Vintage Airplane - Sep 1999

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Sep 1999

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STRAIGHT &LEVEU

Espie"Butch"Joyce

2

AIRVENTURE

'99

AWARDS

AlC

NEWS

4 AEROMAIL

5

THIRTY

FIVE YEARS AT

THE OUTER MARKER/

DutchRedfield

9

GRADY

SHARP'SENGINE!PROP

POSITIONER/John

Underwood

13 YOUR

VERY

OWN TAPERWINGI

H. G.

Frautschy

17 OZZIE'SCRUISAIR/

BuddDavisson

21

MYSTERY PLANE!

H G.

Frautschy

24

PASS IT TO BUCK!

B B "Buck"Hilbert

27

WELCOME NEW

MEMBERS

28 CALENDAR


3/36

T

by ESPIE BUTCH

JOYCE

PRESIDENT, VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

It

is hard

to

think that EAA

AirVenture '

99 is

over;

rhave

just

gotten my brief cases back in the office. We've been

so

busy

catching

up

that I

have

not

let the

Oshkosh air

out

of

them as of

yet. Soon all the

statistics

we

enjoy seeing

will

be compiled;

the

number of aircraft, people, campers, and other items, but that's

only

part

of

the story

.

Instead

I'd

like

to

tell you what was

happening

in the

Vintage

Aircraft area

of the

Convention

grounds. I

received

a note

the

other

day from Charlie Harris, your

V

AA treasurer. Charlie wrote

: .

well done at

Oshkosh '99.

All

went

very

smooth,

we have some

truly

great people"

. I

must

say, "Ditto "

We

have some truly great

people

,

both

volunteers

and

members.

I continue to be

amazed at the level

of dedication and support

the

VAA

membership

gives back to

the

Vintage Aircraft Association.

Three cheers for

you

all

This year the

number of

people who came forward and volun

teered

was

up

by

a whopping

20%. The

increase

in

volunteers

has

to

do

in

a

great part to the service and support the Vintage Aircraft

Association gives

to

its members

.

An important factor is the

effort

Anna

and

John Osborn give to this recruitment function

all

year

'round.

In

order

to

operate

the VAA

area

of the

grounds during

EAA

AirVenture,

the VAA

puts together

some 60

chairmen

and

400

volunteers

to

help each other.

The

flight

line

consist

of two

rows

of

what

we

call the

North

40, 140

+

rows

of

aircraft east

of

the

North/ South

road

just east of

the Red

Barn

and the

showplane

camping area just south of the Theater

in

the Woods . This year 's

wet grounds

gave

us

a

bit

of a

challenge, but we filled every avail

able space

with

some

of the

best airplanes ever assembled.

Speaking of nice aircraft, we had

the

greatest

number

of

return

ing Past Grand

Champions

this year. One

of your directors,

Bob

Lickteig, started this program years ago. We invite these

beautiful

clo

se

and the caliber

of

restoration

s so

high.

How

would

you

like

sitting

ther

e

feeling pretty

good

about

your

day

' s

work as

a judge

and

then

at

the end

of

the

day see

a

1929

Kreutzer-6K5

with

three

Kinners

spitting

at you come

taxiing in.

Wow, where'd that come

from?

Then a 1929 Fokker

Super

Univer

sal

shows up

,

and

to

top that

off,

here is

a

farmer from

North Dakota

showing up in

a

pr

e

tty

1929 Menas

co Great Lakes

he

put

together

in his spare time. A judges work is never done until

the

judging

deadline

passes.

The Contemporary

judges

have their work cut out for them too.

This class

was slow

in showing up

with

restored aircraft at

first.

1

think that

it has

just

taken some time for

these restorations

to be

completed

once we

started to judge Contemporary aircraft a

few

years ago.

The ones

that we

have

now are top quality and ,

as

time

progresses,

we

will

be

seeing

more new

restorations.

r

might be

wrong, but it seems

to

me that the greatest c0 t jJetition is within the

Classic group of

owners. The

completion

and

quality of restorations

by these folks

just

blows my mind

.

My hat is

off to

the individuals who are restoring these great

air

planes

and

to

the group

of udges who have to make a choice

as

to

which is best. Now we

would not

be able

to judge

or

just

look these

aircraft

if it

was not for

the

great volunteers and chairman who work

the

flight

line.

These

guys are on the

job

from first

light to

darkness

each day,

getting direction from the two primary chairmen for this

area, George Daubner and

Geoff

Robinson

,

who have

a

great

group

of co-chairmen .

We

look forward

to

hearing more about their area

in

a

future issue

of

Vintage

Airplane. The wonderful group at

V

AA

HQ

keeps things moving here

with

information, plaques,

mugs

,

merchandise, and

general good fellowship.

All of these

happenings

are reported

to

the V

AA

membership with the daily published

"AEROGRAM

,"

put

together by

Sara Marcy, Bill Marcy and Earl


4/36

AirVenture '99 Awards

ANTIQUE

Grand

Champion:

Real Perra s, Mor

risville,

VT,

1940 Lockheed 12-A

(NC2633)

Reserve

Grand

Champion : Ed Moore,

Mystic,

CT,

1943 Howard DGA-15P

(NC6843I)

Antique Replica Aircraft Champion:

Sam

Johnson, Racine,

WI, 1998 Siko

rsky S-38 (NC6V)

CHAMPIONS

CUSTOMIZED

AIRCRAFT

C

hampion

: Roland Rippon, Rockford,

IL , 1940 Howard DGA-15 (NC 1227)

Runner Up: John Scott, David Brown,

Duke Baxter, Willard Brown , Rock Hill,

SC,

1941

Piper J-3 (NC41105)

Outstanding : Roy Redman, Faribault,

MN, 1928 Waco ATO (NC41105)

TRANSPORT CATEGORY

Tra nsport: Greg Herrick, Jackson, WY,

1929 Keutzer-6

K5

(NC612A)

Transport

Runner-Up

: Museum of

Flight, Seattle, WA, 1933 Boeing

2470

(NC 13347)

WORLD WAR II MILITARY

TRAINER/LIAISON

Champion

: Dan White, Andover, MN,

SILVER AGE 1928-1932)

Champion

: Jerry Wenger, Powell, WY,

1932 Waco UBF-2 (NC I3027)

Runner Up: Robert Howie, Dec

at

ur, IL,

1930 Waco RNF (NC686Y)

Outstanding Open

Cockpit

Biplane :

John Woodford , Madison, WI, 1930

Bunner-Winkle C-Bird (NC876WC)

BRONZE

AGE

1933-1941)

Cham pion : William Smith, Franklin,

PA, 1937 Monocoupe 110 (NC2064)

Runner

Up: Paul Sensor, Hampton, lA,

1936 Stinson SR-8E (NC 17118)

Outstanding Closed Cockpit Biplane :

Les

Cashmere,

McAle s te r , OK, 1936

Waco ZQC-6 (NCI6203)

Ju dges Choice: Clark Seaborn, Calgary,

AB, 1929 Fokker Super Universal (CF

AAM)

CLASSIC

Grand Champion : Boyd "Butch"

Walsh, Arrington, V A, Stinson 108-3

(N6233M)

Re

se rve Grand Champion : L. Ga le

Perkins,

Richwood

,

OH

,

Piper

PA-17

(N4643H)

Best Class One (0-80 hp): Clayton Ham

mond, Danville, KY, Piper J-3 (N7031 0)

Best

Class

II (81-150

hp) : Mark

Ohlinger, Akron, OH, Bellanca 14-13-1

sup, GA, Aeronca Champ 7 AC (N83320)

Best Aeronca Chief:

Tom

Miller, Vine

Grove, KY, Aeronca Chief (N86176)

Best

Beechcraft

: John Pinson, Harker

Heights, TX, Beech 35 (N3935N)

Best Bellanca : Charles Shouldis, Rapid

City, SO, Bellanca 14-19 (N6563N)

Best

Cessna

120 140:David Stadt, Wau

conda, IL, Cessna 120 (N2904N)

Best

Cessna 170180:

John

McCloy,

Polk City, FL, Cessna 180 (NI8IJM)

Best

Cess

na

190 195 :

Scott

Boyton,

Campbell, NY, Cessna 195B (N 1955B)

Best Ercoupe : Alan Cuthbert , Dowa

giac, MI, Ercoupe (N93512)

Best Luscombe:

Mark

& Yvonne May,

Chapmansboro,

TN,

Luscombe

(N1168K)

Best Navion: Kent Strachan, Belleville,

MI,

Ry

an (N4545K)

Best Piper

J-3 :

Kenneth

Clark,

Tulsa,

OK, Piper J-3C (N88005)

Best Piper-Other: Daniel Ernst, Maple

wood, MN, Piper PA-12 (N530IM)

Be st Stinson : Joseph

Jacobi

, Mexico,

MO, Stinson 108-3 (N652 1M)

Best Swift: Charles Nelson Athens, TN,

Globe GC-IB (N80637)

Best Taylorcraft: John Knight, Jackson,

MI, Taylorcraft BC12-D (NC96035)

Best Limited Production: Stephen

Johnson, Redmond, WA, DeHavilland

Beaver DHC-2 (N888KM)

Most

Unique:

Don Luscombe Aviation

History Foundation, Phoenix, AZ, Lus

combe 8E (N2638K)


5/36

David

Taylor

, Mexico, MO, 1956 Piper

PA 22-20 (N7117B)

C u

stomized

C

la

ss II Single

Engine:

Chris Bruck, St. Peters, MO, 1959 Cessna

182 (N182HD)

Customized

Class Single

E

ngine

:

William

Demray

,

Northville

, MI , 1959

Piper PA-24 (N69PD)

Customized Class IV Multi Engine: Jay

Simmons,

Bartlett

, TN, 1957 Piper

Apache (N3294P)

OUTSTANDING IN TYPE

Beech

Multi

Engine: Ronald

Hyde,

Kennedy, TX, 1959

Beech

EI85S

(N317MH)

Bellanca : Thoma s Wright , Clyde , OH ,

1958 Bellanca 14-19-2 (N9833B)

Cessna 150 : Robert Untern aehi ,

Brunswick , MO , 1959 Cessna 150

(N7835)

Cessna

170-172-175 : Charles Papas ,

Crown

Point

, IN , 1959

Ce s

sna 172

(N7612T)

Cessna 180-182-210 : John Voninski ,

Manlius, NY, 1958 Cessna 182 (N2435G)

Cessna 310:

R.

Dean Callan, Southlake ,

TX, 1958 Cessna 310 (N6644B)

Piper

PA-18 : James Patten, Hope, IN ,

1960 Piper PA-18 (N285HC)

Piper

PA-22-20: Leon Gruetzmac, Oel

wein, lA, 1959 Piper PA22-20 (N2837Z)

Pip

er

PA-24 Comanche: Robert

Mc

Graw, Chalfont , PA, 1960

Piper

PA-24

Comanche (N7028P)

Piper PA-23 Apache/Aztec

: Robert

Dalzell, Owenboro, KY, 1957 Piper

Apache (N103RS)

Limited Production

: Allan Anderson ,

Santa Rosa, CA, 1959 Luscombe 8F

(N9923C)

SEAPLANE!

AMPHIBIAN

VAANEWS

compiled by H.G. Frautschy

AERONCA SPAR AD

As many of you know, we here at EAA

have been involved in

monitoring

and

commenting on NPRM 99-05-04 (Docket

No. 98-CE-121-AD) concerning added in

spection requirements for Aeronca spars.

Unfortunately the short comment periods

have meant that each close date for com

ments would be past by the time the next

magazine reached you. A extension has

been granted for comments until Septem

ber

10

(still very close to the time thi s

magazine will reach you) so we strongly

encourage you to quickly contact the Na

tional Aeronca Association, Terre Haute,

IN 812/232-1491 and check the Citabria

Group Web site at http ://www .

citabria.comfor up-to-date information on

their efforts to minimize the impact this is

sue will have.

CORRIGAN'S ROBIN

In the Ju ly issue on page

II

we pub

lished a photo

of

Doug Corrigan giving

hi

s

engine

a

once over prior

to his

famous

flight in 1938.

t

wa s erroneously cap

tioned as a 185-hp Cha llenger engine. Not

so, as a number

of

faithful readers pointed

out. Doug Corrigan relied on a Wright J-6

5 of 165 hp for his flight from California

and thence onto Ireland . With the engine

change, his Robin was designated a 1-1 .

DUTCH

ISN'T

FINISHED

Contrary to the statement we published

on page 5 in last month's issue, we're far

from done with Holland

"Dutch"

Red

field's remembrances published under the

title "35 Years From The Outer Marker. "

Keep enjoying Dutch' s early days, starting

this month on page 5.

THE COVERS

FRONT COVER . ..

The EAA AirVen

ture '99 Outstanding Customized Aircraft

Antique

winner

was

this

Rare

Airc

r

aft

cre

ation , a

Waco ATO Taperwing

that has

re

c

ently joined the stable of Jerry Wenger. It

was also

an

award winner at the Sun

'n

Fun

EAA Fly-In, chosen as the Best Antique

tom airplane

.

EAA Photo by

Mark

Shalble

,

shot with a

Canon

EOS1 n

equipped

with an

80 -200 mm zoom lens.

EAA

Cessna

210

photo plane flown

by

Bruce Moore.

BACK COVER . . . Post War Aviation

is

the

title

of

the oil

painting by

Walter

S.

Dougherty

,

740

Dukehart

Ct.

, Stone

Moun

tain ,

GA 30083.3 years

in the making , it

started

out as

a

painting of the J-3 in which

he

soloed ,with

his

granddaughter

added to

the

mix,

and

then , when

he

started

to add

a

few

more

airplanes

to keep them

company

,

things

just

mushroomed Once completed

the painting includes 60

airplanes

, 14 an -

tique

cars (including

his first

, a 39 Chevy

and

a

hawk on the canvas. Can you name

all

the

airplanes? Akey to

the pa

inting is

at the

bottom of the page

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


6/36

As often happens when

you

hear about an incident that

has been filtered through a couple ofsets ofears, invari

ably some changes are made to the story remember the

childhood game

o

te

l

ephone "?). Such

was the

case

with the forced

landing

o Cessna 190 NC3089B, the

Persimmon

and silver

Cessna now

owned and

flown

by

Ron Karwacky. Here's the note from the owner who skill

fully landed the airplane after the departure o f the

prop

ji-om the engine:

Dear Mr. Frautschy,

T

read

with

some interest your

article in the July issue of Vintage

Airplane. Unless there are two

3089B's, the article s less than ac

curate.

t

was early on a Sunday morn

ing, during February 1971 when I

took my friend Stewm1 Dauchy for

a

ride

in my

Cessna

190.

He had

his first flying lesson the

day be-

fore and was doing a very nice job

of flying the 190 when there was a

loud crack, a

violent shudder

and

then silence.

The engine (Continental 670-A)

had seized

due to

a

plugged

oil

vent line from the thrust section of

the crankcase.

The

prop left and I

slipped it into a small country road.

See enclosed photos.

There was no damage to the air

plane

except to the engine

and

cowl, caused by the depm1ing prop.

crankshaft still in the hub.

The

old bird sure looks a lot better now. Mr. Karwacky

has done a fine

job

to a fine old airplane.

Sincerely,

H. Kennard Perkins

EAA 302126,

VAA

14387

Captain, Retired, United Airlines

North Hampton, NH


7/36

l ve

ears

tt

Outer Marker

Continuing Dutch

Redfield s

early

aviation

carreer, he

learns

about short field

operations

from

an

old master and

hears

the pop of a iumpers chute.

I

t was while in the process of

preparing

for my

Private

Pilot

spin

tests

that

I

came to

know

Ernie Halmam a little better.

Ernie was

probably

the

finest

flight instructor on the field and his

green fuselage and

yellow

winged

Standard Trainer, powered by a short

stacked, barking, clanking, popping,

forever shaking 5-cylinder Kinner

engine, was to be heard climbing

his teeth.

Ernie was

noted for

being very ,

very

patient

with

his

students,

who

all held much respect and affection

for him . For

Ernie

to swear was

most unusual, perhaps

a

Damn

it

on occasion. With little

doubt

he

was the most natural flier I've

ever

known. Anyone aloft with Ernie, ex-

perienced or not, would be quick to

detect the

manner

in which any air-

blue eyes ;

eyes

that truly sparkled

when he smiled or laughed.

Ernie

was

seldom seen

without a

soft

wool

cap

and always flew open

cockpit

airplanes

with

the peak

turned

aft

and

with no goggles. He

was bald with only a fringe of hair

around the edges.

To

act

as

his

ticket

seller , Ernie

asked that I accompany him one win-

try, but sunny , Sunday afternoon to


8/36

were no suitable

landing fields

nearby the town,

Geneva had not

been

barnstormed

for some time

a

nd Ernie

was of

the belief that

time was

ripe

for making a few

dollars hopping passengers from a

highway

clo sely

bordering

the

lake shore.

As we descended toward the

lake, it

didn't

look to me as

if

there

wa s any ice at

all.

t

looked all

lake and open water until we cir

cled

directly overhead,

where

looking

straight

down could be

s

een

a

layer

of

dirty gray

ice

that

appeared to be under about an inch

of

smooth

water and this layer of

ice

extended but

little

distance

from shore.

Our approach was into the gen

tle south wind blowing and toward

this open water area . t

was

diffi

cult at low levels to see where the

ice ended

and

the unfrozen lake

started,

and

Ernie touched

the

Standard down very short and very

close to the shoreline after a steep

s ide slip . Icy

spray

was thrown

high

over

the lower wings and tail

on our rollout. We taxied back to

ward shore

and

a

crowd

of

gathering automobiles through big

puddles of shallow water.

t

looked

like a

very successful afternoon

might be n store for us. Close to the

highway,

Ernie

spun the Standard

around with a blast of

the barking

Kinner. I loosened my seat belt and

stepped out onto the walkway of the

lower wing as

the engine

was cut.

As

I

stepped down

to the

puddled

ice, it

seems we both looked at the

same time and to our complete shock

saw in the ice, just off our wingtip, a

hole large enough to swallow the en

tire

airplane.

As

we had made

our

the

nose

rapidly rotated

through many more de-

grees

than normal to a

now steep

climbing

attitude Speed

bled

very

rapidly

and with a

sharp

burst

of power we

plunked

onto the hillside

with the airplane n a

steep

climb

normal upstate

farm

products , he

raised wonderful popcorn, and from

his slaughtered pigs made real home

fresh country sausage. The annual

appearance of

these two items was

always an airport occasion.

On a hillside in back of his house,

which overlooked

lovely

Onondaga

Valley, was

a

tiny

,

steeply-sloped,

grassy patch bordered on three sides

by

tall

growing

com .

Had

this field

been

on a level plane, it would have

been

far too small to make a landing

or

takeoff with

anything

but

a

heli

Ernie stopped

our

gliding

turn

high

over

the valley and the wings

were leveled. As we descended to

ward the

tiny

green patch on the

side of the hill, it appeared we were

flying the airplane straight into the

ground,

because

of

the optically

distorted approach geometry.

At

the last

second,

the

airplane

was sharply flared for landing and

the nose rapidly rotated through

many more degrees than normal to

a

now-steep climbing attitude

.

Speed bled very rapidly and with a

sharp burst

of

power we plunked

onto

the hillside

with

the airplane

in a steep climb.

Few

pilots I

had

flown

with

up

to this point would be able to pull

this off. The

Standard touched

down with

its

wing tips brushing

the cornstalks, and the drag

of

the

uptilted elevators and the dragging

tail skid took over as we

rapidly

decelerated

while rolling up the

steep incline. When we finally

bumped to a

stop, the idling pro

peller was only a few feet from the

outer cellarway entrance and

Ernie's

outside well pump handle.

rwas introduced to

Ernie's

wife,

Lulu

Belle,

his two dogs and his

cat. Then he gave me a tour of the

farm, during which I was given a pa

per bag of popcorn

kernels that

I

stored

in the

front cockpit 'til we

were ready to depart.

When

it

was time

to

leave

, we

chocked just one wheel with a rock

and Ernie pulled the prop th rough to

start the

Kinner

while I operated the

switches. He

then lifted the tail and ,

with me still in the cockpit, swiveled

the airplane around, pointing it back

down

the steep hill that we

a short

time ago had landed on.

Takeoff

ac


9/36

and rolling his red and silver Waco F,

or

Charlie Smith "buzzing" the field

with

his

lovely Stinson,

or, perhaps

Ernie Hannam, taking a few minutes

off from his student training,

to

put

on

a show with his Standard.

t was always a

real

treat to

be

there as Ernie

cut

his engine and then

slowly reduced airspeed

'til

the pro

peller windmilled to a complete stop.

He would

then

glide with silent

graceful wingovers and stalls from a

position high

overhead to a gentle

touch down.

Many

years later

when

his beauti

ful

wings had

been

folded for

him

and he lay bedridden, I wrote Ernie a

poem recalling this Syracuse Sunday

event. Perhaps now, since you know

a bit about

Ernie,

you'll enjoy

read

ing it with me.

OLD DE D STI K H NN M

Rumor has it

Old flying friend

That they've got you draped on

Your sitting end.

Now this

is

a heck of a

Place to be,

Cause in case you don't know it

t

ain't

for free.

But perhaps old boy

As you stare at the ceiling

You are able to think back

With nostalgic feeling

To those good old days

Not too long ago

When flying was

fun

And to heck with the dough.

My thoughts reminiscing

Are sharp as a tack.

Days

of

Webster and Ward

And Merrill and Mac.

See a Gypsy Moth

With old Tex Perin.

Hear your Standard's

ShOlt

stacks

The flippers full up ended.

Yes , old Pappy fmally fluffs her

Very gently down,

Cap beak pointing backward

Atop his old bald crown.

Sure, a lovely three pointer

For which all of us try.

Done just that way not the lot of,

All

ofthose

that fly.

Fire eater Hibbard glances up from

His ticket selling chore,

"He'll

never ever stop her

Before that hangar door!"

"That poor old battered hangar

With its urine-spattered tin."

"At night takes him twenty minutes

To squeeze and worm her in."

But

she's

ground borne now

And there is

just

no other out.

He's

got to stop her in there

Of

this there is no doubt.

Harmam bites his dead cigar

It's

clenched between his teeth.

He hopes the tail skid does its job

Dragging underneath.

She's fading rather fast

now

But

he's

closer to the door,

Only sound an idling 1-6-5

Two

passengers want some more.

A shout goes up,

"He's

got no choice

But

now

to take her in."

"Good God ifhe ever misses

What an awful mess of tin."

With inches spare inside he goes

And rolls her to a stop.

Doors quickly move together

And close up with a clop.

Long legs ease up out of cockpit

Cap's straightened with a spin.

To those tabled in the comer

"You

didn't

deal me in!"

Have

you ever watched a para

chute being packed?

If

you ever plan

to use one,

don't.

Yet, it is done with

and

cords could

possibly

escape be

coming

tangled in arms , legs, and

around

the neck

of

the jumper,

who

is tumbling earthward

and praying

that it will open.

The

shock when

a

chute opens

can be ferocious. f falling head

down

the "happy chutist" is

now

snapped heads

up

with neck-break

ing

force. Even if the

de

scent

after

chute opening

is

uneventful, when

contacting the

ground

the

impact is

the

equivalent of what

would

be ex

perienced had you jumped off a 5

foot building

without

a chute, which

is pretty darn hard.

Also,

near

the

surface, if

the

air being descended

through happens to

be a surface

wind of

18-20

mph- on top of the

soon-to-be-contended with

high

de

scent

rate,

there will

also

be

the

additional problem of an 18-20

mph

drift and

it

might

be

backwards and

toward

something

unseen.

Many,

many hours I 've spent in

open

cockpit sitting on hard para

chute packs,

and how

many times

have I

walked across airport

ramps

with

the pesky,

ungainly thing

thumping the

back

of my legs.

Did

I

ever jump? No!!

and

r

have really

never had any plans

to

do

so.

Yet,

on some

soft

late

afternoons,

with a

good student in the back

cockpit,

I've a few times

been

tempted to step

out on the

wing walkway,

step off

and

drift down,

but better

judgment

has always prevailed.

This may

be

a good time to

tell

you about Ed Wynn, the professional

parachute jumper. Ed made

a living

of

sorts jumping

out of airplanes at

air shows after passing the

hat

for

donations from the crowd.

His specialty was the delayed drop

which called for him to tuck a bag of


10/36

I

ield then stepped alongside the rear

cockpit

with his pants legs flapping

in the

prop

stream. He

asked if

I

would take him

along so he could

practice guessing how high

he

was

(or

wasn't)

; this , he explained, so he

could better carry his delayed chute

openings

till the very last instant to

further delight the crowds.

Ed

seated himself

in

the forward

cockpit and we took off. As we

climbed through 400 feet

he

turned

around and shouted, "Don' t tell me

we're

at 1,500 feet - right? " "NO,

NO,

ED ,"

I shouted, and hastily in

formed him how high we really were.

During many tries that day, and on fol

lowing

days , Ed

never even came

close and consistently

estimated his

heights far above the actual. But this

the onlookers.

With his bulky gear, I he lped

him

climb

in,

then passed him

his

flour

bag,

his helmet and his motorcycle

goggles. With Merrill at the

switches

I

swung

the

heavy

metal

prop and the Whirlwind idled to life.

There was

a

big grin on

Ed's

face,

kneeling

on

the

cabin floor in his

harness

near

the open doorway, as

Merrill taxied away and blew dus t in

our faces. Ed

waved

to the antici

pating

crowd

as the plane lifted off,

then roared past

with

the wheels

skimming

across the field a few feet

above the ground.

Merrill planned

a

long climb

to

10,000 feet.

The

Stinson climbed

slowly,

so

while

I

had

some time , I

hand

pumped some

fuel from the

and his tumbling

form

too

small.

looked away again. As

I

waited

, I

pondered the toes

of

my shoes, the

laces,

and then the

lace

knots

I

had

tied

that morning

in

the rooming

house.

Then

I

examined

my pants

cuff

and

slowly

pulled out a loose

thread

.

Would

the "ahs"

that

al

ways

came

as the chute

blossomed

never come?

To stand it any longer was impos

sible, and

I

had

to look

up, but

I

could not find Ed, or the flour streak.

I

looked

up

further and gasped

in

alarm because

he

was directly over

my head

and

falling head

down

straight toward me. He was so close

to the ground that I could plainly see

his flapping white coveralls, his arm

across his chest, his hand on the rip

li o

stand

it

any

longer

was

impossible

and had

to

look

up but

could not find Ed or the flour streak. looked

up

further

and

gasped

in

alarm

because

he was directly over my head and falling

head down straight

toward

me .

He

was so close to the ground that

could

plainily

see

his

flapping

white

coveralls

...

didn't seem to bother him, he said it

looked different when coming straight

down anyway.

t was a short while after this that I

accompanied Merrill Phoenix with the

J-5 Whirlwind Stinson to a small town

near

the Pennsylvania border

for

a

barnstorming weekend . Ed came

along with us to do exhibition

jumps

to

help draw a crowd to the field .

The

jump

on Saturday went off

drums

of gasoline specially

deliv

ered to the farmer ' s field by the local

fuel

supplier. t was pumped into

five

gallon cans

to

be ready when

Merrill returned, so we could resume

our

passenger

hopping with

mini

mum delay.

A search for the Stinson showed it

very

high with the sounds of

the la

boring Whirlwind barely discemable.

t was nearly time for the push-off and

cord,

his

shiny black

shoes, and his

goggled, leather helmeted head.

"My

God ," I thought,

"He'll

land

on me " As I took off and ran, I heard

a powerful

"wham" as

the chute

opened,

jerked

Ed upright, then vio

lently pendulumed him up even with

the

straining

, bulging canopy. He

struck the ground

on his

side at

the

top of the swing, but miraculously the

impact was not

hard

.

He

was not


11/36

Hydraulic

Locking

and

the

wright R760 8

Engine

Crady

Sharps

Engine


12/36

3 SCREWS 12 APART

DRILL TAP DRILL

TURN FROM ALUM.

THIS SALVAGED FROM A USED

RECORDING TACH WITH

WORM DRIVE TEETH

TURNED OFF IN LATHE

c

=tJ

CHUCK

IN

LATHE

~ ~ R

\ FLANGE

2 4

INSTRUMENT

CASE MODIFIED

TO SUIT

FOR REMOVING THE CHUCK HERE FOR

WORM DRIVE TEETH CLEANING UP

LIVE CENTER

IN

HERE FOR

SUPPORT WHILE TURNING

THE MOUNTING FLANGE

ENGINE PROPELLER POSITIONER

FOR EXTENDED PARKING

This drawing is not to scale. It only indicates the method

of

construction

Worm drive teeth being removed.

Since I have read and actually found the Wright

seems especia

ll

y susceptible to having oil collect

in

the bottom two cylinders (and in the intake pipes,

depending on valve position), I set about fmding a

way to prevent it from accumulating. I had installed

drains on

cylinders

4 and 5 intake

pipes

having

primer fittings into which I installed M520823-4D

45 degree el bows with AN929 4D

caps. As

it

turned out, a drain on 4 intake is not often used un

less yo u

shou

ld inadvertently l

eave

the

engine

where the exhaust

in

4 is closed and the intake

open. Oil then can accumulate and will need drain

ing.

While working on this, the March '98 issue

of

Sport Aviation arrived containing an article on Bob

Hedgecock and his beautiful SM-2AA Stinson with

a Wright R760-8 engine. I wrote to Bob asking how


13/36

COMPRESSION

STROKE

2

3

1

using a drain on #5 intake and went on

to say he just left the prop in a position

where #4 exhaust and #5 intake valves

were open.

What

Bob didn't mention

was how he arrived at this position, but

he did get me

to

thinking.

I wanted to find a method of doing

this quickly, dependably and without

tools. This sent me back to the books for

a review

of

the sequence

of

valve action,

stroke and their functioning relationship

between two adjoining cylinders;

in

this

case, cylinders 4 and 5 on the Wright

760. Using engine

drawing No.1,

I

found

that 4 exhaust and

#5

intake

valves (these

two

cylinder's lowest

points) can be open at the same time but

you do have to be careful in positioning

the prop for this. If you pull the front

spark plug on #5 cylinder and position

the prop based on seeing 5 intake valve

in

the open position you can be led

astray; the exhaust valve in #4 cylinder

may not have yet opened. Engine draw

ing No. 1 shows the intake stroke on 5

just ending and the exhaust stroke on #4

just beginning.

What is

important

to

remember

is

that the intake

valve

on #5 has been

open since just before TDC and will

remain open through the entire stroke

and

just

beyond BDC. Realizing this,

it's

now easier to visualize that you

can read the

open

intake valve

too

early while the exhaust valve in #4 is

still closed as that cylinder nears the

end of its power stroke.

Using cylinder #4 for prop position

ing gives assured results. With its front

plug removed and turning the prop by

hand

in

the normal direction

of

rotation,

watch for that cylinder's exhaust valve

opening. As it opens, stop turning the

prop - you have "arrived. " Now note

the alignment position

of

one of the prop

blades in relationship to a cylinder and

2

7

INTAKE

STROKE

COMPRESSION

6

POWER

STROKE

3

STROKE

EXHAUST

STROKE

INTAKE

STROKE

ENGINE DRAWING

No.1

#4 EXHAUST AND

#5

INTAKE OPEN

INTAKE

STROKE

1

POWER

STROKE

EXHAUST

STROKE INTAKE

STROKE


14/36

have to go one more full revolution of

the prop. No tools and no handling

of

a

hot spark plug.

I could have stopped at this point, but

I took it further. I constructed an "instru

ment" which I connected to the engine

with a second tach cable. (See drawing

and photos.)

I started with a suitable used 2-1 /4

aircraft instrument. The back

of

the body

has been sawn

off

and discarded.

The

case was mounted in a lathe, turned true

where

sawn and

brought

to

an estab-

lished

le

ngth. Note here that

no

dimensions

are given in the

drawing

.

They are determined during construction

based on the parts collected. The basic

mechanical part in this device is taken

from a used recording tachometer. What

we're aiming for

is

to salvage just the ba

sic threaded tach cable attachment with

its integral bearing. We take this piece

and remove most of its bulk with a hack

saw to a point where we can chuck

it in

a

lathe to clean up both sides

of

what will

become the mounting flange . (Refer to

the drawing). After doing this, the flange

can

be

further

refined to a

nice

oval

shape with two countersunk holes for the

drawing (indicated as flat head screws).

Next,

the

new

aluminum

end plate

can be turned per drawing and the center

hole bored to

accept

the piece

just

de

scribed above. With the reworked tach

cable

attachment

piece temporarily in

place, the two screw mounting holes can

be drilled - the flange,

itself

, being the

guide for this.

It

' s

now time to remove

th e

mild

steel teeth from the worm

gear

; this is

easily done in the lathe. Again, refer to

the drawing for chucking. Remove the

teeth and

turn

to a 1/

4 diameter for

the fitting

of

a round "radio" knob, one

with a white pointer line and and solid

brass

insert

having

an Allen

head set

screw. A flat spot on the shaft can be

filed for the setscrew and the screw se

cured with

a

drop of Locktite

Removable ThreadlockerTM.

I've

mounted my instrument (with a

337 field approval) just inside the the en

gine

cowl

but still visible

from the

outside. Once the unit

was

connected,

the prop was

placed

into position, the

clock position of the white line noted and

the instrument case/glass marked with a

while reference point. After future shut

downs, place the marked prop blade into

alignment position and check the instru

ment. If it's 180

0

off, tum the prop one

full

revolution. Then hang

a

Please

Do Not Touch sign on the prop

, re

move the drain cap on #5 intake and

place a drip pan under the engine. Just

don t forget to replace the

cap before

the next engine start.

Where you mount the instrument is a

personal choice. You could even devise

a small electronic unit giving an audio or

light signal by using a proximity sensor

mounted to detect a slot cut in a metal

coliar

,

replacing

the

ra

dio knob

. All

kinds

of

possibilities to have

un

with

If

you wanted

to mount this new instru

ment in the cockpit area ( but probably

not where it would be twirling in front

of

your

face), then you could add a dual

tach drive unit between the existing tach

cable and tachometer.

One fmal note. Other engines will dif

fer; for instance, the 220 hp Continental

has the valves transposed from those on

the Wright. This article refers only to the

7-cylinder Wright. You'll have to get fa

miliar with

the

valve timing

for

your

particular engine installation.

......

The restored Waco

ASO


15/36


16/36

s

o begins Waco's

advertisement

in the April

3

, 1929

edition

of

Aviation

magazine. Full

of

the

hyperbole so prevalent of the advertis

ing used

in

the

roaring

'20s, the

boundless copy-writing enthusiasm of

the day was matched by the extraordi

nary flying of the great Waco pilots of

the day: Len Povey, who

would

later

create the Cuban Eight while train

ing Batista's Cuban Air Force; Freddie

Lund, first to perform an outside loop

with a commercially available aircraft

(prior to Freddie's stunt, the

outside

past president of the Waco Club, wrote

in his book, Taperwing Wacos, :

While the American Air Aces

Show was in Buffalo,

New

York, Len

purchased his first airplane from a doc

tor, a J-5 Taperwing Waco

NC67ll

for

which he paid $800.00.

Three

days

later,

while

flying over Wilmington,

Delaware prior to the show, Roy Hunt

fell out of a snap roll and connected

with Povey's Taperwing

Waco and

were momentarily locked together.

When they broke away Povey had lost

his right upper wing from the struts

out.

Hunt's

engine fell completely out

of the Great Lakes and he bailed out.

Len was sitting on a chute, but he had

Harold Neuman

in the

front cockpit


17/36

without

a chute.

Harold told

Len to

jump, but he could not leave his buddy .

Although the bright red Taperwing had

lost

four

feet

of

its

top

right wing,

Povey was able to get the Waco down

on Bellanca Field.

The

local constabulary grabbed

Hunt and

put him

in

jail

- his

engine

fell smack dab into the roof

of

a house

of ill repute in the dusky part of town ,

setting quite

a fire. A

customer was

seen running out

of

the house and down

the

street clothed

only in his

under

wear. Fortunately for the intrepid

airman

, the

Curtiss Candy

Company

had sponsored Hunt and he was

cov

ered by insurance.

Len

purchased

a new

right

upper

wing for $700.00 and about a year later

sold the Taperwing to Bevo Howard.

Bevo

' s

turn

with the airplane

was

almost as

exciting

.

Bevo

had to bail

out of

the

airplane and while

he

was

saved to fly

another day, the Taper

wing was

reduced

to

little

bits and

pieces , plus a good set of logs and pa

perwork

.

Bevo

was lucky to make it

through unscathed ,

according

to the

CAA accident

report. On

September

29

,

1938, at 6:30 p.m.,

he

took off

from his FBO, Hawthorne Aviation, n

Charleston, SC bound for for Atlanta ,

but

encountered

a triad of

dangerou

s

circumstances

that nearly got

him

killed . In well developed darkness, the

non-in s

trument rated Bevo (at that

time) and his Waco (which did not

have blind flying instruments) ran into

low clouds and reduced visibility. Try

ing to get on top, Bevo lost control of

the airplane at about 7:30 p.m. and had

to

jump

, in darkness, as the altimeter

rapidly wound down past 500 feet. The

Taperwing impacted about 20 miles

southeast

of

Columbia,

sc.

Skip forward a

bunch

of

decades

,

To help keep the 450 hp right E975 11 cool, this small oil cooler mounted between the

landing gear legs was fitted.

Modern day meets yesterday

with

a multi-faceted windscreen

that

reminds you of the itty


18/36

Jerry. Jerry sure remembered, and when

h

decided

h

really

wings, including the center section and ailerons. Tapered

wanted a Taperwing, he went to Roy.

wings present all sorts of challenges to the builder. Roy ex

Because so much of the airplane was destroyed, there plains:

wasn't a lot to go on, but with the experience

of

the folks at

The

spars

are

not parallel nor

are

they on the same

Rare, that didn't present a huge problem. At first, due to plane. They both converge and they are slanted (the front

their current workload, the wing building was given to an

one, anyway). So what you have to start off with - the rear

outside contractor, but as soon as they could, the wings were spar is perpendicular to the butt rib so our

jigging

is very

brought inhouse to be completed.

It

takes the woodworkers precise to keep the rear spar and the butt rib at a 90 angle.

at Rare about 500 man hours to build up a set of tapered

You can then slide the ribs onto the rear spar but then you

must slide the spar into the ribs. Now the challenge

is that your rib jigging and rib construction has to

Roy

Redman left) and Jerry Wenger, right )

with what else the TAPERWING.

be quite precise because if the pieces that hold the

rib to the spar are not quite

in

the right place then

the rib isn't going to be

in

the right place or the rib

isn't going

to

be parallel to its neighbors.

From there on,

the final

setup

of

the wing

is

fairly normal , although trammeling the wing is not

exactly the same - it' s really checking precise mea

surements for each wire against the blueprints.

Included in the wing construction is the building

of a set of ailerons. Model airplane builders may

find this has a familiar ring. Again, Roy Redman:

The next challenge is the aileron exercise.

It

can be very tedious [to build the wood ailerons],

and going to the aluminum ailerons, as they did in

Continued on page 22


19/36

teresting to know

what old Giuseppe Bel-

lanca would have to say

if

he

could see how well his elegant at-

tempts at efficient flight have stood

the test

of

time. Over sixty years after

he first laid down the lines for what he

envisioned as a high speed airplane for the

private pilot, the little round nosed Bellanc!\

Jr., its descendants are still held in high re-

gard not only for their performance but for

what many see as their well balanced han-

dling. It 's quite common these days to hear


20/36

Ozzie says he was happy with the

long string

of

Luscombes he'd owned,

but

one ride

in a Bellanca

Cruisair

convinced him he had to have one.

Most folks like the way a Bellanca

flies, but

it

is usually

an

intuitive

thing,

rather

than a quantitative

knowing based on extensive prior

aircraft handling experience. We like

them

just

because

we like

them.

Ozzie, however, brought more than a

casual interest in airplanes to his lik

ing for the

airplane

, as he has spent

his life involved in the flight testing

of

new aircraft

as

an

engineer and

would hover into a nose-up, ver

tical position and then chin itself

on

a horizontal arresting cable I

and

hang there like a bat. Ozzie

points to the program with pride

and says, It's the only X-plane

program that finished the pro

gram with the same

number

of

aircraft t started with.

In

'57

he was working on the

F-I05 at Republic, a wonderful

airplane

but only

had one en

gine, and later the Gyrodyne,

an unmanned helicopter drone.

His

longest stretch

was at


21/36

he

knew

a Bellanca would be his next

air-

plane. Part of what cinched his owning a

Cruisair

was

that

one on

his local field at

Santa Paula, California suddenly came up for

sale.

I t

was a

stock Cruisair

that had had its

150 Franklin replaced with the healthier 165

Franklin. The airplane had never been allowed

to go derelict,

although

its

previous

owner,

Lou Boise, had gone through it from stem to

stern and carefully restored the wood, which,

if

left unattended on a Bellanca can result in

major headaches. Lou also replaced the bicy

cle chain

gear actuation

system

with

a

hydraulic system

which

used a DC-3 pump.

The gear now took

only

five pumps to get it

up and only a few pumps to lock it down as it

Triple tails and the strong as a tree Bellanca wing give the Cruisair a sharp look

that is still maintained today in the Bellanca Viking.

free

falls most of

the

way. So , by

the time

Ozzie began

getting serious about buying

a

Bellanca, Lou had already put in all of the hard work and

Ozzie

also quickly points out that one

of

the

major

rea


22/36

Having made the long cross-country trip

from

California Ozzie enjoys the ability of

the Cruisair

Sr

.

to

make a sojourn

of

that

magnatude comfortable.

actually worked out very smoothly.

When running the engine controls

back to the cockpit, they did their best

to adhere to the original cockpit lay

out, so they

put

the governor/

prop

control

in

the same

hole

which had

previously held the crank for the orig

inal prop.

When it came time to cowl the en

gine the

first of many EAA'ers to

help on the project stepped forward .

Ozzie points with pride to the brass

plaque on the cowling which memori

alizes the late Jim Osenga as being

part of

the

team with

Dan Burdette

who

fabricated

the cowling. They

used the usual cover the engine with

foam and start whittling approach to

pardon

the

play on words,

in the

that as an

omen

and he's

been

part

of

the flight crew every since.

They

began flying the airplane

in

1993 and .

it

has

been ab -

solutely trouble free from the first

flight. Ozzie says the cruise speed

was only impacted a little, bringing

it

up

to

a solid 150 mph T AS at

10,000 feet while burning 7.7 gph.

This

is an increase

of

5-7 mph. As

would

be

expected,

the real im-

provement was

in climb. This

made

a real airplane

out of

it as it

nearly doubled the rate

of

climb.

Before it would do 500 fpm,

if

you

were lucky.

Now

it's always giving

us 1,000 fpm plus.

So,

what's

next for Ozzie Levi?

What's the

next airplane in

line?

He says, I don't think there is one.

This one is a keeper because it does

everything

I

want

and it does it so

well.

t

is

smooth handling and

on


23/36

September ystery Plane

Our September

Mystery Plane

s

supplied

by Brian Baker.

Send

your

answers

to:

EAA,

Vintage

Airplane,

PO Box

3086, 54903-3086.

You

answers

need to be in no later than October 25,

1999

so they

can

be

in

cluded

in the December issue

. If you

prefer, you can

E-Mail

your answer to

[email protected]

Be

certain to include both your name and

the

address

in

the

body

of

the

copy

and

put

(Month)

Mystery

Plane in the subject

line.

rHo

by H G Frautschy


24/36

T PER

WING Continuedfrompage 6

'31, was a move I can understand. Be

cause prior to that, the little Waco F,

the R and others the ailerons had built

up ribs. They

don't

look very compli

cated but it is just a

tedious task

because

of

the false spars, and it isn't

perpendicular, and the butt ribs

aren't

perpendicular, and all

of

that. But what

you do is literally build the wing with

out an aileron. You build a

complete

wing and then you build a false spar,

and slide that false spar

in

just the way

stunt pilots over the years. Slave struts

are used to actuate the ailerons, and in

the

old

days, they used to

vibrate

in

certain flight regimes. Anecdotal evi

dence says

that

this was a

fairly

common occurrence on the Waco 10,

as well as the

Straightwings

and

Ta

perwings. To unbalance the struts

aerodynamically,

in

the old days they

used to cement a string along one side

to upset the airflow slightly, curing the

dancing strut.

Roy's

cure is more elegant, from an

engineering standpoint. In the old days

one end

of

the strut was

adjustable,

them far and wide, so there are a num

ber of customizations that make it an

open cockpit cruising machine.

A Scott tailwheel helps keep the Ta

perwing manageable

on

paved

runways, and a special not-quite-rac

ing but racy looking windshield keeps

the prop blast off your face. The multi

faceted windscreen combines the look

of

the

low, flat

windscreens used

on

racing Wacos with the more upright,

three piece units used on more pedes

trian

versions of

the airplanes. You

don't see it

in

the photos, but there is a

second windscreen

for the

forward


25/36

but the airplane itself, with the word

Taperwing emblazoned on the top

wing. The actual lettering of the "Ta

perwing

on

the

wing was done by

eminent sign painter/

artist

Bucky

Roosmalen who also hails from Farib

ault, MN.

His

association with Roy

goes back many years; in fact, it was

Bucky who painted the Stinson bow

and arrow" logo on

Roy's

award-win

ning Stinson SR-8C Gullwing. (It was

the Grand Champion Antique at EAA

Oshkosh in 1982.)

The

color

scheme,

designed

by

Jerry

while collaborating with

Roy

and executed by Rare Aircraft, looks

as it should on a sleek biplane, and is

a combination of many of the striping

patterns in vogue in the old days. The

project started out pretty stock, and re

mains very true to the type,

but

the

little

custom touches help make it

Jerry's, and fly it he does. Both he and

Roy have flown extensive cross countr

flights, including Minnesota

to

Florida, and Florida to Washington ,

D.C. as well as a flights from the Mid

west to Wyoming.

Roy gives Jerry a ton of credit for

his drive, innovation and spirit that he

puts into

the

restorations

he's in

volved with - much

of

what happens

is due to his creativity. Roy points to

the color scheme as a prime example

of his involvement in the creation of

the airplane.

Jerry, on the other hand knows very

well whose talented hands created the

Waco - all the folks at Rare Aircraft,

including Tom Novak, Matt Von

ruden, Jeremy, Ben and Mike

Redman, Ryan Gillette, Joe Lewellen,

Matt Haefmeyer, Ella Bibe, and Judie

and Freddie.

The beautiful Advance

Aircraft

decals

on the sides

of

the fuselage

grip and you can slide the artwork onto

any surface. The only problem with it

was its poor

ability

to

stand

up to

weather. Often

, a couple of

coats

of

dope were

applied

over the decal to

protect it, but it still

didn't

last as long

as the finish it was applied over. But

with the advent of modem plastics, we

have something better.

Coupled with the computer-driven

cutter, very intricate

designs

can be

created out of

film

plastics such as

Mylar. Modernistic in St. Paul, MN

did just that with the Advance logo.

The artwork to create the four

color

logo was done

by another

artist, and

purchased by Jerry and Rare Aircraft.

Modernistic then scanned the artwork

so the cutter could do its thing, and the

whole four color set of Mylars was ap

plied to one large piece of clear Mylar.

Trimmed to

just

a little bit larger than

the overall logo, once applied it looks

only a tiny bit thicker than the original

lacquer-based decal, but

is

much more

durable. The company actually made

53 of the logos, with three being used

by Jerry for the Waco (one as a spare).

Jerry then donated the remaining 50

logo

decals

to the Waco Historical

Society, who can

use

them to

help

generate funds to further the cause

of

the organization.

By the way, you'll note the original

N-number is not on the airplane . SIN

A-142 was

originally NC6711

,

but

these

days

the number

is

NC6714.

Early attempts to get the number back

failed, that is until fellow Waco friend

Jimmy Rollison of California would

wind up with the Lockheed registered

with N6711.

Jimmy

has

offered

to

help with the paperwork the get 6711

back on the Waco, so a slight revision

to the PPG Durathane finish will get to

be made

in

the future.

nally discovered, fuel injection can go

a long way to evening out the fuel/air

mixture.

Certainly not

a new inven

tion, fuel injection has been around a

long time, but you don't often see it on

lightplanes (the Aeronca L-16, with its

EX-CELL-O system comes to mind as

an exception). For the Taperwing's

450 hp Wright, a Bendix RS 1

OG

was

added to the installation by Rare Air

craft, a non-standard alteration that did

have to be addressed when the biplane

was certificated

. The engine

work,

done by Darryl Williams of Younkin

Radial Engines in Fayetteville, AR is

first class, and includes a set of

test

run cylinders , a new , old-stock set

with only test cell time on them.

The exhaust is custom with a bit

of

old

design and look to it as well.

Aerospace Welders in Burnsville,

MN did

the final finish work

after

a

jig was created at Rare Aircraft by us

ing a core engine. The beautiful sheet

metal cowling culminates in a full

spinner, one of a set engineered and

spun under the guidance

of

Tom Hegy

(EAA 6849, VAA 16421) from Hart

ford, WI.

Okay, enough of

the

tech

talk.

What'll

it do,

right? With

a

straight

face (and I

watched

them, too ) both

Roy and Jerry say it will cruise at ISO

mph without pushing the airplane hard

at all. Which brings up another point

that Roy highlighted during our con

versation. Sure, today

it's

no big deal

to zip

across

the country in a light

plane, making

a

Minnesota

to

Louisiana cross-country run

pretty

easy. In

the Waco

it too is

possible

,

and has been since 1929 Only a cou

ple of avionics items make it a bit

easier to navigate, but imagine what a

leap it must have

been

to the earth

bound

inhabitants

used

to

the


26/36

PASS T TO

B

UCK

by E.E. Buck Hilbert

EAA

#21

VAA 5

P

.

Box

424,

Union

,

IL

60180

BIPLANE EXPO '99

"Two-hundred and fourteen air

planes

Ninety-three biplanes and

the

re st insignificant others ."

And

that'

s how Charlie

Harris

began his

speech before the

awards presenta

tions

at the 13th

Annual

Biplane

Expo, June 4-5 .

Charlie has been harping, cajoling

and threatening "H.G."

and

myself

for several years, about attending the

Biplane Expo.

Somehow

we

never

seemed to make it.

This

time, fresh

back from the Kansas City Antiquers

bash at

Atchison

,

Kansas, where

again ,

Charlie Harris

twisted my

thinking into maybe

I'd

better attend

or

be blackballed

for the

rest of

my

life, I made the decision to go , come

tomadoes or whatever.

I

called "H.G.," but again previ

ous commitments

wouldn't

allow

him to break away, so I repacked the

bag, got Dorothy all enthused, and

after perusing

the weather

we

de

cided maybe United passes would be

used

. The only fly in

the ointment

was UAL

doesn't

have non-stops to

Tulsa, the nearest major station , and

we had

to hub

it

through Denver.

We

did, and

it

wasn

' t

bad

at all.

(Hold on a minute Th ere ' s a T-6

doin passes down the runway,

I

gotta go wave at him.)

Don't know

the guy, but he made

a couple

passes

and then

headed off

towards Rockford. Nice looking T-6

painted aluminum

with

black

buss

numbers.

Maybe I'll get

a call later

on.

We

rode the new 777 to

DEN

and

then a

stretch

727 to TUL.

Some

times age has its privileges,

we

got

first-class

on

both of them. Avis

fixed us up

with

a

car

and

we drove

to Baltlesville.

Like most airports these days, it's

"Hard

to

Find," but we finally got

there. There were already 40 or 50

biplanes parked, and the usual social

izing

was

already

taking place.

Charlie Harri s, the Prex., took us on

a tour

of

the museum-hangar, and the

facility

.

We were

suitably

im

pressed

,

especially

when

told the

place was "unencumbered," meaning

it's

paid for

I

took

a lot

of

pictures, but they

were mostly

of

airplanes. The Guest

of

Honor was General Paul Tibbets,

the commander of

the Enola Gay.

His

speech

at

the

banquet

and his

very presence were electrifying

for

the enthusiasts in attendance.

I

did

n't get

a

picture of him, but I'll

tell

you right

now

, he

knows who

I am .

As I reached across the table to shake

his hand, I tipped over a water glass.

Ice water in

your

lap

s

sure to make

an impress ion

Here some of

the

pictures

I took.

What a great weekend.

Over

to You

~ t < c k

Dorothy

pauses

in

front

of

the

Biplane Center, headquarters

for the


27/36

This blue and white Waco YKS-7 is registered to William

Harter

of

Belleville, IL.

Mike

Wittmann

of Santa Cruz,

CA

owns this hand

some Waco YKS-7 complete

with

a polished alu

minum funnel stripe on the engine cowl. The silver

- - painted stripe

is

surrounded by a keyline

of

red,

and the darker color

is

a soft metallic blue.

President of the American Waco Club and VAA Board member Phil

Coulson (left) and Roscoe Morton renowned airshow announcer,

enjoyed the biplane fly-in .


28/36

This beautiful brute is actually a well-revised

Boeing PT-17 doing its best to look like one

of

the Gulfhawk series. Jim Younkin of

Springdale, AR did the honors,

with

his trade

mark fairing

work

its spectacular best. Man,

can

this guy

work

metal

Aerial Ads (note the tailhook) owns this Boeing N2S-3

which is equipped with a Rawdon hood over

the

cockpits.

(Below) They flew

from

all over - not just the West, but

from

the deep South

as

well. Ed Martin's DH-82A Tiger

Moth came to Tulsa

from

Lake Charles,

LA

.


29/36

Kerry

1.

Harry ............. .....

..

............... ...... . Thomas

1.

Dentel .................... Culfax, IA James W. Sawyer .........East Lansing, MI

.............. ...Lakes Entrance Vic, Australia Denny Hayes ............. .....

De

s Moines, IA

Ben Slusher ............. ... ...........Durand, MI

John Garth Mader .......... ..................... ... . Thomas Gerald Hildreth .......Ankeny, IA Elmer C. Spencer. ............. Scottville, MI

...............................Calgary, AB, Canada Christian P. Ledet .................... Ames, IA

Richard Watz, Jr. ....... .... ...... Saginaw, MI

Jim D. Swanson ... .. ........... .. ...... ...... ..... .. .. James Romeo .......... ....... .Des Moines,

IA

Dick

E.

Weir ...........Bloonfield Hills, MI

......... ........ ...Tumbler Ridge, BC, Canada James 1. Smith .................. Davenport, IA Garry G. Colbenson ..............Blaine, MN

Johan Bence ....... Winnipeg, MB, Canada Douglas Stierman ... ....... .... Coralville,

JA

Clair Dahl... ..........Blooming Prairie, MN

Peter D. Moodie ....... ...

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

..

..... ... .... Steven Appleton ......... ............. .Boise, ID Joseph

E.

Furman .. .......Cold Spring, MN

....... ... .... .. ...........Winnipeg, MB, Canada Sam E. Harpham ........ ..... ..

..

Meridian, ID James Hamilton ..............Ann Arbor, MN

Gerald W. De Long ......... ............... ......... . William Boughton ....... .....

..

Belvidere, IL William

A

Mavencamp.......................... .

........ .. .............Florenceville, NB, Canada

James J. Chernich .... .............. .Kildeer, IL ............................... ...... .Maple Lake, MN

Clarence Montag ...London, ON, Canada Victor 1. De Croix

..

.... ........ Metamora, IL Gary

A

Oliver ..... .......... .... .St. Paul, MN

Richard Murphy ...... ....... ................. ..... ... .

Peter C. Fay ....... ............ ...... ...Gurnee, IL David

G.

Paquette ...... ........Luverne, MN

............................ Alvinston, ON, Canada David

R.

Griffith ............. ...... Decatur, IL John K. Renwick .... .... .Minneapolis, MN

Andres Buljevic Leon .... ................ .......... Charles S. Griffiths ......... ........Roscoe, IL Thomas Schmelzer ....... .Lino Lakes, MN

...... ... ...... .......... ....Santiago Centro, Chile Dan E. Haas ....................... Galesburg, IL David

G.

Stuart .. ..... ..... Minneapolis, MN

Eric Upuyenchet .......... .. ..Nantes, France Bruce Hayner ..... ................. Deerfield,

JL

William D. Tischer ......... Shoreview, MN

David 1. Ponte .. .... ..Dorset, Great Britain

Scott Klemptner ..........Morton Grove, IL Chris Bruck ..................... St. Peter

s,

MO

David Gerard Curran .......Belfast, Ireland Gary J. Latronica ........... .Orland Park, IL Stephen M. Lawlor. .........St. Joseph, MO

Leda Basso .. .......Vedelago Treviso, Italy Douglas MacBeth ..............Grayslake, IL Vincent Lis ....... ................. St. Louis, MO

Robert B. Mackley .. .... ...... ...................... . Gregory L Rhoads ............... Mattoon, IL

Heather Stepp....... ...... .....Sturdivant, MO

.............Milford Auckland, New Zealand

Cory

A.

Sharar.. ........ .. ....... Plainfield, IL Jeffery L Sullens ... ... .. .Kansas City, MO

Ludmila Ushakova ....... ............ .... ......... ..

David Sutton ...... .. ....... Mc Leansboro, IL Glen

W.

Travers ....... .. ........... .. ............. ... .

...... .. .. .................... St. Petersburg, Rus sia

David Dodson .... ............. ......Granger, IN .... ................ ...........Webster Groves, MO

Euel1. Baker. ......... .............. . Safford, AL

Ronald D. Hensley .......... Fort Wayne, IN Thomas K. Buchanan III .. ... ............ .... .. .. .

Milton E. Whitley ............Huntsville, AL

Robert Himmel ............ .Bloomington, IN ........... ................... ............. Chariotte, NC

Cris Ferguson ..................Evansville, AR John O. Jacox .. ........ ...... .Indianapolis, IN Ted H. Cannaday .. .............. ..

..

Staley, NC

Morgan W. Hetrick ........ Springfield,

AR

John Edward Lynch ............Lafayette, IN Chip Davis ............ .......... .........Apex, NC

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University ... Kenneth 1. McAtee II ....... .Evansville, IN

Charles H. Stites ............Chapel Hill, NC

.................. ...... .. .......... .........Prescott, AZ

Paul

L

Moorman

..

..........Greensburg, IN Rick Meryl Ennen ..... .....

...

Menoken, ND

David

R.

Blomgren ........ Cave Creek, AZ

Mark Outcalt ...... .......... .....Ft. Wayne, IN Sam Brown .... ..................... Bellevue, NE

Ronald Hasz .... ......... .... .. .....Phoenix, AZ Bruce Scheffer. ......... .......Valparaiso, IN Richard L Watkins ....... ........ Omaha, NE

Allan Anderson .... ..... .....Santa Rosa, CA David M. Sowder ... ............Boonville, IN

Doug A Ferguson .........Newmarket, NH

Bruce Boese ....

..

........

..

...... .. Oakdale,

CA

James O. Sutton ............ .....Columbus, IN

Donald Mains .............West Ossipee, NH

Joseph William Campbell .................... ... . Robert L Van Hoosear ............... ............ .

Walter J. Weaver ........ .. .

..New

Egypt, NJ

...................... ..... .. .... ..........Glendale, CA

......................................... Nobelsville, IN Marvin L Kaylor.. ...... ... .Los Lunas, NM

Christian M. English ...... .Santa Cruz, CA Philip Watson ..... .............. Wheatland, IN Bill M. Terrell... ...... ..... ......Anthony,

NM

Ken J. Frank .... .......... ...Nevada City, CA

Leigh Crotts ............... .....Dodge City, KS Glenn Arrnstrong .............Las Vegas,

NY

Kay Gallagher ..............Yorba Linda, CA W.

K

Gillmore ............... ......Wichita, KS Hal Fogg .................................. Utica, NY

Tom Hillier.......................... Oakdale, CA Lawrence Lambert,

Jr

William E. Larkworthy .... ... Merrick, NY

Ronald Hull ...

..

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

..

...Temecula, CA

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

..

.....Greensburg, KS Frank Martucci ..................Montauk,

NY

Robert

F.

Kane ... ... ..... ........ ... Wilton, CA

Bill Myers ..... ................. .........Salina, KS Glenn

R.

Truesdell ..................... ............. .


30/36

NEW MEM ERS

o inued

Thomas

R. Hall .... ...... .. .....

Ford

City,

PA

Don Kellner. ........... .....

..

...Sugarloaf, PA

Robert

More

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

Bethlehem,

P A

Harold Sugarman .. .....

Nesquehoning, PA

Barry A. Triplett... ..................... Hope, RI

John

D. Ellenberg ............Greenville,

SC

Lourie Salley .... ................Lexington , SC

Alan Anderson .................Lex ington,

TN

Larry R. King

.

..................Knoxville,

TN

Lynn

Sky

Larkin .... ...........Knoxville,

TN

1.

A.

Rollow .......................... CJinton,

TN

Kunio Suzuki ..................Shelbyville,

TN

Jame

s W. Dougherty,

Jr. ...

Arlington,

TX

Lt. Col. Dyrstad ...............Rosenberg,

TX

Bill

Gregg

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

Graham, TX

Todd

E. Heffley ....

..

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

Rhome, TX

Dan R. King ..............

..

........Portland,

TX

John

W.

Newman,

Jr ......Fort

Worth

,

TX

John

W. Osborn ..................Kerrville,

TX

Harold

1.

Stieber ...........

Brownwood,

TX

Vernon J Waltman .................Austin, TX

Pete King ........................ Annandale, V A

Earl Lyle ........................... Arlington,

VA

E

dward

M.

Mautner

...... Springfi eld, V A

Garrett P. Nievin ................Ashburn, V A

Larry

T. Omps

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

Winch

ester,

VA

Claude Wheelbarger

....

Waynesboro, VA

Jerald F.

Wright

....... Virginia

Beach

,

VA

lone

E. Shallbetter-Stiles...Guildhall,

VT

Harvey Coburn

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

Olympia,

W A

David Jewell ........ ...............

Manson,

W A

Lane E. Older ...............Bellingham, W A

Steven C. Smith ...........

Des Moines

, WA

Monty

C. Stimrnel .............

Spokane

, W A

Ca rl

G. Tietz ........................ Renton,

WA

Lawrence F. Wojdac .........Richland ,

WA

Jesse A. Bentl

ey

................. Muskego,

WI

Paul N . Farrell .......................... Viola,

WI

Lowell Frank .....................

Okauchee, WI

Christopher Gilbertson ...........

Dodge

,

WI

Marlene F. Griffith .... .. .. .... .Glendale,

WI

Mike Jacobson ....... ..........

..Onalaska, WI

Ken Kannard ..... .......... ......East Troy,

WI

Fly In alendar

The following list of

com

ing eve

nt

s is furnished to our r

eade

rs

as

a molter of information only

and

does not constitute approval,

sponsorsh

ip, involvemen t,

control

or direction ofany event (fly

in,

se

minars, fly

mark

et

etc.) list

ed.

Please sen

d the

information

to

EAA, All:

Golda

Cox, Fo.

Box

3086,

Oshk

os

h,

WI

54903-3086. Information shou ld

be

receivedfour months prior to the

eve

nt

date.

SEPTEMBER 10012 TWA TER,

CALIFORNIA

Golden West

EAA

Fly- In at Castle Airport. Contact:

www.gwjly-in.org .

SEPTEMBER 11- OSCEOLA,

WI

- 19th Annual

Wheels Wings

Fl

y

-In.

Antique car show, book

sa

le, pancake breakfast. Info: 800/947-0581.

SEPTEMBER 11-12

- MARION, OHIO -

MERFI

Mid-Eastern R

eg

ional Fly-In. Contact: Lou Linde

man. 937/849-9455.

SEPTEMBER 1I-11-EASTON,

PA

-

EAA Chapter

70 FAA Safety Se

min

ar. Annual

Fall Fly

-In .

Fly

Mark

et,

plaques

for

all

aircraft.

I

nfo:

6i0

/588

-

0620.

SEPTEMBER 11- MT. MORRIS, IL - Ogle County

Airport

(C55). Ogle Coullty Pilots

Association and

EAA

Chapter

682 Fly-in

Breakfast,

7a.m. - Noon.

Inf

o:

Bill Sweet 815 /734-4320

or

the airport phone,

815/734-6/36.

SEPTEMBER 17-18 - BARTLESVILLE, OK -

Frank

Phillips Field. 42nd Annua l Tulsa Regiona l Fly

-In,

sponsored by EAA Chapter 10,

VAA

Chapter

10,

lA C Chapter 10, AAA Chapter 2, and the

Green

County Ultralight

Fly

e

rs.

All

types

of

aircraji and

airplane

enthu

siasts are

e

ncouraged

to attend. Ad

miss ion

is

by

donation.

In

fo: Charles W. Har

ri

s,

918/622-8400.

SEPTEMBER 17-19 -

LOUISE,

TX - Flying V

Ran

ch

(T26) 10th annual

Under

the Wire jly-in. I

nfo:

date 9/26) Info: Jamie

Bamhardt

804/758-2753, on

on the web

at

http

://j7y.

tp /wingsandwheels, E

mail:wingsandwheels

@ho

tmail.

com

SEPTEMBER 15-16-ZANESVILLE, OH - John 's

Landing.

8th

annual Vintage Aircraft Chapter

22

of

Ohio Fall

Fly-In. Hog roast Sat.,

Br

eakfast and

lunch

both days. Info: Virginia,

740/4

53-6889 or

ca

ll

the airport at 740/455-9900.

SEPTEMBER 16 - GROVE CITY, PA - Grove

City

Airport (29D). EAA Chapter 161 Fly-In

Breakfast/Lunch. Info: Ron Wagner 724/748-3200.

OCTOBER

1-3

-

HA

YWARD,

CA

-

West

Coast

Tra

vel

A

ir

Reunion.

Ho

sted

by

Antique aircraft

co llector

Bud field. Private Mu

seu

m tour, San

Francisco

Bay

Area

Tour. Memorabilia auction. good food and

more. Contact Jerry Impellezzeri 408/356-3407 or

Blld Field

925/455-2300.

OCTOBER

1-3 -

DARLINGTON, SC -

Fall Fly-In

sponsored by

Vintage

Airplane Association

Chap

ter

3

Info: Call 910/ 947-1853 or FAX

757-873-3059.

OCTOBER 6-10 - TULLAHOMA, TN - Beech

Party.

Staggerwing, Twin B

eec

h

18

and Beech

owner/enthusiasts. Sponsored by the

Staggerwing

Beech

Muselllll.

Info: 9311455-1974.

OCTOBER 9 - HAMPTON, NH - 9th Annual

EAA

Vintage Aircraft Assn.

Chaper 15

Pumpkin Patch

VINTAGE MERCHANDISE
http:///reader/full/www.gwjly-in.orgmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://j7y.tp/wingsandwheelshttp://j7y.tp/wingsandwheelshttp://j7y.tp/wingsandwheelshttp://j7y.tp/wingsandwheelshttp://j7y.tp/wingsandwheelshttp:///reader/full/www.gwjly-in.orgmailto:[email protected]://j7y.tp/wingsandwheels


31/36

NEW STYLES! ALL CLOTHING FEATURES NEW THREE-COLOR EMBROIDERED VINTAGE LOGO.

Twill Six-Panel Caps with Braiding

Feature adjustable leather

closure strap

. One size fits

most.

White V41260 $10.99

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Clubhouse Jackets

High quality jackets feature

two-button

adjustable cuffs

,

elastic

w

aist

band ,

inside coat

hook loop

,

inside pocket

w

ith velcro closure

and

more! Contrasting color trim

pieces

and adjustable

lanyard

cord on

collar make this

jacket very distinctive

.

Shell

and lining are

both 100

%

nylon

.

Natural

/Navy Trim

SM-XL

V41250 $63 .

99

*

2X

V41254 $66

.

99

*

Navy/

Forest

Green Trim

SM-XL

V41250

$63.99*

2X

V41254

$66.99 *

Denim Short-sleeved Shirts with Button-down collar by

Three Rivers. Features

button-closure

on

pocket.

Double stitching on

sleeves

for durability

.

100

%

cotton

.

SM-XL V41263

$36.99

*

2X V41267

$39

.

99

*

Denim Long-sleeved Shirts with Button-down Collar.

Similar

to above

shirt but

in

long-sleeved

design

. The shirts fea

tu

re two

button

adju

stable cuffs . Avai

lable in

light-

blue denim

or

natural col

ors.

Natur

al

MD

-XL

V41268

$

39

.

99

*

2X

V41

27

1

$4

3.

99

*

Light Bl

ue MD-XL

V41272

$3

9.99 *

2X

V412

76

$4

3.9

9*

Cotton Pique Golf h irts

100

%

combed cotton

.

Knit collar and cuffs

.

Two

-

button placket.

Drop-tail with

Documents

Vintage Airplane - Sep 1999