(Photo by Ted Koston)

THE PRESIDENT'S PAGE

ByE. E. "Buck"Hilbert
President, Antique-Classic Division
THE 1974 CONVENTION IS HISTORY!
Numerically it was a sensation, a success beyond all conception. Our Antiques numbered
173 - our Classics 512. This is more than fifty percent of the total (1345) attending. Is there any
doubt the Antiques and Oassics have found a home?
Each year we learn something. We gain experience. We make new vows. It is sometimes
difficult to enact all the ideas, to make good the vows, but we are going to try. There will be a
debriefing meeting of all the chairmen and Division heads in the months ahead and this is where
you come in.
I know what I saw. Maybe you saw more than I did. Maybe you have a suggestion that will
benefit and influence the planning of next years Convention. I want that suggestion. I need
that suggestion. Maybe you couldn't help with the nail bending or parking or forums, but now
is your opportunity to help. Put those comments in writing and get them to me. Now! while
they are fresh in your mind. Critique us, and then offer your suggestions for improvement.
Remember though that we had some very earnest, hard workers in there this year. The gang
who helped make our Antique Barn habitable ... the dog faces who worked so hard to stave
off chaos in the parking areas ... the Barnstormers who gave rides to workers and buddies ...
the Forum speakers who enhanced our knowledge . .. the Judges who bemused and befuddled
us and yet pleased some immeasurably ... our girls at the Barn who worked so hard so long and
the EAA staff and volunteer workers who came up early and stayed late paving the way so it
could all happen.
Red Leader put in one hectic time of it. Paul's staff could no way relieve him of those tragic
moments he experienced. It was too personal. Even though we tried. How deeply the effect
clearly showed.
Remember how all of these people and the submerged ones worked hard and long to make
the Convention a success and make your suggestions in light of how we can all work together
to achieve more, more easily, for next year's Convention.
2
A
VOLUME 2 - NUMBER 9 SEPTEMBER 1974
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Vintage View ofOshkosh . ..Jack Cox ........... , . ......... . .. . .. ....... . ................. 4
Antique GrandChampion Winner ...Bill Hodges .. . ..... . .. ... .... .. .. . . .. . . ................. 10
Reminiscing With Big Nick ... Nick Rezich ............................ . ....................... 12
Eat Your Hearts Out, Antiquers! ...Gar Williams . ..... ... ............. . ....................... 17
Old Lady Wind-In-The-Face . . .Lee S. Thomas . ............ . ..... .. ... . ......... . ... . ........ . 20
"ASFTRSOABP" . ..AI Kelch . ................. . .. .. ................. .. ....... .. . . ........... 21
AroundThe Antique-Classic World ............................................................23
ON THE COVER . .. 1974 Grand Champion Fairchild. BACK COVER . .. J. Robert Pratt's Bellanca 14-19.
Photo by Ted Koston Photo by Ted Koston
EDITORIAL STAFF
Publi sher - Paul H. Poberezny Editor - Jack Cox
Assistant Ed itor - Gene Chase Assistant Editor - Golda Cox
ANTIQUE AND CLASSIC DIVISION OFFICERS
PRESIDENT - VICE PRESIDENT
E. E. HILBERT J. R. NIELANDER. JR.
8102 LEECH RD. P O. BOX 2464
UNION. ILLINOIS 60180 FT. LAUDERDALE . FLA. 33303
SECRETARY TREASURER
RICHARD WAGNER GAR W. WILLIAMS, JR.
BOX 181 9 S 135 AERO DR. , RT. 1
LYONS. WIS. 53148 NAPERVILLE , ILL. 60540
DIRECTORS
EVANDER BRITT JIM HORNE MORTON LESTER KELLY VIETS
P. O. Box 458 3850 Coronation Rd. P. O. Box 3747 RR 1, Box 151
Lumberton, 111-:- c. 28358 Eagan, Minn. 55122 Martinsville, Va. 24112 Stilwell , Kansas 66085
CLAUDE l. GRAY, JR. AL KELCH GEORGE STUBBS JACK WINTHROP
9635 Sylvia Ave. 7018 W. Bonniwell Rd. RR 18, Box 127 3536 Whitehall Dr.
Northridge, Cali f. 91324 Mequon, Wisc. 53092 Indianapolis, Ind. 46234 Dallas, Texas 75229
DIVISION EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
DOROTHY CHASE, EAA HEADOUARTERS
THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE is owned exclusively by Ant ique Classic Aircraft. Inc. and is published
monthly at Hales Corners. Wisconsin 53130. Second Class Permit pending at Hales Corners Post
Office. Hales Corners. Wisconsin 53130. Membership rates lor AntIque Classic Aircraft . Inc. are
$10.00 per 12 month penod ot which 57.00 i s for Ihe subscri pllon to THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE. All
Antique ClaSSIC Aircraft , Inc. members are required to be members of the parent organIzat ion. the
Experimental Ai rcraft ASSOCiation. Membership is open to all who are interested in aVI,atlon.
Postmaster: Send Form 3579 to Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc., Box 229,
Hales Corners, Wisconsin 53130
Copyright 1974 Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc. All Rights Reserved
3
A VINTAGE
(Photo by Ted Kaston)
President Buck Hilbert, standing, with Dale Crites and his Curtiss in front of the new Antique-Classic
Headquarters building. That's the forums tent in the left background.
~ ~ ~ U { U ,
THE NUMBERS GAME
685 aircraft were officially registered for judging at
Oshkosh '74 under the Vintage classification. 512 of these
were Classics, civil aircraft of any nation built between
1946 and 1954; the remaining 173 were Antiques; civil air-
craft built before 1946. These were record numbers for
ail EAA fly-in and since this meet is far and away the
largest of its kind ever staged anywhere and at anytime,
we can safely assume that this year's crop of Vintage air-
craft was also the largest in history.
To play around a little more with the figures , there
were 41 different Classic types and 53 different Antique
types. Now this does not include a breakdown of sub
types - for instance, this accounting lumps all Luscombe
Model8s as one type rather than breaking them down into
8As, Bs, Cs, Es, Fs; all Stinson 108s as one type rather than
108s, 108-ls, 108-2s, 108-3s, etc .... the point in all this
being that there was tremendous variety in both the An-
tique and Classic line-ups.
O. K., put on your thinking caps ... what would you
guess was the aircraft type with the greatest number pre-
sent?? Did you instinctively think, "Cub"? Well, if you
did, you missed the mark .. . for the undisputed leader in
the numbers game was the Cessna 170, with 53 of the vari-
ous sub types (170, 170A, 170B) parked down in the new
Classic area provided this year.
4
The .secon.d most numerous type was the .Cessna 1201
140 senes With 52 examples registered. Third was the
Luscombe 8 series with 47 . .. bearing in mind that this
total includes both pre-war antique and post-war classic
models. Fourth was the Aeronca 7 series, the 01' Champ,
with 45. And all the way down in fifth place was William
Piper's J-3 with 41 mostly solid yellow with a black light-
ning stroke down the sides examples on hand. The 41
Cubs also represent a combining of Antique and Classic
numbers.
If you are old enough to remember the late 40s and most
of the 50s, the Cub total shouldn't surprise you, because
you will recall how voraciously the crop dusters were
gobbling up all the Cubs they could locate ... and were
breaking them just about at the same rate. It's a wonder
any are left. Also, the J-3 is an awfully slow airplane for
extended cross country work, whereas the Cessna 170
guys and gals think nothing of roaming throughout the
hemisphere from the Bering Straights to Tierra Del Fuego.
Some other heavily represented types were: 37 Taylor-
crafts (all side-by-side models); 35 Ercoupes; 34 Swifts;
30 Stinson 108s; 24 Cessna 1901195s; 21 Piper PA-12 Super
Cruisers; 20 Aeronca Chiefs; 18 Bonanzas; 17 Navions; 15
Stearmans; 14 Fairchild 24s; and 12 Staggerwings. The
sprinkling of Bellancas, Commonwealths, Funks, Meyers,
Mooney Mites, Vagabonds, Clippers, Pacers, Seab(i;'es,
Aeronca C-2s and 3s, Culver Cadets, Airmasters, Fleets,
Howards, Monocoupes, Porterfields, Ryans, Spartans,
Travel Airs, Wacos, and many more were literally the
sl?ice that the good taste enjoyed by Vintage
aircraft enthusiasts confronted with this vast smorgas-
bord of old airplane goodies.
THE HAMMER AND TONG CREW
This year the Antique-Classic Division had a number
of new facilities and a new parking area. In 1973 a tent
was utilized as a headquarters, but this year the red barn
that served as a rustic background for the cover photo of
last year's Antique Grand Champion - see the November
1973 issue of SPORT AVIATION - was transformed into
a Antique-Classic Headquarters building. Im-
mediately after the 1973 fly-in, Antique-Classic Division
Buck Hilbert approached Paul Poberezny regard-
mg the possible utilization of the bam for this purpose
and was given a green light. This spring Buck started
work on the remodeling, delayed somewhat by the need
to recover from knee surgery and by wet, cold weather.
Work progressed steadily but it soon became obvious that
completion of the work would be a down-to-the-wire pro-
position. When early arrivals made their appearance at
Oshkosh, Buck impressed them into his work crew and
shortly the sawdust was really flying. The last of the in-
terior paneling was nailed into place just before the official
opening day of the Convention - with members already
standing in the entrance waiting to be served. We don't
have the names of all those who worked so diligently to
complete the bam on time, but each person is to be highly
commended.
As soon as the last pile of shavings was swept away,
the gals took over - Edna Viets, Dorothy Hilbert, Nancy
Hall, Pauline Winthrop and her daughter Liz (and un-
doubtedly others this writer does not know about) all
really pitched in. They signed up new members, took re-
newals, sold back issues of The Vintage Airplane (a hot
item, incidentally), sold decals and patches, directed
of hard pressed Convention-goers to the nearest
Johns, and answered questions until their voices cracked.
"Invaluable" seems somehow inadequate to describe the
contribution to the success of the fly-in made by these
ladies.
Immediatley behind the Headquarters building was
the foo'ntique-Classic Forums Tent. Here Vice President J.
R. Nlelander had a constant stream of aviation experts in
to speak on a variety of subjects relating to Antique and
Classic aircraft. Most of the speakers were the leaders of
the type clubs, the men who have done so much to foster
the interest in preserving the great old aircraft we have
grown accustomed to seeing at fly-ins around the country.
Of special interest this year was the appearance of some
of the figures originally responsible for a number of An-
tique and Classic aircraft. George Williams, chief honcho
of the Rearwin Club, had Ken Rearwin as his special guest.
Ken Rearwin was one of two sons of the founder of Rear-
win Aircraft. He and his brother Royce are the "Ken
Royce" in the name for the engines that powered most
Rearwin models.
Another famous personage appearing at the forums
area was none other than Fred Weick. It would take this
entire magazine just to list the contributions to aviation
over course of the past 40 plus years by Fred
IS perhaps known among Antique and
ClassIC airplane enthUSiasts as the designer of the Er-
coupe, however, his work goes far beyond that - pro-
pellers, stall/spin research, high lift devices, Chief En-
gineer for Piper's Vero Beach facility, etc. , etc. Take a look
Th . . (Photo by Dick Stouffer)
e 1974 Reserve Grand ChampIOn antique, a Rearwin Sportster restored by Alfred Nagle and Ken
Gatzke of Montel/o, Wisconsin.
5
Grand Champion Classic - a highly polished Swift owned by Ed Gorny of Livermore, California.
through your Aero Digests or other aviation magazines
of the 1930s and see how many articles by and references to
Fred Weick you uncover. In addition to his appearance at
Kelly Viets' Ercoupe forum, Fred delivered a very signifi-
cant paper on the seemingly perpetual stalUspin problem
at the main EAA forums area. This paper will be printed
in SPORT AVIATION later in the year.
J. R. Nielander and all those who participated in the
Antique-Classic Forum program are to be highly com-
mended. This educational aspect of the fly-in is all-im-
portant. It is the catalyst that triggers the enthusiasm neces-
sary for an EAAer to go out scouring the countryside for
some old aerial derelict, spend months or years research-
ing its history and construction, spend more years and
unspeakable amounts of money restoring it to beautiful
condition. When he has his project completed and can
bring it to a fly-in, he hopes for some tangible sign of
recognition from his peers of his long and arduous labors
- and this is where the awards program come in.
The Antique judging committee at Oshkosh '74 was
headed by Evander Britt of Lumberton, North Carolina
and included Pete Covington of Spencer, Virginia; Dusty
Rhodes of Denver; Doug Rounds of Zebulon, Georgia;
Kelly Viets of Stilwell, Kansas and Fred Weick as an honor-
ary judge. We understand Fred didn't take his honorary
position lightly - he handed in meticulously prepared
judging sheets just as was expected of the regular judges.
No free rides for Fred!
6
(Photo by Dick Stouffer)
The Classic judging committee was co-chaired by Jim
Gorman of Mansfield, Ohio and Morton Lester of Mar-
tinsville, Virginia, ably assisted by John Engles of Lake-
land, Florida; John Parish of Tullahoma, Tennessee; Dub
Yarbrough also of Tullahoma; George York of Mansfield,
Ohio; Warren Hall of Burlington, North Carolina; Harmon
Dickerson of St. Louis; Dale Woffard of Ashland, Ohio
and Rod Spanier of Riviera Beach, Florida.
The decisions of these teams of astute authorities on
ancient aeronautica are as follows:
ANTIQUE AWARDS
GRAND CHAMPION - Dick Buck. Tom Leonhardt and Jud Gude-
hous of Lambertville. Michigan for their Fairchild 24R. NC-77661.
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION - Alfred Nagle and Ken Gatzke.
Montello. Wisconsin for their Rearwin Sportster. N-20734.
JUDGE' S CHOICE - R. F. " Slim" Johansson. SI. Charles. Missouri
for his Waco QDC. NC-11470.
AWARD OF MERIT - AI Kelch. Mequon. Wisconsin for his Frank
lin Sport. NC-13139.
GOLDEN AGE CHAMPION - Bob Frost. Greenfield. Indiana for
his Fleet 2. NC-610M.
SILVER AGE CHAMPION - Don Dickinsen. Santa Paula. California
for his Spartan 7W Executive. N-17605.
WORLD WAR I CHAMPION - Charles Klessig. Galesburg. North
Dakota for his Standard J-1. NC-9477.
PRE-WORLD WAR II CHAMPION - Gar Williams. Naperville. Illi-
nois for his Cessna C-165 Airmaster. NC-25485.
WORLD WAR II ERA CHAMPION - Charlotte Parish. Tullahoma.
Tennessee for her Stearman N2S5. N-44JP.
MOST UNUSUAL ANTIQUE - Myles Robertson. Auckland. New
Zealand for his DeHavilland Fox Moth. ZK-ASP.
(Photo by Ted Kaston)
Right - The Classic Judge's Committee. Back row, left to
right: Harmon Dickerson, Jim Gorman and Morton Les-
ter, Co-Chairmen, Warren Hall and Rod Spanier. Front
row, left to right: John Engles, John Parish, Dale Wof-
fard, George York and Dub Yarbrough.
BEST CANADIAN ANTIQUE IN ATTENDANCE - Father John Mac-
Gillivray, Petawawa, Ontario for his Miles Hawk, CF-NXT.
BEST ANTIQUE REPLICA - Dale Crites, Waukesha. Wisconsi n
for his 1911 Curtiss Pusher, N-1911D.
BEST DART - Art Bishop, Norton, Ohio for his Dart GC, NC-31697.
BEST FAIRCHILD - Claude Gray, Northri dge, California for hi s
Fairchild F24W, N-81386.
BEST HOWARD - John Turgyan , Trenton , New Jersey for his
Howard DGA-15P, NC-95462.
BEST MONOCOUPE - Art Marsden, Argos, Indiana for his Mono-
coupe 90ACL, N-18062.
BEST REARWIN - Ken Williams, Portage , Wisconsin for his
Rearwin 7000, NC-25570.
BEST STAGGERWING - John Parish , Tullahoma , Tennessee
for his Beech G-17S, N-44G, " Big Red ".
BEST ANTIQUE STINSON - George Stubbs, Indianapol is, Indiana
for his Stinson SR10-J, NC-21135.
BEST TRANSPORT - James Kramer, Lake Worth. Florida for his
Cessna T-50, NC-69072.
BEST WACO - Vince Mariani , Findlay, Ohio for his Waco VKS-7,
NC-31653.
BEST RAZORBACK APPLICATION TO AN ANTIQUE - Jim Hall ,
Rockford , Illinois for his Taylorcraft BC-12D, N-96275.
BEST STEARMAN - Richard Hansen , Batavia, Illinois for his
Stearman PT-27, N-59448.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AAA CHAPTER CHOICE AWARD - John
Parish, Tullahoma, Tennessee for his Travel Air 4000, N-367M.
"TIRED BUTT" AWARD - Robert Rust , Fayetteville, Georgia for
his Aeronca C-2, NC-11276.
HEADWIND AWARD - Evander Bri tt . Lumberton, N. C.
( Photo by Ted Koston)
Left - The Antique Judge's Committee. Left to right :
Kelly Viets, Doug Rounds, Evander Britt, Chairman, Pete
Covington and Dusty Rhodes.
CLASSIC AWARDS
GRAND CHAMPION - Edmund Gorny, Livermore, California for
Swift GC-1B, N-2459B.
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION - Dave Hamilton, Anderson, Indi-
ana for Piper J-3, N-42621.
BEST CLASS I CLASSIC - Richard Krumbine, Lebanon, Pennsyl-
vania for his Taylorcraft, N-6442N.
BEST CLASS II CLASSIC':"" Dutch Brafford. Lima, Ohio for his Cessna
140, N-89728.
BEST CLASS III CLASSIC - Tom and Lela Munden, Newhall , Cali-
fornia for their Stinson 108, N-8083K.
BEST ORIGINAL RESTORATION - Stan York, Mansfield , Ohio for
his Taylorcraft L-2M, N-47026.
BEST CUSTOMIZING RESTORATION - C. L. Wagner, Clark, South
Dakota for his Aeronca Champ, N-1691E.
BEST AERONCA CHAMP - Melvin Hill , Danville, Illinois for N-83633.
BEST AERONCA CHIEF - John Pringle, Tolono, Illinois for N-9715E.
BEST AERONCA SEDAN - Art Hill , Cincinnati , Ohio for N-1482H.
BEST BEECH BONANZA - Leo Storm, Lomita, California for N-
5270C.
BEST BEECH TWIN -John Parish, Tullahoma, Tennessee for N-4477.
BEST BELLANCA - Scott Twitchell , Berkeley, California for N-560A.
BEST CESSNA 1201140 - George Johnson, Puyallup, Washington
for 140, N-77101.
BEST CESSNA 170 - Steven Wilson, Arlington, Washington for N-
3945V.
BEST CESSNA 190/195 - Raybourne Thompson, Jr., Houston, Texas
for 195, N-4477C.
BEST ERCOUPE - Mitch Cooke, Clemmons, N. C. for N-3265H. 7
(Photo by Dick Stoufer)
Above - A portion of the Classic display area - Aeroncas
and Pipers, in fact. There were rows and rows and rows
like this!
(Photo by Lee Fray)
Right - Fred Weick of Vero Beach, Florida and the Er-
coupe he designed over three decades ago - both are
still going strong!
BEST LUSCOMBE 8 SERIES - Wi lliam Nichols, Beloit, Wisconsin for
N-2126B.
BEST MEYERS - E. R. "Curley" Broyles, Tullahoma, Tennessee for
N-34360.
BEST NAVION - Bruce Hallock, Austin, Texas for N-5202K.
BEST PIPER CUB - A. Garrison, Cantonville, Maryland 10r N-20280.
BEST PIPER - ALL OTHER - Ray Lemmon, Erie, Pennsylvania for
PA-12, N-4285M.
BEST STINSON 108- Ellie Clark, Eaton Rapids, Michigan for N-9562K.
BEST SWIFT - Mark Holliday, Hastings, Minnesota for N-80760.
BEST TAYLORCRAFT - Doug and Ruth Anderson, Jackson, Michi-
gan for N-95957.
SPECIAL WORKMANSHIP AWARD - Tom and Lela Munden, New-
hall, California for their Stinson 108, N-8083K.
'74 IMPROVEMENTS
One of the big improvements for Antique-Classic
participation in the 22nd Annual EAA Fly-In Convention
was the display parking situation. In previous years,
Antiques and Classics were stretched down the length of
the north/south runway - a long, narrow display area
that required members to walk nearly a mile to get to the
far end. This was not an arbitrary placement on the part of
EAA officials, it was simply the only airport owned land
available to display the huge numbers of Antiques, and
particularly, Classics. Since last year EAA has purchased
the land immediately adjacent to and just west of the north/
south runway from the control tower to the diagonal road
near the south end of the airport. This allowed EAA to open
up a new parking area south of Ollie's Woods for Classics
and the entire area north of the woods for both Antiques
and Classics. The result was a much more compact park-
ing area located much closer to the center of fly-in activi-
ties . The area will be improved each year so as to make your
stay at Oshkosh more enjoyable as each fly-in rolls around.
Ollie's Woods proved to be quite popular this year. On
Saturday evening President Buck hosted a big Antique-
Classic party and a number of smaller groups had cook
outs and parties there during the week. This grove of trees
is right in the center of the Antique-Classic area, so is a
convenient place to stop for a rest in the shade on those
hot afternoons while one is tromping around trying to see
all the aircraft.
This was really the first year that EAA's Antique-Classic
Division was able to run its own show in its own area of the
vast Oshkosh fly-in grounds. This observer noted that
things seem to go quite well. A lot more people were seen
roaming the Antique and Classic area than in previous
years and the Headquarters Red Barn was mobbed all
week. President Buck Hilbert deserves numerous pats on
the back for pulling it all together this year. He would like
to hear any and all suggestions aimed at improving the
Antique-Classic program for next year. He and his offi-
cers and directors worked long and hard at Oshkosh '74
and are already planning better things for the future.
Look for color coverage of the Antique-Classic activity
at Oshkosh '74 in the November issue of SPORT AVIA-
TION.
8
(Photo by Ted Kaston)
Right - Fred Berg's fine re-
production of a Fokker D
VII .
(Photo by Dick Stouffer)
Charlotte Parish's beautiful Stearman N2S-S.
(Photo by Dick Stouffer)
Above - J. P. Jordan and K. G. Hofschneider of Clark,
New Jersey were back again this year in their beautifully
restored Tiger Moth.
9
(Photo by Dick Stouffer)
ANTIQUE GRAND CHAMPION
WINNER
By Bill Hodges
The EAA International Convention and Fly-In Grand
Champion Antique for 1974 is a very deserving and out-
standing aircraft - a Fairchild 24R46A. Proud owners of
N-77661, which carries Serial Number 361, are Dick Buck,
Jud Gudehous and Tom Leonhardt of Lambertville, Michi-
gan.
The owners had been looking for a 4-place airplane and
discovered "their" Fairchild sitting neglected on an airport
in Lima, Ohio. In talking with the owner they discovered
that the plane had not been flown in over a year. An exam-
ination showed, however, that it was ferriable and the pur-
chase was concluded in July 1970. The Fairchild was flown
home and by September it had been completely disman-
tled. Everything that could come off did. Then the slow
process of rebuilding it from the ground up began. Every-
thing that could be replaced with new parts was and where
replacement parts were unavailable they were either re-
built to standard specs or built from scratch. New parts
were available in some degree from Thor Solberg Aviation,
located in New Jersey. However, they did have the 200
h.p. Ranger engine overhauled in Toledo, Ohio. Stits
Poly-Fiber was used for the new cover with urethane
enamel for the build up . A special mixture of yellow was
used for the final color coats.
What about the background on the owners of this year's
Grand Champ?
Richard L. "Dick" Buck (EAA 85184) was a radar opera-
tor in the U. S. Navy during World War II and was as-
Signed to a Destroyer Escort. After the war he took flight
training under the G. 1. Bill and soloed in a Piper J-3 Cub
in 1949. Dick owned and flew a Cessna 140A, that he had
refinished himself, prior to going into partnership on the
Fairchild. Dick has been a bindery and paper salesman for
some time now.
Jud Gudehous entered the U. S. Army Air Force in
1942 as an Aviation Cadet and made his way through Stear-
mans, BT-13s and Cessna "Bamboo Bombers" before
eventually winding up in Consolidated B-24 "Liberators"
as a bomber pilot. Jud put in 20 missions over Europe be-
fore World War II ended. Jud also owned a Cessna 140
prior to his partnership purchase of the Fairchild. Now 54,
he is owner of an Optical Laboratory in Toledo, Ohio.
Tom Leonhardt (EAA 10981) has always been interest-
ed in airplanes. It wasn' t until 1958, at age 33, that the op-
portunity to learn to fly came about, however. Tom soloed
in an Aeronca Champion in Milan, Michigan, and has
been flying ever since. Unlike Dick and Jud, Tom chose a
Luscombe 8A to rebuild and had many pleasant hours in
10
it before becoming involved with the Fairchild. Tom is a
structural engineer and, like Jud, owns his own firm.
In inquiring about their trip to the Fly-In this year, I
asked if it were routine or adverturesome. The answer
was routine other than they did have to puddle jump from
one airport to another due to the bad weather around Chi-
cago at the time.
Oh, yes, the time of restoration took until June of 1974
to complete - 3 years and 9 months.
SPECIFICATIONS
Wing Span .. . . ... .... . .. ...... .. ... ..... . . 36 ft .4 in.
Length.................................... 26 ft . 0 in.
Height . . ... . .. .... . .. . .. .... . ... .... .. ... 7 ft .7V2 in.
Wing Area ............................... 193.3sq.ft.
PowerLoading .. .. .. . . ... . .. . . . . ..... . . . . 12.3 Ib./hp
Wing Loading . .. ...... .. . .... . . .... . ... 12.2 Ib./sq.ft .
EmptyWeight ... . . .... .. ... .. . .. .. .. . ... .. . 1613 Ibs.
Useful Load ................................. 949 Ibs.
GrossWeight . .. .. ... .. . ... .... .. . .. . .... .. 2562 Ibs.
Fuel ..... .. . .. . ... . . ...... . . ... .. . . ... .. . .. . 60 gals.
Oil . .... . .. . ...... .. .. ..... . . . . .... ..... ... . 4.1gals.
Maximum Speed............................ 133 mph
Cruising Speed . ... ... .. .. . . . ... . . ... . ... . .. 118 mph
Landing Speed .............................. 57 mph
Service Ceiling ............................. 14,000 ft.
Rate ofClimb . ..... . . ...... . ... .. ..... . .. 560 ft ./min.
Cruising Range ............................ 620 miles
(Photo by Ted Koston)
Above - The 24 and its ancestor, the Fairchild 22.
(Photo by Ted Koston)
Left - Instrument panel of the '74 Grand Champion
Fairchild 24.
11
MY 35 YEAR LOVE AFFAIR
Before I get carried away with my love affair I would
like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the trea-
sures of mail that have reached me since the publication of
of the "Howard" story.
The following letter is most precious and I felt it should
be shared by everyone.
Los Angeles, California
August 22, 1974
Dear Nick,
Thank you for sending me a copy of the story - article
- about us and our aeroplanes. You told it like it was -
and made it very interesting.
I will not argue with you about the Howards being
one of the greatest! Do you know that there are several
of them out here still flying. As a matter of fact, at one
time there was a Howard Club - all members owned and
. flew the Howard.
Again, thank you very much for everything you wrote
and feel.
Best personal regards,
(signed) Mike Howard
(Mrs. Ben O. Howard)
As soon as the "Boss" allows me a stamp fund, I'll try
to answer everybody. Many letters contain corrections of
names, photos, etc.
Let me explain some of these mistakes . First, Jack Cox
should receive a medal of the highest order for his ability
and patience in transforming my hieroglyphics into reada-
ble material. (Nick is too modest ... his material is a plea-
sure for me to work with - JBe) His lovely wife, Golda,
has come up with the " Rezich Alphabet" which helps
somewhat, but it still takes her two weeks to unscramble
the "i's", "e's", "s's", etc.
I love writing to doctors - it's my only chance to get
12
REMINISCING WITH BIG NICK
Nick Rezich
4213 Centerville Rd.
Rockford, III. 61102
even with them. Maybe by now you all will understand
why some misspelled names sneak in!
This past June I made a 5 day whirlwind tour of Cali-
fornia visiting some old Howard Aircraft buddies and
family friends . My first stop was the most significant and
the highlight of my trip. Sunday morning, June 9, dawned
sunny and warm in Frisco where I picked up a rental car
for my tour to L.A. An hour and a half out of Frisco I pulled
into the Palo Alto Airport where I met Larry Low, a gung-
ho EAAer and antiquer, whom I. had never met before but
knew well from our letter exchanges . . .
Standing in front of his hangar, we exchanged family
introductions - all but one, the one behind the hangar
doors. I was really getting antsy and it showed as I kept
pushing on the locked doors. Larry finally got the message
and we opened the doors. There she stood, my love - a
majestic lady in all her pomp and glory. The last time I
held her in my hand was almost 30 years ago to the day.
With moist eyes, I walked up and laid a very gentle hand
on the door latch and introduced my wife of 23 years and
mother of 3 to my first love affair, a Culver Cadet which I
bought new 34 years ago, NC 20926, Serial Number 106 .
Larry Low has her dressed up in the latest fashion,
urethane paint, tinted one piece windshield, carpeting,
starter, generator, nav-com, ELT, chrome gear, landing,
nav and strobe lights, plus one hell of a lot of tender lov-
ing care. After 34 years I could not find a wrinkle in her
skin anywhere. I thought I had a show stopper when I
owned it, but you should see it now! This fellow, Larry,
has put much effort, time and money into this priceless
jewel. Oh, sure! I made a pass at him - but he quickly in-
formed me of others that are available ... but not my love
- at any price!!
This whole affair started back in 1939 when the aviation
industry was still reeling from the blow of the depression.
The surviving companies and some new ones were all
pushing new models. The route to recovery was paved
with many new designs. The OX-5 powered machines had
all been turned out to the pasture for a graceful and well
earned retirement.
cockpit check, then we headed for my home back in Chi-
The machines of '39 all sported round engines or the
cago. During the drive Art explained the gear detail s and
new flat opposed 4s, all air cooled. Prices ranged from
$990.00 for the Cub to $52,000.00 for the executive Lock-
the flight characteristics. By the time we reached home I
heed 12. The most advanced airplane was on the drawing
boards in a small plant located in Columbus, Ohio.
The genius behind the slide rule was AI Mooney who
was known to many in the industry as a very bright, in-
genious engineer.
When Al Mooney announced he was building a 2-place
airplane with retractable gear that would cruise at 120 mph,
top 140 mph, have a service ceiling of 17,000 feet, a cruis-
ing range of 1050 miles with a 15 gall on aux tank ... and
all this while powered by only 75 h. p. and selling for under
$3000.00, he lifted many eyebrows - including mine!
I anxiously to see what this new design of
Mooney's would 10 -k like. I went to the Columbus, Ohio
plant on the prete se of buying a Dart hoping to get a
glimpse of the new ulver. It didn't work. After two days
all I got was a lot o.f rumors and no peek-a-boo. Before I
left, I made a deal with a friend of mine to send me a snap-
shop of the prototype as soon as it was rolled out of as-
sembly.
With the coming of fall and winter came my photo ...
WOW! When I saw what that little jewel looked like, I
made up my mind right then and there - I had to have
one! I ordered one without even having a ride in one. The
price was $2475.00. I received the 6th one built, Serial
Number 106, NC 20926. A blue and silver paint job was
stock.
The late Art Carnahan of Monocoach fame was the area
dealer and he delivered my new Culver as far as Joliet, Illi-
nois where the snow stopped him. I drove in a snow storm
to Joliet to pick up Art and view my new jewel. There she
sat in front of the hangar like a Thompson racer waiting
for the starter's flag to drop! ----------
I don' t think I knew what the word "thrilled" meant
until that cold evening in Joliet when I opened the cabin
door and tri ed that Culver on for size. Art gave me a fast
was ready for the races!
To knock off chilI of the drive, my mother poured
us some of our best wine which was followed
. by a fiesta supper. After supper and a gallon of wine later,
I stuffed Art's pockets with $2000.00 in fives, tens, and
twenties and put him on a train for the trip back to Bloom-
ington, lliinois, his home town.
My first flight in the new Cadet was two weeks later,
when the weather cleared. Up to that time, I had been fly-
ing Travel Airs, Pitcairns, a Laird, Bellancas, Stinsons,
Porterfields, Rearwins, Cubs, Howards, etc., and from
what Art told me none of the above flew like the Cadet .
My brother helped me roll it out of the hangar, pre-flight
it and cranked me.
As I taxied out, I tried to remember everything Art
had told me about the Cadet's handling. It felt good and
solid while taxiing and when I got to the runway, I was
ready. I set the tab at zero and poured the coal on. The
take-off was smooth and straigh
I left the pattern and started to climb to altitude for
some turns and stalls. In the next 20 seconds I learned
all about the Culver's sensitive flippers . I reached up to
trim it for climb so I could concentrate on the gear re-
traction. Well!! When I gave the trim handle the usual
husky crank, all hell broke loose. The nose shot up ... r
pushed forward on the stick and went up against the roof
. .. I pulled and r was pushed a foot down into the
cushion! A90ther push forward ... back on the roof! r
finally got the message and stabilized and started FLY-
INC it.
I left the gear down and climbed to 3,000 feet where I
practiced medium and steep turns, slow flight and some
stalls. The more I flew it, the better I liked it. Now, I
trimmed it for hands off and cycled the gear a few times.
All went well, so I headed for Willie Howell's airport on
_ (Courtesy Nick Rezich)
Big Nick's Culver Cadet at Howell Airport (on the south side of Chicago) when the racy little two
seater was brand spanking new. Notice the ground adjustable Freedman-Burnham prop.
the south side of Chicago where I was to keep it. As the
airport came into sight, I dropped the nose and let it boil .
I went over the office indicating 170 mph and this brought
everyone out, so, I did it again, followed by a steep, climb-
ing tum. I was really getting my jollies!
I dropped the gear, checked the lock and started in to
land on the 1800 feet of solid runway the Cub's were using.
With that gang out there watching, I couldn't afford to
goof the first landing. I dragged it in and put it on three
point, using about 1200 feet. The roll out was like a Cub. I
taxied in, shut down and stepped out ... the hero of the
airport! I had the fastest, newest, cleanest, most advanced
airplane on the airport.
I flew that little dude all over the country until I went
into the service in June of 1944. My biggest maintenance
bill was for wax. I would wax it every weekend before fly-
ing it .
I had no intention of selling the Cadet when I went into
service. I checked Willie Howell out in it and told him to
give rides in it until I returned. I was home on furlough
after completing my basic training when I received a phone
call from a fellow from Wellington, Kansas. He informed
me he was in town to buy my Cadet. I laughed and told
him "no way" - not for sale, and that ended that ... I
thought.
The following Sunday, I was out to the airport flying
the bird when this same fellow from Kansas pulls in with
a cab and announces he's come to pick up the Cadet. We
went through the whole scene again, only this time he
added the green. He started peeling off the Big Ones and
when he had $3500.00 laying there, I changed my mind
and said, "O.K... it's yours!" He still had a fist full left
and was willing to part with it.
I asked him if he wanted to go through the log books
and look the plane over. He answered, "Hell, I know this
airplane as well as you do! " I had raced this airplane and
never lost to anyone, thanks to the help of "Sludge" Doyle
and his "Offy" factory. I had a real hot rod - I was putting
out 90 h.p. with a super thin Freedman-Burnham prop.
That is why this fellow knew all about my Cadet - he had
kept track of it and wanted it for the speed.
He turned to Willie and said, "Fill it up." He paid the
gas bill, threw his bag in the back and said, "Give me a
crank." I cranked him up and went to the cockpit to shake
his hand and say goodbye. As I reached in he handed me
a twenty and told me to go have a drink. He took off to the
west and that was the last I saw of NC 20926 until June of
1974.
After I returned from the California visit I bragged so
much about myoId Cadet that my son Jim sold his beauti-
ful J-3 Cub that he soloed in and bought a Culver Cadet.
Now it will be a battle around our house trying to keep the
01' man out of the kid's airplane ... oh, well, that's love!!
My favorite story about the Cadet is a chapter in avia-
tion history. This particular flight didn't receive the pub-
licity it warranted, but BELIEVE-YOU-ME, it was historic.
It was February 16,1941 when Dr. Cecil Smith and fel-
low dentist Dr. Joseph Lorenz of Burlingame, California
took off from Mills Field, San Francisco, California in a
Continental 75 powered Culver Cadet called the "Twerp"
headed for a tour of Central and South America. Dr. Smith
had owned 6 different light planes before buying the Cadet.
He bought the "Twerp" for this trip because of its per-
formance and range. The only optional equipment bought
with the airplane was the 15 gallon aux tank which gave
them a cruise range of 1051 miles. A Kollsman sensitive
altimeter, rate of climb and a turn and bank indicator.
Their cargo consisted of 12 pounds of maps and papers,
emergency tools, tire pump, tie down ropes, flotation
gear, machette, gun and ammunition, two gallons of water,
15 pounds of beef jerky, plus personal luggage consisting
of toilet articles, socks, underwear and cameras ... yes!!
all that went into the Cadet! Oh yes! I almost forgot -
both Dr. Smith and Dr. Lorenz wore glasses so a spare
pair of each was also carried.
Now get out your world atlas and ruler and follow this
little jewel. The first stop out of Frisco was San Diego for
their clearance. The "Twerp" was cleared the same as a
steamship - Port Bill of Health, Cargo Manifest, etc. The
passenger list was eliminated by signing Dr. Lorenz on as
a crew member. The next stop, Hermosillo, Mexico, where
they spent the night.
Next morning it was on to Mazatlan. They covered
that leg of 590 miles on 17 gallons of gas. Guadalajara
was made by nightfall. They spent 2 /days each in Mexico
City, Guatemala City and Managua, Nicaragua and then
flew on to David, Panama. The next morning after land-
ing there, they phoned (at 7:00 A.M.) for permission to en-
ter the Panama Canal Zone. They received instructions
on how to enter the Zone and were given a very explicit
route to fly into France Field.
It was good that they flew as instructed as they were
met at the channel by interceptors and were guided into
France Field, landing at 9:30 A.M. There they were checked
thoroughly and were granted permission to fly without
cameras over any part of the Zone. They left Panama at
2:00 P.M. and landed at Turbo, Columbia at 4:30 P.M.
At Turbo they landed at an emergency field washed
by the spray of the Gulf of Uraba and protected from high
tides by a dike. The only building was a mission where they
spent the night as guests of the Catholic Fathers. Supper
that night consisted of two cans of sausages, crackers and
beer. They did not get much sleep because half the night
was spent checking the tie-downs on the "Twerp" as a
raging storm was in progress.
The rain belt extends the length of the continent and
the doctor's concern now was to get to Cali, Columbia,
over 300 miles of the worst jungle in South America where
there was, at least, a hangar for the "Twerp". With no
weather report from Cali they took off at 10:00 A.M. the
next morning, following the Atrato River until it disap-
peared below the cloud layer they were forced to overfly
to clear the fast rising Andes ahead of them. After 5 hours
they broke out and followed a railroad to a narrow notch
in the Andes to Cali.
The next leg was to Quito, Ecuador. When the "Twerp"
left Cali, the pilots had been warned not to land outside
of military fields. To enforce the warning, the Cadet was
escorted to the border.
At Quito the airport was fogged in, so they flew on ...
IFR, VFR, IFR, VFR . . . with compass and altimeter as
their only means of successfully threading their way
through narrow canyons in a blinding rain. They pushed
on for 500 miles and landed at Guayaquil where the
"Twerp" took on 18 gallons of gas - not bad gas mileage
for 500 miles.
It was still raining and it appeared that another big
storm would hit Guayaquil's airport, so the Cadet roared
off for Talara, Peru where they spent the night. On e ~ u
ary 27 the dentists took off for Lima. This leg was covered
in 51/2 hours; then it was on to Arica, Chile, a 690 mile leg
flown in 5 hours and 45 minutes. After 11 % hours of Cul-
ver time that day, a night's rest and some sight seeing were
well earned.
The next day, however, Smith and Lorenz headed
southward again, down the Pacific Coast of Chile to Anto-
fagasta ... where they encountered their first mainte-
nance problem, an oil leak. They spent two hours trying
14
N
C
2
o
9
2
(Courtesy Nick Rezich)
Nick and a friend indulging in a little clowning for the photographer. The insignia is that of the Illinois
State Militia. Nick once flew missions for the Militia into flood ravaged downstate Illinois, landing
on roads to deliver blood to hospitals.
to locate the source of the leak, but failed to find it. They
tightened everything in sight and took off for Vallenar,
site of a Pan American emergency strip, where they spent
the night.
The following morning saw further attempts to stop the
oil leak and a take-off for Santiago. There, Pan American
mechanics washed down the engine and found the leak -
it was coming from a crack in the oil radiator. The
mechanics soldered the crack and by noon the next
day the Cadet was off for Mendoza, Argentina.
This short leg of only about 150 miles between San-
tiago and Mendoza would be the ultimate test of the
Culver's performance for it involved crossing the very
backbone of the Andes, past 23,834 feet peak of Aconcagua,
tallest mountain in South America, and through Uspallata
Pass. This involved the little over-grossed Cadet climbing
to 17,000 feet for safe passage through the pass. The Uspal-
lata is probably the windiest and roughest pass in the world
- test balloons have recorded winds to 200 mph.
Smith and Lorenz received a weather report from Pan-
Am that the pass was clear but winds up to 50 mph were
blowing and were predicted to increase even more. They
were advised not to go. The two were anxious to try it,
however, so they fired up the "Twerp" and were on their
way.
After circling the field to 10,000 feet, they headed the
Cadet for the pass . The ride through was one Smith and
Lorenz will never forget. It was slam! bam! all the way, but
they made it. The Culver Cadet was one of the first produc-
tion light planes to cross the Andes and undoubtedly the
first ever to make the crossing in a "touring" configuration,
that is, with a full load of gasoline, baggage and both seats
occupied. When they landed at Mendoza, the Cadet was
awarded a free hangar for the night in recognition by the
local people of the awesomeness of their feat.
At noon on March 4, the Cadet zipped acrosss the Rio
de la Plata headed for Porto Alegre, Brazil. After 5 hours of
bucking 60 mph headwinds, however, they landed at the
Air France field at Pelotas, Brazil for the night. The next
morning they were off for Porto Alegre where they filled
up on gas and water and went on to Rio. There, they again
had the oil radiator soldered and, as an added precaution,
wired the U.S.A. for a new one to be air expressed to Para,
Brazil.
Leaving Rio, they headed into the state of Bahia. Rio
had wired ahead for a supply of gas and at their next stop,
a tanker with 350 gallons of gas was waiting. When they
ordered 30 gallons, the attendant refused saying the gas
was for a Pan Am airliner. Smith and Lorenz tried to ex-
plain that the fuel was for the "Twerp" but all the guy would
do was shout, "Pan American! Pan American!" No one ever
heard of a light plane being able to fly from Rio into Bahia
and only needing 30 gallons of gas!
By now the oil radiator had recilly developed a super
bad leak - and there were no facilities to fix it. The flying
dentis ts took off anyway, oil leak and all. Two hours out
over Pernambuco state at 6500 feet - over the jungle - the
engine started to go. Twenty minutes later it froze . The
ocean was too distant, so the doctor headed for the jungle
and its head hunters. Frantically looking for a clearing, they
spotted a sand bar in the distance that looked promising
and headed for it, wheels up for max glide. As they ap-
proached the clearing, it looked like they could put it in
wheels down - so they tried it.
The Cadet sailed over the edge of the dearing by a mere
35 feet and settled in on the sand. The wheels dug a 4 inch
trench for about 50 feet before the left strut broke and the
left wing dug into the sand bringing the bird to an instant
halt.
Smith and Lorenz sat for a few minutes dazed but un-
hurt. Finally, Dr. Lorenz said, "I believe we have arrived".
When they climbed out, natives appeared from everywhere
- no, not head hunters, but friendly natives . Next came
the sign language which eventually resulted in the doc-
tors spending the next several days on horseback and nights
in native huts until they reached Barreiriwha, where a char-
tered plane flew them back to civilization.
Today a monument of wood and fabric lays on a sand
15
bar in South America - a tribute to a great airplane, the
Culver Cadet.
Up to the point of the forced landing the doctors had
covered some 12,000 miles, averaging 30 miles to a gallon
and at a total fl ying cost of $300.00!
HEY! PIPER, BEECH, CESSNA-CAN YOU TOP THAT
ON 75 HORSEPOWER?? PROGRESS? BAH!!
Al Mooney . .. genius!!
How about you Culver owners in the Bay area trying to
see if these two fine pilots are still around and invite them
to the next Culver Club get together. I promise two most
interesting speakers. In fact, I'd like to see some sort of
recognition for these two men ... maybe in the form of a
plaque. I would be will ing to throw in 20 bucks toward it -
how about it, Culver Owners?
Remember, there are those that have and those that
haven' t . . . yet!
- Big Nick
(Editor's Note: If Big Nick has any of you Culver enthusi-
asts stirred up as a result of his article, you might want to
join the Culver Club. Write: International Culver Cadet
Club, c/o Vic Schroeder, P. O. Box 22125, Dallas, Texas
75222 for further information.)
(Courtesy Nick Rezich)
Big Nick poses in front of his Culver and a friend does likewise with his Monocoupe 90A in the back-
ground. All the photos are from the 1940-44 era.
(Photo Courtesy Nick Rezich)
Big Nick, left, and Larry Low, present owner of Nick's
old Culver Cadet. Larry has done a super restoration on
the bird. The registration number is now N-281W rather
than NC-20926 as when new.
(Courtesy Ni ck Rezich)
Right - Chud Hanell, a race driver who worked at How-
ard Aircraft, and Big Nick in his Culver.
16
(Photo byGar Williams)
Left- Mel Hef/ingerofRedondo Beach, California
restoredthisbeautifulHarlowandhaswona room-
ful oftrophieswith itin thepastcoupleofyears.
(Photo byGarWilliams)
Above - Watsonville's Grand Champion awardfor
1974 wentto Jim RicklefsofSan Carlos, California
for this beautifullyrestoredS.P.A.D. VII.
(Photo byGarWilliams)
Ben Conaster of Huntington Beach, California gets
some wing walking assistance to the runway for his
Fokker Dr. ITriplane.
EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT, ANTIQUERS!
By GarWilliams
9 S 135 Aero Dr. Rt. 1
Naperville, Illinois60540
Watsonville - How can one convey the excitement,
describe the setting, detail the airplanes, or give full jus-
tice to the hospitality without overusing adjectives like
FANTASTIC!
Watsonville - Undoubtedly known to those who enjoy
apples for the product of its many orchards is also known
by those of us who fancy old airplanes as one of THE f1y-
ins. This year the annual Watsonville gathering, spon-
sored by the Northern California Chapter of the Antique
Airplane Association and the Watsonville Chamber of
Commerce, enjoyed clear, cool weather and an accumu-
lation of Antique, Classic and Custom aircraft that rivals
even Oshkosh both in quantity and quality. The coverage
here will specifically be for the Antiques and Classics
with the hope that we will see the Customs reported on
in SPORTAVIATION.
The history of the Watsonvill e Fly-In goes back some
ten years to a point where members of the Northern Cali-
fornia Chapter of the Antique Airplane Association were
interested in developing a local fly-in. This small start
grew slowly until the decision was reached for several
chapters of "Antiquers" to band together to support the
gathering - the "National West Coast" fly-in. The rest
of the story is history - steady growth with an excellent
example of teamwork between the sponsors and the con-
tinuing efforts of many individuals. For those of us who
attended the show for the first time this teamwork as well
as individual effort was readily apparent. Registration,
parking, policing, contests - all very smoothly done.
The fly-in officially opened at noon Friday, May 17, with
a good number of aircraft - Antiques, Classics and Cus-
toms already in attendance. Actually, Airmas ter Airlines
had arrived late the previous day and we were quite sur-
prised at the turnout that early. Travel Airs, Stearmans,
Luscombes, Ryans - quantity and quality already had ex-
ceeded the turnout of what could be considered a typical
three day show. Opening day saw the expected influx of
more ships. This year the weatherman came through with
continuous severe clear although the winds off the bay
nearly made whitecaps on the asphalt runway at times .
17
(Photo by Gar Williams)
The Ryan line at Watsonville. You can see more Ryans
here than at the national events. Those Californians are
guilty of a clear case of hoarding!
In spite of the winds, the fly-bys continued and only one
case of a scraped wingtip was reported.
Friday evening after all the activity on the flightline
quieted down, the Civil Air Patrol removed their "police"
bonnets and donned white chefs hats for a CAP Hangar
Feed in the Armory - a short walk from the flightline.
This little walk was rewarded with an inexpensive chicken
dinner sprinkled with the fellowship of the many an-
tiquers in attendance. Following the dinner the exodus was
directed to the Hotel Resetar and the "Early Birds" drink-
fest.
Activity along the flightline started shortly after sun-
rise the following morning with the takeoff and fly-bys of
Champs, Taylorcrafts and less quiet ships like a Mustang
and a Hellcat. The early morning air was perfect for for-
mation flying, low passes down the runway as well as
trips along the beaches of Monterey Bay. Clear cool air
was the order of the day. Fly-bys - air show - fly-bys-
what a miserable way to spend a weekend!
The Saturday night awards banquet was a real bust. The
usual happy hour began at 6 P.M. at the County Fair-
grounds. Again the well organized approach was readily
apparent with a neat pattern of tables, decorations con-
sisting of helium filled balloons with small gondolas simu-
lating the popular hot air balloons and other table decora-
tions in the motif of antique airplanes. The Armory was
quickly filled, the happy hour refreshments downed and
the buffet lines began for a delicious meal. Soon the awards
time came and members of both the Northern California
(Photo by Gar Williams)
This fine example of the ever popular Waco RNF is
owned by Sam Haley of Union City, California.
Antique group and EAA Chapter 62 began the presenta-
tion of the many plaques and trophies . Somewhere along
the way our attention was drawn to the main entrance -
in bounded three people clad ever so neatly in helmets,
goggles and . .. NOTHING ELSE! In true California tra-
dition Watsonville '74 was streaked by three beautiful
young women! Eat your hearts out, Antiquers.
Once the insuing riot quieted down, the awards con-
tinued with additional presentations being made by Paul
Poberezny from EAA Headquarters and Doug Rounds
representing the National AAA organization. The culmina-
tion of the awards program was the presentaton of the
Grand Champion Trophy to Jim Ricklefs for his beautiful
restoration of an original SPAD.
Sunday again dawned clear and cool and by 7 A.M.
the dew-drenched benches at the "Lumberjack" break-
fast in Corralitos were being dried by the britches of many
hungry people. Set in the redwoods several miles north
of the airport, the breakfast site alone was worth a long
trip to visi t.
As with many weekend fly-ins, the Customs and An-
tiques started to depart early during the day, many not
staying for the fly-bys and air show. It was with great
reluctance and a tear in the eye that Bob Zilinsky and I
cranked up and headed south towards San Diego, start-
ing the 2200 mile trip home. Truly this was one fine week-
end with many new friends left behind.
For you who missed it - eat your heart out - and
don't miss it next year!
MAJOR AWARDS - WATSONVILLE '74
GRAND CHAMPION - SPAD VII, N-1916S, James
Ricklefs, San Carlos, California.
MAYOR'S AWARD - Stearman C3R, NC-8828, Jack
Greiner, Boulder, Colorado .
BEST HOMEBUIL T - Starduster Too N-5464 Chuck
Tyler, Long Beach, California. , .,
NATIONAL AAA AWARDS - Fox Moth DH-83, ZK-
ASP, Myles Robertson, Takapuna, New Zealand; New
Standard, N-155M, George Dray, Novato, California;
Harlow PJC-2, N-18978, Mel Heflinger, Redondo Beach,
California; Cessna Airmaster, N-25485, Gar Williams,
Naperville, Illinois; Stearman N2S-2, N-68324, Gary and
Terry Woy, San Jose, California; Porterfield, N-17029,
John Innes, Studio City, California.
NATIONAL EAA AWARDS-
Best Custom Built - Starduster Too, N-5464, Chuck
Tyler, Long Beach, California.
Best Antique - SPAD VII, N-1916S, James Ricklefs,
San Carlos, California.
Best Classic - Spartan Executive, N-17605, Don
Dickenson, Santa Paula, California.
NATIONAL STINSON CLUB CHOICE - Stinson SR-8,
NC-16190, Ernest Fillmore, Los Gatos, California.
NATIONAL WACO CLUB CHOICE - Waco VKS-7
N-31656, Dale Miller, S. Pasadena, California. '
STEARMAN RESTORERS ASSN. (BILL ADAMS ME-
MORIAL TROPHY): Vaughn & Jean Lamb.
(Photo by Robert F. Zilinsky)
Irv Perlitch's Ford Tri-Motor.
(Photo by Robert F. Zilinsky)
If a Ryan has to be modified . ..then let it look like this!
Books for Buffs
from HISTORIC AVIATION
o Amphibian TheStoryofThe
Loening Biplane
by
Grover Loening
Complete history of the " flying
shoehorns." Photos so good,
text sodetailed andthe booka
workofart.You'llhavetohaveit
for your library. 10" x 10", 250
photos.
o WaterFlying-
by Franklin T.Kurt
~ ' If you own afloat plane or are just interested in
III water flying you will want this book. It's the first
Z all-inclusivebookaboutflyingboats,floatplanes,
and amphibians. Covers operating techniques
and historyofseaplanes. It ismasteriullywritten
byaformerGrummanengineerfrom alifetimeof
testing,designing and instructing in water craft.
100photos,15 draWings. $8.95
o The Ford AirTours 1925-1931
by Leslie Forden
~ A complete story in text and
III photos of the seven cross-
Z country"ReliabilityTours" Pro-
fusely illustrated, incorporating
muchcollateral materialandan
interesting "whatever hap-
pened to ...?" section in the
back relating capsule histories a>
.....
ofTourparticipants.Amustfor
the enthusiasts reference lib-
rary.8V2X 11 .
oTheyCall Me Mr. Airshow
by Bill Sweet
More than an autobiographyof
'- MflARSHOW
Mr. Sweet,this book is alively
accountofBillSweet'sassocia-
tion with the greats of the air
c
o
The book is exciting, informa-
tive and in places riotously
show circuit from the 20's on.
tf2.
humorous.Onceyoustartread- LO
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o CessnaGuidebook
Mitch Mayborn and Bob Pickett
o
$11.00
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THEY CAll ME
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~
o
(Photo by Robert F. Zilinsky)
Ted Holman's American Eagle.
(Photo by Robert F. Zilinsky)
. What is happening here???
CompletelikepredecessorStearmanGuidebook. o
Contains photos of every single engine model ..D
built through the Airmaster series and WWI I
Bobcat, three viewdrawingsofthe mostsignific-
antversions,reprintsofold advertising andcom-
c
plete serial listings for military Bobcats. Anyone
o
who haseverflown oradmired Cessnawill want
this one.
U.S. CivilAircraft
by JosephJuptner
The antiquers bible. Ency-
clopediaofATCplanesgivinga
complete description, history,
production data, periormance,
specifications with excellent
photocoverage.Coloriulnarra-
tivesarewoventhroughouttell-
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little-known anecdotes. Each
vo'lume covers 100 ATC' s.
300 + photos & 300 pages.
$6.95
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oVol. 1, ATC #1 thru #100, 1927-29...$9.95
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oVol. II, ATC #101 thru #200, 1929 ...$9.95
oVol. III,ATC #201 lhru #300, 1929-30 $9.95 E
oVol. IV,ATC #301 thru #400,1930-31 $9.95
Q)
oVol. V, ATC #401 thru #500 1931-33 $9.95
E
oVol.VI. ATC #501 thru#6001933-35 $11.95
Vol . #6 covers sucn golden age classics as

~ theDC-2, RyanST,Luscome Phantom,Taylor

"Silver Club" and some of the great Stin-

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sons,FairchildsandWaco models,and more.
HISTORICAVIATION
prints and books for the collector
3850-8Coronation Rd . Eagan. Minn. 55122
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19
IN RETROSPECT
OLD LADY WIND-IN-THE-FACE
By Lee S. Thomas
P. O. Box 1166
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania 15230
So she went to Ohio to learn to fly. The Depression
was just barely started. Barr Peat had a little airport called
Issouden, in honor of the Lafayette Esquadrille (but the
French wouldn't recognize the pronunciation). She soloed
in a little over five hours, like it was in those days. Al
Litzenberger (you recognize these old names) taught her
in a Bird (smaller than a Laird, but a honey of a plane to
fly). Melba Beard has a nest of Birds, even today, out in
Arizona, I hear.
Why do people do these things? Cliff Ball's pilot used
to drop her mail over the field - it was only a little detour,
between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Maybe that tells you
something. Never heard of Clifford Ball, Inc.? Where you
been? Ever hear of Capital? Ever hear of United?
Besides, maybe the pilot was lost, and just happened
to have her mail on his lap. ("You don't need a map to get
to Cleveland!") Radio? Instruments? You kidding? Every-
body got lost. You had to cut the engine to hear what the
other guy was shouting about. ("What's Pittsburgh's
Cathedral of Learning doing in downtown Akron?")
She flew Wacos, too, and Aeronca C-3s. They built a
Standard at Bettis Field (shopping center? housing devel-
opment?) , to fly Cliff's mail route, and she flew the Stand-
ard. It was sort of like a Standard Mailwing, but the wing
was different. A mite unstable, some said.
Must of been in the light of hindsight. The whole world,
and life, and aviation, were unstable, at Bettis, in those
days. Ask Karl Voelter. Ask Kenny Sholter. (He first found
his way to Bettis age about 12. As it turned out later, he
could fly anything.)
Her own love was her Monocoupe. I hear it's still fly-
ing, over in Ohio somewhere, and that's 35 years later, or
more. (It has a new paint job, though.) She took it down
to Uniontown (there isn't any airfield at Uniontown, now),
to tell the Rotary about the new self-starter. Everybody
went out to the field, to marvel. Wouldn't start. Had to be
hand-propped.
She took it over to Greensburg (there isn't any airfield
at Greensburg, now), to pick up a passenger. Turned out
to weigh about 220. There used to be a ditch at Greens-
burg. A good thing to avoid, what with the passenger's
weight pulling the plane around, and the baby. The baby?
The baby was not only on the way, she was almost there.
(The doctor told her she could keep flying as long as she
felt like it.) Of course, she avoided the ditch .
And you can feel sorry for these tricycle, kiddie-car
types, with their radios and instruments and runways,
and innocence of forced landings. What she knew they'll
never know. What she felt they'll never feel. Well, a lot
of these older types, ladies or gentlemen, ask you to sit
on this side, or that side, of them. One ear bad, it seems.
Don't feel sorry for them.
20
"
(Oshkosh DailyNorthwestern Photo)
" ASFTRSOA8P"
(Translated: "AS SEEN FROM THE REAR SEAT OF A BIPLANE")
ByAI Kelch
7018 W. BonniewellRd.
Mequon,Wisconsin 53092
To Weldon Ropp, everyday is a holiday since he has
retired from 27 years of flying for National Airlines. He
flies that little 16E Travel Air and has the kind of fun we
all dream of (a long trip in a bipe with no time schedule
andnoflight plan, ala gypsy). Hishomebaseis anantique
airdromein Delray Beach, Florida. There he has his home
and hangaron a mile long grass strip, along wi th several
otherairplane buffs. Thereis no need for anyoneofthese
guys to evergo to Heaven - they'realready there.
Willie, as mosteveryonecalls him, decided to take that
long trip this spring. He built a false floor for the front
cockpit and proceeded to pil e it full of almost everything
he owns - two suitcases of clothes, two boxes of spare
parts, suchas pistonrings, exhaustvalves, exhaustguides,
intake valve and guides, rocker arms, gaskets, pliers, 1
gallon of grease, a grease gun, several gallons of Marvel
MysteryOil, plusa batterychargerand tools enough to do
a majoroverhaul. With all that, and27 gallons ofgas, the
oldTravelAirlifted from hishomestripandheaded north.
The following is Willie's personallog ofthe trip.
AN ANTIQUER'S FLIGHT LOG
Thursday,May 23,1974
Flying
Depart Arrive Time Fuel Oil
Delray Beach8:15 a.m. LakeWales9:45 a.m. 1:30 14.4 O
Lake Wales 9:55 a.m. Ocala 11:00 a.m. 1:05 11.0 1qt.
Ocala 11 :55 a.m. Perry,Fla..1:15 a.m. 1:20 12.0 1qt.
Perry2:00 p.m. Ozark ,Ala.- 3:55 p.m. 1:55 19.0 1ql.
Ozark - 4:40 p.m. Clanton,Ala.- 6:00 p.m. 1:30 15.0 1qt.
Notes: Overnight at Holiday Inn. A good stop. Airport Manager took me to the
motel - an old timer, OX-5 man.
Fri day,May24, 1974
Clanton- 8:45 a.m. Starkville,Miss.-10:20a.m. 1:35 15.7 1ql.
Notes : Starkville has a grass field started many years ago. The son showed me
pictures of his dad 's Great Lakes with a Cirrus engine that he bought plus
an Aeronca C-3.The ' Lakes,N-308Y, is still flying. Said they lost track of itafter
it left Florida.
Starkville- 10:55 a.m. Grenada- 11:45 a.m. :55 8.7 0-
Grenada- 12:10 p.m. Clarksdale,Miss.-
12:55p.m. :45 8.7 0-
Notes: Went to Clarksville to help Chapter 27 (Memphis) with their lAC Contesl.
Contest May 25 and 26. Sunday' s contest day cal led off due to rain and low
ceilings. I spend day pulling push rods out and greasing them - a five hour
jobalone,butwith plentyof helpwedid itin twohours plus pull the cowling to
see that all the screws and bolts are still in place ,
Monday,May 27,1974
Clarksdale- 10:05a.m. Hayti , Mo.- 11 :45 a.m. 1:40 16.0 1ql.
Hayti - 12:50 p.m. Sparta,III. - 2:20 p.m. 1:30 15.2 1ql.
Sparta- 3:00 p.m. Lincoln, III. - 4:30 p.m. 1:30 15.0 0-
Notes:RON at HolidayInn - good placetostop
Tuesday,May 28,1974
Lincoln- 8:22 a.m. Lincoln - 8:52 a.m. :30 4.5 0-
Notes : Ceiling too low to even follow roads!
Lincoln- 12:30 p.m. DeKalb,III. - 1:45p.m. 1:15 12.0 1qt .
DeKalb- 2:10 p.m. Bill Dodd 's- 2:40 p.m. :30
Notes: Airplane placed in Bill Dodd's hangar. Spend May 29 with my son from
Wonder Lake,III. - about20 milesfrom Dodds. Son flies for United.
Thursday,May 30,1974
Bill Dodd' s- 10:30 a.m. Burlington,Wi s.-11:OOa.m. :30
Burlington- 11 :30 a.m. Hales Corners- 12:00 :30 14.0 0-
Notes: Was shown the red carpet here. Bill Hodges happened to see me fly over
the EAA Museum and alerted Mike Heuer and Gene Chase who crossed paths
with me as the airport manager drove me to the Museum. Bill showed me the
Museum , the work shop and the warehouses. One cannot believe they build
airplanes in a work shop so clean. One should have a whole day to spend at the
EAA Museum - there is so much to see and read. This is a must for everyone.
Hales Corners- 2:15 p.m. AI Kelch 's- 2:40 p.m. :25
Friday,June 1, 1974
Notes: With AI Kelch to Waukesha to see Dale Crites and his Curtiss Pusher and
the Waco restoration. Had a ride in the 1924 Chevy touring car. Back to AI' s.
Took off for Oshkosh so as to be able to say I put the old Travel Air on the
runway there. This was the second time that I used the radio since leaving
21
(Photo by Dick Stouffer)
Willie Ropp at Oshkosh - taking a couple of lucky friends
up for a joy ride.
(Photo by AI Kelch)
Willie Ropp of Delray Beach, Florida.
Florida. The other time was at Clarksdale. EAA had a work crew painting. plant-
ing flowers. etc. Back toAI 's.
Saturday,June 2, 1974
Notes: To West Bend to put the Travel Airin the hangar with AI's Franklin Sport.
Flew the Travel Air 22 hours and 20 minutes . . .never missed a beat!
On a Thursday afternoon I got a call at my office. He
had found my home strip, landed and hitch-hiked to town.
He was having a late lunch when I caught up with him,
and Willie was wearing that silly smile that is typical of
all aircraft drivers and is seen often on pilots immediately
after solo flights, for pictures with their newly restored
aircraft and other achievements. I spent the rest of the
afternoon enjoying his trip second hand. Friday and the
rest of the weekend was a visiting fireman type of affair.
We flew over to visit Dale Crites at Waukesha Airport
to see his newly built Curtiss Pusher, which many of you
later saw at Oshkosh, and we also saw Dean Crites' in
process Waco Straight Wing and got in on the run up of
that wonderful J5 engine - a sound to delight the soul
and fill the nostrils with perfume (carbon monoxide to
other than airplane buffs).
Saturday afternoon had been scheduled for a visit to
Oshkosh. At the last minute I couldn't go, so Willie went
alone. He was much impressed with the activity and the
enthusiasm of the volunteer help and came back raving
about the organizational ability of the whole staff at EAA.
Sunday was filled with visits to local airports and pri-
vate strips, plus a few rides to the onlookers.
Monday, after an all too short visit, I saw Willie off to
Florida via commercial. He left his Travel Air in my hands
and returned several times this summer to continue his
meanderings and visit the local fly-ins. His agenda has in-
cluded attendance at La Rue, Oshkosh and Blakesburg.
Then he will no doubt meander south again with the birds,
visiting along the way, causing me to turn green, when
everything else is turning brown. Just being able to share
Willie's experience second hand, gives me a thrill and
something to remember during next winter's long no-fly
spell. Shared experiences with others is a good part of
the glue that holds our organization together and makes
it such an exciting one. The adventure that rubs off at
one Oshkosh Fly-In is probably more than the average
civilian type can stand in a year. Look Willie up at the
next fly-in - he is a fun type "O.F." (Old Flier).
22
Around The Antique/Classic World
NORTHROP BETA INFO
In the May issue of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE we
featured the rare Northrop Beta as our Golden Oldie of
the Month. At the end of the article we requested some
assistance from our readers in determining what ulti-
mately happened to the two Betas. Member John C.
Barbery, P. O. Box 108, Bedminster, New Jersey 07921
has provided us with copies of his Aircraft Research
Data cards on X-963Y and NC-12214.
According to Mr. Barbery's records, the C-6 Menasco
Buccaneer powered Beta was inspected and approved by
the CAA on March 31, 1931 for experimental li cense
X-963Y, issued to expire on October 1, 1931. The entry
entitl ed "Fi nal Disposi tion" sim pI y states, "Washed
out at Los Angeles, California on August 12, 1931." The
only listed owner for the aircraft was the factory, North-
rop Aircraft Corporation of Burbank.
The Wasp Jr. powered Beta, NC-12214, lasted a little
longer. It was initially licensed by the CAA on Septem-
ber 1, 1931, wi th experimental number X-12214 to expire
on March 1, 1932. A footnote states that Don Berlin was
the chief engineer for thi s design and that Stearman Air-
craft Corporati on ran the development and flight tests
on the pl ane. The Beta was sold on February 8, 1932 to
Kenyon Boocock with the NC license (approval under 2-
401). At this point 12214 had a total time of 40 hours. Anoth-
er footnote sta tes that the Wasp Beta bore an incorrect
serial number 1 on its nameplate until May of 1932 when
Stearman provided Boocock a new nameplate with the
correct serial number 2.
12214 was damaged in an accident at Hicksville, Long
Island on January 16, 1933 arid was put in storage. On
January 16, 1933 it was sold to George W. Hard of West
Sayv ill e, Long Island. At some point in lat e 1933 or
early 1934 (no date known) the plane was purchased by
Stearman in Wichita, who rebuilt the Beta for experi-
menting with various flap configurations (conventional,
zap, Fowler and Wright types), completing it on May 1,
1934. On May 3, 1934 title was transferred to United Air-
ports, East Hartford, Connecticut (apparently for regis-
tration purposes only) and two days later, on May 5,
the aircraft was completely destroyed in an accident at
Wichita.
So there you are, antiquers ... it would appear that
all hope is lost of finding a restorable Beta in someone's
barn.
Our thanks to John Barbery for making thi s informa-
tion avai labl e.
- Jack Cox, Editor
ClASSIFIEDS
WANTED - Two wire wheels for 30x5 tires ; Siemens Halske SH III FOR SALE- Aeronca TAC. civil version of the Defender. 70% restored.
160 h.p. geared rotary engine. Roy Rehm. Box 4832. Stateline. original aircraft of Aeronca Employees Flying Club. Lynwood
Nevada 89449. Clark. 8200 Meyers Road. Middleton. Ohio. 422-3417.
Calendar OfEvents
OCTOBER 11-13 - TAHLEQUAH . OKLAHOMA - 16th Annual Fly-In
spOrisored by Tulsa Chapters of AAA. EAA and lAC. Homebuilts.
Antiques and Classics welcome. Contact : Bert Mahon, 3101 South
Boston Ct. . Tulsa. Oklahoma 74135.
Back Issues OfThe Vintage Airplane
Limited numbers of back issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE are available at .SOc each. Copies still on
hand at EAA Headquarters are:
1973 - MARCH, APRIL, MAY, JUNE, JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER,
DECEMBER
1974 - JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL, MAY, JUNE, JULY, AUGUST
23