gines in May of

that

year, they didn't

see any assembled airplanes yet

Boe

ing assured them that

in

six weeks,

the

airplanes

would

be assembled.

They assembled them outside, test

flew

them, and

then logistically

placed

them on the CAM 18 San

Francisco to Chicago 1,200-mile air

mail route and began making money

right away. So with that, Bill Boeing

shares

the

feeling

that

this

is

the

first

successful airliner in

the U.S. and

is

as historically significant as a tri-mo

tor, a DC-3,

and

a 707.

SHININ

SUCCESS

The following lyrics seem some

how appropriate when describing

the

newly restored

Boeing 40C,

though it's likely that Paul

Simon

wasn't thinking about

an

antique bi

plane

when

he wrote them: Sail on,

silver girl; sail on by;

your

time has

come to

shine; all

your

dreams are

on

their

way. Indeed, it's

time

for

this Boeing to shine once more, sun

light glinting from her silver wings

to the delight of

not

only

those who

witness her sailing by

in the sky,

but

for

pilot and

passengers as well. A

few

fortunate people

were

invited

to fly back into

time

as passengers

in

the

comfortable

and

handsomely

outfitted enclosed

cabin, where

they

were able to

communicate

via

phone

with Pemberton, who was pi

loting from

the

rear

open

cockpit.

It

was truly a treasured experience for

this author,

who

gazed

out the

Boe

ing's window

into

the

living past to

behold

the de Havilland DH-4

and

Stearman 4DM mailplanes snuggled

alongside the

40C as

the

late

eve

ning

sun cast a peach-colored glow

over velvety green fields.

N5339's 2008 debut has been

virtu-

ally

as

authentic

as

her precision resto

ration,

for

she proudly carried the mail

just as gracefully as she did so many

years ago. And this queenly silver

girl

is

making dreams come true for

Pemberton and his village of volun

teers. The Boeing 40C was awarded

Antique Grand Champion Gold Lindy

at

AirVenture,

and the

2008

AAA/

APM

Fly-In's People's Choice and Jack

Knight

award-Best

Air-Mail Carrier.

Surely the

spirit of air-mail

pio

neer Jack Knight has been cheering

Pemberton

on

along the

way.

VINT GE

IRPL NE 2


24/44

Light Plane Heritage

ORIGIN LLY PUBLISHED IN EAA Experimenter U UST 1993

Remember the

Razorback Aeronca

BY BOB WHITTIER

The Aeronca C-2 of 193 . The first one had the Wright-Morehouse engine which was de

veloped into the Aeronca E-1

7design.

Editor s

Note:

November will mark the 80th anniver- airplanes, along with military liaison and training

air

sary o the founding o the Aeronautical Corporation planes. Aeronca carries on

to

this day currently engaged

o

America, better known by its trade name, Aeronca.

in

the production

o

sophisticated metal structures, in

Created without a product

or

a factory

in

which

to pro-

eluding its pioneering work

in

brazed metal structures,

duce

it, the

directors

were

given a demonstration

o Jean

such

as

the outer skin

o

the Apollo Command Module,

Roche s lightplane, powered by a small two-cylinder

en- and its newest contract

for

the heat shield o the next

gine. They took a chance and created an entirely new generation o NASA spacecraft, the Orion. Bob Whittier

segment

o

American aviation. When Aeronca ceased details the determined

work done

by Jean

Roche

and the

production

o

aircraft in 1951 Aeronca had been one company that would eventually put his

dream

lightplane

o

the preeminent manufacturers

o

sport and training into production.-HGF

Editor's Note: Longtime aviation enthusiasts will recognize the byline of Bob Whittier. Bob has been a regular con

tributor to

EAA

publications since

the

founding of

the

organization,

as we

ll

as

a knowledgeable author for other

aVIa-

tion

and

boating magazines. Bob's Light Plane Heritage series in

EAA s

Experimenter

magazine often touched

on

aircraft

and concepts related to vintage aircraft and their history. Since many of our members have not had the opportunity to

read this series, we plan on publishing those

LPH

articles

that

would be of interest to

VAA

members. Enjoy -HGF

NOVEMBER 2 8


25/44

T

he early

Razorback

Aeronca

lightplanes

are

surely a convincing exam

ple of

how

the passage of

time

can

alter people's perceptions

of things.

When the

first model

C-2

appeared

on the

aviation

scene

in

1930, it immediately drew hoots o f

derision

from

the

leather-booted,

cavalry-jacketed pilots still

numer

ous at

that

time.

But today when one of

those

early lightplanes

shows

up at

an

aviation gathering,

it

immediately

becomes

the

subject of much nos

talgic

reminiscing on the

part

of

the

old-timers present,

and

curious

staring

and

questioning

on the

part

of those whose bir thday cakes sport

less

than,

say,

50

candles. The dis

tinctive

and

, to some, grotesque ap

pearance of these birds makes

them

stand out clearly and memorably

from all

other

small planes.

The term razorback/'

as

it applies

to these

planes, puzzles

everyone

upon first encountering it. It derived

long ago

from

the

ridgepole-like

shape

of

the top

of early Aeronca

fuselages, imparted by the single up

per longeron of

the

three-Iongeron

welded steel-tube fuselage structure.

And

the somewhat unusual

name

Aeronca was created by

shortening

the

manufacturer's long-winded of

ficial

name

of Aeronautical Corpo

ration of America. Since postwar

models of Aeronca airplanes are still

widely used by private pilots, obvi

ously they have been proven to be a

good

and

durable one.

The Aeronca story begins

in

1906

when

12-year-old

Jean

A.

Roche

came

with

his parents to New

York

City

from France. InCidentally,

this

name is pronounced Rowshay

and Aeronca is sometimes mis

pronounced Aeronica By around

1910

young Jean

had become an

avid

model airplane builder and

frequented

the early and very fas

cinating airfields

that

had sprung

up '

on the

flat fields of Long Island.

Upon graduating from

high

school

he

entered Columbia

University

and graduated

with

a degree in

mechanical engineering.

Like

so

many others Jean

A Ro

che

dreamed of creating a simple inex

pensive plane

that

ordinary people

could afford. His experiments start

ing in 923 led

to

the Aeronca C-2 .

By 1915 he

was

well

enough

versed

in

the

art-science of airplane

design to

find

employment with

the small Huntington lightplane

company

on Long Island, and later

at the

larger

Aeromarine

factory

at

Keyport, New Jersey.

When

the

United States

entered

World War

I

Jean was

sufficiently

proficient at

aeronautical engineering

to

qualify

for

an engineering position at the

Army's aviation research

and

devel

opment

center at

McCook Field in

Dayton, Ohio,

now

Wright Field.

Aviation jobs being scarce

af

ter

the war

was over, Roche pru

dently held onto his job at McCook

and in his spare time pursued

his

interest in light

aircraft for recre

ational flying. In 1923 the

finan

cially

strapped

Army

decided to

investigate

the

possibility of using

gliders for

economical pilot train

ing. Roche was

put in

charge of

the

project

because of

his

familiarity

with lighter aircraft.

Because

the

project was

very

much an experiment, it

was

im

perative

to

keep its cost

to

a mini

mum, consistent with producing

something useful. So the top

wing

from a surplus Curtiss IN-4

trainer

became the basis of the new glider.

This

wing had

a span

of

43 feet 7

inches,

and the rather thin

airfoil

used

for its ribs

resulted

in quite

shallow

and

flexible spars.

To

make

it rigid

enough

to carry even a glid

er s modest air loads, many sup

porting cabl

es

were reqUired.

Designing this

glider

thus

gave

Roche practical experience with

long,

slim, wire-braced wings.

He

came

to realize that they

could

be

designed

to

be quite light in weight,

moderate in cost,

and of good aero

dynamic efficiency-at

least

for

slower aircraft.

McCook Field

in those

days was

a

wonderful place

for

any

enthu

siastic young

airplane

designer

to

work. Being

at

a

major center

for

aircraft development work, Roche

was free

to

associate daily with top

rate engineers and pilots, and

had

access to

the

latest

and

best

in

aero

nautical literature.

And

this

at

a

time

when

most

flying enthusiasts

were hustling to

scrounge

livings

by barnstorming

in

war-surplus

Jennies

and

Standards. The Curtiss

OX-5 and Hispano-Suiza, or Hisso,

engines

that powered

them were

large V-8 mills designed for 50-

hour

service lives. They required constant

maintenance and gobbled gasoline

as

if it were

as

cheap as water.

Roche

realized that while

war

surplus ships

could be purchased

cheaply,

they

then cost a lot to op

erate. Depending on which

old

timer you listen to, an OX-5 burned

around

6 to 7 gallons of gas per

hour. Many yards of fabric

and

tins

of dope indeed were required to re

cover their big wings.

The many

bracing cables, turnbuckles, and fit

tings were a chore

to

keep properly

adjusted

and

maintained. Pilots who

found ways to operate Jennies com

mercially could figure

maintenance

costs

into the

rates they charged,

but many

private owners took scar

ily

long chances on

the airworthi

ness of weather-beaten ships.

It

was obvious

to

Roche

that

this

state

of

affairs

could

not

continue

for long, and so he

believed that

there would eventually be a market

V INT GE RPL N 3


26/44

AIRPLANES OF THE

WORLO DOUGLAS

ROLFE

Because Aeronca designer

ean

A.Roche was a native of France the

1909

Demoiselle above could have given him ideas. Note the three-Iongeron

deep-chested fuselage staight-axle landing gear and flat-twin engine.

Right: Reproduction from a

1933

Aeronca ad. This drawing conveys the

sense of freedom and adventure that comes of exploring the countryside

in

an open-cockpit puddlejumper. 70-mph

at 1 000

feet seems faster

than

170

at

10 000

feet.

for small planes that would be easier

and

less costly for private owners to

keep in good

condition, Although

the

Army glider he designed used a

Jenny wing, when designing its fuse

lage

and

tail he had an

opportunity

to try some of his ideas about simple

and economical construction.

In 1923

and

1924

he

used

this

experience

to design, on his

own

time, a new Single-seat lightplane.

He and

a fellow McCook employee

named John Dohse built it in their

spare time

.

Among other things,

its

wing

used the then

very new

Clark Y airfoil,

which represented

a considerable improvement in

the

lift-to-drag ratio over World War I

types. Its thickness allowed

the

use

of deeper spars, so the number

of

external

brace wires was

substan

tially reduced compared to older

ships. It was possible

to

make the

wing of

good

span

but narrow

chord-such

as

to give it a 9-to-l as-

pect ratio, which helped

the

rate of

climb with low-powered

engines

and

have a surprisingly good glid

ing range when

the

engine was

throttled back or quit.

For lack of anything better, it was

powered first by a straight-4 Hen

derson motorcycle engine

and then

by

a V-2 Indian.

Both

produced

around

18 hp,

which

proved to be

inadequate,

and

suffered serious vi

4 NOVEM ER

2 8

brations

and

reliability problems.

Unknown

to

Roche

and

Dohse,

another McCook engineer

by

the

name

of Harold Morehouse had de

veloped a small, horizontally op

posed,

air-cooled engine to drive

the

impellers used

to

blow air

into

the

ballonets o f Army blimps, then

used

for

slow-speed

observation

work. A ballonet is a

sort of limp

diaphragm built into

the

lower por

tion of a blimp s

envelope

for the

purpose of maintaining

gas pres

sure

and

thus

envelope rigidity.

This well-designed

engine

came

to

Roche s attention and it fasci

nated him. However, as it devel

oped

only

15 hp

and had

a vertical

crankshaft, it was obviously unsuit

able for his little airplane. After talk

ing things over thoroughly, Roche,

Dohse,

and

Morehouse pooled their

limited resources

and went to

work

on a similar

but

larger engine suited

for airplane installation.

Completed in the summer of

1925, it

produced

29 hp and flew

the Roche-Dohse plane very

well

indeed.

In

fact, the shop

became

the

pet of McCook Field pilots,

and

in their skilled hands it received a

thorough and

professional testing.

In 1926 Morehouse left McCook

to

take a job

with

the growing

Wright aircraft

engine company in

Paterson, New Jersey, and later on

Dohse left for Seattle

to

take a job

with

Boeing. And

then the

Roche

plane was involved in a crash that

damaged

the

Morehouse engine be

yond repair. The ship, however, was

repaired

and

put back

into

service

with a series of small engines,

none

of which proved satisfactory.

Then

Roche persuaded two

other

McCook engineers, Roy Poole and

Robert Galloway,

to

design a

new

engine.

I t

was basically like the

Morehouse but

incorporated

some

modifications.

At

first it

had

over

head valves operated by

exposed

push

rods

and

rocker arms,

but

be

fore long was redesigned again quite

extensively.

The

top and

front of

the

crankcase was reshaped to blend

neatly into

the

plane s nose cowling,

and

side-valv

e

flat-head cylinders

replaced the overhead-valve ones.

This arrangement had advantages.

The cost and weight of the overhead

va lve opera tin g

mechanism

was

eliminated. Width and thus

fron

tal area were reduced. Because the

valve operated directly off of the tap

pets located within the crankcase,

wear was less

and the

engine could

be

run longer

before

tappet

clear

ances needed checking. Cylinder and

cylinder-head

pattern

making, cast

ing, and machining were simplified,

which helped

keep

the

cost

down.

For a direct-drive engine turning its


27/44

Top:

FJat-head Aeronca E-1 7, producing 26/

3 hp

, was the ultimate

in

simplicity. Plug location made fou

li

ng

by

crankcase oil so unlikely that sin

gle ignition was feas ible.

Below: Overhead vale E-113 grew from 36 to an ultimate 45 hp. Fins cast

in

crankcase helped cool the oil .

propeller

at an

efficient peak speed

of 2500 rpm, intake and exhaust gas

flow were not impaired to an objec

tionable degree. This redesigned en

gine eventually became

the

Aeronca

E-107 this designation being derived

from the fact that it had a displace

ment

of 107 cubic inches. Upon ex

amining

one of these 26-

to 30-hp

engines in a museum, a modern ul

tralight airplane enthusiast

cannot

help

but

be very impressed with its

clean, functional simplicity.

In 1927 Roche worked out an

agreement

with

the Govro-Nelson

Company in

Detroit

to

build these

engines for him.

I t

was already

making the 110-hp, seven-cylinder

Warner engines and understood aero

nautical requirements. But since his

plane itself was not in production, no

engines were built at that time.

The previously

mentioned

Aero

nautical Corporation of America

was organized in 1928

by

a group

of investors

in Cincinnati

Ohio.

They had an

option

on

factory

space at the new Lunken Airport

there but had

no

airplane

design

that they felt had market possibil

ities.

One member of this group

knew Roche

and

suggested

that

a

delegation

travel to McCook Field

45 miles

to

the north

to

see Roche

and his lightplane.

By

that

time, Roche held the im

pressive title of senior aeronautical

engineer. An Army major had given

the plane

a

thorough

series of test

flights and

wrote

a very favorable

report on it. A capable civilian pilot

hired to do demonstration flights for

the Aeronca people did so very well.

The delegation from

Cincinnati

went home thoroughly impressed,

and

by the

middle of 1929 an agree

ment was on paper

to

manufacture

the

plane.

Roche and some others involved

with the plane moved to

that

city, the

plane was redesigned in certain areas

to better suit

the

needs of mass-pro

duction techniques, and during the

winter of 1929-30

the

new Aeronca

C-2

was displayed at aircraft shows in

various parts of

the

country.

The idea of being able to buy a

new airplane for just

under

1,500

and

flying it on 2 gallons of gas per

hour appealed to enough people to

make the new plane a sales success,

even

though

the stock market crash

of 1929 was sending the county

into

a deepening depression. By year's

end

90 ships

had

been sold. A num

ber of long-distance

and

altitude re

cord flights in C-2s brought much

valuable publicity to

the

plane.

There's a saying

that

even bad pub

licity is good publicity. The curious,

pot-bellied, and low-slung appear

ance of the Aeronca's fuselage quickly

inspired more less-than-complimen

tary nicknames for the ship than have

perhaps been applied to any other

airplane. The

Flying Bathtub

The Pout-

ing Pigeon The

Dowager

The Banana

The Bellydragger and The Buffalo are

examples. Such colorful monikers, of

course, attracted attention.

The more people read, heard

and

saw

of

the new Aeronca, the

more

accustomed to its appear

ance

they

became

. Sales

figures

thus began to improve

at

a time

when many aircraft firms were go

ing bankrupt.

VINT GE IRPL NE

5


28/44

Having

a

fully

enclosed cab

in

faired out

fuselage top

and

cantilever

land-

in

g gear the 1935-36 model was the last

of

the

C 3

line.

Some

C 3s

and

engine

s

we

re

built under license in England

.

What could e more tho roughly satisfying on a hot August day than an

open

cockkpit

Aeronca

seaplane?

However,

little

i f

anything

has

been written

about the reason for

the

odd fuselage shape. After think

ing about

i t

for years, I have formed

a theory. I can t prove it

,

but you

can decide for yourself

whether or

not

it is sound.

As

a native of France,

Roche

no doubt

kept himself well

informed on aviation developments

in that country

and

knew all about

the little Demoiselle monoplane de

signed in 1909 by aviation pioneer

Alberto Santos-Dumont.

In an accompanying illustration

of this machine, you will notice

the

three-Iongeron fuselage structure;

the low-set pilot's seat;

the

straight

through, one-piece landing gear axle;

and the flat-

twin

engine.

You

can

see

these same things in the Aeronca

C 2 . So it is not unreasonable to

think that this very early lightplane

influenced Roche's thinking.

This layout had its advantages.

The

low

-set bottom

longerons af

forded a place to attach struts or fly

ing wires so

as

to create a favorable

bracing angle when long, slim wings

were used.

The

low-set fuselage

6

OVEM

ER

2 8

avoided the weight and air resistance

of long l

anding

gear struts. Most of

the one-piece straight-tube axle and

all of its rubber shock cord wrapping

were inside t

he

fuselage and thus out

of

the

airstream. The cockpit was so

close to the ground

that

stepping in

and

out

of it was easy-on

ce

one had

figured out

how

to get past the four

flying wires on each side A usefu l

benefit of

the

deep-bellied fuselage

was that it afforded generous, com

fortable leg and foot room.

The engine had to be se t rather

high to

ob

tain

adeq

uate

prope

ll er

ground

clearance.

In

order to

get

the wing

angle

of incidence re

quired for

three-poin

t landings,

the

tail

of the fuselage had to

be

set high to position

the

tail skid. As

owner experience with

the

C 2 ac

cumulated , it was realized that the

rather narrow

landing

gear

often

allowed ships

to

tilt

up

and drag a

wing tip

in

crosswind landings, so a

wider tripod gear was adopted .

A baggage space located

behind

the single pilot seat proved large

enough for

people of slight build

to wriggle into

to enjoy

short but

memorab

le

around-the

-

fie

ld hops.

However,

the

Bureau of Air Com

merce (predecessor of the Federal

Aviation Administration)

refused

to

certify

the

C 2

as a

two-seater

f

or

such

reasons,

as they

feared

crammed -in passengers might

in

terfere with

the

pilot's controls.

But

the

C-2's ability to carry two

peop le on the power

of

the

little

E-107

engine,

combined

with the

s

hi

p's growing popularity among

people who loved

to

Documents

Vintage Airplane - Nov 2008