STRAIGHT amp LEVELlButchJoyce

2 VAA NEWSHG Frautschy

4 OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICATIONS AND FLYING MAYBE YOU SHOULDNT

6 THE GLOW OF OLD INSTRUMENTS JOHN MILLER

7 MYSTERY PLANE

8 CECIL HESS AND HIS AIRPLANE MIss FORTUNES PREVIOUS OWNER WAS A COLORFUL CHARACTERBob Howie

12 EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH 2002 THE VAA AREA WAS THE PLACE TO BE HG Frautschy

21 EAA SPLASH-IN 2002 Norm Petersen

24 WHAT OUR MEMBERS

VOL 30 No 10

ARE RESTORINGHG Frautschy

25 PASS IT TO BUCKBuck Hilbert

27 CALENDAR

28 NEW MEMBERS

30 CLASSIFIED ADS

WWWVINTAGEAIRCRAFTORG

Publisler TOM POBEREZNY

Eclltor-ill-CIIle( scon SPANGLER

Executive Director Editor HENRY G FRAUTSCHY

VAA Adlllillistrative Assistallt THERESA BOOKS

Executive Editor MIKE DIFRISCO

COlltributillg Editors JOHN UNDERWOOD BUDD DAVISSON

Grapllic DesiSler OLIVIA L PHILLIP

PltotograpllY Staff JIM KOEPNICK LEEANN ABRAMS

AclvertisillgEclitorial Assistallt ISABELLE WISKE

OCTOBER 2002

FRONT COVER Ill bet Martin and Osa Johnson would be thrilled to see the fi shynal product of the late Buzz Kap lans Born Again Restorations their second Sikorsky S-38 replica EAA photo by Lee Ann Abrams shot with a Canon EOSln equipped with an 80-200 mm lens on 100 ASA Fuji slide film EAA Cessna 210 photo plane f lown by Bruce Moore

BACK COVER Bill Ellsworth has been a regular contributor to the EAA Sport Aviation Art Competition and this years effort awarded an Honorable Mention ribbon is Shake Rattle Roll Pitch and Yaw an 8xl0 inch etching Bill doshynates his artwork to EAA each year One of the stairways in the EAA AirVenture Museum is a gallery of his artwork with 29 pieces of his handiwork on display Bill is a self-taught artist and a retired Naval Aviator a veteran of WW-II Korea and Vietnam during his 27 year career

5 Be LE

A year of trial is now behind us and as we approach the holidays Im keeping my thoughts positive with regard to the challenges weve faced as a nation and as an aviashytion community In the immediate days following September II it was hard to find a silver lining in what seemed like the darkest cloud wed ever seen

But thanks to the leadership shown by EAA and many others most of us were able to get back in the air Unfortunately more often than not politics seem to be dicshytating the requirement for temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) many of which still adshyversely affect many of our fellow members Included in that group are those who fly banner towing aircraft or the dedicated folks who fly out of airports like College Park near our nations capital who have to deal with overreachshying restrictions regarding their operations The FBOs at fields like these are suffering as well If youve ever wondered what beneshyfit being a part of EAA is to the Vintage Aircraft Association the work being done on all of our beshyhalf by the Government Programs staff including EAAs outstanding Washington representative Doug Macnair has proven its worth a hundredfold Without their reashysoned input to the governments decision makers it is certain that wed be operating within a much more restricted set of rules

Having said that its really important that each of us unshyderstands the current set of NOTAMs and gets used to conshytacting FSS before flying to ensure

BY ESPIE BUTCH JOYCE PRESIDENT VINTAGE ASSOCIATION

Prudent operations

nothing new has popped up The Internet is fantastic for this purshypose and a great place to start is EAAs Flight Planner Go to wwwvintageaircraftorg and youll see an icon to access this great membersshyonly benefit Combined with a DUATs briefing your call to FSS can be pretty short Think of it as a good excuse to refresh your flying habits

The FAA is under great political pressure to clamp down on airshyspace Violators-just ask anyone who has wandered into the proshyhibited area above Camp David or the TFR over the presidents ranch in Texas Its bad enough for those involved but it affects each of us Everyone of these publicized incishydents doesnt help us be seen in a positive light by government offishycials or the general public Be assured that EAA the VAA and other organizations are doing their best to keep us in the air with as few restrictions as possible We need your prudent aircraft operashytion to keep the airways calm and navigable It really is a time for us to pull in the same direction and for the most part I think were doshying it well Lets not let up

Many of you have seen our Free Skies Forever bumper sticker Thats not just a catchy slogan its intended to send a message that we as a family won t give up our right to fly without a fight The EAA family is not just the great staff at headquarters-its all of us members together with a common bond a purpose that guides us At EAA AirVenture this year I saw the record attendance and enthusiasm of the VAA members and it made me proud to be one of you

There was a new appreciation for the fact that we do have this freeshydom of flight and that it really could be taken from us at any moshyment It s unfortunate but I know that there are a few individuals who have decided to sell their aircraft because of wha t has taken place during the past year Most likely these people were casual users of aviation The dedicated aviation people seem to be sticking with avishyation in fact they have become more dedicated to the movement

Your membership in the Vintage Aircraft Association shows you to be a dedicated aviation individual You have demonstrated this by making an effort to belong to a group of individuals who share your common interest in aviation It continues to make me proud to be able to serve this membership as an officer and to help further our collective interests As a memshyber there s certainly something you can do Do you know someshyone who feels the way you do about vintage airplanes Ask him or her to become a VAA member and be sure to continue to renew your membership You only need to look at the beautiful restored aircraft in this issue of Vintage Airshyplane to see the dedication I am writing about

Let all of us pull in the same dishyrection for the good of aviation Remember we are better together Join us and have it all

-Butch

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

VAA NEWS COMPILED BY HG FRAUTSCHY

EAA COPA SEEK SFAS FOR CANADIAN OWNERshyMAINTAINED AIRCRAFT

EAA and the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) offishycially appealed an FAA decision issued on July 26 denying Special Flight Authorizations (SFAs) for Canadian aircraft certificated in the Owner-Maintenance (O-M) cateshygory The 33-page appeal with a cover letter signed by EAA President Tom Poberezny and COPA President Kevin Psutka was delivered to FAA Director of Flight Standards James Ballough on August 20

FAA Manager of Aircraft Mainteshynance David Cann denied the SFAs because he said regulations covering Canadian owner-maintenance airshycraft were not on par with those covering the US amateur-built cateshygory of airplanes

EAA and COPA argue that the Canadian owner-maintenance cateshygory operates under similar regulations as Canadian amateurshybuilt aircraft and has an equal level of flight safety Canadian amateurshybuilt aircraft have operated safely for 20 years under FAA-approved SFAs

EAA and COPA provided the folshylowing detailed support for their position bull The COPA Guide to the Ownershy

Maintenance Category showing the history of the Canadian owner-maintained category and which aircraft are permitted to apply for this certification

bull EAACOPA AFS 300 Letter Fact Sheet which corrects errors in fact stated in Canns denial of SFAs

bull EAACOPA Like Aircraft Comparison Table comparing US Canadian regulations for various aircraft catshyegories

bull Sample US SFA Owner-Mainteshynance Operating Limitations

OCTOBER 2002

showing reasonable US operatshying limitations that could be issued to Canadian O-M aircraft COPA and EAA initially asked the

FAA and TC to look at these aircraft for border-crossing authorization back in 2000 It is hoped that the new appeal results in a new bordershycrossing SFA for the Canadian O-M aircraft Until then Canadian O-M aircraft are not permitted to fly in the United States For more informashytion visit the CO PA website at wwwcopanationalorgnon-members indexhtm

EAA CHAPTER WEB AREA REDESIGNED

Over the past few months EAA staffers have been working on reshydesigning the Chapters area on the EAA website It now has a whole new look and has been reorganshyized to better meet your needs New information has been added as well as updates to existing inforshymation If youre looking for great ideas on how to enhance your Chapters activities or fly-ins the Chapters section of wwweaaorg is a great place to look Go to the web and check it out at wwweaaorgchaptersdefaultasp

FLIGHT ADVISORS TECHNICAL COUNSELORS SEARCHES AGAIN AVAILABLE

After some careful retooling the EAA Flight Advisor and Techshynical Counselor look-up pages are better than ever and back online at the EAA members-only website httpmemberseaaorg

You can now search a database of more than 1100 EAA Tech Counshyselors by regions as well as by states using the same regional boundaries as the FAA An EAA Technical Counshyselor is an experienced volunteer advisor who shares knowledge and

expertise with aircraft builders Technical Counselors are part of the members-helping-members tradition of EAA They advise builders on constructing a safe airshyworthy aircraft for final FAA inspection These volunteers visit projects and advise builders on how to comply with building instrucshytions and federal regulatiOns Technical Counselors offer tips based on their experience and help builders avoid costly mistakes Through Technical Counselors EAA helps maintain the excellent reputashytion of the amateur-built program

More than 500 Flight Advisors are EAA member-volunteers who can help you evaluate your own flying skills If you need more instruction in a certain type of airplane a Flight Advisor can help you find it If you choose to have a test pilot fly your airplane instead a Fligh t Advisor can help you find and evaluate other pilots Flight Advisors also have acshycess to EAA resources to assist you

The site uses current databases of active Tech Counselors and Flight Advisors and both are fully funcshytional with the latest Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer browser software If you need a Flight Advishysor or Tech Counselor this is the place to go You may also contact the EAA Safety Programs adminisshytrator at 920-426-6864 or at safetyprogramseaaorg if you need further assistance

TAKE THE MYSTERY OUT OF TIG WELDING AT THIS FALLS EAA SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

TIG welding is rapidly becoming the preferred method of welding for aircraft builders but this new techshynology demands knowledge and proper technique to be safe and efshyfective With concentrated weekend courses to help builders learn and

2

Franklin Engine Airworthiness Directive

Emergency Airworthiness Direcshytive 2002-18-51 grounding aircraft equipped with Franklin 6A-350_and 6A-0350-C1A Cll C2 and C2A as well as 4A-235-___ that have dishyaphragm-type fuel pumps model number AC4886 (AC PN 5656774 PZl PN 26111710) has been isshysued by the FAA PZl states in its mandatory bulletin PZLF712002 that a new fuel pump design is being certified but that until the new pumps are installed all aircraft with the affected engines installed are grounded The bulletin states the new pump was to be certified in Sepshytember of 2002 with production to follow No time frame for deliveries was mentioned The AD does not apshyply to any aircraft equipped with gravity-feed fuel systems

For more information you can acshycess the AD at wwwfaagov Under RegulatoryAdvisory click on Airshyworthiness Directives and enter the AD number You can also call Rich Woldan at the FAA Engine Certificashytion office 781-238-7136

use TIG welding on their aviation projects EAAs SportAir Workshops and Lincoln Electric have teamed up for courses on November 8-10 and December 6-8 at the state-ofshythe-art Alexander Technical Center in Griffin Georgia The two-and-ashyhalf-day courses allow participants to learn the basics and safely weld 4130 chromoly tubing and aluminum Lincoln Electrics professhysional instructors and small class sizes allow individual attention and hands-on training in this important aircraft building technique

TIG welding also known as gas tungsten arc welding creates supeshyrior quality welds with precise control of heat and other variables The technique is becoming more popular because it allows beginning welders to progress more rapidly than in traditional gas welding Stushydents from beginners to experienced aviation technicians and mechanics

will gain valuable experience in these sessions

Each class is limited to 12 stushydents Registration fees are $349 for EAA members and $379 for nonshymembers More information and registration materials are available by calling 800-967-5746 or visiting the EAA SportAir Workshop website at wwwsportaircom

RADIO ARTICLES NEEDED Have you successfully installed a

radio (handheld or panel mount) and

an external antenna in your vintage airplane One of the most common questions we field here at EAA headshyquarters concerns the installation of radios in airplanes with and without shielded ignition systems If youve had success with either type of inshystallation in an airplane with or without an electrical system wed like to hear from you Drop us a note at vintageeaaorg or call the VAA at 920-426-4825 Help out your fellow VAA members and add to our collecshytive knowledge base

BOOK NOTES A couple of intershy

esting books have

come across the

Vintage Airplane edshy

itors desk recently

Unlocking the Sky

Glenn Hammond

Curtiss and the

Race to Invent the

Airplane is an inter- Lj------- esting look at one of aviations true

pioneers whose mechanical ingenuity and

tenacity saw him through the turbulent and

litigious early days of the aviation industry

H is difficulties with the Wright brothers are

reviewed in depth as well as his collaborashy

tion with Alexander Graham Bell and his

unfortunate business dealings with Augusshy

tus Herring Written by Seth Shulman it is a

fascinating account of the first half of the

career of one of Americas most gifted selfshy

taught engineers Shulman is not a pilot

and there are a couple of factual errors that

slipped in (For instance contrary to a stateshy

ment in the book both Wright brothers

completed four years of high school-Wilbur

didn t get his diploma when Bishop Wright

moved the family from Richmond Indiana

to Dayton during the last days of his senior

year Later Shulman misinterprets the funcshy

tion of an aileron) None of the non-pilot

errors detract greatly from the account and

it still proved to be fascinating reading Pubshy

lished by HarperCollins Unlocking the Sky

Glenn Hammond Curtiss and the Race to Inshy

vent the Airplane is listed as ISBN

0-06-019633-5

Many of us have heard of this book in

our aviation history books but few of us

have ever seen a copy of it particu larly in

English Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation

by Otto Lilienthal is an intriguing book filled

with more than 100 drawings graphs and

diagrams showing how Lilienthal came to

his understanding of flight in the 1890s

Unlike so many other bird watchers Lilienshy

thal with assistance from hi s brother

Gustave studied the detai ls of how birds

fly They learned precisely what a bird does

with its wings-how it alters dihedral to

change stability and how it varies the curvashy

ture to change lift and drag in various flight

situations The book published now is a dushy

plicate of the first edition published in

1889 and while it certainly should not be

considered a modern-day how-to book it

gives the aviation enthusiast a new pershy

spective on what early aviators knew

Anyone serious about aviation (and quite a

few who never did understand the problem)

in the 1890s and early 1900s read this

book and now you can too Published by

the American

Aeronautical

Archives an

imprint of

Markowski

International

Publishers its

ISBN is 0shy

938716-58-1

The publisher

can be reached

at 717-566-0468

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3

bull bull Maybe You Shouldnt

FROM FAA PUBLICATION AM-400-92l

Acommonly held belief is that medicine cures all that ails Whether medicine is

prescribed by a doctor or is an over-the-counter medication (OTC) that you have selected as a pilot you must consider the effect it will have on your performance

When you are given a prescripshytion your doctor explains the possible side-effects of the medicashytion you are about to take Your pharmacist also outlines them when filling the prescription

However when you treat yourself with a nonprescription medication you become your own doctor and pharmacist Therefore you must inshyform yourself of the possible adverse reactions that you might encounter The following will help you undershystand some of the basics that you will need to successfully accomplish this task

OTCs are any legal nonprescripshytion substance taken for the relief of discomforting symptoms This subshystance may be in the form of capsules tablets powders or liquids

When you are not feeling well your best action is to ground yourshyself and wait until you have recovered before resuming your pishylot duties There may be times however when you feel that you must fly and will be tempted to doctor yourself with OTCs At these times it is good to remember that the OTCs only hide your symptoms for a while They do not

OCTOBER 2002

a eurogt

usually cure the condition and you will not be at peak physical performance while you fly

There are two main areas of conshycern about unwanted reactions to medications

Allergy is a rare and unpreshydictable reaction to a substance If you know that you are allergic to something you should careshyfully read the list of ingredients of any OTC to assure that none of the substance is included in its formulation

bull Possible unexpected side-effects can take many forms including drowsiness impairment of judgshyment upset stomach or bowels disturbance of vision or even itchshying Any of these could cause an impairment that might lead to incashypacitation while flying

Decongestants and caffeine (contained in coffee tea cola chocolate) are both strong stimushylants in some individuals Mixed together they can make you hyshyperactive Note also that some cough syrups contain a decongesshytant

SUMMARY ADVICE READ and follow label direcshy

tions for use of medication If the label warns of side-effects

do not fly until twice the recomshymended dosing interval has passed SO if the label says take every 4-6 hours then wait at least 12 hours to fly

4

Remember that the condition you are treating may be as disqualifying as the medication

When in doubt ask your physician or Aviation Medical Examiner for advice

usDepartment of Transportation

federal AvIatIon AdmInIstratIon

the ingredients

The above article can be found at httpwwwcamijccbigovAAM-400A400aotchtml At this site you will also find a list of common OTCs listing the typename of the medication sideshyeffects of the medication and interactions the OTC may have with other medications We have not inshycluded the current chart due to the fact that the FAA will be revising the medications brochure to include information about newer pharmaceutical products They plan to publish a new brochure later this year You can view this revised chart at the above website as well

~

MAYBE YOU SHOULDNT

As a pilot you are responsible for your own pershysonalpre-flight Be wary of any illness that requires medicine to make you feel better

If an illness is serious enough to require medicashytion it is also serious enough to prevent you from flying

Do not fly if you have a cold -changes in atmosshypheric pressures with changes in altitude could cause serious ear and sinus problems

Avoid mixing decongestants and caffeine Beware of medications that use alcohol as a base for

MIKES HANGAR

is Practicing a Tradition

We provide the following services

gt- Restorations

gt- Paint and Fabric

gt- Metalforming

gt- Fabrication

gt- Custom Building Award Winning Restorations

Mike Williams 3811 River Road Columbus IN 47203

812-375-1954 fax 812-314-0954 e-mail mikemikeshangarcom

Visit the Website wwwmikeshangarcom

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

Remember that the condition you are treating may be as disqualifying as the medication

When in doubt ask your physician or Aviation Medical Examiner for advice

usDepartment of Transportation

federal AvIatIon AdmInIstratIon

the ingredients

The above article can be found at httpwwwcamijccbigovAAM-400A400aotchtml At this site you will also find a list of common OTCs listing the typename of the medication sideshyeffects of the medication and interactions the OTC may have with other medications We have not inshycluded the current chart due to the fact that the FAA will be revising the medications brochure to include information about newer pharmaceutical products They plan to publish a new brochure later this year You can view this revised chart at the above website as well

~

MAYBE YOU SHOULDNT

As a pilot you are responsible for your own pershysonalpre-flight Be wary of any illness that requires medicine to make you feel better

If an illness is serious enough to require medicashytion it is also serious enough to prevent you from flying

Do not fly if you have a cold -changes in atmosshypheric pressures with changes in altitude could cause serious ear and sinus problems

Avoid mixing decongestants and caffeine Beware of medications that use alcohol as a base for

MIKES HANGAR

is Practicing a Tradition

We provide the following services

gt- Restorations

gt- Paint and Fabric

gt- Metalforming

gt- Fabrication

gt- Custom Building Award Winning Restorations

Mike Williams 3811 River Road Columbus IN 47203

812-375-1954 fax 812-314-0954 e-mail mikemikeshangarcom

Visit the Website wwwmikeshangarcom

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

John Miller Recalls

The of old instruments

Many years ago in aviation beshyfore World War II few airplanes had electrical systems After the air regushylations came into effect in 1927 requiring position lights for night flying airplanes had position lights installed but to use them a battery had to be installed temporarily for the flight proposed Since night cross-country flying was so rare some pilots would use one of the Hotshot 6-volt pack batteries to power the position lights but they would turn them on only when near an airport to conserve the battery Otherwise an automobile or motorshycycle battery would be used and then recharged later on the ground Regulations were lax

Panel instrument lights were not used because they would soon deshyplete such a battery Therefore the instruments had glowing radiant dishyals and pointers When flying in the dark the instruments were clearly visible but the pilots eyes were not affected as they are by the bright electric instrument lights of today so pilots night vision was not affected The gentle glow of the dials did not reduce outside vision noticeably

In 1930 I was instructing flight students at Teterboro and a young lady came to me wishing to learn to fly She said that she had a terminal case of leukemia and wanted to fly before she died She said further that the leukemia was caused by the fact that for several years she had worked in a factory that painted the glowing material on dials of aircraft instrushyments and wristwatches In the process of hand painting the num-

OCTOBER 2002

JOHN M MILLER

bers a tiny artists brush was used The painters sharply pointed the brushes by moistening them beshytween their lips hundreds or even thousands of times per day month after month All of the girls came down with leukemia

She said that she had a tenninal case of leukemia and wanted to fly before she died

The paint used for the purpose consisted of a zinc compound that was activated to glow by a very tiny bit of radium mixed into it a really tiny amount If you can still find one of those old glowing dial instrushyments or an old wristwatch in the dark take a magnifying glass close to it and you can see many tiny flashshying sparks The radium is energizing the zinc with practically everlasting energy It takes only a few molecules of the radium mixed into a huge amount of the zinc compound to make it glow

Of course the girls were concenshytrating the effect of the radium on their lips with fatal results without realizing it I do not believe that the manufacturer knew it either until the girls became ill Not that much was known about radium at that time By over reaction typical of lawmakers the use of radium-actishyvated instrument dials and watches was outlawed entirely and arbitrarshy

ily No consideration was given to the fact that no one had ever acshyquired any detrimental effect from looking at radium aircraft instrushyments during thousands of hours of flying or from wearing radiant dial wristwatches 24 hours per day for much more than 50 years until they were no longer available That must be why I am in such bad shape at alshymost 95 I flew thousands of hours with the entire panel covered by rashydiant-glowing instruments

Also apparently no consideration was given to the fact that the paintshying of the dials could have been done by remote or automatic machinery with no one being nearby The hanshydling of the radium and paint could now be done by computer control

Recently when returning from a night cross-country flight I was on final approach for landing with trees not far from each wingtip and close below me The instrument lights failed suddenly due to a failure of an electronic control The lights had been turned down to dim but my eyes did not readjust quickly to the darkness However there were visual glideslope lights on the runway and I was able to continue the approach to land safely while not able to read the airspeed indicator I could have read the old glowing instruments clearly I miss those old instruments It seems to me that in this age of computer-controlled robot machinshyery their manufacture could be revived The radiant instrument numbers are of no danger to the pishylot The above incident inspired me to write this article

6

With a wingspan of 33 feet and a length of nearly 27 feet the Curtiss Night Mall was powered by a Curtiss C-6 engine giving it a cruising speed of 85 mph

The July Mystery Plane was a toughie but George Alleman Placshyerville California got it right

I believe the July Mystery Plane is a Curtiss Night Mail of about 1923 Powered by a 160 hp Curtiss C-6 engine Used as transportation to repair beacons Photo probably taken at Hadley Field New Jersey about 1926

THIS MONTHS MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US VIA THE COLLECTION OF ILLUSTRATOR BOB OHARA

GEORGETOWN CALIFORNIA

BY HG FRAUTSCHY

Pete Bowers supplied us with the photo we used Pete referred us to his write-up in the Curtiss book he wrote for the Putnam series of aviashytion history books which was published by the Naval Institute Press (ISBN 0-87021-152-8)

The Curtiss Night Mail of 1922 was a quick attempt at adapting exshyisting war-surplus aircraft to low-cost

mailplanes for the Post Office Deshypartment The aeroplane used was not a Curtiss but the Standard J It was given engineering Model Numshyber L-411-1 but was overlooked on the 1935 redesignation list

Other than the conversion of the front cockpit to a mail pit and the inshystallation of a 160 hp Curtiss C-6 engine the major change to the Stanshydard was the fitting of entirely new wings These were shorter than the 44 feet 10 inch (1366 meter) of the Standard were of equal span with only one bay of struts and used the new thick-section USA-27 aerofoil

Approximately six were delivshyered and at least one was used by the Post Office as a two-cockpit utility aircraft rather than a singleshyseat mailplane

Robert Ramey of Coopertown North Dakota sent us a reply that was pretty close guessing it was a Standard]-1 Our thanks to those of you who sent in replies

SEND YOUR ANSWER TO EAA VINTAGE

AIRPLANE PO Box 3086 OSHKOSH WI 54903-3086 YOUR ANSWER NEEDS TO

BE IN NO LATER THAN NOVEMBER 15 FOR

INCLUSION IN THE JANUARY 2003 ISSUE

OF VINTAGE AIRPLANE

You CAN ALSO SEND YOUR RESPONSE

VIA E-MAIL SEND YOUR ANSWER TO

vintageeaaorg

BE SURE TO INCLUDE BOTH YOUR

NAME AND ADDRESS (ESPECIALLY YOUR

CITY AND STATE) IN THE BODY OF YOUR

NOTE AND PUT (MONTH) MYSTERY

PLANE IN THE SUBJECT LINE INTERESTshy

INGLY ABOUT HALF OF OUR MYSTERY

PLANE ANSWERS NOW COME TO US IN

THE FORM OF E-MAIL

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7

With a wingspan of 33 feet and a length of nearly 27 feet the Curtiss Night Mall was powered by a Curtiss C-6 engine giving it a cruising speed of 85 mph

The July Mystery Plane was a toughie but George Alleman Placshyerville California got it right

I believe the July Mystery Plane is a Curtiss Night Mail of about 1923 Powered by a 160 hp Curtiss C-6 engine Used as transportation to repair beacons Photo probably taken at Hadley Field New Jersey about 1926

THIS MONTHS MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US VIA THE COLLECTION OF ILLUSTRATOR BOB OHARA

GEORGETOWN CALIFORNIA

BY HG FRAUTSCHY

Pete Bowers supplied us with the photo we used Pete referred us to his write-up in the Curtiss book he wrote for the Putnam series of aviashytion history books which was published by the Naval Institute Press (ISBN 0-87021-152-8)

The Curtiss Night Mail of 1922 was a quick attempt at adapting exshyisting war-surplus aircraft to low-cost

mailplanes for the Post Office Deshypartment The aeroplane used was not a Curtiss but the Standard J It was given engineering Model Numshyber L-411-1 but was overlooked on the 1935 redesignation list

Other than the conversion of the front cockpit to a mail pit and the inshystallation of a 160 hp Curtiss C-6 engine the major change to the Stanshydard was the fitting of entirely new wings These were shorter than the 44 feet 10 inch (1366 meter) of the Standard were of equal span with only one bay of struts and used the new thick-section USA-27 aerofoil

Approximately six were delivshyered and at least one was used by the Post Office as a two-cockpit utility aircraft rather than a singleshyseat mailplane

Robert Ramey of Coopertown North Dakota sent us a reply that was pretty close guessing it was a Standard]-1 Our thanks to those of you who sent in replies

SEND YOUR ANSWER TO EAA VINTAGE

AIRPLANE PO Box 3086 OSHKOSH WI 54903-3086 YOUR ANSWER NEEDS TO

BE IN NO LATER THAN NOVEMBER 15 FOR

INCLUSION IN THE JANUARY 2003 ISSUE

OF VINTAGE AIRPLANE

You CAN ALSO SEND YOUR RESPONSE

VIA E-MAIL SEND YOUR ANSWER TO

vintageeaaorg

BE SURE TO INCLUDE BOTH YOUR

NAME AND ADDRESS (ESPECIALLY YOUR

CITY AND STATE) IN THE BODY OF YOUR

NOTE AND PUT (MONTH) MYSTERY

PLANE IN THE SUBJECT LINE INTERESTshy

INGLY ABOUT HALF OF OUR MYSTERY

PLANE ANSWERS NOW COME TO US IN

THE FORM OF E-MAIL

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7

Cecil Hess AND HIS AIRPLANE

Miss Fortunes previous owner was a colorful character As originally published in the MayJune 2002 issue of Waco World News

the official publication of the American Waco Club

Cecil Hess was born in 1902 and came

to Reedsburg Wisconsin in 1920

finishing high school shortly thereshyafter He followed up

with flying lessons in a Curtiss Jenny

Cecil was amachinshyist and mechanic and attended the

Sweeney Automobile and Aviation School

in Kansas City Cecil worked nine

years for others as a mechanic until he

bought his own shop in Reedsburg in

1931 During this time he continued flying deciding to

buy his own airplane in 1928 He chose an ox-s powered Waco

Model Ten OCTOBER 2002

BOB HOWIE

The Waco Ten serial number 1214 was completed by Advance Aircraft Co on November 12 1927 and was delivered by rail to John P Woods Northern Airways at Wausau Wisconsin on January 51928 John Wood was a well-known Advance Aircraft Co dealer who went on to win the 1928 Ford Air Tour with his modified Waco Taperwing

Cecil purchased the plane from Northern Airways in March 1928 for $2500 The Waco was assigned idenshytification number 4779 After some familiarization with the airplane and completing the paperwork on April 20 Cecil flew his new Waco Ten home to Reedsburg on April 27 The Reedsburg Free Press reported that he covered the 115 miles from Wausau to Reedsburg in 50 minutes apparently taking advantage of what must have been about a 65 mph tail wind Cecil and his Waco Ten proshyvided real encouragement to the local people who were promoting a Reedsburg airport when he built a hangar on land recently obtained by the city for an airport Cecil proshyceeded to fly around the countryside barnstorming and doing air shows landing in farmers fields and carryshying passengers for rates of a penny a pound (up to $250) to $10 dependshying on the crowds Later in 1928 Cecil broke a wing and propeller beshycause of a bad landing

In August 1928 John Wood sold Northwest Airways its first Waco the Wright J-4 powered Model Ten number C7446 The Northwest Airshy

ways route map showed the Reedsshyburg Public Field just north of the Madison-La Crosse leg of the Chicago-Milwaukee-St Paul route Charles Speed Holman Northshywests operating manager and a contemporary of Cecils flew Northshywests Waco Ten C7446 first as a straightwing and later as a tapershywing through the Reedsburg area Cecil later recollected how during his barnstorming and air show times he flew with Speed Holman and other noted area fliers

During an air show at Reedsburg in early July 1930 misfortune was present A young aviatrix riding the wing of Cecils Waco hundreds of feet above the ground stepped into the slipstream leaving behind her the clatter of the OX-5 She expected to thrill the crowd with her gentle descent to the ground but her parashychute did not open The girl was 19-year-old Mae Rox who billed herself as Peaches La Mar Cecil obviously through respectful reshymembrance determined that ever after his Waco Ten would be named the gently appropriate but curiously enigmatic Miss Fortune

Early on Cecil decided that he did not need to bother with munshydane matters such as pilot certificates and aircraft licenses or the related baggage such as logshybooks and inspections He was a qualified mechanic and knew his airplane and how to fly it The Waco had an ID number 4779 from the government What else

8

was needed Besides he had been protected by thegrandfather act Cecil unencumbered by regulatory inconvenience continued to fly Miss Fortune by his accounts putshyting about 450 hours on her through the mid to late 1950s

Our modern world eventually caught up to Cecil After rebuilding the Waco in 1959 he continued to fly her The old Waco had never reshyceived an airworthiness certificate and Cecil somewhat innocently made an application for registration of the airplane in 1962 But as Cecil lamented to a newspaper reporter in 1964 They wanted me to comply with all the new regulations regiSshytration flyers license log books air frame certification etc So he litershyally hung it up dismantling the Waco hanging the fuselage in his shop and putting the wings in storshyage at home

Fifteen years later Cecil decided to reassemble and fly Miss Fortune afshyter 50 years of ownership He was convinced it was a feat worthy of the Guinness World Records and that the grandfather act made him bulletproof On March 30 1978 the Reedsburg newspaper pubshylished an interview with Cecil wherein he announced his intenshy

tions to again fly Miss Fortune inshycluding that he could coax a few more barrel rolls out of her OnJuly 23 1978 50 summers after purchasshying the Waco Ten from John Wood Cecil took her to the air again over Reedsburg If this made the Guinshyness book is not known nor is it known how many barrel rolls he coaxed out of her but certainly an undeserved anonymity was protectshyinghim

But as they say too much of a good thing two months later on

September 19 Cecil again pulled the propeller through climbed into the cockpit pushed the throttle forshyward and rolled across the field Miss Fortune skidded out of control and went up an embankment and into some trees knocking off the propeller and busting a wing Someshyhow this caught the attention of those guys that Skeezix calls The Federals Against Aviation and what John Livesay would say is just a norshymal day at an out-of-the-way grass strip and it was now a federal affair

Kris Kortokrax levels out the Waco Ten for a high speed pass down the grass runway at Shelbyville Illinois

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

Tapockata tapockata tapockata Now before you pick up your pen to scold us for publishing a picture of an airshyplane with no brakes no chocks and with the engine running and no one in the cockpit I ve been assured that Kris is In the cockpit hunched over to stay out of sight Honest

Cecil was in trouble with the local judge who threatened Cecil with jail time if he did not mend his ways

The judge felt he could t ell a threat to society when he saw one Cecil had accumulated 2000 hours flying time over 60 years but did not have a pilot certificate he had put 450 hours on a Waco Ten that he had owned and maintained for 50 years but did not have a 3- by 5-inch piece of paper called a standard airshyworthiness certificate Cecil never flew again and died a year or so later truly a misfortune

Cecil s earlier lamentations indishycate that logbooks for 4779 never existed and the FAA file for 4779 is thin which tends to confirm this The file has only five or so basic docshyuments in it all dated 1928 including bills of sale from Advance Aircraft Co to Northern Airways and Northerns sale to Cecil Hess as well as an application for identificashytion number and license In addition the file contains Unlishycensed Identification Assignments from 1930 1935 1936 1937 and 1938 which now carry the notation

1 0 OCTOBER 2002

1959~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~

Intentional Aeroshybatics Prohibited which obviously by Cecil s creative reading did not preclude coaxing a few more barrel rolls out of her

Following his rebuilding the airshy

plane inthere is no menshytion of the work in the FAA file but there is a 1962 Ap- The current owner of Miss Fortune Bob Howie

plication for Registration and a 1972 revocation of registration letter from the FAA with a 1981 reinstatement note

Dick Wagner a friend of Cecils requested the registration reinshystatement Dick had worked with Cecil before Cecil died to assure that Miss Fortun e would be propshyerl y preserved Dick Wagner was the head of the Wagner Foundashytion and the Foundation later purchased the Waco Ten from the estate of Cecil Hess and delivered it to the EAA AirVenture Museum

intending for it to be displayed in its original condition as rebuilt by Cecil in 1959 Miss Fortune in such unembellished state would have provided a rare window to aviashytion of the late 1920s Cecils 1959 rebuild was basic consisting only of re-covering and mechanically refurbishing the Waco Everyshything was left as it came from the Advance Aircraft Co factory in Troy Ohio in November 1927 (that is tailskid wire wheels with no brakes height gauge water

The OX-5s radiator is mounted on the bottom of the wing center section You ll know right away if you have a leak

temperature oil pressure and no airspeed or compass) and this was all topped off with the original Curtiss OX-5 with no fancy modshyernizations like Millerized valves or dual magneto conversion Cecil skillfully concealed the Narco Sushyperhomer and its antenna on the shelf in his garage Even the 1927 carbon steel streamlined wires

still had the original stamped brass MacWhyte identification tags wrapped around them

At some point in time Ceci l conceded to the necessity of the moment and replaced the 18-inch clincher wheel rims and tires with 18-inch drop center rims with his personalized welded spoke hole reshyinforcements and automobile tires

probably because clincher tires were no longe r available The clincher wheels Advance Aircraft Co used on the Waco Nine and Ten were Curtiss Jenny war to end all wars surplus parts During the 1920s surplus Jenny hardware inshycluding wheels nuts bolts turnbuckles and cable was the inshydustry standard for lightplane hardware

Ultimately it was in 1991 that the Wagner Foundation faithfully replicated Cecils 1959 rebuild takshying Cec ils Waco Ten back to its first years at Reedsburg flying the Wisconsin air show circuit and barnstorming as Miss Fortune thereby preserving an otherwise irshyreplaceable part of aviation history

Since then Cecils Miss Fortune has moved from WisconSin and its OX-5 is now clattering away from the Public Field at Shelshybyville Illinois crossing paths with Speed Holmans Taperwing Waco 7446 that flies from the same summer grass and winter snow at Shelby County Airport

The Waco Ten with the OX-5 tailskid and no brakes is a fun flyshying airplane Ground handling on the grass is simple and effective usshying rudder elevator and throttle for directional control Paved surshyfaces can be exciting Ground static rpm with the 104-inch propeller is 1375 rpm Takeoff with little effort easily meets and can readily exshyceed 1400 rpm which provides a comfortable rate of climb Aviation magazines from the 1920s and 1930s indicate that the OX-5 enshygine operated well at the higher speeds with classified ads comshymonly bragging of engines that would turn 1500 to 1600 rpm Comfortable cruise is 1350 rpm which provides very good control response and a ride that is solid At 1250 rpm the ride is getting softer and control response slower None of this matters much since in any event yo u wont get where you want very soon

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1 1

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2002 The VAA area was the place to be

HG FRAUTSCHY

It was EAAs 50th convention kicking off a yearlong golden celebration of 50 years of EAA Weve been a part of it as an organishyzation since 1971 and well before that EAA members who loved old airplanes brought them to Milwaukee and Rockford for the annual get-together The 2002 edition of the members convention offered plenty of familiar sights and sounds as well as a few new wrinkles Lets take a look at the airplanes people and places that made the VAA area one of the most visited locations of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Vernon Vick of Dublin Ohio shown here with his dog Selene restored the Grand Champion Antique Stearman Well have a larger pictorial article in a future issue

Herb Clarks Reserve Grand Champion Stearman is an exshycrop duster but It sure doesnt look like one now-it s very sharp and its certain the judges were hard-pressed to decide the top airshyplane this year

Congratulations to both Vernon and Herb

Herb Clark is from Weirsdale Florida

1 2 OCTOBER 2002

AIHVENTUHE VjVJ (- dJJd

VAA volunteer Michael Wortherspoon of Barrie Ontario Canada brought his 1966 Cessna 150F dubbed Birdie to the States and he took home the Contemporary Outstanding In Type-Cessna 150 plaque for his neatly maintained airplane

Thanks to the folks at Pro Motorsports In Fond du Lac Wisconsin the VAA Flight Line Safety and Parking volunshyteers can get to their marshaling posts quickly and then can safely guide the many showplanes to their spots This handsome crowd of 11 bikers Is just a fraction of the dozens of volunteers who risk a touch of sunburn to help out during the weeklong event

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~ Larry Becks Younkin D to a G conversion Beechcraft can certainly turn heads especially In flight since Its so fast It was the Anshytique Champion Customized Aircraft

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

to become a cult airshyplane-just you see During 2001 at the Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association s annual event in Las Vegas Gershyald Turney of Oakland California was tickled that his Mooney M20C was picked as the Best in Series EAA added to

the list with the airplane being selected as the Conshytemporary Custom Class II Single Engine (161-230 hp) award winner

1 4 OCTOBER 2002

5r shyAIRVENTURE V5HJ[V5H A- ~JJ~

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Jim Moss (inset) built and now flies this sushyperlative Laird Super Solution which was chosen as the Grand Champion Replica Anshytique Standing behind the airplane and lookshying forward gives you a whole new appreciashytion for the term blind flying Jim flies crossshycountry In a series of gentle S-turns to clear the area directly In front of him as he rockshyets along

It s hard to believe when you look at it but this outstanding example of a Cessna 172 is 37 years old It has been expertly restored to its delivery condishy Dave Thomas puts a little tion and it s jointly owned by body English into his dishySteve and Robert Koshar of rections for one of the Coloma Michigan It was the more than 1 000 showshyGrand Champion Contemporary planes that parked on the winner during EAA AirVenture iIilIIIbullbullbull south end of Wittman 2000 More than 20 past chamshy field Dave s one of the pion aircraft returned to this co-chairmen of the VAA year s event and they were Parking and Safety Comshyparked in places of honor along mittee the flight line

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Richard Weedens Rearwin Sportster restoration has been on the list of much anticipated rebuilds for a few years and it turned out to be very pretty Dick is from Brodhead Wisconsin

1 6 OCTOBER 2002

The top of the awards list in the Contemporary category was this fine-looking 1960 Cessna 3100 painted to represent the very last Songbird flown by Sky King in the old television series of the same name Paul Erickson of Novato Calishyfornia brought the tip-tanked speedster to the convention where it was awarded the Contemporary Grand Champion Lindy

Eric and Deb Presten and their two young boys were in the middle of a coast-to-coast adventure with their amphibious Piper PA-16S Clipper Eric s PA-16 has been an integral part of his business as Prestens Aero Photography and the new paint job on the PA-16S really puts the finishing touch on a unique airplane Upon leaving EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Prestens were heading down the length of the Mississippi River before turning left toward the East Coast and then a hopscotch run to their home north of the San Francisco Bay area

The VAA sponsored and staffed the Tall Pines Cafe a great place to meet for a hearty pancake breakfast Our very first paying cusshy

~-~ -1- tomer was Gary Assels (left) the general manager for Canadian Home Rotors maker of the Safari helicopter Garys great meal was the first of more than 2500 breakfasts served during the week The volunshyteer effort that went into the Tall Pines Cafe was intense spearheaded by VAA Directors John Berndt and Steve Nesse as well as Clare Dahl (chief cook right) Craig Baumgardner (center) and newly elected Director Dave Clark Many other familiar faces from the ranks of regular volunteers were also seen behind the serving counters including Gene Chase Dale Gustafson Paul Kyle and Phil Coulson

Heres what the faces of a pair of real winners look like In addition to being long-term VAA volunshyteers (they run the VAA button-making operation each year) Dwayne and Sue Trovillion found out they were the fortunate subscribers to an online Continental engine customer care newsletter The company chose one subscriber at random to win a new Continental engine of his or her choice and during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Trovillions were flabbergasted to learn they had been picked as the winner Congratulations-that ought to make the family Bonanza really zip

Jeff Montgomery and Ron Price own this Fleet I which is based at the Sonoma Skypark Airport A gaggle of antique and classic airplanes departed Sonoma bound for Oshkosh with overnight stops in all sorts of interesting places like Brodhead Wisconshysin They did pretty well after their arrival the Fleet was judged the Antique Silver Age Champion

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

Over the past few years weve noted a few more Mexican-registered aircraft on display in our area This is the Classic-Best Navion award winner flown

CONTEMPORARY JUDGES Back Row Jeff Anderson Tim to the convention by owner Luis Olaguibel Popp Art Anderson John Goodloe Rick Duckworth Front Tepozteco Mexico Row Tim Greene Mary Knutson Liz Popp Jay Cavender Dick Knutson

Ray Cook is from Spring Grove Illinois and hes the lucky owner and pilot of this 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D Rays Taylorshycraft was picked as the Best Classic I (0-80 hp) award winner

ANTIQUE JUDGES Back Row Bill Halverson Jerry Brown Gene Morshyris Charles Bell Xen Motsinger Mike Hoag Dave Morrow Front Row Don Coleman Dave Clark John Pipkin Phil Coulson Mike Shaver Steve Dawson Dale Gustafson Faye Gustafson

Some members will go to astonishing lengths to get their favorite antique to the convention Arngrimur Johannsson happens to also own the airline Air Atlanta Icelandic Hes always wanted to attend EAA AirVenture so he loaded up the 747 with a Pitts and a Cub plus a few hundred other EAAers and headed west to Oshkosh (Okay he did write a few months ahead and asked for a parking spot) Pulled from the cargo hold Arngrimurs 1943 Piper L-4J-3 was on display in the shadow of the Boeing behemoth that brought it to the States It was selected as the Judges Choice antique award winner

1 8 OCTOBER 2002

Brad Larson (right) and his son Glen (center) win the unofficial Bet you dont see this every day award This is the family Cessna Airmaster which has been a fixture at many fly-ins throughout the years Now theyve mated the Cessna with a pair of Wipline amshyphibious floats for more than twice the fun Charlie Harris (left) VAA treasurer had just completed a video interview with the Larsons when VAA volunteer photographer Jack McCarthy snapped this shot

AIHIENTUHE

Rare as it can be heres the only 1935 Pasped Skylark Wi in existence Its been to the conshyvention in the long ago past but a couple of generations have never seen the airplane A new restoration by Tom Brown of Unity Wisconsin has put It in prime condition right down to its shallow windshield and the acres of aluminum fashioned into the wheel spats Robert Buzz Penny of Versailles Misshysouri now owns the Skylark It was the Bronze Age Champion

The second of two Sikorsky S-38s built by the late Buzz Kashyplans Born Again Restorations is now flying owned by Unlimited Adventures of Las Vegas Nevada Painted in the zeshybra stripes of Martin and Osa Johnsons Osas Ark it serves as a fitting tribute to Buzz and his talented group of craftsman

CLASSIC JUDGES Back Row Steve Bender Stan York Dan Knutson Frank Bass Jerry Gippnev Rodney Roy Front Row John Womack Clyde Bourshygeois Larry Keitel Sky Bourgeois Joan Steinberger Dean Richardson Kevin Pratt John Swander Frank Moynahan

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Jay Anding is from Bryan Texas and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1 It was chosen as the Champion World War II Military TrainerLiaison

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on VAA President Butch Joyce presents Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard painting depicting the first EAA fly-in held at Milwaukees Curtiss-Wright Airport in 1953 The presentation on behalf of the Division was made durshying the opening ceremonies for the First Fly-In Flight Line display just north of the VAA Red Barn

1Qnlta The Hays family has been coming to the convention for more than 30 years and it always draws a crowd Their collection includes a ManleyshyBalzer rotary replica just like the one that powered Langleys 1903 Aerodrome and a 1903 Wright Flyer replica engine Both were built in the Hays shops and were run a couple of times a day in front of appreciative crowds Besides where else can you get the autoshygraph of a prehistoric ornithopters wingwalker

20 OCTOBER 2002

The metal shaping tent just south AIRVENTURE of the Red Barn was always humshy D5 fJ j D5 fJ ( d JJd ming with the noise of metal hammers and the buzz of a conshystant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to learn more about making metal conform to their wishes

KEN GOOSELL

gtshyI U rJl gtshyl laquoe

James Hardies all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the main drag of the flight line It took home the Antique Outstanding Cusshytomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs Arkansas

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas MetshyCo-Aires conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard It gets the unofficial I know Ive seen it before but I just cant place the face award

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

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Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

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have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

was needed Besides he had been protected by thegrandfather act Cecil unencumbered by regulatory inconvenience continued to fly Miss Fortune by his accounts putshyting about 450 hours on her through the mid to late 1950s

Our modern world eventually caught up to Cecil After rebuilding the Waco in 1959 he continued to fly her The old Waco had never reshyceived an airworthiness certificate and Cecil somewhat innocently made an application for registration of the airplane in 1962 But as Cecil lamented to a newspaper reporter in 1964 They wanted me to comply with all the new regulations regiSshytration flyers license log books air frame certification etc So he litershyally hung it up dismantling the Waco hanging the fuselage in his shop and putting the wings in storshyage at home

Fifteen years later Cecil decided to reassemble and fly Miss Fortune afshyter 50 years of ownership He was convinced it was a feat worthy of the Guinness World Records and that the grandfather act made him bulletproof On March 30 1978 the Reedsburg newspaper pubshylished an interview with Cecil wherein he announced his intenshy

tions to again fly Miss Fortune inshycluding that he could coax a few more barrel rolls out of her OnJuly 23 1978 50 summers after purchasshying the Waco Ten from John Wood Cecil took her to the air again over Reedsburg If this made the Guinshyness book is not known nor is it known how many barrel rolls he coaxed out of her but certainly an undeserved anonymity was protectshyinghim

But as they say too much of a good thing two months later on

September 19 Cecil again pulled the propeller through climbed into the cockpit pushed the throttle forshyward and rolled across the field Miss Fortune skidded out of control and went up an embankment and into some trees knocking off the propeller and busting a wing Someshyhow this caught the attention of those guys that Skeezix calls The Federals Against Aviation and what John Livesay would say is just a norshymal day at an out-of-the-way grass strip and it was now a federal affair

Kris Kortokrax levels out the Waco Ten for a high speed pass down the grass runway at Shelbyville Illinois

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

Tapockata tapockata tapockata Now before you pick up your pen to scold us for publishing a picture of an airshyplane with no brakes no chocks and with the engine running and no one in the cockpit I ve been assured that Kris is In the cockpit hunched over to stay out of sight Honest

Cecil was in trouble with the local judge who threatened Cecil with jail time if he did not mend his ways

The judge felt he could t ell a threat to society when he saw one Cecil had accumulated 2000 hours flying time over 60 years but did not have a pilot certificate he had put 450 hours on a Waco Ten that he had owned and maintained for 50 years but did not have a 3- by 5-inch piece of paper called a standard airshyworthiness certificate Cecil never flew again and died a year or so later truly a misfortune

Cecil s earlier lamentations indishycate that logbooks for 4779 never existed and the FAA file for 4779 is thin which tends to confirm this The file has only five or so basic docshyuments in it all dated 1928 including bills of sale from Advance Aircraft Co to Northern Airways and Northerns sale to Cecil Hess as well as an application for identificashytion number and license In addition the file contains Unlishycensed Identification Assignments from 1930 1935 1936 1937 and 1938 which now carry the notation

1 0 OCTOBER 2002

1959~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~

Intentional Aeroshybatics Prohibited which obviously by Cecil s creative reading did not preclude coaxing a few more barrel rolls out of her

Following his rebuilding the airshy

plane inthere is no menshytion of the work in the FAA file but there is a 1962 Ap- The current owner of Miss Fortune Bob Howie

plication for Registration and a 1972 revocation of registration letter from the FAA with a 1981 reinstatement note

Dick Wagner a friend of Cecils requested the registration reinshystatement Dick had worked with Cecil before Cecil died to assure that Miss Fortun e would be propshyerl y preserved Dick Wagner was the head of the Wagner Foundashytion and the Foundation later purchased the Waco Ten from the estate of Cecil Hess and delivered it to the EAA AirVenture Museum

intending for it to be displayed in its original condition as rebuilt by Cecil in 1959 Miss Fortune in such unembellished state would have provided a rare window to aviashytion of the late 1920s Cecils 1959 rebuild was basic consisting only of re-covering and mechanically refurbishing the Waco Everyshything was left as it came from the Advance Aircraft Co factory in Troy Ohio in November 1927 (that is tailskid wire wheels with no brakes height gauge water

The OX-5s radiator is mounted on the bottom of the wing center section You ll know right away if you have a leak

temperature oil pressure and no airspeed or compass) and this was all topped off with the original Curtiss OX-5 with no fancy modshyernizations like Millerized valves or dual magneto conversion Cecil skillfully concealed the Narco Sushyperhomer and its antenna on the shelf in his garage Even the 1927 carbon steel streamlined wires

still had the original stamped brass MacWhyte identification tags wrapped around them

At some point in time Ceci l conceded to the necessity of the moment and replaced the 18-inch clincher wheel rims and tires with 18-inch drop center rims with his personalized welded spoke hole reshyinforcements and automobile tires

probably because clincher tires were no longe r available The clincher wheels Advance Aircraft Co used on the Waco Nine and Ten were Curtiss Jenny war to end all wars surplus parts During the 1920s surplus Jenny hardware inshycluding wheels nuts bolts turnbuckles and cable was the inshydustry standard for lightplane hardware

Ultimately it was in 1991 that the Wagner Foundation faithfully replicated Cecils 1959 rebuild takshying Cec ils Waco Ten back to its first years at Reedsburg flying the Wisconsin air show circuit and barnstorming as Miss Fortune thereby preserving an otherwise irshyreplaceable part of aviation history

Since then Cecils Miss Fortune has moved from WisconSin and its OX-5 is now clattering away from the Public Field at Shelshybyville Illinois crossing paths with Speed Holmans Taperwing Waco 7446 that flies from the same summer grass and winter snow at Shelby County Airport

The Waco Ten with the OX-5 tailskid and no brakes is a fun flyshying airplane Ground handling on the grass is simple and effective usshying rudder elevator and throttle for directional control Paved surshyfaces can be exciting Ground static rpm with the 104-inch propeller is 1375 rpm Takeoff with little effort easily meets and can readily exshyceed 1400 rpm which provides a comfortable rate of climb Aviation magazines from the 1920s and 1930s indicate that the OX-5 enshygine operated well at the higher speeds with classified ads comshymonly bragging of engines that would turn 1500 to 1600 rpm Comfortable cruise is 1350 rpm which provides very good control response and a ride that is solid At 1250 rpm the ride is getting softer and control response slower None of this matters much since in any event yo u wont get where you want very soon

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1 1

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2002 The VAA area was the place to be

HG FRAUTSCHY

It was EAAs 50th convention kicking off a yearlong golden celebration of 50 years of EAA Weve been a part of it as an organishyzation since 1971 and well before that EAA members who loved old airplanes brought them to Milwaukee and Rockford for the annual get-together The 2002 edition of the members convention offered plenty of familiar sights and sounds as well as a few new wrinkles Lets take a look at the airplanes people and places that made the VAA area one of the most visited locations of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Vernon Vick of Dublin Ohio shown here with his dog Selene restored the Grand Champion Antique Stearman Well have a larger pictorial article in a future issue

Herb Clarks Reserve Grand Champion Stearman is an exshycrop duster but It sure doesnt look like one now-it s very sharp and its certain the judges were hard-pressed to decide the top airshyplane this year

Congratulations to both Vernon and Herb

Herb Clark is from Weirsdale Florida

1 2 OCTOBER 2002

AIHVENTUHE VjVJ (- dJJd

VAA volunteer Michael Wortherspoon of Barrie Ontario Canada brought his 1966 Cessna 150F dubbed Birdie to the States and he took home the Contemporary Outstanding In Type-Cessna 150 plaque for his neatly maintained airplane

Thanks to the folks at Pro Motorsports In Fond du Lac Wisconsin the VAA Flight Line Safety and Parking volunshyteers can get to their marshaling posts quickly and then can safely guide the many showplanes to their spots This handsome crowd of 11 bikers Is just a fraction of the dozens of volunteers who risk a touch of sunburn to help out during the weeklong event

()

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~ Larry Becks Younkin D to a G conversion Beechcraft can certainly turn heads especially In flight since Its so fast It was the Anshytique Champion Customized Aircraft

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

to become a cult airshyplane-just you see During 2001 at the Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association s annual event in Las Vegas Gershyald Turney of Oakland California was tickled that his Mooney M20C was picked as the Best in Series EAA added to

the list with the airplane being selected as the Conshytemporary Custom Class II Single Engine (161-230 hp) award winner

1 4 OCTOBER 2002

5r shyAIRVENTURE V5HJ[V5H A- ~JJ~

~

Jim Moss (inset) built and now flies this sushyperlative Laird Super Solution which was chosen as the Grand Champion Replica Anshytique Standing behind the airplane and lookshying forward gives you a whole new appreciashytion for the term blind flying Jim flies crossshycountry In a series of gentle S-turns to clear the area directly In front of him as he rockshyets along

It s hard to believe when you look at it but this outstanding example of a Cessna 172 is 37 years old It has been expertly restored to its delivery condishy Dave Thomas puts a little tion and it s jointly owned by body English into his dishySteve and Robert Koshar of rections for one of the Coloma Michigan It was the more than 1 000 showshyGrand Champion Contemporary planes that parked on the winner during EAA AirVenture iIilIIIbullbullbull south end of Wittman 2000 More than 20 past chamshy field Dave s one of the pion aircraft returned to this co-chairmen of the VAA year s event and they were Parking and Safety Comshyparked in places of honor along mittee the flight line

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Richard Weedens Rearwin Sportster restoration has been on the list of much anticipated rebuilds for a few years and it turned out to be very pretty Dick is from Brodhead Wisconsin

1 6 OCTOBER 2002

The top of the awards list in the Contemporary category was this fine-looking 1960 Cessna 3100 painted to represent the very last Songbird flown by Sky King in the old television series of the same name Paul Erickson of Novato Calishyfornia brought the tip-tanked speedster to the convention where it was awarded the Contemporary Grand Champion Lindy

Eric and Deb Presten and their two young boys were in the middle of a coast-to-coast adventure with their amphibious Piper PA-16S Clipper Eric s PA-16 has been an integral part of his business as Prestens Aero Photography and the new paint job on the PA-16S really puts the finishing touch on a unique airplane Upon leaving EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Prestens were heading down the length of the Mississippi River before turning left toward the East Coast and then a hopscotch run to their home north of the San Francisco Bay area

The VAA sponsored and staffed the Tall Pines Cafe a great place to meet for a hearty pancake breakfast Our very first paying cusshy

~-~ -1- tomer was Gary Assels (left) the general manager for Canadian Home Rotors maker of the Safari helicopter Garys great meal was the first of more than 2500 breakfasts served during the week The volunshyteer effort that went into the Tall Pines Cafe was intense spearheaded by VAA Directors John Berndt and Steve Nesse as well as Clare Dahl (chief cook right) Craig Baumgardner (center) and newly elected Director Dave Clark Many other familiar faces from the ranks of regular volunteers were also seen behind the serving counters including Gene Chase Dale Gustafson Paul Kyle and Phil Coulson

Heres what the faces of a pair of real winners look like In addition to being long-term VAA volunshyteers (they run the VAA button-making operation each year) Dwayne and Sue Trovillion found out they were the fortunate subscribers to an online Continental engine customer care newsletter The company chose one subscriber at random to win a new Continental engine of his or her choice and during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Trovillions were flabbergasted to learn they had been picked as the winner Congratulations-that ought to make the family Bonanza really zip

Jeff Montgomery and Ron Price own this Fleet I which is based at the Sonoma Skypark Airport A gaggle of antique and classic airplanes departed Sonoma bound for Oshkosh with overnight stops in all sorts of interesting places like Brodhead Wisconshysin They did pretty well after their arrival the Fleet was judged the Antique Silver Age Champion

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

Over the past few years weve noted a few more Mexican-registered aircraft on display in our area This is the Classic-Best Navion award winner flown

CONTEMPORARY JUDGES Back Row Jeff Anderson Tim to the convention by owner Luis Olaguibel Popp Art Anderson John Goodloe Rick Duckworth Front Tepozteco Mexico Row Tim Greene Mary Knutson Liz Popp Jay Cavender Dick Knutson

Ray Cook is from Spring Grove Illinois and hes the lucky owner and pilot of this 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D Rays Taylorshycraft was picked as the Best Classic I (0-80 hp) award winner

ANTIQUE JUDGES Back Row Bill Halverson Jerry Brown Gene Morshyris Charles Bell Xen Motsinger Mike Hoag Dave Morrow Front Row Don Coleman Dave Clark John Pipkin Phil Coulson Mike Shaver Steve Dawson Dale Gustafson Faye Gustafson

Some members will go to astonishing lengths to get their favorite antique to the convention Arngrimur Johannsson happens to also own the airline Air Atlanta Icelandic Hes always wanted to attend EAA AirVenture so he loaded up the 747 with a Pitts and a Cub plus a few hundred other EAAers and headed west to Oshkosh (Okay he did write a few months ahead and asked for a parking spot) Pulled from the cargo hold Arngrimurs 1943 Piper L-4J-3 was on display in the shadow of the Boeing behemoth that brought it to the States It was selected as the Judges Choice antique award winner

1 8 OCTOBER 2002

Brad Larson (right) and his son Glen (center) win the unofficial Bet you dont see this every day award This is the family Cessna Airmaster which has been a fixture at many fly-ins throughout the years Now theyve mated the Cessna with a pair of Wipline amshyphibious floats for more than twice the fun Charlie Harris (left) VAA treasurer had just completed a video interview with the Larsons when VAA volunteer photographer Jack McCarthy snapped this shot

AIHIENTUHE

Rare as it can be heres the only 1935 Pasped Skylark Wi in existence Its been to the conshyvention in the long ago past but a couple of generations have never seen the airplane A new restoration by Tom Brown of Unity Wisconsin has put It in prime condition right down to its shallow windshield and the acres of aluminum fashioned into the wheel spats Robert Buzz Penny of Versailles Misshysouri now owns the Skylark It was the Bronze Age Champion

The second of two Sikorsky S-38s built by the late Buzz Kashyplans Born Again Restorations is now flying owned by Unlimited Adventures of Las Vegas Nevada Painted in the zeshybra stripes of Martin and Osa Johnsons Osas Ark it serves as a fitting tribute to Buzz and his talented group of craftsman

CLASSIC JUDGES Back Row Steve Bender Stan York Dan Knutson Frank Bass Jerry Gippnev Rodney Roy Front Row John Womack Clyde Bourshygeois Larry Keitel Sky Bourgeois Joan Steinberger Dean Richardson Kevin Pratt John Swander Frank Moynahan

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Jay Anding is from Bryan Texas and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1 It was chosen as the Champion World War II Military TrainerLiaison

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on VAA President Butch Joyce presents Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard painting depicting the first EAA fly-in held at Milwaukees Curtiss-Wright Airport in 1953 The presentation on behalf of the Division was made durshying the opening ceremonies for the First Fly-In Flight Line display just north of the VAA Red Barn

1Qnlta The Hays family has been coming to the convention for more than 30 years and it always draws a crowd Their collection includes a ManleyshyBalzer rotary replica just like the one that powered Langleys 1903 Aerodrome and a 1903 Wright Flyer replica engine Both were built in the Hays shops and were run a couple of times a day in front of appreciative crowds Besides where else can you get the autoshygraph of a prehistoric ornithopters wingwalker

20 OCTOBER 2002

The metal shaping tent just south AIRVENTURE of the Red Barn was always humshy D5 fJ j D5 fJ ( d JJd ming with the noise of metal hammers and the buzz of a conshystant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to learn more about making metal conform to their wishes

KEN GOOSELL

gtshyI U rJl gtshyl laquoe

James Hardies all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the main drag of the flight line It took home the Antique Outstanding Cusshytomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs Arkansas

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas MetshyCo-Aires conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard It gets the unofficial I know Ive seen it before but I just cant place the face award

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

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~

Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

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26 OCTOBER 2002

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have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

Tapockata tapockata tapockata Now before you pick up your pen to scold us for publishing a picture of an airshyplane with no brakes no chocks and with the engine running and no one in the cockpit I ve been assured that Kris is In the cockpit hunched over to stay out of sight Honest

Cecil was in trouble with the local judge who threatened Cecil with jail time if he did not mend his ways

The judge felt he could t ell a threat to society when he saw one Cecil had accumulated 2000 hours flying time over 60 years but did not have a pilot certificate he had put 450 hours on a Waco Ten that he had owned and maintained for 50 years but did not have a 3- by 5-inch piece of paper called a standard airshyworthiness certificate Cecil never flew again and died a year or so later truly a misfortune

Cecil s earlier lamentations indishycate that logbooks for 4779 never existed and the FAA file for 4779 is thin which tends to confirm this The file has only five or so basic docshyuments in it all dated 1928 including bills of sale from Advance Aircraft Co to Northern Airways and Northerns sale to Cecil Hess as well as an application for identificashytion number and license In addition the file contains Unlishycensed Identification Assignments from 1930 1935 1936 1937 and 1938 which now carry the notation

1 0 OCTOBER 2002

1959~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~

Intentional Aeroshybatics Prohibited which obviously by Cecil s creative reading did not preclude coaxing a few more barrel rolls out of her

Following his rebuilding the airshy

plane inthere is no menshytion of the work in the FAA file but there is a 1962 Ap- The current owner of Miss Fortune Bob Howie

plication for Registration and a 1972 revocation of registration letter from the FAA with a 1981 reinstatement note

Dick Wagner a friend of Cecils requested the registration reinshystatement Dick had worked with Cecil before Cecil died to assure that Miss Fortun e would be propshyerl y preserved Dick Wagner was the head of the Wagner Foundashytion and the Foundation later purchased the Waco Ten from the estate of Cecil Hess and delivered it to the EAA AirVenture Museum

intending for it to be displayed in its original condition as rebuilt by Cecil in 1959 Miss Fortune in such unembellished state would have provided a rare window to aviashytion of the late 1920s Cecils 1959 rebuild was basic consisting only of re-covering and mechanically refurbishing the Waco Everyshything was left as it came from the Advance Aircraft Co factory in Troy Ohio in November 1927 (that is tailskid wire wheels with no brakes height gauge water

The OX-5s radiator is mounted on the bottom of the wing center section You ll know right away if you have a leak

temperature oil pressure and no airspeed or compass) and this was all topped off with the original Curtiss OX-5 with no fancy modshyernizations like Millerized valves or dual magneto conversion Cecil skillfully concealed the Narco Sushyperhomer and its antenna on the shelf in his garage Even the 1927 carbon steel streamlined wires

still had the original stamped brass MacWhyte identification tags wrapped around them

At some point in time Ceci l conceded to the necessity of the moment and replaced the 18-inch clincher wheel rims and tires with 18-inch drop center rims with his personalized welded spoke hole reshyinforcements and automobile tires

probably because clincher tires were no longe r available The clincher wheels Advance Aircraft Co used on the Waco Nine and Ten were Curtiss Jenny war to end all wars surplus parts During the 1920s surplus Jenny hardware inshycluding wheels nuts bolts turnbuckles and cable was the inshydustry standard for lightplane hardware

Ultimately it was in 1991 that the Wagner Foundation faithfully replicated Cecils 1959 rebuild takshying Cec ils Waco Ten back to its first years at Reedsburg flying the Wisconsin air show circuit and barnstorming as Miss Fortune thereby preserving an otherwise irshyreplaceable part of aviation history

Since then Cecils Miss Fortune has moved from WisconSin and its OX-5 is now clattering away from the Public Field at Shelshybyville Illinois crossing paths with Speed Holmans Taperwing Waco 7446 that flies from the same summer grass and winter snow at Shelby County Airport

The Waco Ten with the OX-5 tailskid and no brakes is a fun flyshying airplane Ground handling on the grass is simple and effective usshying rudder elevator and throttle for directional control Paved surshyfaces can be exciting Ground static rpm with the 104-inch propeller is 1375 rpm Takeoff with little effort easily meets and can readily exshyceed 1400 rpm which provides a comfortable rate of climb Aviation magazines from the 1920s and 1930s indicate that the OX-5 enshygine operated well at the higher speeds with classified ads comshymonly bragging of engines that would turn 1500 to 1600 rpm Comfortable cruise is 1350 rpm which provides very good control response and a ride that is solid At 1250 rpm the ride is getting softer and control response slower None of this matters much since in any event yo u wont get where you want very soon

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1 1

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2002 The VAA area was the place to be

HG FRAUTSCHY

It was EAAs 50th convention kicking off a yearlong golden celebration of 50 years of EAA Weve been a part of it as an organishyzation since 1971 and well before that EAA members who loved old airplanes brought them to Milwaukee and Rockford for the annual get-together The 2002 edition of the members convention offered plenty of familiar sights and sounds as well as a few new wrinkles Lets take a look at the airplanes people and places that made the VAA area one of the most visited locations of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Vernon Vick of Dublin Ohio shown here with his dog Selene restored the Grand Champion Antique Stearman Well have a larger pictorial article in a future issue

Herb Clarks Reserve Grand Champion Stearman is an exshycrop duster but It sure doesnt look like one now-it s very sharp and its certain the judges were hard-pressed to decide the top airshyplane this year

Congratulations to both Vernon and Herb

Herb Clark is from Weirsdale Florida

1 2 OCTOBER 2002

AIHVENTUHE VjVJ (- dJJd

VAA volunteer Michael Wortherspoon of Barrie Ontario Canada brought his 1966 Cessna 150F dubbed Birdie to the States and he took home the Contemporary Outstanding In Type-Cessna 150 plaque for his neatly maintained airplane

Thanks to the folks at Pro Motorsports In Fond du Lac Wisconsin the VAA Flight Line Safety and Parking volunshyteers can get to their marshaling posts quickly and then can safely guide the many showplanes to their spots This handsome crowd of 11 bikers Is just a fraction of the dozens of volunteers who risk a touch of sunburn to help out during the weeklong event

()

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~ Larry Becks Younkin D to a G conversion Beechcraft can certainly turn heads especially In flight since Its so fast It was the Anshytique Champion Customized Aircraft

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

to become a cult airshyplane-just you see During 2001 at the Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association s annual event in Las Vegas Gershyald Turney of Oakland California was tickled that his Mooney M20C was picked as the Best in Series EAA added to

the list with the airplane being selected as the Conshytemporary Custom Class II Single Engine (161-230 hp) award winner

1 4 OCTOBER 2002

5r shyAIRVENTURE V5HJ[V5H A- ~JJ~

~

Jim Moss (inset) built and now flies this sushyperlative Laird Super Solution which was chosen as the Grand Champion Replica Anshytique Standing behind the airplane and lookshying forward gives you a whole new appreciashytion for the term blind flying Jim flies crossshycountry In a series of gentle S-turns to clear the area directly In front of him as he rockshyets along

It s hard to believe when you look at it but this outstanding example of a Cessna 172 is 37 years old It has been expertly restored to its delivery condishy Dave Thomas puts a little tion and it s jointly owned by body English into his dishySteve and Robert Koshar of rections for one of the Coloma Michigan It was the more than 1 000 showshyGrand Champion Contemporary planes that parked on the winner during EAA AirVenture iIilIIIbullbullbull south end of Wittman 2000 More than 20 past chamshy field Dave s one of the pion aircraft returned to this co-chairmen of the VAA year s event and they were Parking and Safety Comshyparked in places of honor along mittee the flight line

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Richard Weedens Rearwin Sportster restoration has been on the list of much anticipated rebuilds for a few years and it turned out to be very pretty Dick is from Brodhead Wisconsin

1 6 OCTOBER 2002

The top of the awards list in the Contemporary category was this fine-looking 1960 Cessna 3100 painted to represent the very last Songbird flown by Sky King in the old television series of the same name Paul Erickson of Novato Calishyfornia brought the tip-tanked speedster to the convention where it was awarded the Contemporary Grand Champion Lindy

Eric and Deb Presten and their two young boys were in the middle of a coast-to-coast adventure with their amphibious Piper PA-16S Clipper Eric s PA-16 has been an integral part of his business as Prestens Aero Photography and the new paint job on the PA-16S really puts the finishing touch on a unique airplane Upon leaving EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Prestens were heading down the length of the Mississippi River before turning left toward the East Coast and then a hopscotch run to their home north of the San Francisco Bay area

The VAA sponsored and staffed the Tall Pines Cafe a great place to meet for a hearty pancake breakfast Our very first paying cusshy

~-~ -1- tomer was Gary Assels (left) the general manager for Canadian Home Rotors maker of the Safari helicopter Garys great meal was the first of more than 2500 breakfasts served during the week The volunshyteer effort that went into the Tall Pines Cafe was intense spearheaded by VAA Directors John Berndt and Steve Nesse as well as Clare Dahl (chief cook right) Craig Baumgardner (center) and newly elected Director Dave Clark Many other familiar faces from the ranks of regular volunteers were also seen behind the serving counters including Gene Chase Dale Gustafson Paul Kyle and Phil Coulson

Heres what the faces of a pair of real winners look like In addition to being long-term VAA volunshyteers (they run the VAA button-making operation each year) Dwayne and Sue Trovillion found out they were the fortunate subscribers to an online Continental engine customer care newsletter The company chose one subscriber at random to win a new Continental engine of his or her choice and during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Trovillions were flabbergasted to learn they had been picked as the winner Congratulations-that ought to make the family Bonanza really zip

Jeff Montgomery and Ron Price own this Fleet I which is based at the Sonoma Skypark Airport A gaggle of antique and classic airplanes departed Sonoma bound for Oshkosh with overnight stops in all sorts of interesting places like Brodhead Wisconshysin They did pretty well after their arrival the Fleet was judged the Antique Silver Age Champion

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

Over the past few years weve noted a few more Mexican-registered aircraft on display in our area This is the Classic-Best Navion award winner flown

CONTEMPORARY JUDGES Back Row Jeff Anderson Tim to the convention by owner Luis Olaguibel Popp Art Anderson John Goodloe Rick Duckworth Front Tepozteco Mexico Row Tim Greene Mary Knutson Liz Popp Jay Cavender Dick Knutson

Ray Cook is from Spring Grove Illinois and hes the lucky owner and pilot of this 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D Rays Taylorshycraft was picked as the Best Classic I (0-80 hp) award winner

ANTIQUE JUDGES Back Row Bill Halverson Jerry Brown Gene Morshyris Charles Bell Xen Motsinger Mike Hoag Dave Morrow Front Row Don Coleman Dave Clark John Pipkin Phil Coulson Mike Shaver Steve Dawson Dale Gustafson Faye Gustafson

Some members will go to astonishing lengths to get their favorite antique to the convention Arngrimur Johannsson happens to also own the airline Air Atlanta Icelandic Hes always wanted to attend EAA AirVenture so he loaded up the 747 with a Pitts and a Cub plus a few hundred other EAAers and headed west to Oshkosh (Okay he did write a few months ahead and asked for a parking spot) Pulled from the cargo hold Arngrimurs 1943 Piper L-4J-3 was on display in the shadow of the Boeing behemoth that brought it to the States It was selected as the Judges Choice antique award winner

1 8 OCTOBER 2002

Brad Larson (right) and his son Glen (center) win the unofficial Bet you dont see this every day award This is the family Cessna Airmaster which has been a fixture at many fly-ins throughout the years Now theyve mated the Cessna with a pair of Wipline amshyphibious floats for more than twice the fun Charlie Harris (left) VAA treasurer had just completed a video interview with the Larsons when VAA volunteer photographer Jack McCarthy snapped this shot

AIHIENTUHE

Rare as it can be heres the only 1935 Pasped Skylark Wi in existence Its been to the conshyvention in the long ago past but a couple of generations have never seen the airplane A new restoration by Tom Brown of Unity Wisconsin has put It in prime condition right down to its shallow windshield and the acres of aluminum fashioned into the wheel spats Robert Buzz Penny of Versailles Misshysouri now owns the Skylark It was the Bronze Age Champion

The second of two Sikorsky S-38s built by the late Buzz Kashyplans Born Again Restorations is now flying owned by Unlimited Adventures of Las Vegas Nevada Painted in the zeshybra stripes of Martin and Osa Johnsons Osas Ark it serves as a fitting tribute to Buzz and his talented group of craftsman

CLASSIC JUDGES Back Row Steve Bender Stan York Dan Knutson Frank Bass Jerry Gippnev Rodney Roy Front Row John Womack Clyde Bourshygeois Larry Keitel Sky Bourgeois Joan Steinberger Dean Richardson Kevin Pratt John Swander Frank Moynahan

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Jay Anding is from Bryan Texas and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1 It was chosen as the Champion World War II Military TrainerLiaison

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on VAA President Butch Joyce presents Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard painting depicting the first EAA fly-in held at Milwaukees Curtiss-Wright Airport in 1953 The presentation on behalf of the Division was made durshying the opening ceremonies for the First Fly-In Flight Line display just north of the VAA Red Barn

1Qnlta The Hays family has been coming to the convention for more than 30 years and it always draws a crowd Their collection includes a ManleyshyBalzer rotary replica just like the one that powered Langleys 1903 Aerodrome and a 1903 Wright Flyer replica engine Both were built in the Hays shops and were run a couple of times a day in front of appreciative crowds Besides where else can you get the autoshygraph of a prehistoric ornithopters wingwalker

20 OCTOBER 2002

The metal shaping tent just south AIRVENTURE of the Red Barn was always humshy D5 fJ j D5 fJ ( d JJd ming with the noise of metal hammers and the buzz of a conshystant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to learn more about making metal conform to their wishes

KEN GOOSELL

gtshyI U rJl gtshyl laquoe

James Hardies all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the main drag of the flight line It took home the Antique Outstanding Cusshytomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs Arkansas

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas MetshyCo-Aires conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard It gets the unofficial I know Ive seen it before but I just cant place the face award

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

~ iE ~

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Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

Workshop Schedule Oct 19 2002 Boston MA

TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Nov 2-3 2002 Minneapolis MN SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG FABRIC COVERING

Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10 2002 Griffin GA FINISHING amp

SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

The OX-5s radiator is mounted on the bottom of the wing center section You ll know right away if you have a leak

temperature oil pressure and no airspeed or compass) and this was all topped off with the original Curtiss OX-5 with no fancy modshyernizations like Millerized valves or dual magneto conversion Cecil skillfully concealed the Narco Sushyperhomer and its antenna on the shelf in his garage Even the 1927 carbon steel streamlined wires

still had the original stamped brass MacWhyte identification tags wrapped around them

At some point in time Ceci l conceded to the necessity of the moment and replaced the 18-inch clincher wheel rims and tires with 18-inch drop center rims with his personalized welded spoke hole reshyinforcements and automobile tires

probably because clincher tires were no longe r available The clincher wheels Advance Aircraft Co used on the Waco Nine and Ten were Curtiss Jenny war to end all wars surplus parts During the 1920s surplus Jenny hardware inshycluding wheels nuts bolts turnbuckles and cable was the inshydustry standard for lightplane hardware

Ultimately it was in 1991 that the Wagner Foundation faithfully replicated Cecils 1959 rebuild takshying Cec ils Waco Ten back to its first years at Reedsburg flying the Wisconsin air show circuit and barnstorming as Miss Fortune thereby preserving an otherwise irshyreplaceable part of aviation history

Since then Cecils Miss Fortune has moved from WisconSin and its OX-5 is now clattering away from the Public Field at Shelshybyville Illinois crossing paths with Speed Holmans Taperwing Waco 7446 that flies from the same summer grass and winter snow at Shelby County Airport

The Waco Ten with the OX-5 tailskid and no brakes is a fun flyshying airplane Ground handling on the grass is simple and effective usshying rudder elevator and throttle for directional control Paved surshyfaces can be exciting Ground static rpm with the 104-inch propeller is 1375 rpm Takeoff with little effort easily meets and can readily exshyceed 1400 rpm which provides a comfortable rate of climb Aviation magazines from the 1920s and 1930s indicate that the OX-5 enshygine operated well at the higher speeds with classified ads comshymonly bragging of engines that would turn 1500 to 1600 rpm Comfortable cruise is 1350 rpm which provides very good control response and a ride that is solid At 1250 rpm the ride is getting softer and control response slower None of this matters much since in any event yo u wont get where you want very soon

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1 1

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2002 The VAA area was the place to be

HG FRAUTSCHY

It was EAAs 50th convention kicking off a yearlong golden celebration of 50 years of EAA Weve been a part of it as an organishyzation since 1971 and well before that EAA members who loved old airplanes brought them to Milwaukee and Rockford for the annual get-together The 2002 edition of the members convention offered plenty of familiar sights and sounds as well as a few new wrinkles Lets take a look at the airplanes people and places that made the VAA area one of the most visited locations of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Vernon Vick of Dublin Ohio shown here with his dog Selene restored the Grand Champion Antique Stearman Well have a larger pictorial article in a future issue

Herb Clarks Reserve Grand Champion Stearman is an exshycrop duster but It sure doesnt look like one now-it s very sharp and its certain the judges were hard-pressed to decide the top airshyplane this year

Congratulations to both Vernon and Herb

Herb Clark is from Weirsdale Florida

1 2 OCTOBER 2002

AIHVENTUHE VjVJ (- dJJd

VAA volunteer Michael Wortherspoon of Barrie Ontario Canada brought his 1966 Cessna 150F dubbed Birdie to the States and he took home the Contemporary Outstanding In Type-Cessna 150 plaque for his neatly maintained airplane

Thanks to the folks at Pro Motorsports In Fond du Lac Wisconsin the VAA Flight Line Safety and Parking volunshyteers can get to their marshaling posts quickly and then can safely guide the many showplanes to their spots This handsome crowd of 11 bikers Is just a fraction of the dozens of volunteers who risk a touch of sunburn to help out during the weeklong event

()

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~ Larry Becks Younkin D to a G conversion Beechcraft can certainly turn heads especially In flight since Its so fast It was the Anshytique Champion Customized Aircraft

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

to become a cult airshyplane-just you see During 2001 at the Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association s annual event in Las Vegas Gershyald Turney of Oakland California was tickled that his Mooney M20C was picked as the Best in Series EAA added to

the list with the airplane being selected as the Conshytemporary Custom Class II Single Engine (161-230 hp) award winner

1 4 OCTOBER 2002

5r shyAIRVENTURE V5HJ[V5H A- ~JJ~

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Jim Moss (inset) built and now flies this sushyperlative Laird Super Solution which was chosen as the Grand Champion Replica Anshytique Standing behind the airplane and lookshying forward gives you a whole new appreciashytion for the term blind flying Jim flies crossshycountry In a series of gentle S-turns to clear the area directly In front of him as he rockshyets along

It s hard to believe when you look at it but this outstanding example of a Cessna 172 is 37 years old It has been expertly restored to its delivery condishy Dave Thomas puts a little tion and it s jointly owned by body English into his dishySteve and Robert Koshar of rections for one of the Coloma Michigan It was the more than 1 000 showshyGrand Champion Contemporary planes that parked on the winner during EAA AirVenture iIilIIIbullbullbull south end of Wittman 2000 More than 20 past chamshy field Dave s one of the pion aircraft returned to this co-chairmen of the VAA year s event and they were Parking and Safety Comshyparked in places of honor along mittee the flight line

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Richard Weedens Rearwin Sportster restoration has been on the list of much anticipated rebuilds for a few years and it turned out to be very pretty Dick is from Brodhead Wisconsin

1 6 OCTOBER 2002

The top of the awards list in the Contemporary category was this fine-looking 1960 Cessna 3100 painted to represent the very last Songbird flown by Sky King in the old television series of the same name Paul Erickson of Novato Calishyfornia brought the tip-tanked speedster to the convention where it was awarded the Contemporary Grand Champion Lindy

Eric and Deb Presten and their two young boys were in the middle of a coast-to-coast adventure with their amphibious Piper PA-16S Clipper Eric s PA-16 has been an integral part of his business as Prestens Aero Photography and the new paint job on the PA-16S really puts the finishing touch on a unique airplane Upon leaving EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Prestens were heading down the length of the Mississippi River before turning left toward the East Coast and then a hopscotch run to their home north of the San Francisco Bay area

The VAA sponsored and staffed the Tall Pines Cafe a great place to meet for a hearty pancake breakfast Our very first paying cusshy

~-~ -1- tomer was Gary Assels (left) the general manager for Canadian Home Rotors maker of the Safari helicopter Garys great meal was the first of more than 2500 breakfasts served during the week The volunshyteer effort that went into the Tall Pines Cafe was intense spearheaded by VAA Directors John Berndt and Steve Nesse as well as Clare Dahl (chief cook right) Craig Baumgardner (center) and newly elected Director Dave Clark Many other familiar faces from the ranks of regular volunteers were also seen behind the serving counters including Gene Chase Dale Gustafson Paul Kyle and Phil Coulson

Heres what the faces of a pair of real winners look like In addition to being long-term VAA volunshyteers (they run the VAA button-making operation each year) Dwayne and Sue Trovillion found out they were the fortunate subscribers to an online Continental engine customer care newsletter The company chose one subscriber at random to win a new Continental engine of his or her choice and during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Trovillions were flabbergasted to learn they had been picked as the winner Congratulations-that ought to make the family Bonanza really zip

Jeff Montgomery and Ron Price own this Fleet I which is based at the Sonoma Skypark Airport A gaggle of antique and classic airplanes departed Sonoma bound for Oshkosh with overnight stops in all sorts of interesting places like Brodhead Wisconshysin They did pretty well after their arrival the Fleet was judged the Antique Silver Age Champion

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

Over the past few years weve noted a few more Mexican-registered aircraft on display in our area This is the Classic-Best Navion award winner flown

CONTEMPORARY JUDGES Back Row Jeff Anderson Tim to the convention by owner Luis Olaguibel Popp Art Anderson John Goodloe Rick Duckworth Front Tepozteco Mexico Row Tim Greene Mary Knutson Liz Popp Jay Cavender Dick Knutson

Ray Cook is from Spring Grove Illinois and hes the lucky owner and pilot of this 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D Rays Taylorshycraft was picked as the Best Classic I (0-80 hp) award winner

ANTIQUE JUDGES Back Row Bill Halverson Jerry Brown Gene Morshyris Charles Bell Xen Motsinger Mike Hoag Dave Morrow Front Row Don Coleman Dave Clark John Pipkin Phil Coulson Mike Shaver Steve Dawson Dale Gustafson Faye Gustafson

Some members will go to astonishing lengths to get their favorite antique to the convention Arngrimur Johannsson happens to also own the airline Air Atlanta Icelandic Hes always wanted to attend EAA AirVenture so he loaded up the 747 with a Pitts and a Cub plus a few hundred other EAAers and headed west to Oshkosh (Okay he did write a few months ahead and asked for a parking spot) Pulled from the cargo hold Arngrimurs 1943 Piper L-4J-3 was on display in the shadow of the Boeing behemoth that brought it to the States It was selected as the Judges Choice antique award winner

1 8 OCTOBER 2002

Brad Larson (right) and his son Glen (center) win the unofficial Bet you dont see this every day award This is the family Cessna Airmaster which has been a fixture at many fly-ins throughout the years Now theyve mated the Cessna with a pair of Wipline amshyphibious floats for more than twice the fun Charlie Harris (left) VAA treasurer had just completed a video interview with the Larsons when VAA volunteer photographer Jack McCarthy snapped this shot

AIHIENTUHE

Rare as it can be heres the only 1935 Pasped Skylark Wi in existence Its been to the conshyvention in the long ago past but a couple of generations have never seen the airplane A new restoration by Tom Brown of Unity Wisconsin has put It in prime condition right down to its shallow windshield and the acres of aluminum fashioned into the wheel spats Robert Buzz Penny of Versailles Misshysouri now owns the Skylark It was the Bronze Age Champion

The second of two Sikorsky S-38s built by the late Buzz Kashyplans Born Again Restorations is now flying owned by Unlimited Adventures of Las Vegas Nevada Painted in the zeshybra stripes of Martin and Osa Johnsons Osas Ark it serves as a fitting tribute to Buzz and his talented group of craftsman

CLASSIC JUDGES Back Row Steve Bender Stan York Dan Knutson Frank Bass Jerry Gippnev Rodney Roy Front Row John Womack Clyde Bourshygeois Larry Keitel Sky Bourgeois Joan Steinberger Dean Richardson Kevin Pratt John Swander Frank Moynahan

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Jay Anding is from Bryan Texas and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1 It was chosen as the Champion World War II Military TrainerLiaison

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on VAA President Butch Joyce presents Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard painting depicting the first EAA fly-in held at Milwaukees Curtiss-Wright Airport in 1953 The presentation on behalf of the Division was made durshying the opening ceremonies for the First Fly-In Flight Line display just north of the VAA Red Barn

1Qnlta The Hays family has been coming to the convention for more than 30 years and it always draws a crowd Their collection includes a ManleyshyBalzer rotary replica just like the one that powered Langleys 1903 Aerodrome and a 1903 Wright Flyer replica engine Both were built in the Hays shops and were run a couple of times a day in front of appreciative crowds Besides where else can you get the autoshygraph of a prehistoric ornithopters wingwalker

20 OCTOBER 2002

The metal shaping tent just south AIRVENTURE of the Red Barn was always humshy D5 fJ j D5 fJ ( d JJd ming with the noise of metal hammers and the buzz of a conshystant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to learn more about making metal conform to their wishes

KEN GOOSELL

gtshyI U rJl gtshyl laquoe

James Hardies all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the main drag of the flight line It took home the Antique Outstanding Cusshytomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs Arkansas

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas MetshyCo-Aires conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard It gets the unofficial I know Ive seen it before but I just cant place the face award

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

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Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

Workshop Schedule Oct 19 2002 Boston MA

TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Nov 2-3 2002 Minneapolis MN SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG FABRIC COVERING

Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10 2002 Griffin GA FINISHING amp

SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2002 The VAA area was the place to be

HG FRAUTSCHY

It was EAAs 50th convention kicking off a yearlong golden celebration of 50 years of EAA Weve been a part of it as an organishyzation since 1971 and well before that EAA members who loved old airplanes brought them to Milwaukee and Rockford for the annual get-together The 2002 edition of the members convention offered plenty of familiar sights and sounds as well as a few new wrinkles Lets take a look at the airplanes people and places that made the VAA area one of the most visited locations of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Vernon Vick of Dublin Ohio shown here with his dog Selene restored the Grand Champion Antique Stearman Well have a larger pictorial article in a future issue

Herb Clarks Reserve Grand Champion Stearman is an exshycrop duster but It sure doesnt look like one now-it s very sharp and its certain the judges were hard-pressed to decide the top airshyplane this year

Congratulations to both Vernon and Herb

Herb Clark is from Weirsdale Florida

1 2 OCTOBER 2002

AIHVENTUHE VjVJ (- dJJd

VAA volunteer Michael Wortherspoon of Barrie Ontario Canada brought his 1966 Cessna 150F dubbed Birdie to the States and he took home the Contemporary Outstanding In Type-Cessna 150 plaque for his neatly maintained airplane

Thanks to the folks at Pro Motorsports In Fond du Lac Wisconsin the VAA Flight Line Safety and Parking volunshyteers can get to their marshaling posts quickly and then can safely guide the many showplanes to their spots This handsome crowd of 11 bikers Is just a fraction of the dozens of volunteers who risk a touch of sunburn to help out during the weeklong event

()

~ z z ~

~ Larry Becks Younkin D to a G conversion Beechcraft can certainly turn heads especially In flight since Its so fast It was the Anshytique Champion Customized Aircraft

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

to become a cult airshyplane-just you see During 2001 at the Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association s annual event in Las Vegas Gershyald Turney of Oakland California was tickled that his Mooney M20C was picked as the Best in Series EAA added to

the list with the airplane being selected as the Conshytemporary Custom Class II Single Engine (161-230 hp) award winner

1 4 OCTOBER 2002

5r shyAIRVENTURE V5HJ[V5H A- ~JJ~

~

Jim Moss (inset) built and now flies this sushyperlative Laird Super Solution which was chosen as the Grand Champion Replica Anshytique Standing behind the airplane and lookshying forward gives you a whole new appreciashytion for the term blind flying Jim flies crossshycountry In a series of gentle S-turns to clear the area directly In front of him as he rockshyets along

It s hard to believe when you look at it but this outstanding example of a Cessna 172 is 37 years old It has been expertly restored to its delivery condishy Dave Thomas puts a little tion and it s jointly owned by body English into his dishySteve and Robert Koshar of rections for one of the Coloma Michigan It was the more than 1 000 showshyGrand Champion Contemporary planes that parked on the winner during EAA AirVenture iIilIIIbullbullbull south end of Wittman 2000 More than 20 past chamshy field Dave s one of the pion aircraft returned to this co-chairmen of the VAA year s event and they were Parking and Safety Comshyparked in places of honor along mittee the flight line

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Richard Weedens Rearwin Sportster restoration has been on the list of much anticipated rebuilds for a few years and it turned out to be very pretty Dick is from Brodhead Wisconsin

1 6 OCTOBER 2002

The top of the awards list in the Contemporary category was this fine-looking 1960 Cessna 3100 painted to represent the very last Songbird flown by Sky King in the old television series of the same name Paul Erickson of Novato Calishyfornia brought the tip-tanked speedster to the convention where it was awarded the Contemporary Grand Champion Lindy

Eric and Deb Presten and their two young boys were in the middle of a coast-to-coast adventure with their amphibious Piper PA-16S Clipper Eric s PA-16 has been an integral part of his business as Prestens Aero Photography and the new paint job on the PA-16S really puts the finishing touch on a unique airplane Upon leaving EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Prestens were heading down the length of the Mississippi River before turning left toward the East Coast and then a hopscotch run to their home north of the San Francisco Bay area

The VAA sponsored and staffed the Tall Pines Cafe a great place to meet for a hearty pancake breakfast Our very first paying cusshy

~-~ -1- tomer was Gary Assels (left) the general manager for Canadian Home Rotors maker of the Safari helicopter Garys great meal was the first of more than 2500 breakfasts served during the week The volunshyteer effort that went into the Tall Pines Cafe was intense spearheaded by VAA Directors John Berndt and Steve Nesse as well as Clare Dahl (chief cook right) Craig Baumgardner (center) and newly elected Director Dave Clark Many other familiar faces from the ranks of regular volunteers were also seen behind the serving counters including Gene Chase Dale Gustafson Paul Kyle and Phil Coulson

Heres what the faces of a pair of real winners look like In addition to being long-term VAA volunshyteers (they run the VAA button-making operation each year) Dwayne and Sue Trovillion found out they were the fortunate subscribers to an online Continental engine customer care newsletter The company chose one subscriber at random to win a new Continental engine of his or her choice and during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Trovillions were flabbergasted to learn they had been picked as the winner Congratulations-that ought to make the family Bonanza really zip

Jeff Montgomery and Ron Price own this Fleet I which is based at the Sonoma Skypark Airport A gaggle of antique and classic airplanes departed Sonoma bound for Oshkosh with overnight stops in all sorts of interesting places like Brodhead Wisconshysin They did pretty well after their arrival the Fleet was judged the Antique Silver Age Champion

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

Over the past few years weve noted a few more Mexican-registered aircraft on display in our area This is the Classic-Best Navion award winner flown

CONTEMPORARY JUDGES Back Row Jeff Anderson Tim to the convention by owner Luis Olaguibel Popp Art Anderson John Goodloe Rick Duckworth Front Tepozteco Mexico Row Tim Greene Mary Knutson Liz Popp Jay Cavender Dick Knutson

Ray Cook is from Spring Grove Illinois and hes the lucky owner and pilot of this 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D Rays Taylorshycraft was picked as the Best Classic I (0-80 hp) award winner

ANTIQUE JUDGES Back Row Bill Halverson Jerry Brown Gene Morshyris Charles Bell Xen Motsinger Mike Hoag Dave Morrow Front Row Don Coleman Dave Clark John Pipkin Phil Coulson Mike Shaver Steve Dawson Dale Gustafson Faye Gustafson

Some members will go to astonishing lengths to get their favorite antique to the convention Arngrimur Johannsson happens to also own the airline Air Atlanta Icelandic Hes always wanted to attend EAA AirVenture so he loaded up the 747 with a Pitts and a Cub plus a few hundred other EAAers and headed west to Oshkosh (Okay he did write a few months ahead and asked for a parking spot) Pulled from the cargo hold Arngrimurs 1943 Piper L-4J-3 was on display in the shadow of the Boeing behemoth that brought it to the States It was selected as the Judges Choice antique award winner

1 8 OCTOBER 2002

Brad Larson (right) and his son Glen (center) win the unofficial Bet you dont see this every day award This is the family Cessna Airmaster which has been a fixture at many fly-ins throughout the years Now theyve mated the Cessna with a pair of Wipline amshyphibious floats for more than twice the fun Charlie Harris (left) VAA treasurer had just completed a video interview with the Larsons when VAA volunteer photographer Jack McCarthy snapped this shot

AIHIENTUHE

Rare as it can be heres the only 1935 Pasped Skylark Wi in existence Its been to the conshyvention in the long ago past but a couple of generations have never seen the airplane A new restoration by Tom Brown of Unity Wisconsin has put It in prime condition right down to its shallow windshield and the acres of aluminum fashioned into the wheel spats Robert Buzz Penny of Versailles Misshysouri now owns the Skylark It was the Bronze Age Champion

The second of two Sikorsky S-38s built by the late Buzz Kashyplans Born Again Restorations is now flying owned by Unlimited Adventures of Las Vegas Nevada Painted in the zeshybra stripes of Martin and Osa Johnsons Osas Ark it serves as a fitting tribute to Buzz and his talented group of craftsman

CLASSIC JUDGES Back Row Steve Bender Stan York Dan Knutson Frank Bass Jerry Gippnev Rodney Roy Front Row John Womack Clyde Bourshygeois Larry Keitel Sky Bourgeois Joan Steinberger Dean Richardson Kevin Pratt John Swander Frank Moynahan

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Jay Anding is from Bryan Texas and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1 It was chosen as the Champion World War II Military TrainerLiaison

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on VAA President Butch Joyce presents Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard painting depicting the first EAA fly-in held at Milwaukees Curtiss-Wright Airport in 1953 The presentation on behalf of the Division was made durshying the opening ceremonies for the First Fly-In Flight Line display just north of the VAA Red Barn

1Qnlta The Hays family has been coming to the convention for more than 30 years and it always draws a crowd Their collection includes a ManleyshyBalzer rotary replica just like the one that powered Langleys 1903 Aerodrome and a 1903 Wright Flyer replica engine Both were built in the Hays shops and were run a couple of times a day in front of appreciative crowds Besides where else can you get the autoshygraph of a prehistoric ornithopters wingwalker

20 OCTOBER 2002

The metal shaping tent just south AIRVENTURE of the Red Barn was always humshy D5 fJ j D5 fJ ( d JJd ming with the noise of metal hammers and the buzz of a conshystant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to learn more about making metal conform to their wishes

KEN GOOSELL

gtshyI U rJl gtshyl laquoe

James Hardies all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the main drag of the flight line It took home the Antique Outstanding Cusshytomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs Arkansas

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas MetshyCo-Aires conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard It gets the unofficial I know Ive seen it before but I just cant place the face award

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

~ iE ~

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~

Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

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26 OCTOBER 2002

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have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

AIHVENTUHE VjVJ (- dJJd

VAA volunteer Michael Wortherspoon of Barrie Ontario Canada brought his 1966 Cessna 150F dubbed Birdie to the States and he took home the Contemporary Outstanding In Type-Cessna 150 plaque for his neatly maintained airplane

Thanks to the folks at Pro Motorsports In Fond du Lac Wisconsin the VAA Flight Line Safety and Parking volunshyteers can get to their marshaling posts quickly and then can safely guide the many showplanes to their spots This handsome crowd of 11 bikers Is just a fraction of the dozens of volunteers who risk a touch of sunburn to help out during the weeklong event

()

~ z z ~

~ Larry Becks Younkin D to a G conversion Beechcraft can certainly turn heads especially In flight since Its so fast It was the Anshytique Champion Customized Aircraft

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

to become a cult airshyplane-just you see During 2001 at the Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association s annual event in Las Vegas Gershyald Turney of Oakland California was tickled that his Mooney M20C was picked as the Best in Series EAA added to

the list with the airplane being selected as the Conshytemporary Custom Class II Single Engine (161-230 hp) award winner

1 4 OCTOBER 2002

5r shyAIRVENTURE V5HJ[V5H A- ~JJ~

~

Jim Moss (inset) built and now flies this sushyperlative Laird Super Solution which was chosen as the Grand Champion Replica Anshytique Standing behind the airplane and lookshying forward gives you a whole new appreciashytion for the term blind flying Jim flies crossshycountry In a series of gentle S-turns to clear the area directly In front of him as he rockshyets along

It s hard to believe when you look at it but this outstanding example of a Cessna 172 is 37 years old It has been expertly restored to its delivery condishy Dave Thomas puts a little tion and it s jointly owned by body English into his dishySteve and Robert Koshar of rections for one of the Coloma Michigan It was the more than 1 000 showshyGrand Champion Contemporary planes that parked on the winner during EAA AirVenture iIilIIIbullbullbull south end of Wittman 2000 More than 20 past chamshy field Dave s one of the pion aircraft returned to this co-chairmen of the VAA year s event and they were Parking and Safety Comshyparked in places of honor along mittee the flight line

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Richard Weedens Rearwin Sportster restoration has been on the list of much anticipated rebuilds for a few years and it turned out to be very pretty Dick is from Brodhead Wisconsin

1 6 OCTOBER 2002

The top of the awards list in the Contemporary category was this fine-looking 1960 Cessna 3100 painted to represent the very last Songbird flown by Sky King in the old television series of the same name Paul Erickson of Novato Calishyfornia brought the tip-tanked speedster to the convention where it was awarded the Contemporary Grand Champion Lindy

Eric and Deb Presten and their two young boys were in the middle of a coast-to-coast adventure with their amphibious Piper PA-16S Clipper Eric s PA-16 has been an integral part of his business as Prestens Aero Photography and the new paint job on the PA-16S really puts the finishing touch on a unique airplane Upon leaving EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Prestens were heading down the length of the Mississippi River before turning left toward the East Coast and then a hopscotch run to their home north of the San Francisco Bay area

The VAA sponsored and staffed the Tall Pines Cafe a great place to meet for a hearty pancake breakfast Our very first paying cusshy

~-~ -1- tomer was Gary Assels (left) the general manager for Canadian Home Rotors maker of the Safari helicopter Garys great meal was the first of more than 2500 breakfasts served during the week The volunshyteer effort that went into the Tall Pines Cafe was intense spearheaded by VAA Directors John Berndt and Steve Nesse as well as Clare Dahl (chief cook right) Craig Baumgardner (center) and newly elected Director Dave Clark Many other familiar faces from the ranks of regular volunteers were also seen behind the serving counters including Gene Chase Dale Gustafson Paul Kyle and Phil Coulson

Heres what the faces of a pair of real winners look like In addition to being long-term VAA volunshyteers (they run the VAA button-making operation each year) Dwayne and Sue Trovillion found out they were the fortunate subscribers to an online Continental engine customer care newsletter The company chose one subscriber at random to win a new Continental engine of his or her choice and during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Trovillions were flabbergasted to learn they had been picked as the winner Congratulations-that ought to make the family Bonanza really zip

Jeff Montgomery and Ron Price own this Fleet I which is based at the Sonoma Skypark Airport A gaggle of antique and classic airplanes departed Sonoma bound for Oshkosh with overnight stops in all sorts of interesting places like Brodhead Wisconshysin They did pretty well after their arrival the Fleet was judged the Antique Silver Age Champion

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

Over the past few years weve noted a few more Mexican-registered aircraft on display in our area This is the Classic-Best Navion award winner flown

CONTEMPORARY JUDGES Back Row Jeff Anderson Tim to the convention by owner Luis Olaguibel Popp Art Anderson John Goodloe Rick Duckworth Front Tepozteco Mexico Row Tim Greene Mary Knutson Liz Popp Jay Cavender Dick Knutson

Ray Cook is from Spring Grove Illinois and hes the lucky owner and pilot of this 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D Rays Taylorshycraft was picked as the Best Classic I (0-80 hp) award winner

ANTIQUE JUDGES Back Row Bill Halverson Jerry Brown Gene Morshyris Charles Bell Xen Motsinger Mike Hoag Dave Morrow Front Row Don Coleman Dave Clark John Pipkin Phil Coulson Mike Shaver Steve Dawson Dale Gustafson Faye Gustafson

Some members will go to astonishing lengths to get their favorite antique to the convention Arngrimur Johannsson happens to also own the airline Air Atlanta Icelandic Hes always wanted to attend EAA AirVenture so he loaded up the 747 with a Pitts and a Cub plus a few hundred other EAAers and headed west to Oshkosh (Okay he did write a few months ahead and asked for a parking spot) Pulled from the cargo hold Arngrimurs 1943 Piper L-4J-3 was on display in the shadow of the Boeing behemoth that brought it to the States It was selected as the Judges Choice antique award winner

1 8 OCTOBER 2002

Brad Larson (right) and his son Glen (center) win the unofficial Bet you dont see this every day award This is the family Cessna Airmaster which has been a fixture at many fly-ins throughout the years Now theyve mated the Cessna with a pair of Wipline amshyphibious floats for more than twice the fun Charlie Harris (left) VAA treasurer had just completed a video interview with the Larsons when VAA volunteer photographer Jack McCarthy snapped this shot

AIHIENTUHE

Rare as it can be heres the only 1935 Pasped Skylark Wi in existence Its been to the conshyvention in the long ago past but a couple of generations have never seen the airplane A new restoration by Tom Brown of Unity Wisconsin has put It in prime condition right down to its shallow windshield and the acres of aluminum fashioned into the wheel spats Robert Buzz Penny of Versailles Misshysouri now owns the Skylark It was the Bronze Age Champion

The second of two Sikorsky S-38s built by the late Buzz Kashyplans Born Again Restorations is now flying owned by Unlimited Adventures of Las Vegas Nevada Painted in the zeshybra stripes of Martin and Osa Johnsons Osas Ark it serves as a fitting tribute to Buzz and his talented group of craftsman

CLASSIC JUDGES Back Row Steve Bender Stan York Dan Knutson Frank Bass Jerry Gippnev Rodney Roy Front Row John Womack Clyde Bourshygeois Larry Keitel Sky Bourgeois Joan Steinberger Dean Richardson Kevin Pratt John Swander Frank Moynahan

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Jay Anding is from Bryan Texas and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1 It was chosen as the Champion World War II Military TrainerLiaison

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on VAA President Butch Joyce presents Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard painting depicting the first EAA fly-in held at Milwaukees Curtiss-Wright Airport in 1953 The presentation on behalf of the Division was made durshying the opening ceremonies for the First Fly-In Flight Line display just north of the VAA Red Barn

1Qnlta The Hays family has been coming to the convention for more than 30 years and it always draws a crowd Their collection includes a ManleyshyBalzer rotary replica just like the one that powered Langleys 1903 Aerodrome and a 1903 Wright Flyer replica engine Both were built in the Hays shops and were run a couple of times a day in front of appreciative crowds Besides where else can you get the autoshygraph of a prehistoric ornithopters wingwalker

20 OCTOBER 2002

The metal shaping tent just south AIRVENTURE of the Red Barn was always humshy D5 fJ j D5 fJ ( d JJd ming with the noise of metal hammers and the buzz of a conshystant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to learn more about making metal conform to their wishes

KEN GOOSELL

gtshyI U rJl gtshyl laquoe

James Hardies all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the main drag of the flight line It took home the Antique Outstanding Cusshytomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs Arkansas

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas MetshyCo-Aires conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard It gets the unofficial I know Ive seen it before but I just cant place the face award

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

~ iE ~

ffi t ~

~

Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

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26 OCTOBER 2002

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have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

to become a cult airshyplane-just you see During 2001 at the Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association s annual event in Las Vegas Gershyald Turney of Oakland California was tickled that his Mooney M20C was picked as the Best in Series EAA added to

the list with the airplane being selected as the Conshytemporary Custom Class II Single Engine (161-230 hp) award winner

1 4 OCTOBER 2002

5r shyAIRVENTURE V5HJ[V5H A- ~JJ~

~

Jim Moss (inset) built and now flies this sushyperlative Laird Super Solution which was chosen as the Grand Champion Replica Anshytique Standing behind the airplane and lookshying forward gives you a whole new appreciashytion for the term blind flying Jim flies crossshycountry In a series of gentle S-turns to clear the area directly In front of him as he rockshyets along

It s hard to believe when you look at it but this outstanding example of a Cessna 172 is 37 years old It has been expertly restored to its delivery condishy Dave Thomas puts a little tion and it s jointly owned by body English into his dishySteve and Robert Koshar of rections for one of the Coloma Michigan It was the more than 1 000 showshyGrand Champion Contemporary planes that parked on the winner during EAA AirVenture iIilIIIbullbullbull south end of Wittman 2000 More than 20 past chamshy field Dave s one of the pion aircraft returned to this co-chairmen of the VAA year s event and they were Parking and Safety Comshyparked in places of honor along mittee the flight line

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Richard Weedens Rearwin Sportster restoration has been on the list of much anticipated rebuilds for a few years and it turned out to be very pretty Dick is from Brodhead Wisconsin

1 6 OCTOBER 2002

The top of the awards list in the Contemporary category was this fine-looking 1960 Cessna 3100 painted to represent the very last Songbird flown by Sky King in the old television series of the same name Paul Erickson of Novato Calishyfornia brought the tip-tanked speedster to the convention where it was awarded the Contemporary Grand Champion Lindy

Eric and Deb Presten and their two young boys were in the middle of a coast-to-coast adventure with their amphibious Piper PA-16S Clipper Eric s PA-16 has been an integral part of his business as Prestens Aero Photography and the new paint job on the PA-16S really puts the finishing touch on a unique airplane Upon leaving EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Prestens were heading down the length of the Mississippi River before turning left toward the East Coast and then a hopscotch run to their home north of the San Francisco Bay area

The VAA sponsored and staffed the Tall Pines Cafe a great place to meet for a hearty pancake breakfast Our very first paying cusshy

~-~ -1- tomer was Gary Assels (left) the general manager for Canadian Home Rotors maker of the Safari helicopter Garys great meal was the first of more than 2500 breakfasts served during the week The volunshyteer effort that went into the Tall Pines Cafe was intense spearheaded by VAA Directors John Berndt and Steve Nesse as well as Clare Dahl (chief cook right) Craig Baumgardner (center) and newly elected Director Dave Clark Many other familiar faces from the ranks of regular volunteers were also seen behind the serving counters including Gene Chase Dale Gustafson Paul Kyle and Phil Coulson

Heres what the faces of a pair of real winners look like In addition to being long-term VAA volunshyteers (they run the VAA button-making operation each year) Dwayne and Sue Trovillion found out they were the fortunate subscribers to an online Continental engine customer care newsletter The company chose one subscriber at random to win a new Continental engine of his or her choice and during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Trovillions were flabbergasted to learn they had been picked as the winner Congratulations-that ought to make the family Bonanza really zip

Jeff Montgomery and Ron Price own this Fleet I which is based at the Sonoma Skypark Airport A gaggle of antique and classic airplanes departed Sonoma bound for Oshkosh with overnight stops in all sorts of interesting places like Brodhead Wisconshysin They did pretty well after their arrival the Fleet was judged the Antique Silver Age Champion

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

Over the past few years weve noted a few more Mexican-registered aircraft on display in our area This is the Classic-Best Navion award winner flown

CONTEMPORARY JUDGES Back Row Jeff Anderson Tim to the convention by owner Luis Olaguibel Popp Art Anderson John Goodloe Rick Duckworth Front Tepozteco Mexico Row Tim Greene Mary Knutson Liz Popp Jay Cavender Dick Knutson

Ray Cook is from Spring Grove Illinois and hes the lucky owner and pilot of this 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D Rays Taylorshycraft was picked as the Best Classic I (0-80 hp) award winner

ANTIQUE JUDGES Back Row Bill Halverson Jerry Brown Gene Morshyris Charles Bell Xen Motsinger Mike Hoag Dave Morrow Front Row Don Coleman Dave Clark John Pipkin Phil Coulson Mike Shaver Steve Dawson Dale Gustafson Faye Gustafson

Some members will go to astonishing lengths to get their favorite antique to the convention Arngrimur Johannsson happens to also own the airline Air Atlanta Icelandic Hes always wanted to attend EAA AirVenture so he loaded up the 747 with a Pitts and a Cub plus a few hundred other EAAers and headed west to Oshkosh (Okay he did write a few months ahead and asked for a parking spot) Pulled from the cargo hold Arngrimurs 1943 Piper L-4J-3 was on display in the shadow of the Boeing behemoth that brought it to the States It was selected as the Judges Choice antique award winner

1 8 OCTOBER 2002

Brad Larson (right) and his son Glen (center) win the unofficial Bet you dont see this every day award This is the family Cessna Airmaster which has been a fixture at many fly-ins throughout the years Now theyve mated the Cessna with a pair of Wipline amshyphibious floats for more than twice the fun Charlie Harris (left) VAA treasurer had just completed a video interview with the Larsons when VAA volunteer photographer Jack McCarthy snapped this shot

AIHIENTUHE

Rare as it can be heres the only 1935 Pasped Skylark Wi in existence Its been to the conshyvention in the long ago past but a couple of generations have never seen the airplane A new restoration by Tom Brown of Unity Wisconsin has put It in prime condition right down to its shallow windshield and the acres of aluminum fashioned into the wheel spats Robert Buzz Penny of Versailles Misshysouri now owns the Skylark It was the Bronze Age Champion

The second of two Sikorsky S-38s built by the late Buzz Kashyplans Born Again Restorations is now flying owned by Unlimited Adventures of Las Vegas Nevada Painted in the zeshybra stripes of Martin and Osa Johnsons Osas Ark it serves as a fitting tribute to Buzz and his talented group of craftsman

CLASSIC JUDGES Back Row Steve Bender Stan York Dan Knutson Frank Bass Jerry Gippnev Rodney Roy Front Row John Womack Clyde Bourshygeois Larry Keitel Sky Bourgeois Joan Steinberger Dean Richardson Kevin Pratt John Swander Frank Moynahan

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Jay Anding is from Bryan Texas and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1 It was chosen as the Champion World War II Military TrainerLiaison

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on VAA President Butch Joyce presents Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard painting depicting the first EAA fly-in held at Milwaukees Curtiss-Wright Airport in 1953 The presentation on behalf of the Division was made durshying the opening ceremonies for the First Fly-In Flight Line display just north of the VAA Red Barn

1Qnlta The Hays family has been coming to the convention for more than 30 years and it always draws a crowd Their collection includes a ManleyshyBalzer rotary replica just like the one that powered Langleys 1903 Aerodrome and a 1903 Wright Flyer replica engine Both were built in the Hays shops and were run a couple of times a day in front of appreciative crowds Besides where else can you get the autoshygraph of a prehistoric ornithopters wingwalker

20 OCTOBER 2002

The metal shaping tent just south AIRVENTURE of the Red Barn was always humshy D5 fJ j D5 fJ ( d JJd ming with the noise of metal hammers and the buzz of a conshystant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to learn more about making metal conform to their wishes

KEN GOOSELL

gtshyI U rJl gtshyl laquoe

James Hardies all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the main drag of the flight line It took home the Antique Outstanding Cusshytomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs Arkansas

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas MetshyCo-Aires conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard It gets the unofficial I know Ive seen it before but I just cant place the face award

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

~ iE ~

ffi t ~

~

Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

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26 OCTOBER 2002

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have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

5r shyAIRVENTURE V5HJ[V5H A- ~JJ~

~

Jim Moss (inset) built and now flies this sushyperlative Laird Super Solution which was chosen as the Grand Champion Replica Anshytique Standing behind the airplane and lookshying forward gives you a whole new appreciashytion for the term blind flying Jim flies crossshycountry In a series of gentle S-turns to clear the area directly In front of him as he rockshyets along

It s hard to believe when you look at it but this outstanding example of a Cessna 172 is 37 years old It has been expertly restored to its delivery condishy Dave Thomas puts a little tion and it s jointly owned by body English into his dishySteve and Robert Koshar of rections for one of the Coloma Michigan It was the more than 1 000 showshyGrand Champion Contemporary planes that parked on the winner during EAA AirVenture iIilIIIbullbullbull south end of Wittman 2000 More than 20 past chamshy field Dave s one of the pion aircraft returned to this co-chairmen of the VAA year s event and they were Parking and Safety Comshyparked in places of honor along mittee the flight line

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Richard Weedens Rearwin Sportster restoration has been on the list of much anticipated rebuilds for a few years and it turned out to be very pretty Dick is from Brodhead Wisconsin

1 6 OCTOBER 2002

The top of the awards list in the Contemporary category was this fine-looking 1960 Cessna 3100 painted to represent the very last Songbird flown by Sky King in the old television series of the same name Paul Erickson of Novato Calishyfornia brought the tip-tanked speedster to the convention where it was awarded the Contemporary Grand Champion Lindy

Eric and Deb Presten and their two young boys were in the middle of a coast-to-coast adventure with their amphibious Piper PA-16S Clipper Eric s PA-16 has been an integral part of his business as Prestens Aero Photography and the new paint job on the PA-16S really puts the finishing touch on a unique airplane Upon leaving EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Prestens were heading down the length of the Mississippi River before turning left toward the East Coast and then a hopscotch run to their home north of the San Francisco Bay area

The VAA sponsored and staffed the Tall Pines Cafe a great place to meet for a hearty pancake breakfast Our very first paying cusshy

~-~ -1- tomer was Gary Assels (left) the general manager for Canadian Home Rotors maker of the Safari helicopter Garys great meal was the first of more than 2500 breakfasts served during the week The volunshyteer effort that went into the Tall Pines Cafe was intense spearheaded by VAA Directors John Berndt and Steve Nesse as well as Clare Dahl (chief cook right) Craig Baumgardner (center) and newly elected Director Dave Clark Many other familiar faces from the ranks of regular volunteers were also seen behind the serving counters including Gene Chase Dale Gustafson Paul Kyle and Phil Coulson

Heres what the faces of a pair of real winners look like In addition to being long-term VAA volunshyteers (they run the VAA button-making operation each year) Dwayne and Sue Trovillion found out they were the fortunate subscribers to an online Continental engine customer care newsletter The company chose one subscriber at random to win a new Continental engine of his or her choice and during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Trovillions were flabbergasted to learn they had been picked as the winner Congratulations-that ought to make the family Bonanza really zip

Jeff Montgomery and Ron Price own this Fleet I which is based at the Sonoma Skypark Airport A gaggle of antique and classic airplanes departed Sonoma bound for Oshkosh with overnight stops in all sorts of interesting places like Brodhead Wisconshysin They did pretty well after their arrival the Fleet was judged the Antique Silver Age Champion

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

Over the past few years weve noted a few more Mexican-registered aircraft on display in our area This is the Classic-Best Navion award winner flown

CONTEMPORARY JUDGES Back Row Jeff Anderson Tim to the convention by owner Luis Olaguibel Popp Art Anderson John Goodloe Rick Duckworth Front Tepozteco Mexico Row Tim Greene Mary Knutson Liz Popp Jay Cavender Dick Knutson

Ray Cook is from Spring Grove Illinois and hes the lucky owner and pilot of this 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D Rays Taylorshycraft was picked as the Best Classic I (0-80 hp) award winner

ANTIQUE JUDGES Back Row Bill Halverson Jerry Brown Gene Morshyris Charles Bell Xen Motsinger Mike Hoag Dave Morrow Front Row Don Coleman Dave Clark John Pipkin Phil Coulson Mike Shaver Steve Dawson Dale Gustafson Faye Gustafson

Some members will go to astonishing lengths to get their favorite antique to the convention Arngrimur Johannsson happens to also own the airline Air Atlanta Icelandic Hes always wanted to attend EAA AirVenture so he loaded up the 747 with a Pitts and a Cub plus a few hundred other EAAers and headed west to Oshkosh (Okay he did write a few months ahead and asked for a parking spot) Pulled from the cargo hold Arngrimurs 1943 Piper L-4J-3 was on display in the shadow of the Boeing behemoth that brought it to the States It was selected as the Judges Choice antique award winner

1 8 OCTOBER 2002

Brad Larson (right) and his son Glen (center) win the unofficial Bet you dont see this every day award This is the family Cessna Airmaster which has been a fixture at many fly-ins throughout the years Now theyve mated the Cessna with a pair of Wipline amshyphibious floats for more than twice the fun Charlie Harris (left) VAA treasurer had just completed a video interview with the Larsons when VAA volunteer photographer Jack McCarthy snapped this shot

AIHIENTUHE

Rare as it can be heres the only 1935 Pasped Skylark Wi in existence Its been to the conshyvention in the long ago past but a couple of generations have never seen the airplane A new restoration by Tom Brown of Unity Wisconsin has put It in prime condition right down to its shallow windshield and the acres of aluminum fashioned into the wheel spats Robert Buzz Penny of Versailles Misshysouri now owns the Skylark It was the Bronze Age Champion

The second of two Sikorsky S-38s built by the late Buzz Kashyplans Born Again Restorations is now flying owned by Unlimited Adventures of Las Vegas Nevada Painted in the zeshybra stripes of Martin and Osa Johnsons Osas Ark it serves as a fitting tribute to Buzz and his talented group of craftsman

CLASSIC JUDGES Back Row Steve Bender Stan York Dan Knutson Frank Bass Jerry Gippnev Rodney Roy Front Row John Womack Clyde Bourshygeois Larry Keitel Sky Bourgeois Joan Steinberger Dean Richardson Kevin Pratt John Swander Frank Moynahan

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Jay Anding is from Bryan Texas and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1 It was chosen as the Champion World War II Military TrainerLiaison

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on VAA President Butch Joyce presents Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard painting depicting the first EAA fly-in held at Milwaukees Curtiss-Wright Airport in 1953 The presentation on behalf of the Division was made durshying the opening ceremonies for the First Fly-In Flight Line display just north of the VAA Red Barn

1Qnlta The Hays family has been coming to the convention for more than 30 years and it always draws a crowd Their collection includes a ManleyshyBalzer rotary replica just like the one that powered Langleys 1903 Aerodrome and a 1903 Wright Flyer replica engine Both were built in the Hays shops and were run a couple of times a day in front of appreciative crowds Besides where else can you get the autoshygraph of a prehistoric ornithopters wingwalker

20 OCTOBER 2002

The metal shaping tent just south AIRVENTURE of the Red Barn was always humshy D5 fJ j D5 fJ ( d JJd ming with the noise of metal hammers and the buzz of a conshystant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to learn more about making metal conform to their wishes

KEN GOOSELL

gtshyI U rJl gtshyl laquoe

James Hardies all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the main drag of the flight line It took home the Antique Outstanding Cusshytomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs Arkansas

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas MetshyCo-Aires conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard It gets the unofficial I know Ive seen it before but I just cant place the face award

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

~ iE ~

ffi t ~

~

Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

Workshop Schedule Oct 19 2002 Boston MA

TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Nov 2-3 2002 Minneapolis MN SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG FABRIC COVERING

Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10 2002 Griffin GA FINISHING amp

SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

Richard Weedens Rearwin Sportster restoration has been on the list of much anticipated rebuilds for a few years and it turned out to be very pretty Dick is from Brodhead Wisconsin

1 6 OCTOBER 2002

The top of the awards list in the Contemporary category was this fine-looking 1960 Cessna 3100 painted to represent the very last Songbird flown by Sky King in the old television series of the same name Paul Erickson of Novato Calishyfornia brought the tip-tanked speedster to the convention where it was awarded the Contemporary Grand Champion Lindy

Eric and Deb Presten and their two young boys were in the middle of a coast-to-coast adventure with their amphibious Piper PA-16S Clipper Eric s PA-16 has been an integral part of his business as Prestens Aero Photography and the new paint job on the PA-16S really puts the finishing touch on a unique airplane Upon leaving EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Prestens were heading down the length of the Mississippi River before turning left toward the East Coast and then a hopscotch run to their home north of the San Francisco Bay area

The VAA sponsored and staffed the Tall Pines Cafe a great place to meet for a hearty pancake breakfast Our very first paying cusshy

~-~ -1- tomer was Gary Assels (left) the general manager for Canadian Home Rotors maker of the Safari helicopter Garys great meal was the first of more than 2500 breakfasts served during the week The volunshyteer effort that went into the Tall Pines Cafe was intense spearheaded by VAA Directors John Berndt and Steve Nesse as well as Clare Dahl (chief cook right) Craig Baumgardner (center) and newly elected Director Dave Clark Many other familiar faces from the ranks of regular volunteers were also seen behind the serving counters including Gene Chase Dale Gustafson Paul Kyle and Phil Coulson

Heres what the faces of a pair of real winners look like In addition to being long-term VAA volunshyteers (they run the VAA button-making operation each year) Dwayne and Sue Trovillion found out they were the fortunate subscribers to an online Continental engine customer care newsletter The company chose one subscriber at random to win a new Continental engine of his or her choice and during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Trovillions were flabbergasted to learn they had been picked as the winner Congratulations-that ought to make the family Bonanza really zip

Jeff Montgomery and Ron Price own this Fleet I which is based at the Sonoma Skypark Airport A gaggle of antique and classic airplanes departed Sonoma bound for Oshkosh with overnight stops in all sorts of interesting places like Brodhead Wisconshysin They did pretty well after their arrival the Fleet was judged the Antique Silver Age Champion

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

Over the past few years weve noted a few more Mexican-registered aircraft on display in our area This is the Classic-Best Navion award winner flown

CONTEMPORARY JUDGES Back Row Jeff Anderson Tim to the convention by owner Luis Olaguibel Popp Art Anderson John Goodloe Rick Duckworth Front Tepozteco Mexico Row Tim Greene Mary Knutson Liz Popp Jay Cavender Dick Knutson

Ray Cook is from Spring Grove Illinois and hes the lucky owner and pilot of this 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D Rays Taylorshycraft was picked as the Best Classic I (0-80 hp) award winner

ANTIQUE JUDGES Back Row Bill Halverson Jerry Brown Gene Morshyris Charles Bell Xen Motsinger Mike Hoag Dave Morrow Front Row Don Coleman Dave Clark John Pipkin Phil Coulson Mike Shaver Steve Dawson Dale Gustafson Faye Gustafson

Some members will go to astonishing lengths to get their favorite antique to the convention Arngrimur Johannsson happens to also own the airline Air Atlanta Icelandic Hes always wanted to attend EAA AirVenture so he loaded up the 747 with a Pitts and a Cub plus a few hundred other EAAers and headed west to Oshkosh (Okay he did write a few months ahead and asked for a parking spot) Pulled from the cargo hold Arngrimurs 1943 Piper L-4J-3 was on display in the shadow of the Boeing behemoth that brought it to the States It was selected as the Judges Choice antique award winner

1 8 OCTOBER 2002

Brad Larson (right) and his son Glen (center) win the unofficial Bet you dont see this every day award This is the family Cessna Airmaster which has been a fixture at many fly-ins throughout the years Now theyve mated the Cessna with a pair of Wipline amshyphibious floats for more than twice the fun Charlie Harris (left) VAA treasurer had just completed a video interview with the Larsons when VAA volunteer photographer Jack McCarthy snapped this shot

AIHIENTUHE

Rare as it can be heres the only 1935 Pasped Skylark Wi in existence Its been to the conshyvention in the long ago past but a couple of generations have never seen the airplane A new restoration by Tom Brown of Unity Wisconsin has put It in prime condition right down to its shallow windshield and the acres of aluminum fashioned into the wheel spats Robert Buzz Penny of Versailles Misshysouri now owns the Skylark It was the Bronze Age Champion

The second of two Sikorsky S-38s built by the late Buzz Kashyplans Born Again Restorations is now flying owned by Unlimited Adventures of Las Vegas Nevada Painted in the zeshybra stripes of Martin and Osa Johnsons Osas Ark it serves as a fitting tribute to Buzz and his talented group of craftsman

CLASSIC JUDGES Back Row Steve Bender Stan York Dan Knutson Frank Bass Jerry Gippnev Rodney Roy Front Row John Womack Clyde Bourshygeois Larry Keitel Sky Bourgeois Joan Steinberger Dean Richardson Kevin Pratt John Swander Frank Moynahan

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Jay Anding is from Bryan Texas and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1 It was chosen as the Champion World War II Military TrainerLiaison

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on VAA President Butch Joyce presents Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard painting depicting the first EAA fly-in held at Milwaukees Curtiss-Wright Airport in 1953 The presentation on behalf of the Division was made durshying the opening ceremonies for the First Fly-In Flight Line display just north of the VAA Red Barn

1Qnlta The Hays family has been coming to the convention for more than 30 years and it always draws a crowd Their collection includes a ManleyshyBalzer rotary replica just like the one that powered Langleys 1903 Aerodrome and a 1903 Wright Flyer replica engine Both were built in the Hays shops and were run a couple of times a day in front of appreciative crowds Besides where else can you get the autoshygraph of a prehistoric ornithopters wingwalker

20 OCTOBER 2002

The metal shaping tent just south AIRVENTURE of the Red Barn was always humshy D5 fJ j D5 fJ ( d JJd ming with the noise of metal hammers and the buzz of a conshystant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to learn more about making metal conform to their wishes

KEN GOOSELL

gtshyI U rJl gtshyl laquoe

James Hardies all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the main drag of the flight line It took home the Antique Outstanding Cusshytomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs Arkansas

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas MetshyCo-Aires conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard It gets the unofficial I know Ive seen it before but I just cant place the face award

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

~ iE ~

ffi t ~

~

Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

Workshop Schedule Oct 19 2002 Boston MA

TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Nov 2-3 2002 Minneapolis MN SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG FABRIC COVERING

Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10 2002 Griffin GA FINISHING amp

SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

Eric and Deb Presten and their two young boys were in the middle of a coast-to-coast adventure with their amphibious Piper PA-16S Clipper Eric s PA-16 has been an integral part of his business as Prestens Aero Photography and the new paint job on the PA-16S really puts the finishing touch on a unique airplane Upon leaving EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Prestens were heading down the length of the Mississippi River before turning left toward the East Coast and then a hopscotch run to their home north of the San Francisco Bay area

The VAA sponsored and staffed the Tall Pines Cafe a great place to meet for a hearty pancake breakfast Our very first paying cusshy

~-~ -1- tomer was Gary Assels (left) the general manager for Canadian Home Rotors maker of the Safari helicopter Garys great meal was the first of more than 2500 breakfasts served during the week The volunshyteer effort that went into the Tall Pines Cafe was intense spearheaded by VAA Directors John Berndt and Steve Nesse as well as Clare Dahl (chief cook right) Craig Baumgardner (center) and newly elected Director Dave Clark Many other familiar faces from the ranks of regular volunteers were also seen behind the serving counters including Gene Chase Dale Gustafson Paul Kyle and Phil Coulson

Heres what the faces of a pair of real winners look like In addition to being long-term VAA volunshyteers (they run the VAA button-making operation each year) Dwayne and Sue Trovillion found out they were the fortunate subscribers to an online Continental engine customer care newsletter The company chose one subscriber at random to win a new Continental engine of his or her choice and during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh the Trovillions were flabbergasted to learn they had been picked as the winner Congratulations-that ought to make the family Bonanza really zip

Jeff Montgomery and Ron Price own this Fleet I which is based at the Sonoma Skypark Airport A gaggle of antique and classic airplanes departed Sonoma bound for Oshkosh with overnight stops in all sorts of interesting places like Brodhead Wisconshysin They did pretty well after their arrival the Fleet was judged the Antique Silver Age Champion

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

Over the past few years weve noted a few more Mexican-registered aircraft on display in our area This is the Classic-Best Navion award winner flown

CONTEMPORARY JUDGES Back Row Jeff Anderson Tim to the convention by owner Luis Olaguibel Popp Art Anderson John Goodloe Rick Duckworth Front Tepozteco Mexico Row Tim Greene Mary Knutson Liz Popp Jay Cavender Dick Knutson

Ray Cook is from Spring Grove Illinois and hes the lucky owner and pilot of this 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D Rays Taylorshycraft was picked as the Best Classic I (0-80 hp) award winner

ANTIQUE JUDGES Back Row Bill Halverson Jerry Brown Gene Morshyris Charles Bell Xen Motsinger Mike Hoag Dave Morrow Front Row Don Coleman Dave Clark John Pipkin Phil Coulson Mike Shaver Steve Dawson Dale Gustafson Faye Gustafson

Some members will go to astonishing lengths to get their favorite antique to the convention Arngrimur Johannsson happens to also own the airline Air Atlanta Icelandic Hes always wanted to attend EAA AirVenture so he loaded up the 747 with a Pitts and a Cub plus a few hundred other EAAers and headed west to Oshkosh (Okay he did write a few months ahead and asked for a parking spot) Pulled from the cargo hold Arngrimurs 1943 Piper L-4J-3 was on display in the shadow of the Boeing behemoth that brought it to the States It was selected as the Judges Choice antique award winner

1 8 OCTOBER 2002

Brad Larson (right) and his son Glen (center) win the unofficial Bet you dont see this every day award This is the family Cessna Airmaster which has been a fixture at many fly-ins throughout the years Now theyve mated the Cessna with a pair of Wipline amshyphibious floats for more than twice the fun Charlie Harris (left) VAA treasurer had just completed a video interview with the Larsons when VAA volunteer photographer Jack McCarthy snapped this shot

AIHIENTUHE

Rare as it can be heres the only 1935 Pasped Skylark Wi in existence Its been to the conshyvention in the long ago past but a couple of generations have never seen the airplane A new restoration by Tom Brown of Unity Wisconsin has put It in prime condition right down to its shallow windshield and the acres of aluminum fashioned into the wheel spats Robert Buzz Penny of Versailles Misshysouri now owns the Skylark It was the Bronze Age Champion

The second of two Sikorsky S-38s built by the late Buzz Kashyplans Born Again Restorations is now flying owned by Unlimited Adventures of Las Vegas Nevada Painted in the zeshybra stripes of Martin and Osa Johnsons Osas Ark it serves as a fitting tribute to Buzz and his talented group of craftsman

CLASSIC JUDGES Back Row Steve Bender Stan York Dan Knutson Frank Bass Jerry Gippnev Rodney Roy Front Row John Womack Clyde Bourshygeois Larry Keitel Sky Bourgeois Joan Steinberger Dean Richardson Kevin Pratt John Swander Frank Moynahan

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Jay Anding is from Bryan Texas and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1 It was chosen as the Champion World War II Military TrainerLiaison

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on VAA President Butch Joyce presents Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard painting depicting the first EAA fly-in held at Milwaukees Curtiss-Wright Airport in 1953 The presentation on behalf of the Division was made durshying the opening ceremonies for the First Fly-In Flight Line display just north of the VAA Red Barn

1Qnlta The Hays family has been coming to the convention for more than 30 years and it always draws a crowd Their collection includes a ManleyshyBalzer rotary replica just like the one that powered Langleys 1903 Aerodrome and a 1903 Wright Flyer replica engine Both were built in the Hays shops and were run a couple of times a day in front of appreciative crowds Besides where else can you get the autoshygraph of a prehistoric ornithopters wingwalker

20 OCTOBER 2002

The metal shaping tent just south AIRVENTURE of the Red Barn was always humshy D5 fJ j D5 fJ ( d JJd ming with the noise of metal hammers and the buzz of a conshystant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to learn more about making metal conform to their wishes

KEN GOOSELL

gtshyI U rJl gtshyl laquoe

James Hardies all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the main drag of the flight line It took home the Antique Outstanding Cusshytomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs Arkansas

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas MetshyCo-Aires conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard It gets the unofficial I know Ive seen it before but I just cant place the face award

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

~ iE ~

ffi t ~

~

Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

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TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

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Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

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SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

Over the past few years weve noted a few more Mexican-registered aircraft on display in our area This is the Classic-Best Navion award winner flown

CONTEMPORARY JUDGES Back Row Jeff Anderson Tim to the convention by owner Luis Olaguibel Popp Art Anderson John Goodloe Rick Duckworth Front Tepozteco Mexico Row Tim Greene Mary Knutson Liz Popp Jay Cavender Dick Knutson

Ray Cook is from Spring Grove Illinois and hes the lucky owner and pilot of this 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D Rays Taylorshycraft was picked as the Best Classic I (0-80 hp) award winner

ANTIQUE JUDGES Back Row Bill Halverson Jerry Brown Gene Morshyris Charles Bell Xen Motsinger Mike Hoag Dave Morrow Front Row Don Coleman Dave Clark John Pipkin Phil Coulson Mike Shaver Steve Dawson Dale Gustafson Faye Gustafson

Some members will go to astonishing lengths to get their favorite antique to the convention Arngrimur Johannsson happens to also own the airline Air Atlanta Icelandic Hes always wanted to attend EAA AirVenture so he loaded up the 747 with a Pitts and a Cub plus a few hundred other EAAers and headed west to Oshkosh (Okay he did write a few months ahead and asked for a parking spot) Pulled from the cargo hold Arngrimurs 1943 Piper L-4J-3 was on display in the shadow of the Boeing behemoth that brought it to the States It was selected as the Judges Choice antique award winner

1 8 OCTOBER 2002

Brad Larson (right) and his son Glen (center) win the unofficial Bet you dont see this every day award This is the family Cessna Airmaster which has been a fixture at many fly-ins throughout the years Now theyve mated the Cessna with a pair of Wipline amshyphibious floats for more than twice the fun Charlie Harris (left) VAA treasurer had just completed a video interview with the Larsons when VAA volunteer photographer Jack McCarthy snapped this shot

AIHIENTUHE

Rare as it can be heres the only 1935 Pasped Skylark Wi in existence Its been to the conshyvention in the long ago past but a couple of generations have never seen the airplane A new restoration by Tom Brown of Unity Wisconsin has put It in prime condition right down to its shallow windshield and the acres of aluminum fashioned into the wheel spats Robert Buzz Penny of Versailles Misshysouri now owns the Skylark It was the Bronze Age Champion

The second of two Sikorsky S-38s built by the late Buzz Kashyplans Born Again Restorations is now flying owned by Unlimited Adventures of Las Vegas Nevada Painted in the zeshybra stripes of Martin and Osa Johnsons Osas Ark it serves as a fitting tribute to Buzz and his talented group of craftsman

CLASSIC JUDGES Back Row Steve Bender Stan York Dan Knutson Frank Bass Jerry Gippnev Rodney Roy Front Row John Womack Clyde Bourshygeois Larry Keitel Sky Bourgeois Joan Steinberger Dean Richardson Kevin Pratt John Swander Frank Moynahan

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Jay Anding is from Bryan Texas and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1 It was chosen as the Champion World War II Military TrainerLiaison

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on VAA President Butch Joyce presents Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard painting depicting the first EAA fly-in held at Milwaukees Curtiss-Wright Airport in 1953 The presentation on behalf of the Division was made durshying the opening ceremonies for the First Fly-In Flight Line display just north of the VAA Red Barn

1Qnlta The Hays family has been coming to the convention for more than 30 years and it always draws a crowd Their collection includes a ManleyshyBalzer rotary replica just like the one that powered Langleys 1903 Aerodrome and a 1903 Wright Flyer replica engine Both were built in the Hays shops and were run a couple of times a day in front of appreciative crowds Besides where else can you get the autoshygraph of a prehistoric ornithopters wingwalker

20 OCTOBER 2002

The metal shaping tent just south AIRVENTURE of the Red Barn was always humshy D5 fJ j D5 fJ ( d JJd ming with the noise of metal hammers and the buzz of a conshystant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to learn more about making metal conform to their wishes

KEN GOOSELL

gtshyI U rJl gtshyl laquoe

James Hardies all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the main drag of the flight line It took home the Antique Outstanding Cusshytomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs Arkansas

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas MetshyCo-Aires conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard It gets the unofficial I know Ive seen it before but I just cant place the face award

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

~ iE ~

ffi t ~

~

Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

Workshop Schedule Oct 19 2002 Boston MA

TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Nov 2-3 2002 Minneapolis MN SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG FABRIC COVERING

Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10 2002 Griffin GA FINISHING amp

SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

Brad Larson (right) and his son Glen (center) win the unofficial Bet you dont see this every day award This is the family Cessna Airmaster which has been a fixture at many fly-ins throughout the years Now theyve mated the Cessna with a pair of Wipline amshyphibious floats for more than twice the fun Charlie Harris (left) VAA treasurer had just completed a video interview with the Larsons when VAA volunteer photographer Jack McCarthy snapped this shot

AIHIENTUHE

Rare as it can be heres the only 1935 Pasped Skylark Wi in existence Its been to the conshyvention in the long ago past but a couple of generations have never seen the airplane A new restoration by Tom Brown of Unity Wisconsin has put It in prime condition right down to its shallow windshield and the acres of aluminum fashioned into the wheel spats Robert Buzz Penny of Versailles Misshysouri now owns the Skylark It was the Bronze Age Champion

The second of two Sikorsky S-38s built by the late Buzz Kashyplans Born Again Restorations is now flying owned by Unlimited Adventures of Las Vegas Nevada Painted in the zeshybra stripes of Martin and Osa Johnsons Osas Ark it serves as a fitting tribute to Buzz and his talented group of craftsman

CLASSIC JUDGES Back Row Steve Bender Stan York Dan Knutson Frank Bass Jerry Gippnev Rodney Roy Front Row John Womack Clyde Bourshygeois Larry Keitel Sky Bourgeois Joan Steinberger Dean Richardson Kevin Pratt John Swander Frank Moynahan

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Jay Anding is from Bryan Texas and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1 It was chosen as the Champion World War II Military TrainerLiaison

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on VAA President Butch Joyce presents Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard painting depicting the first EAA fly-in held at Milwaukees Curtiss-Wright Airport in 1953 The presentation on behalf of the Division was made durshying the opening ceremonies for the First Fly-In Flight Line display just north of the VAA Red Barn

1Qnlta The Hays family has been coming to the convention for more than 30 years and it always draws a crowd Their collection includes a ManleyshyBalzer rotary replica just like the one that powered Langleys 1903 Aerodrome and a 1903 Wright Flyer replica engine Both were built in the Hays shops and were run a couple of times a day in front of appreciative crowds Besides where else can you get the autoshygraph of a prehistoric ornithopters wingwalker

20 OCTOBER 2002

The metal shaping tent just south AIRVENTURE of the Red Barn was always humshy D5 fJ j D5 fJ ( d JJd ming with the noise of metal hammers and the buzz of a conshystant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to learn more about making metal conform to their wishes

KEN GOOSELL

gtshyI U rJl gtshyl laquoe

James Hardies all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the main drag of the flight line It took home the Antique Outstanding Cusshytomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs Arkansas

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas MetshyCo-Aires conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard It gets the unofficial I know Ive seen it before but I just cant place the face award

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

~ iE ~

ffi t ~

~

Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

Workshop Schedule Oct 19 2002 Boston MA

TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Nov 2-3 2002 Minneapolis MN SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG FABRIC COVERING

Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10 2002 Griffin GA FINISHING amp

SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

Jay Anding is from Bryan Texas and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1 It was chosen as the Champion World War II Military TrainerLiaison

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on VAA President Butch Joyce presents Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard painting depicting the first EAA fly-in held at Milwaukees Curtiss-Wright Airport in 1953 The presentation on behalf of the Division was made durshying the opening ceremonies for the First Fly-In Flight Line display just north of the VAA Red Barn

1Qnlta The Hays family has been coming to the convention for more than 30 years and it always draws a crowd Their collection includes a ManleyshyBalzer rotary replica just like the one that powered Langleys 1903 Aerodrome and a 1903 Wright Flyer replica engine Both were built in the Hays shops and were run a couple of times a day in front of appreciative crowds Besides where else can you get the autoshygraph of a prehistoric ornithopters wingwalker

20 OCTOBER 2002

The metal shaping tent just south AIRVENTURE of the Red Barn was always humshy D5 fJ j D5 fJ ( d JJd ming with the noise of metal hammers and the buzz of a conshystant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to learn more about making metal conform to their wishes

KEN GOOSELL

gtshyI U rJl gtshyl laquoe

James Hardies all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the main drag of the flight line It took home the Antique Outstanding Cusshytomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs Arkansas

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas MetshyCo-Aires conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard It gets the unofficial I know Ive seen it before but I just cant place the face award

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

~ iE ~

ffi t ~

~

Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

Workshop Schedule Oct 19 2002 Boston MA

TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Nov 2-3 2002 Minneapolis MN SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG FABRIC COVERING

Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10 2002 Griffin GA FINISHING amp

SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

With the word slowly leakshying out that the annual EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the

Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful shore of Lake Winnebago is one of the most serene gatherings of watershyborne aircraft and people who fly them 2002 was no exception in the size of the visiting crowds and the enthusiasm of the folks involved Blessed with excellent weather for most of the seven days of the fly-in the attendance this year rose to 116

NORM PETERSEN

registered seaplanes versus 107 last year Once again the grounds and facilities were in absolutely tiptop shape due to tireless work done by a host of volunteers

The fly-in actually began back on Memorial Day weekend when some forty volunteers assembled to get the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only to have it rain all day Saturday Howshyever by Sunday the sun had returned and two full days of dilishygent work brought the grounds up

NORM PETERSEN

to a presentable position All the winter debris was hauled away trees were trimmed brush was cleaned out campsites were all mowed docks were rebuilt and painted inshyside work was finished on the buildings and most important the flower beds were all replanted under the careful direction of Mary Beth Jackson The results of this weekend of dedicated work really speak for themselves

To show how the influx of sea-Above With the crowd looking on this nicely painted and polished Cessna 172 N8425L mounted on a set of PK 2300 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing Minnesota is towed from the dock area to a waiting float

Left All dolled up in original factory paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub SpeCial N4962M mounted on a set of Edo 1320 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bonshyduel Wisconsin Gary Conger of Green Bay Wisconsin owns this PA-11

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

~ iE ~

ffi t ~

~

Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

Workshop Schedule Oct 19 2002 Boston MA

TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Nov 2-3 2002 Minneapolis MN SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG FABRIC COVERING

Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10 2002 Griffin GA FINISHING amp

SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

Left This Grumman G-44 Widgeon N62000 was flown to Oshkosh by owner James Rodgers of Middlebury lindiana Nicknamed the Canadian Clipper this Lycoming powered conshyversion of the Widgeon will cruise with the best and still haul a good load

pontoon boats the passengers were quite excited by the tours

One of the highlights of the week was to visit with Clay Jacobson and his lovely wife LeeAnn from Ausshytralia Several years ago this couple arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a Cessna Caravan on amphibious floats making the trip from Reno Nevada While at Oshkosh Clay earned his Instrument Rating and the two of them took off on a round the world flight in the Caravan Completing the trip Clay and LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats and moved to Australia where they now reside The trip back to Oshkosh once a year is just icing on the cake Best wishes to you good people

Again this year all incoming seashyplanes were met at the dock by a lady dockhand-which always ratshytles a few cages These dockhands really enjoy their work and the qualshyi ty of their greetings really shows The entire crew on the five docks is under the direction of Lon Nanke and believe me when I say that they do a fine job

New this year was the installation of an electric aircraft hoist that would lift a seaplane out of the water (about four feet above the surface) and then rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Surrounded by algae this neat Cessna 180 C-GEVY mounted on a set of Edo 2960 floats poses for its portrait at the Vette Seaplane Base Flown in by Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury Ontario Canada the 180 hauled four people

planes is different from many flyshyins we have to look at the numbers as the fly-in progresses On Tuesday morning there were 24 seaplanes registered On Wednesday morning the number jumped to 48 registrashytions By Thursday morning it was at 71 seaplanes and by Sunday mornshying there were 108 seaplanes on the sign-in sheet By Monday afternoon the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for the entire fly-in Approximately oneshythird of the total was Canadian registered with the balance being US registered

Perhaps this should be called the

~ b I shyZ UJ ()a UJ tj shy a o z

year of the Cub as some 16 Piper J-3 PA-ll PA-18 and PAshy12 Super Cruisers were flown in on floats In addition Eric Presten from California brought in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy amphib floats a one-of-a-kind seaplane It was also fun to see

two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this year a first for this gracefully deshysigned twin-engined pusher amphibian A most unique antique aircraft was Glenn Larsons Cessna Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of brand new Wipline amphibious floats and flown in from the Minneapolis area The float installation on this airplane was a most professional piece of work done at Wiplines shop in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota

Besides a large number of seashyplane rides that were given during the week visitors were able to enjoy the Vette Seaplane Base from the washyter by going for a ride on either of two pontoon boats that were staffed by volunteers and driven about the base This afforded an excellent close up view of the seaplanes and the enshytire base itself Judging by the smiles on the faces as they stepped off the

~-- - - A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3 Cub N98761 mounted on a set of highly polished Edo Flown in from Lakewood Wisconsin by Norbert Langer this 1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot Jerry highly modified Piper PA-12 N40DZ was built up with new Ness from Rapid River Michigan Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah Wisconsin

22 OCTOBER 2002

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

~ iE ~

ffi t ~

~

Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

Workshop Schedule Oct 19 2002 Boston MA

TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Nov 2-3 2002 Minneapolis MN SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG FABRIC COVERING

Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10 2002 Griffin GA FINISHING amp

SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada Queshybec Canada by Boily Caral and Andrew Durocher Registered in Canada as CF-POJ the sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy floatshyplane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing

Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108 CshyGYVR mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats Note the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail that signifies something larger than the original 150 hp Franklin engine

(f)

~ iE ~

ffi t ~

~

Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes from Hampshire Illinois in his Piper J-3 Cub N98413

Being towed from the arrival dock to a float is a beautiful Cessna 170 N3287A on Edo 2000 floats flown to Oshkosh by its owner Brent Wenger

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion N1715E mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing Minnesota

fied everyone We all sat there with amazed looks on our faces We couldnt believe what was coming forth from the squeezebox After an hour of the most beautiful accorshydion music I had ever heard we finally called it a day and Seppo was issued

Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette strict instructionsshy

Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna Come back next year

185 N3130Q mounted on a set of Aerocet and bring your accorshy

3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick dion with you I later

Dobbs from Duluth Minnesota

would be ready for launching when lowered into the water The unit worked remarkably well and can handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats The hoist fascinated bystanders as it proceeded to do its job

The evening programs were very well attended with the Saturday night Watermelon Party completely sold out The Thursday night Mexishycan Party was a complete success with a fine meal followed by this aushythor playing accordion music under

the big tent After about 45 minutes of music a Canashydian volunteered his brother to spell me I soon met Seppo Haapamaki from Timmins Ontario who strapped on the accorshydion and proceeded to

light up the entire tent with his fabshyulous music It made no difference of the type of music-Seppo played it all-and with a dexterity that de-

learned that Seppo Haapamaki (I love

that Finnish name) was a former North American World Champion Accordion player What a most deshylightful surprise to meet him and hear his outstanding music

By Monday the week was beginshyning to wear down and so was the seaplane fly-in With fine weather for nearly the entire week it was a dandy fly-in enjoyed by everyone and with no accidents to mar the gathering We are especially inshydebted to the US Coast Guard for their fine help in patrolling the area during the fly-in and for being ready if needed In addition we want to extend our thanks to Mershycury Marine for the use of outboard motors throughout the entire flyshyin Lastly we are all indebted to John Vette and his sister Burleigh (Vette) Blust for allowing us to use their beautiful site for the EAA Seashyplane Fly-In A most hearty THANK YOU from all of us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

Workshop Schedule Oct 19 2002 Boston MA

TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Nov 2-3 2002 Minneapolis MN SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG FABRIC COVERING

Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10 2002 Griffin GA FINISHING amp

SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING BY HG FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N

Walt Houghton Shelburne Vermont has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N finished in the color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the US Navy inventory It was stationed at NAS Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats Used for building time for permanently asshysigned station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959

STEWARTS CUB

Mark Stewart Lewis Center Ohio has done it again with another great restoration of one of the low horsepower Cubs This one is a J-2 removed in pieces from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997 Most of the original structure and parts including the engine could be restored The J-2 is powered by a Continental A-40 which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm It weighs 599 pounds empty and at a gross weight of 1000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven Pennsylvania where together with two other J-2s he flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by He also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first ride in a J-2 at the event

24 OCTOBER 2002

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS No what youre seeing isnt the result of camera

shake Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh North Carshyolina have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meetshyings The first restored seven years ago is a 1950 PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine and it weighs only 850 pounds It has no electrical system and was built light to keep the performance outstanding The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub which has a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot) It weighs in at 1028 pounds so it has a longer ground run than the other Cub but by virtue of its 150 hp it will outclimb the lighter Cub Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of Woods Aviation in Goldsboro North Carolina for his major contributions to both projects Bobs the EAA Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

Workshop Schedule Oct 19 2002 Boston MA

TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Nov 2-3 2002 Minneapolis MN SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG FABRIC COVERING

Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10 2002 Griffin GA FINISHING amp

SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 2 1 VAA 5

If you recall last month I quoted an old retired pilots lament over the passing of the round recip enshygines and his opinion of the turbines All Ive done since is think about the old round engines For certain they initiated this old man into the early and even latter days of his career

My first round engine experishyence was with the Wright j-5 The duster outfit I grunted for had a Cshy3 Stearman and that engine was standard equipment on the Stearshyman Later I was cabin crew on a duster-converted Ryan Brougham It had a much more powerful Wright j-6-9 My job was to keep the hopper full as the pilot made pass after pass spreading the dust Then we added a Travel Air to the fleet It had one of the NEW Contishynental 670s on it I never got to fly in that one

Being a grunt didnt give me the opportunity to actually operate these engines but I did pour copishyous amounts of oil into them clean spark plugs wash them down make sure the fuel tanks were full and hand-prop them In those days I weighed in at 137 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches This kid learned propping believe me

After a while I was allowed to bring the airplanes up to the line from the hangar I actually got to start them and taxi them Then as I gained more experience when we were out on the dusting circuit I did the morning run-up Eventually I was checked out in the Stearman and allowed to ferry it from job to job Now that was living

PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Round Engines

Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II brought an end to these adventures for me and many others It was off to the military where my round engine experishyence was further enhanced

When I got to Primary it was Stearman PTs with the W-670s and Lycoming 680s I even flew one with a jacobs Of the three I think I liked the Lycoming the best It was so smooth and quiet with those nine cylinders that you could hear the wires whistle in the relashytive wind and it didnt shake like the jake

you knew you had

something when those 600 horses

went to work Basic was the BT-13s and 15s

Really big round engines This was IT the Pratt amp Whitney R-985 put out 450 horses and seemed like it was hardly working when you flew behind it but for those on the ground it really blatted The Wright 975 didnt enjoy the solid reputation of the Pratt and was a little touchier but it did a great job of pulling those instrument trainshy

ers around Now the really big round enshy

gine on the AT-6 was what we flew in Advanced With 1340 cubic inches of Pratt amp Whitney attached to those engine controls you knew you had something when those 600 horses went to work

And then a step backward A twin-engine transition into the Cessna AT-17 UC-78 the San joaquin Valley BeauFighter or Double Breasted Cub whatever name you choose with two jacobs engines of 245 hp each Now we begin to learn about synchronizing propellers paralleling generators symmetrical and unsymmetrical thrust minimum control speeds and the fun goes out of flyingshyit now becomes serious business With hardly more than a conshytrolled rate of descent with one engine out survival depends on your ability to nurse that reshymaining engine and make it to a safe landing

I was puzzled at first My only thought was that if you had to deshysign a two-engine airplane to fly on one engine why bother with two

How about four That was the next stop B-17s Now it was turshybochargers feathering props four of everything Overwhelming With all four running they took the B-17 to unprecedented heights With turbochargers we could get takeoff power at 30000 feet Those Wright engines probably would

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 2 5

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

Workshop Schedule Oct 19 2002 Boston MA

TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Nov 2-3 2002 Minneapolis MN SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG FABRIC COVERING

Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10 2002 Griffin GA FINISHING amp

SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

Visit wwwsportaircom for a complete listing of workshops

1-800-WORKSHOP$PORrJJIR 1-800-967-5746 WORKSHOPS sportaireaaorg --~--

26 OCTOBER 2002

Workshop Schedule Oct 19 2002 Boston MA

TEST FLYING YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20 2002 Boston MA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Nov 2-3 2002 Minneapolis MN SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG FABRIC COVERING

Nov 8-10 2002 Griffin GA TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10 2002 Griffin GA FINISHING amp

SPRAYING PAINT GAS WELDING SHEET METAL SHEET METAL FORMING

Nov 23 2002 Corona CA TEST FLYING

YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24 2002 Corona CA SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT FABRIC COVERING

Dec 6-8 2002 Griffin GA RVASSEMBLY TIGWELDING

Dec 6-8 2002 Corona CA RVASSEMBLY

have gone much higher but the wing was never designed to go that high My personal opinion was that the B-17 flew best at the intermediate and lower altitudes Ten to twelve thousand was the best Without pressurization which came much later thos e were also the maximum altitudes for passenger and crew comfort

By this time operating round engines was old hat There was a succession of other multiengine military airplanes C-47s Douglas A-20 and 26s even B-24s and for a while a Martin B-26 Then it was back to the Stearman and finally the Twin Beech as we trained Chishynese nationalist pilots in th e dosing days of WWII

Fast-forward five years Very litshytle round engine time Dirt fi eld flying flight instruction charter crop spray ing banner towing glider towing a tour in Army Aviashytion most all in flat engines and then finally an airline job

Back to the round engine DC-3 DC-4 Convair 340-440s DC-6 DC-7 Thirteen yea rs of airline round engines In all those years there were a couple of precautionshyary shutdowns but I can only count two actual engine failures Both Wright Turbo-compound enshygines in DC-7s More than 10000 hours of recip flying

When one thinks of all the parts and pieces working in unison on a recip engine at maybe 7S percent power it s hard to believe they were as reliable as they were It seemed like the harder and more often you worked them the better they ran The local service operashytion in the DC-3s and Convair 440s seldom gave those engines time to cool off We averaged a landing every 40 minutes Rain snow ice summer heat we worked those engines unmerci shyfully and they stood up to it

We had problems Mags fouled plugs (from long ground holds) propeller governors high oil conshysumption high head temperatures

but they always ran and always got us there

There were mechanical electrishycal and hydraulic problems and an occasional starter burnout but by far and large the engines were the least of our problems

Small wonder that when we transitioned into the turbines we felt a sense of loss We had ye t to experience what the new hires had been trying to tell us These recent ex-military people coming o n as flight engineers had never seen or heard a round engine until th ey came to the airline We shou ld have listened the transition might have been much easier

As it was th e transition was a chore for us old seat-of-the-pants types The new tech language threw us and whenever we said someshything like Oh yeah thrust lever don t you mean throttle the inshystructors would cringe and then lecture us on the proper terminolshyogy So we had a high pressure fuel cock rather than a mixture control no primer or ignitio n switch no mags to check and lots of limitations to learn

We never heard of FOD before Thats foreign object damage caused by that big vacuum cleaner out there under the wing The tachometers were now percent gauges and th e manifold gauge was an EPR (exhaust pressure ratio) or something like that But we learned and learned quickly that these were the most reshyliable forms of propulsion ever

No mag checks no mixtures or prop controls to play with just light the fire and GO We learned about spooling up th e lag time how to do stabilized approaches keeping the power up and dirtying up the airplane by using flaps gear speed brakes and whatever there was no drag of a windmilling proshypeller to slow down the airplane and it felt like you were going Mach 1 all the time

After the strangeness wore off it actually became a pl eas ure to fly with one exception They were just too fast When we flew the old reshycips we averaged about four hours of flight with ma ybe an hour on the ground for servicing Now we flew an hour and spent four hours waiting for the airplane to be turned around That wasnt the enshygines fault offloading all those passengers baggage and cargo cleaning up the airplane fueling and reloading everything and then sweating out the ATC delays burned a lot of daylight

I could go on and o n about schedules the versatility of the airshyplanes the ability to climb high and deviate around weather and still make schedule along with the comfort for the passengers but well save that for another time that is if you want to hear more

Over to you

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913 -856 -7851 wwwskywardpiotshopcom

Pilot supplies-Training Aids- Aircraft Parts-Aviation tun Stuff

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The folowing list ofcoming events is furshynished to our rea ders as a matter of information only and does not constitute apshyproval sponsorship involvement control or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed Please send the informashytion to EAA Att Vintage Airplane PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Informashytion should be received fOllr months prior to the event date

OCTOBER 12-Toughkenamon PAshyEAA Chapter 240 28th Annual FlyshyInDrive-In Pancake Breakfast 800 am at New Garden Airport (N57) Young Eagles Rally Admission free Info 215-761-3191

OCTOBER 12-Ridgeway VA-EAA Ch 970 Old-Fashion Grass Field Fly-In and Pig-Picking Pace Field (VA02) Info 276-956-2159

OCTOBER 12-Kentol1 OH-EAA Ch 1196 Annual Chili Fly-In at Hardin Co Airport (i-95) 11 am until (Rain date Sun 1013) Info 419-673 shy9542

OCTOBER 16-20-Tullahoma TNshyBeech Party 2002 A Homecoming Staggerwi ngTwin Beech 18Beech OwnersEnthusiasts Info 931-455 shy1974

OCTOBER 19-5eguil1 TX-(OTX6) Annual Fly-In at Elm Creek Info 830-303-6577 or VEStaleypeoplepccom or httpwwwaimavcoma irportOTX6

OCTOBER 19-Fort Pierce FL-EAA Ch 908 Fly-In Pancake Breakfast Ft Pierce Intl Airport Info 772-464shy0538 or 772-461-7175

NOVEMBER 23-Fort Pierce FL-EAA Ch 908 Fly-In Pancake Breakfast Ft Pierce Intl Airport Info 772-464shy0538 or 772-461 -7175

DECEMBER 21-Fort Pierce FL-EAA Ch 908 Fly-In Pancake Breakfast Ft Pierce Intl Airport Info 772-464shy0538 or 772-461-7175

EAA FLYmiddotIN SCHEDULE 2002 EAA SOUTHEAST REGIONAL FLYmiddotIN wwwserfimiddotorg October 4-6 Evergreen AL

COPPERSTATE EAA FLYmiddotIN wwwcopperstateorg October 10-13 Phoenix AZ

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

NEW MEMBERS Paul D Conway West Vancouver BC Canada Gerald D Norberg St Norbert MB Canada Robert C McKellar Kars ON Canada Gerard Klein Le Robert Martinique Jesus Alberto Delgado Garza Garza Mexico Donald S Goldberg Bermuda Dunes US Carol A Scanlon Bermuda Dunes US Stephen A Fox Bethel AK Roger Wentowski Birmingham AL Greg McCoy Springdale AR David Carlson Tucson AZ Michael G Clifton Flagstaff AZ Kenneth C Larsen Phoenix AZ Donald Clark Oakhurst CA Gregory D Conklin Nevada City CA Ken] Frank Nevada City CA George E Marshall Santa Monica CA Autumn Murdock Huntington Beach CA Robert W Reid Milpitas CA Ken C Stake Visalia CA Jim Thomas Groveland CA Paulo Ubach Davis CA Tina Ziolkowski Diamond Bar CA Charlie Huff Crawford CO Th omas B Mezger Parker CO George R Risley Loveland CO Alfonse Fratelli Dover DE Jon A Baker Lake Wales FL William Custer Ocala FL Vicente Lanz Boca Raton FL Ronald Silliman Naples FL Leon Stovall Satellite Beach FL R C Tears Fort Meyers FL Jeffery W Johnson Douglas GA Tommy E Lenhart Barnesville GA Mark A Sorenson Senoia GA Jim Davies Garden Valley ID William Bozych Oak Lawn IL Michael Campbell New Lenox IL Rex Catron Greenville IL Donald C Hegebarth Naperville IL Donald G Kroenlein Moweaqua IL Norton Richards Batavia IL Thomas W Taylor Cherry Valley IL Erik Andrew Taylor Minooka IL Rod Dutt Culver IN Richard McCloskey Granger IN Patrick Reed Prairie Village KS Sidney MacQueen Amesbury MA Bernard J Bisciotti Severna Park MD Gerry Freed Ovid MI Raymond J Kendzicky Brighton MI

28 OCTOBER 2002

Thomas E Baker 0 Fallon MO WaIlIis M Jackson Cleveland MO William D Melvin Florissant MO Steve H Riley St Joseph MO Mike Groarke Marion MT Paul A Woody Billings MT Joseph F Giallo Raleigh NC Christopher M Goggin Wilmington NC Leo V Keeling Walhalla NO Ken Pokorski Bellevue NE Gregory Brown Somerset NJ Brett Kallish Palmyra NJ David Lewis Broadalbin NY Eugene L Oshrin Southampton NY John M Przestrzelski Frankfort NY Robert L Kyle Munroe Falls OH Donald W Peters Westerville OH Charles W Sauter Columbus OH Raymond F Williams Canton OH Bill Holbrook Springer OK Brian Breitbarth Canby OR Rick Holman Eugene OR Harold G Nelson Pendleton OR Jorge Troncoso Elkins Park PA Ted Willke Sewickley PA Barron Cooley Anderson SC Susan Kaffar Trent SO Martin G Galyon Sweetwater TN W D Graebner Eads TN Paul W Gray Eads TN Sandy Anderson Nixon TX Richard C Boyer Georgetown TX Carl H Christensen Columbus TX Paul A Donner Hurst TX Connie Edwards Big Spring TX Danny Goggans Sulphur Springs TX Brad L Henley McKinney TX Lloyd P Sutton Wichita Falls TX Stephen M White Garden Ridge TX Gary E Williams Fort Worth TX Robert Williamson Greenville TX William H Wisner Mineola TX Walter Martens Sterling VA William Uher Virginia Beach VA Dale L Colbert Olympia WA Eric Johnson Valley WA Madelaine J Kenney Seattle WA Anne E Lovett Tacoma WA Leigh A Tallman Renton WA Milo Tichacek Randle WA Roy Van Sluys Sheboygan WI Alan J Watt Waukesha WI

Fly high with a quality Classic interior Complete interior assemblies ready for installation

Custom quality at economical prices

bull Cushion upholstery sets bull Wall panel sets bull Headliners bull Carpet sets bull Baggage compartment sets bull Firewall covers bull Seat slings

Free catalog of complete product line

Fabric Selection Guide showing actual sample colors and styles of materials $300

Qi~RODUCTS INC 259 Lower Morrisville Rd Dept VA Fallsington PA 19054 (215) 295-4115 website wwwairtexinteriorscom Fax 800394-1247 e

Howa rd Hughes Spruce Goose

I dont know Howard Maybe if wed used Poly-Fiber wed

have finished it on time Absolutely And because Poly-Fiber doesnt support combustion fire wouldnt have been as big a worry either The gargantuan Goose would have been lighter and stronger too able to fly even higher What a shame Poly-Fiber wasnt around back then Timing is everything huh HowardReally easy to use The best manual around40 years of success Nationwide EM workshopsNew step-by-step video Toll-free technical support

800-362-3490 wwwpolyfibercom e-mail infopolyfibercom

FAX 909-684-0518 Aircraft Coatings

COMING AT YOU Two Quality Journals

THE JOURNAL OF ~ THE AIRPLANE 1920-1940

Featuring David Ostrowski Editor

bull Airplane restorations amp bull Accurate detailed drawings reproductions bull Paint colors markings

bull Indepth articles on historic bull Museums amp events FREE ISSUE FOR NEW SUBSCRIBERS aircraft bull Aircraft engines parts MENTION THIS AD

bull Great photos including for sale details amp cockpits bull Book amp literature reviews

bull Scale amp flying models bull Your wants amp disposals Published by WORLD WAR 1 ~ INC 15 Crescent Road Poughkeepsie NY 12601 USA (845) 473-367S

J Send a sample copy at $4+ $3pp o both J WWI AERO A NON-PROFIT MEMBER-ORIENTED SERVICE ORGANIZATION cJ SKYWAYS

THE JOURNAL Of THE EARLY AEROPLANE

Leonard E ~ Editor

Sl~~o~

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29

Fly high with a quality Classic interior Complete interior assemblies ready for installation

Custom quality at economical prices

bull Cushion upholstery sets bull Wall panel sets bull Headliners bull Carpet sets bull Baggage compartment sets bull Firewall covers bull Seat slings

Free catalog of complete product line

Fabric Selection Guide showing actual sample colors and styles of materials $300

Qi~RODUCTS INC 259 Lower Morrisville Rd Dept VA Fallsington PA 19054 (215) 295-4115 website wwwairtexinteriorscom Fax 800394-1247 e

Howa rd Hughes Spruce Goose

I dont know Howard Maybe if wed used Poly-Fiber wed

have finished it on time Absolutely And because Poly-Fiber doesnt support combustion fire wouldnt have been as big a worry either The gargantuan Goose would have been lighter and stronger too able to fly even higher What a shame Poly-Fiber wasnt around back then Timing is everything huh HowardReally easy to use The best manual around40 years of success Nationwide EM workshopsNew step-by-step video Toll-free technical support

800-362-3490 wwwpolyfibercom e-mail infopolyfibercom

FAX 909-684-0518 Aircraft Coatings

COMING AT YOU Two Quality Journals

THE JOURNAL OF ~ THE AIRPLANE 1920-1940

Featuring David Ostrowski Editor

bull Airplane restorations amp bull Accurate detailed drawings reproductions bull Paint colors markings

bull Indepth articles on historic bull Museums amp events FREE ISSUE FOR NEW SUBSCRIBERS aircraft bull Aircraft engines parts MENTION THIS AD

bull Great photos including for sale details amp cockpits bull Book amp literature reviews

bull Scale amp flying models bull Your wants amp disposals Published by WORLD WAR 1 ~ INC 15 Crescent Road Poughkeepsie NY 12601 USA (845) 473-367S

J Send a sample copy at $4+ $3pp o both J WWI AERO A NON-PROFIT MEMBER-ORIENTED SERVICE ORGANIZATION cJ SKYWAYS

THE JOURNAL Of THE EARLY AEROPLANE

Leonard E ~ Editor

Sl~~o~

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29

Every Ohio Aircraft Interior

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30 OCTOBER 2002

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birds of America Division and receive WARBIRDS magaZine for an additional $40 per year

EAA Membership WARBIRDS magaZine and one year membership in the Warbirds Divimiddot sion is available for $50 per year (SPOR T AVIATION magazine not included) (Add S7 for Foreign Postage)

EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA

EXPERIMENTER magazine for an additional $20 per year

EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $30 per year (SPORT AVIATION magaZine not included) (Add S8 for Foreign Postage)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars Add required Foreign Postage amount for each membership

Membership dues to EAA and its divisions are not tax deductible as charitable contributions

Copyright copy2002 by the EM Vintage Aircraft Association All rights reserved

VINTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 0091middot6943) IPM 1482602 is published and owned exclusively by the EM Vintage Aircraft Association of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published monthly at EAA Aviation Center 3000 PoberelOY Rd PO Box 3086 Oshkosh Wisconsin 54903middot3086 Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh Wisconsin 54901 and at additional mailing offices POSTMASTER Send address changes to EAA Vintage Aircraft Association PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903middot3086 FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES - Please allow at least two months for deliv of VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via surmiddot face mail ADVERTISING - Vintage Aircraft Association does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31

DAVE MILLER WARBIR D AVIATOR Daye Miller Sturgeon Bay WI

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