GEOFF ROBISON

PRESIDENT, VINTAGE AI RCR AFT ASSOC IATON

Getting out there!

To help me write this column, I fig

ured out that the best way to get my
mind shifted to "aviation mode" was
to go to the airport, make a pot of cof
fee, turn on a little "country radio,"
and just be around the many avia
tion artifacts at the hangar. I could
hear the airplanes coming and going
on the nearby runway, and there was
no phone to pester me. Then all of
the airplane noise got me thinking
about the upcoming flying season,
now just a couple of months away.
Suddenly, the motivation kicked in,
and my mind started cranking. Deci
sions, decisions! I have been trying to
decide which fly-in events to attend
in 2008 . To start off my planning, I
thought about the local events that
are relatively easy to get to. It starts
every year on the first of January at
Nappanee, Indiana, where EAA Chap
ter 938 members, the "Cloudchasers,"
host their annual New Year's Day Han
gar-Over Fly-In/Drive-In Luncheon
event. This year was their 17'" annual
get-together, and they put on a great
feed that attracts a whole bunch of
EAA members and their aircraft. No,
there's no jumping in the nearly fro
zen river or anything like that. They
just have a large, warm hangar, and
you get to do a whole bunch of han
gar flying with a great group of folks
while enjoying some good chow.
Then there's the great Skiplane
Fly-In at Oshkosh's Pioneer Airport.
This event got started many years ago
as a celebration of Audrey Poberezny's
birthday, and it is typically held on
the fourth Saturday of January, which
this year was January 26. This is al
ways a good time with lots of great

chili served up. Sorry I didn't make it

this year, Audrey. It seems as though
my 3-year-old grandson is now of
the age that he wants to know when
I'm going to be there for his birth
day, which is now always celebrated

.. . the airplane
noise got me
thinking about the
upcoming flying
season, now just a
couple of months
away. Suddenly,
the motivation
kicked in ...
that same Saturday. In the future, my
solution to this dilemma is to bring
him along!
The weather up north is just start
ing to turn when the second largest
fly-in in the world takes place in Flor
ida. I try to make Sun 'n Fun at least
every other year, and I was there in
2007, but I had a lot of fun last year.
So don't be surprised if you see me in
Lakeland in early April ...
On Memorial Day weekend I can
typically be found at the Marion, In
diana, airport where Ray Johnson
and a corps of volunteers always hold
their annual fund-raiser for the local
high school band. Ray puts on a great
show and manages to attract most of

the local community to visit the air

port during this well-managed and
well-attended event.
After Sun 'n Fun and Marion,
things will start to get pretty busy
for me in preparation for EAA Air
Venture Oshkosh. The spring board
meetings are in early May, and then
several Oshkosh work parties keep
me pretty busy right up through
early August.
With Oshkosh behind me, I then
have the opportunity to get back out
on the fly -in circuit. The weekend
after Labor Day, in Hagerstown, In
diana, Chapter 373 President Mar
vin Stohler hosts an overnight fly-in
camping event. This is always great
fun, and has great food and a huge
bonfire to battle the normally crisp
air. With pancakes in the morning
and a nice trip home by early after
noon, a good time is had by all.
This year, our local VAA Chapter
37 is making plans to host the re
gional Stinson fly-in at Auburn, In
diana (GWB). This event is shaping
up to be a real hit on the circuit. Au
burn is home to the Auburn Cord
Duesenberg Museum as well as the
Kruse World War II Victory Museum.
Our local "Hoosier Warbird Museum"
will be partiCipating as well. On Sep
tember 13 we are planning a pancake
breakfast for anyone interested.
With all of this going on, I am still
hoping to attend the Tulsa Regional
Fly-In and/or the Biplane Expo in
Bartlesville, Oklahoma . The last time
I attended the Tulsa Regional Fly-In
was in 1998, and I had a great time.
I have never attended the annual
continlled on page 37

N E

VOL. 36 , No.2

co
I Fe

2008

TENTS

Straight & Level

Getting out there!
by Geoff Robison

News

Vintage Aircraft Club of Great Britain Fly-In

A delightful aviation day
by David Macready

10

Timeless and Triumphant

The Taylorcraft "Twosome"

"Best buy in the sky!"

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

18

Reziches' Travel Airs

Part II-November Charlie Eighty One Fifteen

by James Rezich

22

What Our Members Are Restoring

by David Tunno

24

The Technical Corner

Slotted ailerons

by Robert G. Lock

28

Multiple Organization Listing

30

Pass It to Buck

Here I am again

by Buck Hilbert

32

The Vintage Instructor

Kick the tires: Part I

by Doug Stewart

34

Reviews

Books and Videos of Interest to Vintage Members

by H.G. Frautschy

36

Mystery Plane

by H.G. Frautschy

38

39

Calendar
Classified Ads

COVERS

FRONT COVER The side-by-side Taylorcraft has long been a favorite of lightplane enthusiasts. We
spotted this month's featured airplane well south in the VM parking area during EM AirVenture
Oshkosh 2007, and Sparky Barnes Sargent had an enjoyable ti me interviewing its owner, Joel
Severinghaus. See the story beginning on page 10. EM photo by Jim Koepnick.
BACK COVER: David Macready of the United Kingdom has been kind enough to share dozens of
images of aircraft ftown in the UK, and we 're happy to start featuring a few of his photographs in
this month's issue. This pretty 1946 Auster 5J1, owned by Barry Dowsett and Ian Oliver. is se
rial number 1970. David snapped this photo as Pamela IV was departing the 2006 Croft Farm
Charity fly-in in Defford . Worcs., Great Britain.

STAFF

EAA Publisher
Director of EAA Publications
Executive Director/Editor
Executive Assistant
News Editor
Photography
Advertising Coordinator
Classified Ad Coordinator
Copy Editor
Director of Advertisi ng

Tom Poberezny
David Hipschman
H.G. Frautschy
Jillian Rooker
Ric Reynolds
Jim Koepnick
Bonnie Kratz
Sue Anderson
Daphene VanHullum
Colleen Walsh
Katrina Bradshaw

Display Advertising Representatives:

No rth east: Allen Murray
Phone 856-229-7180, FAX 856-229-7258, e-mail: allemllllffa;@tnilllisprillg.colII
Southeast: Chester Baumgartner
Phone 727-532-4640, FAX 727-532-4630, e-mail: cballmlll@milldsprillg.com
Centra l: Gary Worden
Phone 800-444-9932, FAX 816-74 1-6458, e-mail: gary.lVoriIell@Spc-mag.com
Mountain & Pacific: John Gibson
Phone 916-784-9593, e-mail: jOllIIgibsoll@Spc-lIlag.colll
Europe: Willi Tacke
Phone +4989693 40213, FAX +49896934021 4, e-mail: willi@flyillg-pages.com

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

Cessna T-SO Bobcat Club

We missed listing Jon Larson and
the Cessna Bobcat club, now in its
49th year, as a type club. Here's its
information:

Cessna T-50 "The Flying Bobcats"

Jon D. Larson
P.O. Box 566
Auburn, WA,98071
253-670-8218
E-mail: skykingjon@hotmail.com
Website: www.Angelfire.coml
mi2lbobcat
You can find the rest of the type
club list on our website at www.Vintage
Aircraft.org. Click on the "Type Clubs"
link at the top of the home page.

Cessna Spring Steel Gear Leg

FAA issues airworthiness concern sheet
In the fall of last year the FAA is
sued an airworthiness concern sheet
(ACS) for Cessna models 120, 140,
150,170, 172,175,180,182, 185,
188, 190, 195, 205, 206, and 210.
The reason for the ACS quoted from
the document "was corrosion and
fatigue cracking of the main landing
gear (MLG) spring struts have caused
MLG failures on various Cessna air
plane models."
Here is the text of the ACS:
"The left MLG broke on a 172K
that did a ground loop on June 18,
2007. On May 6, 2006, the left MLG
leg broke off at 4 inches from the
axle attach point on an A185F. Both
of these failures were due to corro
sion/fatigue. Our records indicate 72
occurrences beginning in 1975 until
the present time. Of these 72, 35 were
identified as being axle and hardware
failures and 37 as being spring strut
failures. Our analysis of the SDR and
accident data indicates that, for the
axle and hardware failures, the num
ber of SDRs per year has dropped
from 3.3 (1974 to 1981) to 1.0 since
1981; for the spring strut, the num
ber of SDRs per year has increased
from 0.6 (1974 to 1987) to 1.4 since
2

FEBR U ARY 2008

1987 . We have reason to believe

that wear-out for the spring struts
is about 3,000 flight hours on rough
terrain, and about 8,000 flight hours
on paved runways. At th is time, we
believe that our analysis is showing
that these spring struts should be vi
sual and NDI inspected every 2,000
flight hours. The axle and hardware
should be at least visually inspected
every 2,000 flight hours.
" In 2001, the NTSB issued two
safety recommendations : The first
recommended an initial inspection
at the next 100-hour or annual in
spection,; and the second recom
mended repetitive inspections at
appropriate intervals.
"At this time , the FAA has not
made a determination on what type
of corrective action (if any) should
be taken. The resolution of this air
worthiness concern could involve an
airworthiness Ddirective (AD) action
or a Sspecial Aa irworth iness Iinfor
mation Bbulletin (SAIB), or the FAA
could determine that no action is
needed at this time. The initial Rrisk
Aassessment for this concern indi
cated that an AD or SAIB might be
considered.
"Enclosed are: (1) the Initial
Risk Assessment Evaluation Chart
(IRAEC), (2) a photograph of the
latest failure, (3) the previous ACS
dated 5/23/01, (4) FAA AC43-16A
article dated July 2002, (5) a sche
matic of a spring strut, and (6) Cess
na's temporary revision to their
service manual."

Comments
The FAA requests your comments.
Any comments or replies to the FAA
need to be as specific as possible.
Please provide specific examples to il
lustrate your comments/concerns.
Comments are to be addressed to
Gary D. Park, Aerospace Engineer,
Wichita Aircraft Certification Office,
ACE-118W, 1801 Airport Rd ., Wich
ita, KS 67209, phone 316-946-4123,
e-mail Gary.Park@(aa.gov.
An ACS is not an airworthiness

directive or a service bulletin. It is a

method by which the FAA can gather
comment and field expertise regard
ing a maintenance issue prior to the
FAA making a determination regard
ing follow-up maintenance actions, if
any. The follow-up can be no further
action on up to and including an air
worthiness directive.
Tom Carr, technical representa
tive of the Cessna Pilots Association,
forwarded a copy of the club's com
ments regarding the ACS. Here's what
the CPA wrote to the FAA engineer
Mr. Park:
"Cessna Pilots Association (CPA)
has received very few comments from
the membership on the airworthiness
concern sheet (ACS). One member
with a U206F model with 7,000 hours
on the aircraft used on unimproved
strips felt that with the amount of
hours on the gear and his type of op
eration, rough runways, that is was
probably time to just to go ahead and
replace his original gear struts. CPA
feels his point about rough runways
has merit and feels that any flight
operations off unimproved runways,
has to be harder on the gear struts as
compared to the operator that stays
on improved runways. That would be
especially true of any ski- equipped
aircraft operations.
"The gear strut failures CPA has
been made aware of all originated
from a corrosion point usually on
the bottom side of the strut. The new
Cessna inspection criteria called out
in the July I, 2007, temporary 5 revi
sion 180/185 manual revision details
looking for rust as a warning sign .
It should be noted that until that
180/185 manual revision there is very
little detail of inspection criteria for
the main gear spring struts in any of
the service manuals for the flat spring
gear equipped Cessna models . Un
less an experienced A&P/IA advised
the owner that chipped paint and
stone chips could lead to pitting cor
rosion and strut fa ilure, many owners
were accepting blind ignorance that

2008
/1RVENTLRE

OSHKOSH

There's Much More Online

Look for more EM AirVenture Oshkosh 2008 information
online at www.AirVenture.org .
For admission and hours: www.AirVenture. org/2008/
planning/admission.html
For information on accommodations: www. AirVenture.
org/2008/planning/where _to _stay.html
Find or share a ride to Oshkosh : www.AirVenture.org/
rideshare/default. asp
For information on flying into Wittman Regional Airport,
alternate airports, and stops to and from Oshkosh:
www.AirVenture.org/2008/f1ying/index. html
their struts were fine. The Cessna new
production 206H models still utilize
the flat spring main gear, and the in
spection details in its service man
ual for the gear struts are still pretty
sparse as compared to what is n ow
contained in the 180/185 manual re
vision. CPA feels that the 180/185 re
vision should be incorporated into all
the service manuals that affect any
Cessna model equipped with the flat
spring gear struts.
CPA was made aware of a com
pany, XP Modifica t ions (509-884
3355, www.XPMods. com) that has the
provisions to inspect (NDI) and verify
the bends and angles of the Cessna
gear struts. They inspect about five
sets of gear legs a mon th and reject
about one out of 100 due to cracks
and corrosion depths out of limits .
It is interesting that the ma jority of
their current cliental is from Alaska
and the Pacific Northwest where un
improved landing strips are the norm
for back-country operators. These op
erators have learned that verifying
the condition of their gear strut s in
the off-season when the planes are
converted to floats is the better way
to ensure their mission reliability.
Just as the CPA member with the 206

mentioned earlier, any back-country

operator has to understand they are
being extreme mission specific, and
their maintenance program has to
be adjusted accordingly to make sure
the landing gear component parts are
inspected and determined to be air
worthy on a regular basis.
"As per the Cessn a 180/185 man
ual revision, 'Examine for signs of
corrosion (red rust) if damage to
the paint finish of the landing gear
spring is found. ' That simplistic but
very important detail put out in a
special airworthiness information
bulletin (SAIB) would alert owners
and A&P/IAs as well to the firs t in
dication there needed to be further
inspection and maintenance accom
plished on the gear legs. The aircraft
is required to have annua l inspec
tions, and the landing gear is called
out in any annual inspection check
list . A stone chip picked up taxiing
away from the annual now has a full
12 or more likely 13 months before
the required annual inspection comes
due again. If the aircraft owners were
made aware of the seriousness of that
red rust forming on the gear by read
ing about it in an SAIB, action could
be taken sooner rather than later and

thereby possibly avoiding becoming

another accident statistic.

CPA Final Comments

"There are two failure modes in
volved here. Th e first is failure of
the strut at some point other than
the axles attach point. This type of
failure is generally caused by corro
sion that has penetrated through the
shot peened surface. CPA is unaware
of any gear leg failure of this nature
where the shot peened surface had
not been penetrated prior to failure
by damage or corrosion, either ox
idation or fretting corrosion. This
type of failure is preventable by an
nual visual inspection of the gear leg
for corrosion, damage, and integrity
of the paint film.
"The second failure mode is of the
strut failing at the axle attach points.
CPA's experience indicates that this
type of failure only occurs on aircraft
that are used on rough surfaces or
operate on skis from time to time.
Suggesting periodic inspection of the
bolt holes on aircraft used in such a
manner for cracks and dealing with
cracks that are found as prescribed
by Cessna Aircraft Company will
prevent these types of failures . As far
as the axle and hardware inspection
every 2,000 hours, CPA fee ls those
items should be being looked at dur
ing every tire change, which should
occur more often than 2,000 hours.
If those additional details were in
cluded in the SAIB, then the owners
changing their own tires as permit
ted under preventative maintenance
would be made aware of the impor
tance of checking the axle and at
taching hardware whenever the
wheel was removed."
Respectively submitted,
Tom Carr
Technical Representative
Cessna Pilots Association
If you have any further comment
you'd like to forward to the FAA,
please send a copy of your comments
to Mr. Park, and I'm sure the CPA
would appreciate a copy of your com
ments, as would we here at EAA/VAA
headquarters. You can e-mail them
to info@cessna.org, or send via regu
lar mail to Cessna Pilots Association,
V IN TAGE A IR PLAN E

AirVenture: Where the Aviation World Celebrates

Plans are well underway for several

major activities that will take place at
the 56th EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
2008, The World's Greatest Aviation
Celebration, scheduled for July 28
August 3 at Wittman Regional Air
port in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Already in the works for this sum
mer's aviation extravaganza are:
The 50th anniversary of NASA,
with the people and machines that
brought a half-century of achieve
ment and history in space and aero
nautics, and those who are planning
what's next.
Greater opportunities for
women to participate in all aspects
of aviation, including encourage
ment for more women to join the
pilot community.
Acknowledgment of a number
of significant airframe milestones, in
cluding the 70th anniversary of the
T-6 trainer, the 50th anniversary of
the Nanchang CJ-6A, the 10th anni
versary of Cirrus Design, and more.
Aviation innovation displays ,
such as the latest developments and
products relating to space tourism,
unmanned air vehicles, electric
powered aircraft, light-sport aircraft,
and others.
These events and much more are
in store for the hundreds of thou-

John Frank, Executive Director, 3940

Mitchell Rd., Santa Maria, CA 93456.

Company Ends Support for

Red Baron Pizza Squadron
The popular Red Baron Pizza
Squadron, which performed fre
quently at the EAA AirVenture Osh
kosh air show and was a sponsor of
KidVenture in 2007, is being retired
by its owner, the Schwan Food Com
pany of Marshall, Minnesota. The
squadron, which flew vintage Boeing
PT-17 Stearman World War II primary
trainers, conducted more than 2,000
performances over the past 28 years.
Bill McCormack, Schwan's execu
tive vice preSident, cited changing
4

FEBRUARY 2008

sands of aviation enthusiasts who

make the annual pilgrimage each
summer to Northeastern Wiscon
sin. It's the unique family atmo
sphere and culture of the event
itself, however, that brings people
back year after year, says EAA Presi
dent and AirVenture Chairman
Tom Poberezny.
"While the special events and
activities at EAA AirVenture each
year offer experiences that are

unmatched anywhere in the avia

tion world, it's the annual aviation
family reunion element that is the
most memorable feature of what is
known simply as 'Oshkosh' around
the world," he said.
Specific details for all the main
activities, as well as traditional con
vention mainstays, will be updated
regularly over the next several months
on www.AirVenture.org, your source for
AirVenture news and information.

market conditions as the primary

reason the company decided to pull
the plug on the popular performing
group. "The retail grocery industry
has experienced considerable change
over the past few years, and as a re
suit, we have decided to refocus our
Red Baron marketing program and
to discontinue the Red Baron Squad
ron," he said. "The Red Baron Squad
ron has been an incredible asset to
our company, and we are very proud
of its long successful history."
Schwan is looking to sell the squad
ron's assets, which includes seven air
planes, tooling, and ground support
vehicles. "We'd be happy to dialogue
with any company or people who

would be interested. We hope to find

a good use for them," he said.
Jayson Wilson, director of flight
operations and left wing pilot, com
mented, "We are very proud to have
been a part of such a legendary pro
gram. We can all say we were a part
of something really special. The air
show community and our fans have
been great. We'll miss all of them."
A total of 42 pilots flew for the
team over the years, traveling more
than six million miles and flying
more than 80,000 passengers . The
team won the World Airshow News
Bill Barber Award for Showmanship
in 1993 and garnered the Art Scholl
Showmanship Award in 1995 . .......

~~,

EA/v

lhe Spirit of Aviation.

I88.OI'J

EM AlrYenture 2008 July 23 August 3

A delightful aviation day

BY DAVID MACREADY

estled in the heart

of rural Bedfordshire
is the delightful air
field at Sackville
Farm, and the an
nual VAC members-only visit can
often be associated with the need
for the pre-Christmas diet coupled

FEBRUARY 2008

with an enforced consideration of

the weight and balance chart for
the aircraft for the return jour
ney home. This year once again
the alternate adverse weather day
(Sunday) was not needed, and our
chairman agreed several days be
forehand with Tim Wilkinson that

all things looked good for Sunday

6th October.
Saturday arrived and we were in
deed blessed with a delightful au
tumnal morning and reasonably
clear conditions; the crosswind of
ten associated with Sackville Farm
(and incidentally our old home at

Finmere) was missing, and this day

was set to be a delight. First arriv
als, a Beagle D5 Husky G-ATCD and
a Chrislea Super Ace Sky Jeep G
AKVR, also signified the standard
for the aircraft types that arrived at
varying times during the day. From
a personal perspective , O.K. , my
son, loved Auster JIN G-BLPG . The
aircraft was built in 1959 and flown
in by Peter Gill resplendent in its
Royal Canadian Air Force markings,
and O.K. insisted on having his
photo taken by it.
It was nice to see our member
ship secretary, Rob Stobo, venture
out, to field afar, in his diminutive
Volkswagen-powered Jodel D.9 Bebe
G-BDNT. However, of special note,
it was great to see Barbara Schlus
sler fly in her Evan VP-l Volksplane
G-BGLF; Barbara succeeded this
time despite several thwarted at
tempts previously. Watching the
come and go of aircraft, from the
vantage point of a comfortable seat
by the clubhouse, an airmanship
note became all too apparent; re
member when landing toward the
clubhouse, hold off making con
tact until after the windsock. Sev
eral people were caught out buy
the gently undulating landscape of
this great rural airfield . Of those, a
few decided to get value their for
money by landing a few times, all
in the same approach, before finally
giving up the flying lark and park
ing the aircraft before retiring to
the clubhouse.
Close to lunchtime the barbe
cue was fired up, with those wisps
of smoke gently drifting away in
the breeze acting as a beacon to the
fast-growing numbers of attendees;
lunch was imminent. In this case
my two children who had accom
panied me on the day were prowl
ing with their eyes firmly set on the
sausages and beef burgers. Lunch re
ally plays down the feast and selec
tion of fare that Tim and all those
at Sackville Farm lay on so magnifi
cently for all those fortunate to at
tend . The growing hive of activity
taking place inside the clubhouse,
preparing the feast that was soon

The single-place Druine Turbulent is often powered by an aero-conversion of the

air-cooled Volkswagen engine. This one, a Rollason-built example constructed in
the md-1950s, is owned by John Mickleburgh and David Clark of the Tiger Club,
one of the UK's most venerable sport flying clubs. The club just celebrated its
50th anniversary. This Turbulent is one of four cUlTently flown by the Turbulent
Display team of the club. Log on to www.tigerclub.co.ukfor more information.

This Piper PA-22-108 Colt, G-ARNJ was built in 1961.

Built in 1954, this Super Cub, serial number 18-3841, is owned by the Delta
FoXtrot Flying Group.
VINTAGE A IR PLAN E

Afew StaggelWings are in Europe, including this fine example owned by The
Fighter Collection. It was originally delivered to the U.S. Navy as a UC-43B BuNo
23689 and then allocated serial 44-67724. It was assigned to the Royal Navy
under the Lend-Lease agreement, becoming FT475 and operating from Scotland.
After the end of World War II, it returned to the U.S. Navy as BuNo 32874 before
returning to the U.S. civilian registry as NC1193V.

Even the Vagabond has managed to spread its wings overseas. This is a Piper
PA-17, serial number 15-229, owned by B.P. Gardner.

to beckon all, was reaching a fever

pitch as a huge table in the club
house slowly vanished as more and
more food piled up. A queue slowly
formed , a queue that was polite and
in a way both subdued yet orderly,
fuelled by eager anticipation adding
to its growing length. Now queues
seem to be one of the few national
sports that we excel in. The queue
on this occasion was indeed one of
our finer efforts in both its good
natured and controlled manner
tempering the desire to rush for
ward for the food. But the urging
from those deep within the queue,
a virtual stampede, was tempered
by knowledge that savoring the de
lights of the cooking was now im
minent, yet the volumes available
to all was indeed plentiful. Very
soon the background noise gave
way to contented murmurs as the
food, a very special element of the
day, had once again hit the mark.
Still more and more people flew
in. The growing number and variety
of aircraft types and color schemes
acted as a great visual aid when ap
proaching from the air and was the
delight of all those on the ground
as well. A rough idea of the span
of aircraft types and variety can be
judged by the fact that at the oldest
end of the scale were four aircraft
from both sides of the Atlantic, an
interesting juxtaposition when con
Sidering the development of gen
eral aviation at that time. There was
John Coker and Sue Thompson in
the DH Tiger Moth G-ANFM and
Cliff Lovell in the Luscombe 8E G
BTCj, both aircraft being built in
1941 . These were then followed by,
age-wise of the aircraft, two more
examples from both sides of the
Atlantic with Cathy Silk's DH Ti
ger Moth G-AVPJ and Cathy Stokes'
Piper J-3C-6S G-BBUU, both aircraft
being built in 1943. At the other
If it has a familiar look to you, it's be
cause the Auster 5J2 Arrow in a li
cense-built Taylorcraft. This one, serial
number 2366, buiH in 1946, is owned
by J.G. Parish and is powered by a
Continental C-85-12.

FEBRUARY 2008

BuiH in 1965, this is a Beagle (Auster) 06. In 1960, Auster

was sold to British Executive and General Aviation Ltd
(BEAGLE). Auster production continued until 1968. This 06
is owned by D.J. O'Gonnan.

Some of the most popular post-war lightplanes in Europe are

the Druine Turbulent series, designed by Frenchman Roger
Druine. This is a D5 Turbi, a two-place model.

The Chrislea CH3 Super Ace Sky Jeep is certainly a unique airplane. Designed by
R.C. Christoforides, the four-place plane powered by a 145-hp Gypsy Major en
gine it has a wingspan of 36 feet and a maximum gross weight of 2,350 pounds.
This one is owned by R.B. Webber.

end of the scale was David Cassidy's

MCR-Ol Banbi G-CDLL, which was
only 2 yea rs old, having been built
in 2005, followed by Derrick Brunt
in his Banbi G-TDVB built in 2004
and Richard Goddin's Skyranger G
SKRG , a head y 4 years old and a
well-traveled aircraft despite such
tender years, adorned with stickers
from trips both close and afar.
Although food does often form
the central theme when most peo
ple talk about Sackville Farm each
yea r, it is worth remembering what
makes it all so special and why we
really keep returning. And that is
the friendliness and welcoming na
ture of Tim and all those involved at
the flying club whose labors and our
own sense of well-being and con
tentedness are directly attributed to.
From a purely selfish perspective,
the fact that my 2-year-old daugh
ter fell asleep in the car on the jour
ney home (a definite indication of
contentment) and the pOint that at
no time did I have to worry about
her or my 8-year-old son, who inci
dentally continually asks when we
are going back again, both of whom
were made very welcome, is a testa
ment to all those involved. .......
Owned by J. K. Houlgrave and R.B.
Webber, this Luton two-place, side-by
side airplane with parallel lift struts
reminds one of Paul Poberezny's Super
Ace airplane. It's powered by a Conti
nental (Rolls-Royce) C-90.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

"The new straight stringers

allow you to see the structure
of the airframe just beneath the
fabric-they're like cheekbones
on a supermodel ... "
- Joel Severinghaus
BY SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

Sometimes there are hidden treasures tucked

quietly away in the south 40 at EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh, far away from the milling crowds. That's
where Joel Severinghaus' Taylorcraft BC12-D was
tied down this past summer, and it beckoned
to me as I wandered through the field. It was
conspicuous by its very presence, with its fresh
ivory paint glowing under the midday sun and
its bright blue trim reflecting the sky above. The
judges found it alluring, as well, and awarded it a
Classic Bronze Lindy (Class 1, 0-80 hp) trophy.
NC96130 (s/n 8430) was manufactured in
1946 at the Taylorcraft Aviation Corporation fac
tory in Alliance, Ohio. It was a turbulent year
for Taylorcraft, replete with several factory fires,
storm damages, and financial troubles. The com
pany filed bankruptcy in early November, just six

Joel Severinghaus

months after NC96130 rolled off the production

line and onto the ramp. NC96130's own saga
began on May 23, 1946, when its airworthiness
certificate was issued. Six days later, it flew to its
new home in Kansas and later went to owners in
Missouri. It eventually made its way to several
different owners in Minnesota-including a fly
ing club-and in North Dakota, as well. This par
ticular Taylorcraft, like the company itself, had
its own share of hardship-including ground
loops, wind damage, and a hand-propping inci
dent. Then in August 2005, Severinghaus of Des
Moines, Iowa, became its new caretaker.

CSfrf J' tt~fJ'f!1

Chet Peek, aviation historian and author, pro

vides a glimpse back in time regarding the devel-

John Frisbie with the completed BC12-0.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

11

Taylorcraft ad in April 1946 issue of

Skyways magazine.

12 FEBRUARY 2008

opment of the Taylorcraft: "In 1931,

when e.G. Taylor married his E-2 Cub
to Continental's new A-40 engine, he
made personal flying safe and afford
able. Of course, you couldn't fly very
fast, or very far, or very high, but you
could get in the air. A few short years
later, Taylor formed a new company
and built his famous Taylorcraft. It of
fered side-by-side seating, wheel con
trol, closed-cabin comfort, and would
cruise at 100 mph with only 65 hp.
Finally, a lightplane could be used for
business trips or even vacation jaunts.
Taylor's Cub made private flying possi
ble; his Taylorcraft made it practical."
The side-by-side BC12-D (model
B, .continental engine, 1200 pounds
gross weight) was dubbed the "Two
some" and had numerous improve
ments over the prewar model BC-12.
It had larger tail surfaces like Taylor
craft's earlier 12 model, and the rudder
and elevators had only two hinges (the
prewar model had three). The BC12-D
also had a one-piece windshield, and
by February 1946, stamped alumi
num wing ribs and fabric retainer clip
wire were used-thereby eliminating
the need for costly rib building and

rib stitching. Three versions were

available-the Standard, Custom,
and Deluxe. Powered by a Continen
tal A-65-8 engine, the airplane had a
maximum cruising speed of 105 mph
and a landing speed of 38 mph. It car
ried 50 pounds of baggage behind the
seat and had a fuel capacity of 18 gal
lons, providing a range of 500 miles.
Like its predecessors, the BC12-D had
a NACA 23012 semisymmetrical air
foil, as opposed to the flat-bottomed
Clark Y airfoil used on many Pipers.
So its wings, coupled with a stream
lined airframe, allowed it to fly faster
than a Cub with the same engine.
A company ad in the February 1946
issue of Flying proclaimed the finer fea
tures of the airplane, including: "Will
outperform any ship in its class-in
Speed, Altitude, and Endurance. Bet
ter Construction--of 6500 Taylorcrafts
built in the past two years, not one has
been found to have a structural failure.
PROOF: CAA records! Lower Operat
ing Cost-War training school opera
tors have proved Taylorcraft costs less
to maintain than any other plane in
any class at any price! Best high alti
tude take-off performance. All who

see and fly the new Taylorcrafts

agree-Dollar for Dollar, Fea
ture for Feature-Taylorcraft
has earned the reputation IBest
Buy in the Sky."1
The publicity that was gen
erated when pilots set records
while flying their Taylorcrafts in
the late 1930s and early 1940s
was perhaps some of the best
marketing for the company.
Those records included: Hunter
and Humphrey Moody flew an
endurance flight of 14 days and
nights aloft in 1938; Dewey El
dred flew 975 miles nonstop
from New York to Daytona
Beach, Florida, in 1939; Grace
Huntington achieved a world
altitude record for lightplanes
of 24,311 feet in 1940; Jack
Snodgrass won the Firestone
Trophy Race during the Miami
Air Maneuvers in 1940 and Fon
Stark won it in 1941; and Ev
elyn Burleson flew a nonstop
goodwill flight from Canada
to Mexico in 1941. Burleson
had extra fuel tanks installed
in the 1940 deluxe Taylorcraft
Miss Liberty and completed her
l,700-mile flight in 16 Vz hours.
These accomplishments, and
others, were highlighted in a
full-page ad in the April 1946
issue of Skyways.
That same ad also listed the
"firsts" for Taylorcraft, such
as: "FIRST to introduce side
by-side seating with wheel
control in light airplanes.
FIRST to employ a racing
type wing with fuselage giv
ing added 'lift.' FIRST to issue
an illustrated printed parts
catalog to its service organi
zation, assuring Taylorcraft
owners prompt, effic~nt ser
vice at home and away from
home. FIRST to use multilami
nar wing spars .... FIRST to
introduce model changes ev
ery year." And Skyways helped
further promote the new Tay
lorcraft "Twosome" with its
special three-page cutaway fea
ture in its May 1946 issue.

Look how cleanly the trailing edge

drain hole is opened up. You can see
how taking your time results in fine
fabric work that both the public and
aircraft judges notice.

PHOTOS SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

AJfin~f!fj(i)~
T9.!f~(i)'fe~#f~
Severinghaus'
introduc
tion to tube-and-fabric style
flying occurred while he was
a student pilot and had the
opportunity to do part of his
training in a Piper J-5. He en
joyed it so much that he be
gan looking around at vintage
airplanes, and he soon de
veloped an affinity for Tay
lorcrafts. "It was more than
10 years ago, on one of my
first trips to Oshkosh," he re
calls, "when I was walking the
flightline and looking at old
planes, and way down there
in the south forty was a Tay
lorcraft. What caught my eye
was the long, elegant taper of
the fuselage. e.G. Taylor, who
originally designed the Cub,
refined his ideas with the Tay
lorcraft. He made it side-by
side, gave it a more efficient
airfoil, and put the shock
cords up inside the fuselage,
rather than have them hang
ing out in the slipstream."
Two years later, Severing
haus attended the Taylorcraft
forum at EAA AirVenture Osh
kosh, and he posed a question
to the group: "Does anyone
have a nice BC12-D for sale?"

Quite the cream puff-take a look at the newly fabri

cated landing gear leg to fuselage fairings. Nice new
Alrtex upholstery, wool headliner, firewall fabric, and
carpet complete the interior.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

13

NC
96130

Shinn mechanical brake parts are still available from Sky

A new Lang tail wheel was installed.

Bound in Atlanta, Georgia.

A guy told me to see him after the

forum was over. Two weeks later, I
was up in Fargo looking at NC96130,"
smiles Severinghaus. liThe appeal of
that airplane was that it was pretty orig
inal. The panel hadn't been cut up to
add extra instruments, and the engine
had been top overhauled. It had all of
its logbooks-including the original
one with the factory test pilot's signa
ture-and most of the repair and main
tenance invoices from FBOs around the
country, dating back to 1946."
He flew it for a year and brought it to
EAA AirVenture in 2006, camping out
under its wing. But he noticed several
nicer-looking Taylorcrafts, and that
inspired him to make a change. Af
ter that week, I started the campaign of
convincing my wife to let me restore
it," he says, with a gentle laugh.
II

II

Fairings help streamline the bungee shock absorbers.

14 FEB R UARY 2008

~ue~f}(9"(O .JJ1ufhenf!cJfy
Severinghaus won his campaign
and gained permission from his wife,
Beverly Westra, to begin a full-fledged
restoration of NC96130. One of the
next steps was finding a mechanic.
While attending the Antique Air
plane Association's fly-in that fall, he
noticed "a pristine 1940 Taylorcraft
BC-6S. It was owned and restored by
john Frisbie of Udall, Kansas," says
Severinghaus, "and it was his father's
airplane. He had inherited his fa
ther's hangar and tools, and he had
just started his Aircraft Restoration
and Recovering business. My goal for
the restoration was to be completely
authentic and have the airplane
looking like it did the day it came
out of the factory. It's tough to find a
mechanic willing to do that-to use
all slotted screws and original fasten
ers, such as friction tape and cord, as
opposed to Phillips-head screws and
plastic cable ties. After I talked with
john, I knew he was the one to re
store my airplane, so I flew it to his
shop in November 2006."
Back at home in Iowa, Severinghaus
devoted hours upon hours to learning
the answers to myriad questions, such
as: What were the correct colors and
paint scheme, and was the glove box
handle originally plastic or metal? His
persistence was fruitful, and he found
the answers he sought. "Other Taylor
craft owners had scanned in unfaded
paint samples from old airplanes, and
then jim and Dondi Miller at Aircraft
Technical Support mixed the paint to
match. Now they have the formula
for Taylorcraft Ivory, which is subtly
different than Daytona White or Di
ana Cream. And I'm indebted to the
members of the Taylorcraft Founda
tion, particularly everyone who par
ticipated in the discussion forum on
the website-they shared an incred
ible wealth of knowledge," reflects
Severinghaus. "And Chet Peek's book,
The Taylorcraft Story, is a goldmine of
historical information."
Yet another Taylorcraft pilot loaned
him the correct glove box handle, and
Severinghaus replicated it by making
a rubber mold and casting a new one

from plastic resin. When it came time

for firewall-forward originality, he in
sisted upon keeping the old Case mag
netos, along with unshielded ignition
harness and spark plugs. And after an
extensive search, he located "an old,
unfiltered air scoop in good condi
tion, with a factory-original screen
over its opening, and john carefully
shaped the new cowling he'd made to
fit around it."
Meanwhile, Westra, who good na
turedly adopted the title of "Taylor
craft Financier," patiently endured
her husband's quest for authentic
ity in the restoration, including
the overflowing filing cabinets full
of Taylorcraft research and his self
confessed obsession with the smallest
of details.

1{ef9.!"(O~ 9.nJ JMi(9"(Oe

As Severinghaus delved ever
deeper, he realized that parts avail
ability (or lack thereof) presented
its own challenge. Fortunately,
he was able to locate drawings for

parts that needed to be fabricated

as owner-produced parts, and he
discovered that a few items were
still being supplied by vendors,
such as Shinn mechanical brake
parts (Skybound); an exhaust sys
tem (Wag-Aero); an aluminum
nosebowl (Aircraft Spruce); miscel
laneous parts for Taylorcrafts (Uni
vair); and cabin carpet and interior
upholstery (Airtex).
As they removed the fabric from
the airframe at Frisbie's shop in
Kansas, they were surprised and
dismayed at what they saw. Per
haps most alarming was a crack
and bend in the compression tube
at the right front jury strut attach
ment bracket-the fitting was com
pletely broken off below the fabric.
"I learned that some mechanics
don't go into a great amount of
detail on the FAA Form 337s,"
shares Severinghaus with a wry
smile. "We found that every piece
of wood on the airframe was either
cracked or broken. Some had been

r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - - -

Well, for fabric-covered

airplanes, anyway... we
got the idea from Ponce.
It's called rejuvenation, and it works great with real
dope finishes. Spray our rejuvenator overaged dope;
it soaks in and restores flexibility for years of added
life. It can even hide hairline cracks. And no finish
has the foot-deep luster of
authentic polished dope.
Roll back the calendar on
your plane's finish!

800-362-3490
RandolphAircraft.com
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

15

Here's the mold for making the new glove box handle.

cutaway in the lower cowling.

The new glove box handle.

Sandblasting the BC12-D fuselage.

An original wing tank placard , which

Severinghaus replicated.

repaired, and some had not. That's

the kind of thing you don't see
until you take the fabric off. The
metal wingtip bows and nose ribs
needed straightening, and the tail
was in pretty good condition, al
though it had splices on the top of
the fin and rudder. .. but that wasn't
bad . It's like a small scar on a pretty
woman ... you don't really notice
16 FEBRUARY 2008

it and it adds some character."

Frisbie worked on the project full
time, fabricating new upper and
lower cowlings, windshield fairings,
landing gear, and wing root fair
ings, as well as spruce stringers and
door frames. Other items, such as
the floorboards, instruments, and the
compression tube in the right wing,
were repaired as necessary. After the

fuselage was sandblasted and primed,

tiny pinholes appeared along some of
the bottom fuselage cross tubes. Fris
bie cut out the damaged tubes, which
had collected water for years and were
filled with rust, and replaced them.
"I was very lucky to have a talented
mechanic like John, who also did the
welding repairs on the fuselage, the
fabric installation, and the painting,"

The windshield fai ring was t he t rickiest piece to fabricate.

says Severinghaus. "He even made

staples by hand, in order to fasten the
wool felt gasket material to the en
gine baffles, using the original 1946
staple holes."
As is common with modern-day
restorations, a few concessions were
made for safety's sake. Shoulder har
nesses were installed, a small fire ex
tinguisher was mounted adjacent to
the seat, and an antenna (for use with
a handheld radio) was routed inter
nally so it wouldn't be visible from
the exterior of the aircraft. And for
longevity considerations, Poly-Fiber
fabric and coatings were selected, as
opposed to Grade A cotton.

~~~!{ Jf~~)fQt!~l

months,
NC96130 was ready for her test
flight. Frisbie had the honor of that
first flight, and then a very eager Sev
eringhaus had his chance ... they
were both pleased with what they
found . "Boy, she flies like a differ
ent airplane now," smiles Severing
haus, "because she's rigged correctly.
That's one advantage to taking the
wings and tail off an old airplane
and rigging them again. She holds
a heading nicely now, and trims up
better, too. Flight controls are more
sensitive to input, since the new
cables take the slop out of the sys
tem. The stall is very gentle, and I
fly my final approach at 60 mph
but you have to be careful about ex
cess airspeed on final , or you'll float
forever in ground effect with that

long 36-foot wing! I get 80 mph in

dicated at cruise with the Sensenich
wood prop. She could fly faster with
a metal prop, and I could push the
engine faster, but I fly at 2,lS0 rpm
as the manual says."
His first cross-country was his jour
ney home to Iowa June 23-24, 2007.
"It was wonderful, flying her home
at l,SOO feet agl above Kansas and
Missouri," Severinghaus reminisces.
"She flies well, and she's lighter now,
too .. . she lost 17 pounds in the res
toration. The new straight stringers
allow you to see the structure of the
airframe just beneath the fabric
they're like cheekbones on a super
model-and it's just pretty when you
can see that underlying structure.
You try not to anthropomorphize
your airplane, but you end up doing
it anyway."
In late July, he flew it to EAA Air
Venture, just as he did last year.
But this time, it was his Taylorcraft
that was literally outstanding in the
field. "It's been agonizing as well as
exciting, because I feel like I should
put white gloves on before I fly her,
and I spend 4S minutes cleaning
her after a flight. So I tell people my
next airplane is going to be painted
the color of dead bugs!" laughs Sev
eringhaus. "But there is something
that I miss in the airplane, now that
it's been restored-it's that old air
plane smell-that combination of
old gas, oil, and fabric combined
with dust and grass. People tell me
it'll come back, with time. "

V~nfaJe

VaQtte

Severinghaus delights in flying

his newly restored Taylorcraft, and
he finds it quite economical to op
erate. He typically plans for a 4.S
gph fuel burn, "so even with avgas
over $4 per gallon, it on ly costs me
about $20 per hour to fly the Tay
lorcraft," he comment s. "My wife,
of course, points out the additional
fixed costs of hangar rent and in
surance at about $300 per month,
plus the capital costs of the plane
and restoration. Even so, she flies
with me on the weekends, and
she's willing to hand-prop it .. .I'm
a very lucky guy!/I
Severinghaus has become an am
bassador for the value of restoring
vintage airplanes, enthusiastically
promoting the advantages they of
fer to pilots and owners. "I wish
more people would rest ore old
airp lanes. For a $SOK investment,
I've got a 61 -year-old [sport pi
lot-eligible] airplane. It may not
fly as fast as a new light-sport air
plane, and it doesn't have a glass
panel, but I don't need one. Brand
new airplanes are great, and I
can understand their appeal," he
says."But there are some of us who
are crazy about old tube-and-fabric
airplanes. We love flying from grass
strips, and navigat ing by pilotage
and dead reckoning instead of using
GPS. It's not for everybody, but it's
very satisfying, because it's pure,
unadulterated fun flying."
~
VINTAGE AI RPLA NE

17

And here is what air

show smoke is all about!
Although this is actually
NC606K-the Reziiche~s'
Travel Air D-4-D Speed
wing, not NC8US.
Photo was taken by
Ted Koston at the AAA
DuPage Air Show in the
earty 1970s. A unique
feature of Travel Airs
is the bottom of the
rear control stick
belly, which allows
air and smoke to
enter the rear
cockpit as can
I)e seen by
looking closely at
this picture!
18

FEBRUARY 2008

This is the photo that Mike first saw and started his pursuit of owning NC8115. At this time the airplane was owned by Eart
Stein of Fostoria, Ohio. The ship was then powered with the Wright J6-7 Whirtwind.
These were commonly called "El
ephant Ear" Travel Airs. Next came
"Standard Wings," which are com
monly confused with Speed Wings.
The Standard Wings incorporated
the new "Frieze" ailerons to replace
the old overbalance design and fea
tured round wingtips on both the up
per and lower wings. The same Travel
Air No.1 airfoil was retained, and the
span stayed the same at 33 feet for
the upper wing and 28 feet, 10 inches
for the lower.
The unique design feature of the
Frieze aileron was the hinge arrange
ment, which had the hinge pivot set
back to allow the entire leading edge
of the aileron to extend beyond the
surface of the wing. When the aileron
was deflected up, the bottom leading
edge of the aileron extended below
the lower surface of the wing. This
added aerodynamic drag to the wing
with the upturned aileron on the out
side of the turn, therefore reducing
adverse yaw created by the downward
deflection from the opposite wing's
aileron in a turn.
Standard Wings also came with or
without fuel tanks, depending on the
model. Standard Wing airplanes carry
the -4000 designation.
Many people think because a

Travel Air has round wingtips that

it is a Speedwing, when in reality
it is a Standard Wing. Another mis
conception is that Speed wings were
Standard Wings, just shortened at
the inboard ends. The Speedwing
used the Travel Air No.2 airfoil,
which had a slight undercamber to
the airfoil and featured heavier spar
and rib construction. The span was
reduced to 30 feet,S inches for the
upper wing and 26 feet for the lower
wing. But the most visible and sig
nificant feature was that the flying
wire terminal ends were below the
surface of the wing. This eliminated
the small "bump" fairings at the in
tersection of the flying wires and
wing surfaces. This and the shorter
span helped push cruising speeds
up into the 120-mph range. The
trade-off was a slightly higher stall
speed. Speedwings were never of
fered in any Travel Air factory lit
erature, and only five airplanes were
built as D-4-Ds by Travel Air, and
six more were factory-converted.
The two most famous D-4-Ds were
NC434N, the original Pepsi Sky
writer, and NC606K, the Reziches'
third Travel Air!
During 1939 Mike began corre
sponding with D-4000 Travel Air

owners, trying to find an airplane

within his budget. He finally set
tled on NC8US, SIN 887. One thing
about Mike-he was very thorough
in his research and often knew more
about the airplane than the owner!
He kept meticulous notes about
Travel Airs and had many detailed
lists of airplanes by registration
number and serial number, owner,
and geographic area.
So why was Mike attracted to
NC811S? It was the history of this
10-year-old Travel Air that Mike was
taken with, along with the price. Mike
knew that the airplane was delivered
in early February 1929 to N.R. Air
ways, the Travel Air dealer at Curtiss
Field on Long Island. The ship was
outfitted nicely with a short NACA
cowl, wheelpants on the 30 x 5 Ben
dix wheels, and a Hamilton Standard
ground-adjustable prop was on the
front of the ever-popular Wright J-S.
Additionally it had a hand-crank in
ertia starter and running lights with
a "hot-shot" battery. It also featured
two luggage compartments-the tra
ditional one behind the pilot and one
on the left side of the fuselage with an
external door. The only detail I cannot
find is in what colors it was originally
delivered. It was sold to a local pilot,
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

19

---

-====

NC8l1S on the south side of "Muni" airport. You can see the Joe Marshall Buick dealership on 63n1 Street. Believe it
or not, the dealership still remains at this same location today, under another name!

and it remained in the

New York City area for a
number of years, having
several successive own
ers. During this time it
was never cracked up. It
did have a 3 x lO-inch
tail wheel installed in
place of the original tail
skid. The ship received
routine maintenance,
and various airframe
parts were recovered as
necessary.
Then , in 1937, the
famed Linco gasoline
pilot Joe Mackey bought
the airplane and moved
it to Finlay, Ohio. Joe
and his crew modi
fied the airplane for air
show work and skywrit
ing. Bu t the most im
pressive modification
was the removal of the
Wright J-5 and the in
stallation of the more
modern J-6-7 Whirl
wind with the classic
front exhaust collec20 FEBRUARY 2 0 08

Here is Frank, with his ever-present cigar, in 1941 with the Reziches' second Travel Air, a
D-4000, NC8l1S, at the Chicago Municipal airport. Colors are overall red with white.

tor. This exhaust system

was one of the keys for
successful skywriting, as
the smoke oil could be
injected into the large
exhaust collector where
it would be heated by
the superheated ex
haust from every cyl
inder before entering
the tailpipe and being
trailed in a great burned
smoke oil cloud behind
the airplane.
Okay, here's the fam
ily secret to the impres
sive amounts of smoke
we are able to get from
the J-6-7s on the Travel
Air: we inject the smoke
oil into the exhaust col
lector through an AN-6
steel elbow welded
You can see the extra-long exhaust pipe with the front collector on the Wright J-6-7 in this view
into the manifold. The of the restored NC811S.
smoke oil is pumped in
under 15 psi of pressure!
Now that's a lot of pressure, and if hardly a trace of unburned smoke between two sawhorses and let him
you have even seen oil being pumped oil. The Pitts drivers with only 180 hang out!
Most of the "training" was done af
out of a 3/8-inch fitting, you know hp of "heat" and two headers that
what large amount of volume we are exit the cowling pointing straight ter work, and it was hard to get the full
down don't have a chance of leav five hours. In 1933 Milo Burcham had
talking about.
set the record of four hours and five
Once the smoke oil is burned, ing a nice long smoke trail!
you need to keep it together in a
Okay, back to NC811S. One of minutes, so the Rezich boys were out
continuous stream behind the the other air show modifications the to raise the bar quite a bit. As it turned
airplane. The key here is a long Mackey team did was to add an in out, they never did make the attempt.
While Joe had this Travel Air,
tailpipe, and where it exits the air verted header fuel tank for extended
plane. If the "smoke stack" is too inverted flying. This was of particu Mike flew it during an air show per
short, the smoke will not be con lar interest to the Rezich brothers, formance at the Cleveland National
centrated and will disperse quickly. as they had been considering an at Air Races in 1938. Mike was part of a
The angle at which the smoke en tempt to set a record. They had al three-ship formation act that trailed
ters the air stream is equally impor-' ready put some thought into this miles of smoke. Mike Murphy would
tanto If the angle is too large, the idea and even developed and used later buy the Travel Air from Mackey
airflow will tear apart the smoke a "simulator." The theory was to fly and remove the WrightJ-6-7 and put
as soon as it leaves the pipe. On from Chicago to St. Louis and back, a Wright J-S back on, but he kept
the Travel Airs, we had the tailpipe following along the airmail route. the smoke system and inverted fuel
run under the right landing gear, The route was well-known, but the system. Murphy would sell the air
and it ended just past the leading plan had an added twist-the entire plane to a local pilot, Earl Stein, but
edge of the lower wing. If you see route would be flown upside down! might have had the airplane on a
an AT-6 or a BT-13 used for skywrit That would be nearly five hours of lease-back, as the hours continued
ing, you'll notice they will have inverted flight! So in preparation for to mount.
the long overwing Harvard-style this record attempt, the Rezich boys
The airplane would be sold to Art
tailpipe. Many air show pilots can came up with their inverted flight Lentz in Lafayette, Indiana, for a
tell you that unburned smoke oil simulator. This was a backseat with short time before Mike would get to
can really give you a greasy belly! seat belts and a rudder bar with stir purchase it in May of 1941.
Well, I started cleaning the belly rups attached to a beam. Nick would
We will pick up next time with the
on NC606K when I was 9 years old, get strapped in right-side up, and prewar activities and the restoration
and I can tell you that there was Mike and Frank would roll him over of NC811S.
.......
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

21

BY

DAVID TUNNO

N3N-3 44879 has been in my

family for 29 years. It was the
second N owned by my father, a
World War II Marine Corsair pi
lot who trained in N's at Pensacola
and always sang their praises, espe
cially when compared to the more
numerous Stearmans and Wacos.
Dad passed away a couple of
years ago. I undertook finishing
the work he had done over the
years and adding a few touches
of my own. That work has taken
about eight years, admittedly in
small increments, but it's done
now, finally, and I think the results
speak for themselves.
Power is from a 300-hp Lycom
ing and 2B-20 prop. It's the per
fect engine for the N, in terms of
weight, power, and fuel consump
22 FEBRUARY 2008

tion, and with the AT-IO cowl, I think

it's also the best-looking combination.
Lots of N's are out there with the
original yellow Navy livery. I chose a
different route. The scheme is pre-war
Marine Corps, as would have been
seen on the corps' pre-war fighters
and dive bombers.
The windshields are custom built.
The original N windshields are just
like the Stearman, with three glass
panels, the center one facing flat to
the wind. These new windshields
have a center rib and are raked back.
I think they give the plane a more
"serious" look. Anyway, they just
look better.
Wheels and brakes are from a BT.
I'd like to add fairings over the land
ing gear struts to finish off the look,
but that will have to wait.
If you've never seen the wayan N is
built, don't pass up the chance to see
one stripped down. It is incredible. It
is built like a bridge. No wood, as most
people know, but also no welded steel

tubing. It's all anodized aluminum ex

trusions with riveted gussets; very im
pressive. You can tell a for-profit low
bidder didn't build it, and that was its
eventual undoing, as the cost to the
Navy of building the N far exceeded
the cost of buying a Stearman. When
you see a stripped-down N, you see

where the money went.

This bird is currently at Santa
Paula, California, and, for those who
are interested, she will be reluctantly
listed for sale.
David Tunno
david@tunno.com or online at www.
Tunno.com

.......

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

23

Slotted ailerons
BY ROBERT

arly aircraft beginning with

the Wright Flyer through the
development of the airplane
in to the 1920s were often
unstable in flight because there was
little design and wind tunnel test
ing data available. In many cases, de
signers relied on data generated by
one another.
There was a significant event that
would improve the stability and low
speed flight of aircraft, a program
that commenced design and develop
ment of more safe aircraft. In 1926,
philanthropist Daniel Guggenheim
offered a $100,000 main prize and
five $10,000 secondary awards for air
craft that could meet certain require
ments. These requirements were:
Maintain controlled, level flight
at 35 mph without stalling.
Demonstrate hands-off stability for
five minutes at any airspeed between
45 mph and 100 mph in gusty air.
Glide power-off at less than 38 mph.
Land over a 35-foot obstacle with
maximum 300-foot roll.
From a standing start, take off
within 500 feet and clear that same
35-foot obstacle.
Those were stiff requirements for
the time, but the contest officially
began on April 30, 1927, and ended
October I, 1929. Twenty-seven man
ufacturers announced their entry into
the Guggenheim Safe Aircraft Com
petition, with six of those from for
eign countries.
Many innovations and technolo
gies were to first appear at the com
petition and are still in use today.
Automatic leading-edge slots, auto
matic and manual trailing-edge flaps,
adjustable horizontal stabilizer for
trim, oleo landing gear struts to ab
sorb the shock of landing loads, and
wheel brakes to stop the aircraft af
ter landing are some of the innova
tions highlighted by the competition.

G.

LOCK

24

FEBRUARY 2008

Command-Aire SC3-B, serial W-Gl powered by a IS0-hp Axelson radial engine.

Note full-span Lachmann slotted ailerons on lower wings. Only four of the model
5C3-B aircraft were constructed: serial numbers W-Gl (NCGOS), W-94 (NC948E),
W-l11 (NC973E), and W-142 (NCI04S7).

These aircraft were the ancestors of

the now common STOL (short take
off and landing) aircraft.
When ailerons deflect for lateral
control, a phenomenon called ad
verse yaw takes place. The defini
tion of adverse yaw is "yaw generated
when the ailerons are used. The lift
ing wing generates more drag due to
an increase in lift, causing an airplane
to yaw toward it." In other words,
when banking an airplane to the left
(if no rudder control is used), the left
aileron moves up and the right aile
ron moves down. The down-moving
aileron effectively increases the cam
ber of the wing (and the effective an
gle of attack) of the right wing, which
increases drag. The up-moving aile

ron reduces the effective camber of

that portion of the wing (decreasing
the effective angle of attack of the left
wing), which decreases the lift gener
ated by that wing. Thus the nose of
the airplane will move opposite the
turn. This is adverse yaw simply ex
plained. [There's a deeper, illustrated
explanation of adverse yaw in Chap
ter 8 of the online book See How it
Flies, by John S. Denker, on the web
site www.Av8n.com.-Editor] There
fore, most aircraft of conventional
control will need varying inputs of
rudder in the turn to compensate for
adverse yaw. Some aircraft are much
worse than others. One way to deal
with adverse yaw is to move the aile
ron travel up more than down travel

Aeroplane, a story titled "I Am an Aircraft Designer," the

Wolff photograph,
the Lachmann slot
ted aileron as used
by designer Al
bert Vollmecke, is
clearly shown. You
can plainly see the
STALL SPBBD CONTROL
generous slot be
(lJmmand-aire ailerons banish
tween the wing
slopPl!
tXJ11troL T.~
.......""'~

and aileron. The

_bo1itr ...............
r s .., ..... ,,,,.,(40
U" ..fd .....I"'lo. r.-,..................... _
..
slot was formed on
o.a..c.rr..-."...........,..............
Io,.".. _ ....
.....,..Tbit
- s ...........
both the wing and
.........,,'-,11."'__
........... "" ....
;~~:.;;: ~u
'0"
~
..;:,~~-=,~~.::
aileron using hand
*""'.....u..................
kril-...
a
carved and sanded
balsa wood. The
balsa wood was at
tached to the chro
WATCH T HE TRADE PAPERS f O R MORE ABOUT
COMMANJ).AlRE"S UNCANNY STADIUTY
moly steel aileron
spar using bras s
safety wire and was glued in place on the wood wing. In
Command-Aire advertisements, the photo served as the ba
sis for a drawing highlighting the excellent roll control of
their biplane, thanks to the slotted aileron.

text of a talk given on the "Forces Programme" of the BBC

on Monday May 2S, 1942, Mr. Frise states:
"I have been asked to mention the Frise aileron, which
I patented as far back as 1921. The aileron, as you know,
is the control on the wing tips used to carry out most of
the aeroplane manoeuvres. This idea was born whilst I was
working on means of improving the safety of flight, and it
was awarded the Wakefield Gold Medal by the Royal Aero
nautical Society.
"This control became practically standard through
out the world, and soon its original purpose of improv
ing safety was overshadowed by its ab il ity to increase
the fighting manoeuvrability of aircraft in war. The only
enemy aircraft not so fitted at the beginning of the War
(WWIJ) was the Messerschmitt 109, but this suffered so
badly at the hands of the Spitfires and Hurricanes using
the Frise aileron, that it is not surprising to find that the
latest model Messerschmitt, the 109f, has returned to the
fight wearing Frise ailerons.
"Although we have seen so much of our work turned to
the waging of war, we have in the aeroplane the strongest
weapon also for peace, in that it can reduce the size of the
world and make isolation and the flourishing of perni
cious doctrines anywhere pOSSible."

TI.. " , , " .

.-.....~"'oow .
~'fl)-,uUUIctMf_

Io"

... ,..

..... e 'lMcodtpiooedridotllot

.......... ~bo;.,p

... ~,...,... ..tf-...l

Fo.i_...... Lb.o ....... C(~ .. phOt ..

. . . . ,....._............
l>iI

,1o . . . .

i.............,..

a1,pI~

_ _ ,..,oI.l<,oftod~

.. ~..d<>ft~).

... ""'-.....I....

,~oo:wo

f
Api... lt,....no..pooPdT.

;......... <l.Io~ ....

~of~'IO. "I'1

~.doo

ppn.uu;
in.....,;..

f;J' 'h

~u..,..

CU/ll/ll"NO ' AI~r

rUWN .. Nf) . .. , . ,. ,~C .

t ..J JA .

0 . 5.6% bJ1.2%

,Ax/so!

~
it

c.O.62%

d. 4. 3%

b-~

I-/.10X:;J;..::-2S:W . - i

Slotted aileron

25 per cent chord by 40 per cent Sen1Jspcr7

__
- -o..Z
~
.- --

52:! -~ 0,8.4% 0, 18.9%

"'I IIad
OIleron

v, 0

19.37.-

-.-Ax/s of
r o taflon

4O.0J:.

40 per cent c hord by 3 0 p er cent s emispan

~
d~
fr olafion

(termed aileron differential); a typical travel would be 18

0,8.7% 0 , 12.2% <,1.=
degrees down and 2S degrees up. Another method to deal
a 33%1"'" .
2 l 77
Frise- fype ai l e r o n " , ,I, 25.07.-
with adverse yaw is to drop the leading edge of the up
25per cent chord by 40 per cent s emispon

moving aileron below the wing's lower surface to create a

small amount of drag.
Here's the now famous Frise slotted aileron from NACA
Which leads us to the subject at hand, low-speed Report No. 422 shown in cross section. The generous slot
gives good lateral control at low airspeeds. When the aile
slotted ailerons. Two individuals stand out for the de
ron is deflected up, its lower leading edge drops below the
velopment of these lateral control elements of the air
plane-Gustav Lachmann of Germany and L.G. Frise wing's bottom surface, causing a small amount of drag to
(pronounced Freeze) of England.
offset adverse yaw. Note the following details:
e The aileron hinge pivot pOint is 13 percent chord aft
of the wing's rear spar.
Leslie George Frise
Born 1897 in Bristol, England, Frise graduated from
e The lower surface of the aileron is in line with the
Bristol University, majoring in aeronautical engineer
lower surface of the wing.
ing, and upon graduation entered Bristol Aircraft and
The remaining aileron area aft of the pivot point is 2S
took part in the design of the famous World War I Bris
percent chord, making this type of aileron easy to balance
tol Fighter. Extracted from the June 12, 1942, issue of The aerodynamically.
V I NTA GE AI R PLAN E

25

SIMULTANEOUS AILERON
DISPLACEMENTS WITH ASSUMED
DIFFERENTIAL ARRANGEMENTS
Average differential

Extreme differential

Upward
displace
ment

Downward
displace
ment

Upward
displace ment

Downward
displace
ment

Degrees

Degrees

Degrees

Degrees

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

10.0

8.5

10.0

7.0

20.0

13.0

20.0

12 . 0

30.0

15.0

40.0

11.5

35 . 0

15.0

50.0

7.0

Table 1 details the testi ng of the Frise type aileron in

NACA's 7-foot by lO-foot wind tunnel. The authors of this
report are Fred Weick and Richard W. Noyes.
The definition of a Frise type aileron is this: an aileron
having a nose portion projecting ahead of the hinge axis and
a lower surface in line with the lower surface of the wing.

Gustav Viktor Lachmann

While not a member of the Command-Aire organiza
tion, Dr. G. Lachmann had a tremendous influence on the
aircraft designed by Albert Vollmecke and produced by
the Little Rock firm. A WWI aviator, Lachmann crashed
his airplane into the ground in 1917 after it stalled. Lit
tle was known of aerodynamics in the early days, and as
Lachmann lay in a hospital bed recovering from his in
juries, he began thinking about the wings of an airplane
and what could be done to improve stall characteristics.
A stall occurs when airflow over the wing is too slow or the
angle of attack of the machine is too high; the air is said to
burble, drag forces increase, and the lift generated by the wing
can no longer support the weight of the craft and it plummets
to the earth. At low altitude the stall can be disastrous, because
the aviator cannot recover before striking the ground.
Lachmann surmised that if a wing was constructed of
several smaller wings, separated by open spaces or "slots"
that ran straight outward from the fuselage and parallel to
each other, then the air would flow between the slots at
high angles of attack at low airspeeds. Upon his recovery
he began to experiment. Pursuing his work at the Gottin
gen Laboratory, Lachmann made some models to test his
theory and to document the results.
He applied for a patent for his slotted-wing design in
February 1918, but his patent was denied because the pat
ent authorities believed that the slots would destroy wing
lift. Lachmann had to conduct further tests to prove his
doubters were incorrect. His paper Stall-Proof Airplanes (Ab
sturzsichere Flugzeuge) was a lecture delivered before the
W.G.L. at Munich, Germany, in September 1925. It was
published in the Yearbook of the w.C.L. for 1925 (Berichte
und Abhandlungen der W.C.L., May 1926, pp 86-90). The pa
per was translated into English by Dwight M. Miner for the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and became
NACA Technical Memorandum No. 393, January 1927.
26

FEBRUARY 2008

The Handley Page H.P.39 in 1929. The air

craft's remarkable periormance can be directly
attributed to the high-lift devices designed by
Gustav Lachmann.

It was Lachmann who finally patented the idea of slots

and the slotted aileron that Vollmecke used to make the
Command-Aire biplane a very stable ship.
Lachmann was invited to the factory of Frederick Hand
ley Page in England to help develop high lift-devices for
the aircraft engineers intended to enter in the Guggen
heim Safe Aircraft Competition. Handley Page decided the
solution to stalls was to lay a slot down the length of the
leading edge of the wing, from the fuselage to the wingtip.
Handley Page had received a patent for the invention of
slots on October 24,1919, and slotted wings became a key
to the firm's fortunes, as sales of patent rights earned about
$3.6 million in payments from other builders of ships.
In turn, slotted wings led to the development of flaps for
wings. Handley Page engineers also performed a number
of different tests, including a retractable slot called a "slat."
Lachmann, after gaining a patent for his slotted wing and
aileron design, soon joined forces with Handley Page to
produce the H.P.39 Gugnunc, a one-of-a-kind aircraft to
compete in the Guggenheim contest in 1929.
The H.P.39 finished a close second to the winner of the
Guggenheim Safe Aircraft Contest, th e Curtiss Tanager.
The H.P.39 had a simple wing constructed of wood but was
equipped with a complicated control-surface arrangement.
The inboard sections of leading-edge slats were intercon
nected with the trailing-edge flaps, and the outboard sections
of slats and interceptors were automatic, to control the stall.
Lachmann collaborated with Handley Page on this design.
Dr. G. Lachmann also authored other technical articles re
garding safe flight and the design of light aircraft. In his pa
per Stall-ProofAirplanes, dated May 1925, Lachmann writes:
"How does a typical airplane stall occur? According to
my own very clear remembrance of a stall eight years ago,
the process is somewhat as follows. Shortly after the air
plane takes off, the engine begins to slow down and th en
to misfire. The pilot sees the edge of the aviation field im
mediately in front of him. At the best, it is the question
of a bad landing place, vegetable garden or the like. At

the worst, there are houses, barns, etc. In most cases, and
in spite of all instructions and warnings to the contrary,
the pilot usually makes the famous (or, rather infamous)
'distress curve,' in order to make the field . A better way, in
such cases, is to fly straight ahead and take one's chances
with pancaking or sideslipping into a garden. In the curve,
he feels the pressure leaving the controls, and the airplane
begins to sink and sideslip. If he attempts to right the air
plane out of its tilted position, he notices that it does not
respond to the ailerons and, instead of coming out of the
curve, begins to turn more strongly about the inner wing.
Finally, the airplane goes over the wing or tilts [its] nose
and begins to spin or plunges vertically down. The altitude
at the disposal of the pilot is seldom sufficient to enable
the airplane to flatten out and in most instances the ca
tastrophe is sealed by striking the ground."

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In his research, Lachmann discovered spanwise slots on

wings and slotted ailerons improved performance. Lach
mann wrote, ((A similar principle is followed in the simple
slotted-wing aileron, in which there is a wedge-shaped
slot between the wing and the aileron. Such ailerons have
been very successfully used in Germany on the Heinkel
airplanes. This device has been the subject of a long series
of wind tunnel tests in England, which were performed
in the National Physics Laboratory, under the direction of
the Aeronautical Research Committee (British)."
And so some interesting information on the slotted aileron
from the Englishman L.G. Frise and the German Dr. G. Lach
mann has been provided. It is interesting to ponder whether
either had any knowledge of what the other was doing. While
Dr. Lachmann did work in England for Handley Page for a
time, I have found no evidence to indicate the two ever met,
worked together, or even shared data. Perhaps it will remain a
mystery. However, the aviation industry owes a debt of grati
tude to the two for developing the slotted aileron.
.......

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE

27

AVIATION ORGANIZATON LIST

Florida Antique Biplane Association, Inc.

Larry Robinson
10906 Denoeu Road
Boynton Beach, FL 33437
561-732-3250
Email: BeyeView@aol.com
Dues: $48/ yr.
Publication: Monthly, The Rying Wire
Florida Cub Flyers, Inc.
Larry Robinson
10906 Denoeu Road
Boynton Beach, FL 33437
561-732-3250
Email: BeyeView@aol.com
Dues: $48/yr.
Publication: Monthly, The Cub Courier
National Biplane Association
Charles W. Harris
P.O. Box 470350
Tulsa, OK 74147-0350
91&B6&D75591&B6&D039
Email: cwh@hvsu.com
Website: www.nationalbiplaneassn.org;
www.biplaneexpo.com
Dues: $25 individual; $40 family; add $10 foreign
Publication: Bi-Annual

North American Trainer Association (T6, T28, NA64,

NA50, P51, B25)
Kathy & Stoney Stonich
25801 NE Hinness Road
Brush Prairie, WA 98606
360-256-0066 or 360-896-5398
Email: natrainer@aol.com
Website: www.NorthAmericanTrainer.org
Dues: $50 US & Canada; $60 Foreign
Publication: Quarterly, "NATA Skylines"

WWI Aeroplanes, Inc.

Beverly Williams
PO Box 3235
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
845452-5429
Website: www.wwlaeroplanesinc.org
Dues: $42/yr, $47 Foreign
Publication: 2 Journals, each 4/ yr.
American Aviation Historical Society
Robert Brockmeier
2333 Otis Street
Santa Ana, CA 92704
714-549-4818
Email: pres@aahs-online.org
www.aahs-online.org
Dues: $39.50/ yr. US, $46/ yr Mexico/ Canada,
$59/yr Foreign
Publication: Quarterly
28 FEBRUARY 2008

Cross &Cockade
Bob Sheldon, Secretary
14329 S. Calhoun Ave
Burnham, IL 60633
708-862-1014
Dues: $15/yr.
Publication: Bi-monthly
Eastern Reg. U.s. Air Racing Association
Jack Dianiska, President
26726 Henry Road
Bay Village, OH 44140
440-871-3781
International Flying Fanners
Kathy Marsh
P.O. Box 9124
Wichita, KS 67277{)124
316-943-4234, 800-266-5415
Email: Support@flyingfarmers.org
Website: www.flyingfarmers.org
Dues: $25/yr.
Publication: 6/yr.
United Flying Octogenarians
Bart Bratko
19 Bay State Rd
Natick, MA 10760-2942
334-832-2413
Email: barCbratko@hotmail.com
Website: www.unitedflyingoctogenarians.org
Dues: $12/ yr.
Publication: UFO newsletter (bi-monthly)
International Deaf Pilots Association
Jeff Willoughby
13 Fox Valley Drive
O'Fallon, MO 63366
Website: www.deafpilots.com
Dues: $35/ yr, active pilots
Publication: yes
Int'I Fellowship of Flying Rotarians
Diana Stone Livingston, SecjTreas
PO Box 580
Girdwood, AK 99587
907-783-2128907-783-2639
Email: roymarsden@iffr.org
Website: www.iffr.org
Dues: $40/yr US
International Liaison Pilot &Aircraft Assoc.(ILPA)
Bill Stratton
16518 Ledgestone
San Antonio, TX 78232-2406
210-490-4572 210-490-4572
Website: www.centercomp.comj ILPAjindex.html
Dues: $29/ yr US
Publication: Liaison Spoken Here

International Wheelchair Aviators

P.O. Box 4140
Big Bear City, CA 92315
951-539-2641
Email: iwaviators@aol.com
Website: www.wheelchairaviators.org
Lake Amphibian Flyers Club
Marc Rodstein
7188 Mandarin Dr.
Boca Raton, FL 33433
561-483-6566, 561-892-3128
Email: contact@lakefiyers.com
Website: www.lakef/yers.com
Dues: $59, $69 overseas
Publication: Newsletter: "Lake Ryer"
National Air Racing Group
Betty Sherman
1932 Mahan Avenue
Richland, WA 99354
509-946-5690
Email: betty.sherman@verizon.net
Dues: $15 for first member in household,
$3 for each additional
Publication: Professional Airracing
(4-13 times per year)
National Association of Priest Pilots (NAPP)
Mel Hemann
127 Kaspend Place
Cedar Falls, IA 50613-1683
319-266-3889
Website: www.priestpilots.org
Dues: $25
Publication: NAPP
OX-5 Aviation Pioneers
Robert Taylor
P.O. Box 1406
Berthoud, CO 80513
303-651-6692
Email: OX5Nationalhqs@hotmail.com
Website: http://ox5pioneers.org
Dues: $20/yr.
Publication: OX-5 News Bimonthly
Seaplane Pilots Association
Dr. James F. McManus
3859 Laird Blvd
Lakeland, FL 33811
863-701-7979,888-772-8923
Email: spa@seaplanes.org
Website: www.seaplanes.org
Dues: $45/yr.
Publication: Bi-monthly

Sentimental Journey to Cub Haven, Inc.

Carmen Banfill
P.O . Box J,3
Lock Haven, PA 17745D496
57().893-4200, 57().893-4218
Email: j3cub@kcnet.org
Website: www.sentimentaljourneyflyin.com
Dues: $12/ single, $17/ family per year
Publication: Twice a year

Silver Wings Fratenily

Barbara J. Evans, Publicity Chairperson

GET THE SKILLS

TO GET IT BUILT

AT EAA SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

4307 Quail Run Rd.

Danville, CA 94606-5850
925-736-1795,925-736-1270
Email: obconsults@aol.com
Website: www.silverwings.org
Dues: $25/ yr.
Publication: Slipstream,
Editor Don Fairbanks, cardinaI5@msn.com
Herman Schaub
168 Marion Lane
Berea, OH 44017
44Q.234-2301
Website: www.airrace.com
Dues: $20/ yr US $23 others
Publication: Bi-monthly

NinetyNines, Inc., Women Pilots Organization

Laura Ohrenberg
4300 Amelia Earhart Ln.
Oklahoma City, OK 73159
405-685-7969, 405-685-7985
Email: 99s@ninety-nines.org
Website: www.ninety-nines.org
Dues: $65/ yr.
Publication: Bi-monthly
Vintage Sailplane Association
Linn Buell
1709 Baron Ct.
Daytona Beach, FL 32128
Website: www.vintagesailplane.org
Dues: $25/ yr.
Publication: Quarterly "Bungee Cord"

Waco Historical Society, Inc.Waco Aircraft Museum

Marla Boone, Dir. of Membership
P. O. Box 62
Troy, OH 45373-0062
937 335-WACO; 1-5 pm Sat. Sun.
Email: wacoairmuseum.org
Dues: $20/ yr.
Publication: Quarterly "The WACO Word"

Women in Aviation, Intematiooal

Dr. Peggy J. Chabrian
101 Corsair Drive
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
386-226-7996, 386-226-7998
Email: pchabrian@Wai.org
Website: www.wai.org
Dues: $39/ yr., $29 students
Publication: Bi-monthly "Aviation for Women"

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== ~ -~
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

29

BY BUCK HILBERT

Here I am again
I've been blessed with a grea t n u mber of fr ien ds .
Aviation, automotive, medical, farmers, an d neighbors.
I find it mentally invigorating liste n ing to wha t t h ey
have to say, their pet peeves, their little tips, jokes, and
idle conversation . Years ago, my favorite uncle made
the statement, "Small talk makes the world go 'rou nd ."
Ain't that the truth?
Well, the websites, e-mail, the telephone, and the fax
machine have all made small talk more likely than ever
before. We are besieged with information these days, and
it certainly widens one's horizons. Here's a case in pOint.

~
U)

With acknowledgements to the author, Bill Vatter, a

Rolls-Royce Owners Club member, and with thanks to
the club's executive director, Tim Younes, here 's our
take on the procedure used by Rolls-Royce to neatly
secure cotter pins.

o
~
0::
~

:::
~

L -________________________________-J

HEAD SNUG

ALTERNATE

TO SHANK

Figures 1. The only installation version shown in

AC-43-13B.

Most of us are used to securing cotter pins in this

way. Even with the top part of the pin crimped so it's
tight against the threaded end of the bolt, it still lies
in wait for the unwary knuckle or shop rag.
30 FE B R U ARY 2008

Figure 2. From Figure 6-20 of AC-6SA, the Aircraft

Mechanics Handbook. We'll consider the Rolls
Royce installation method to be a variation of the
alternative shown.

"Whatever is
rightly done,
however humble,
is noble."
- Henry Royce

(ou can't buy ready-made twisted pins,

)ut they're pretty easy to make. With the
lead of the pin held in a vise , grip the
)in's two legs with a pair of pliers about
me bolt diameter in length from the eye
md of the pin. Then twist the legs a bit
nore than 90 degrees. The objective is
:0 have a pin that is twisted in the sec
:ion that passes through the bolt.

your
Igonal cutting pliers, and while pulling
irmly to keep the pin's head seated in
he nut, bend it around the nut like this.

After the castellated nut has been in

stalled, install the pin and tap it with a
plastic or rubber mallet to seat the head
into the notch of the nut, snug against
the bolt.

Next, cut off the end even with the

far edge of the notch in the castel
lated nut.

Prebend the very end of the cut-off pin and then

push the leg into the notch. There 's no need to
have the end of the pin jammed up against the
bolt. If it was cut to the right length, the pin will
neatly fit in the notch where it can 't catch a
knuckle or a rag. Some folks may find they need
to use an old screwdriver or very small punch
and mallet to push the end into the notch. Re
peat for the other side, and you 've "scrape
proofed" this cotter pin installation.
According to a quote attributed to Henry Royce,
"Whatever is rightly done , however humble , is
noble." As aircraft restorers and mechanics, we
know that sentiment well. This cotter pin installa
tion method is just one more way to prove it!

One of my good friends and

fellow VAA member, Ken Kres
mery, is a wonderful guy who
also has the" airplane disease,"
so much so that he is the prin
cipal mover in Chapter 790 and
1414 here in northern Illinois.
He's also a Rolls-Royce automo
bile fan. He shook me up send
ing me a copy of the Rolls-Royce
news letter, The Flying Lady, with
a note directing me to an article
on cotter pin installation.
I looked at it, read it , and
spent some time appreciating
t h e nea tness of the way it was
done. Th e question it raised in
my m ind was, Would it be appli
cab le (legal) to use this method
on aircraft?
I dug into my reference library,
got out the "mechanic's bible,"
AC-43 -13B, and found only one
paragraph on cotter pin installa
tion, wh ich included a not too
informative diagram. (Figure 1)
Not completely satisfied with
that scant information, I dug a
little deeper into the Aircraft Me
chanics Handbook, AC-6SA, and
found wh at I was looking for.
The process sim ilar to a twisted
pin is an option and is quite le
gal. (Figure 2)
The method described is so
simple and such a great alter
native to the gashes-slashes-rag
grabber-snag system I've been
using for years that I'm going
to begin using it as my standard
from now on when and if I can.
I pass t his information on
to the rest of you " airplane
wrenchers" who may find this as
interesting as I have.
Over to

~lu,

7i3t(r;), K

V INTAG E AIR P LAN E

31

BY DOUG STEWART

Kick the tires: Part I

A few winters back I remember

hearing a client of mine call over the
UNICOM, shortly after he had taken
off, that the airspeed indicator in
his airplane wasn't working. My first
thought was that he probably had not
checked to see that his airspeed indi
cator was "alive" prior to liftoff, for if
he had, he most likely wouldn't be in
his current predicament.
But to give him the benefit of the
doubt, I supposed it was possible (al
though not probable) that some con
densation might have formed in his
static lines while the airplane was in
a heated hangar overnight, and now
that it was exposed to sub-freezing
temperatures in the winter air, the con
densate had turned to ice. Since the air
plane did not have a static line drain, I
couldn't fault the pilot for not check
ing that item during his preflight in
spection. But I had a strong suspicion
that perhaps this pilot's preflight in
spection had been less than thorough.
I told the pilot, over the UNICOM,
to re-enter the pattern and land, and
we would then check it out. I wasn't
too concerned about his landing
without an airspeed indicator (ASI)
because we had practiced a couple
of landings with the ASI covered up
(Hint, hint.. .something we all should
periodically do!) during his last Wings
program training.
My suspicions were confirmed as the
airplane turned off the runway and en
tered the taxiway leading to the ramp.
From my window in the fixed base op
erator I could see the streamer boldly
emblazoned with the words "Remove
32

FEBRUARY 2008

Before Flight" hanging from the pitot

vane on the bottom of the wing. But
remembering the admonition that folks
who live in grass houses shouldn't play
with matches, I wasn't about to set a
large fire under that pilot's ego. For I,
too, had made a similar mistake (that's
when I learned to be sure to check that
the ASI is working prior to rotation), and
I know that if there were to be a gather
ing of pilots who had all made the same
mistake, it would require a very, very
large hangar to hold all the attendees.
But this does lead us to a discussion
of preflight inspections. What con
stituted a proper and thorough pre
flight? What types of conditions might
ground the airplane, even if it were in
a flyable condition? How should we
proceed if we find a squawk? Is there
any time when a "kick the tires, light
the fires" mentality might suffice? And
last, but far from least, what ramifica
tions might we expect if we miss some
thing on a preflight inspection?
Let's take a look at the last item
first. The ramifications might run from
something not even noticeable during
the flight to something that ends in the
loss of airplane and/or life. As an exam
ple, I remember a friend of mine who
missed the fact that one of the fuel caps
on his beautiful Cessna 195 was not se
cure. As a result, the fuel in that tank
was siphoning out, into the slipstream,
all the while he was on his flight from
Maine back to Massachusetts.
Now I am sure that he probably no
ticed that the fuel gauge was showing a
much faster drop than normal, but it is
quite possible that the pilot succumbed

to the same type of denial that I ex

perienced when the fuel line broke in
my Cardinal (described in a recent ar
ticle) and continued on with his flight,
all the while rationalizing away the
problem. But unfortunately his C-195
turned into a glider just 5 miles short of
his destination when it ran completely
out of fuel, and in the ensuing forced
landing, when faced with the choice
of trying to fly above the power lines
that were between the airplane and the
chosen landing spot or below them,
the airplane hit some trees and ended
up rolling into a ball. Literally! Miracu
lously no one was killed, and the pilot
and passenger suffered only minor in
juries. (The way it was discovered that
the fuel cap had been ajar was by the
red stains [remember 80 octane?] that
covered what remained of the wing
and empennage.)
The question arises: how did the pi
lot miss the fact that his fuel cap was
loose? The answer could be one of
many. In my experience I have seen
quite a variety of reasons why pilots
miss items on a preflight inspection
of their airplane. Probably heading
the list is distractions! Other things I
find included on the list are being in a
hurry and complacency, to mention a
couple of them.
Just as it is so important to main
tain a "sterile cockpit" whenever we
are operating on or in the vicinity of
an airport, it is equally as important
that we ensure we are not distracted
by our passengers while inspecting our
airplanes. All it takes is one moment
of inattention, due to the distraction

caused by a bystander's innocent "in vent everyone of the scenarios I

terference," to miss an important item have just described, and that item is
(like a loose fu el cap) . Thus, I recom a checklist. Notice that I did not say a
mend to all my clients that they tell "do" list, but a "check" list. The way
their passengers that if the passenger I inspect an airplane, and the way I
distracts t h em during their preflight recommend that my clients inspect
inspection, it might very well lead to their aircraft, is by following a "flow"
their demise. Admittedly this mes around the airplane, inspecting each
sage might be construed as harsh, but item in a logical, methodical, sequen
I guarantee you it is effective.
tial fashion. Then, when I have com
Other distractions might not come pleted the preflight inspection, I get
from our passengers, but from the en out that list and "check" to ensure that
vironment or perhaps other operations I have not missed anything. And yes,
being conducted on the airport, like there are times when I have indeed
the flyby of that beautiful Staggerwing missed something, either because of
. .. (Oops, I just got distracted from
writing this article as I visualized that
wonderful biplane flying by). We have
to be cautious that nothing distracts us
from the critically important job of the
preflight inspection.
Even when the temperatures are
well below freezing, and the winds are
gusting into the 20s as you inspect the
airplane out of doors, it is not the time
to hurry that inspection. We have to
be vigilant that nothing causes us to
rush that inspection. Okay ... you prob
ably should have done the inspection
before you called for your instrument
flight rules clearance, and now you
face a void time that is looming large;
however, it is much better to call flight
service and let them know that you
missed the void time than to depart
into the clag with something not right
with the airplane. The phrase that it's
"much better to be down here, wish
ing you were up there," rather than
the other way around, definitely ap being distracted, being in a hurry, or
plies when it comes to the preflight being just plain complacent. By being
inspection.
diSCiplined, and getting out and using
Another mentality that I have seen that checklist after the inspection is
lead to missing an item on a preflight complete, I ensure that nothing gets
is complacency. "There wasn't any missed .
thing wrong with the airplane when I
I have found that carrying that
inspected it this morning, and nothing checklist with me through the inspec
wen t wrong on the flight down. Be- . tion can be a distraction in and of itself.
sides, it's going to be dark before I get There are some things that require two
home, if I don't get going now. We'll hands to inspect, and if that checklist
just kick the tires and light the fires." occupies one of my hands, I am already
Remember those tho ughts when you distracted as I try to find somewhere to
discover that neither the cockpit lights put the list. (I won't bore you with a
nor the landing lights work as the un sampling of potential scenarios for this
forecast head winds have you arriving one, even though you might chuckle at
home after dark.
some of them.) Thus, again, I save the
There is one item that could pre list for the end of the inspection.

The phrase
it is "much better
to be down here,
wishing you
were up there, "
rather than the
other way around,
definitely applies
when it comes
to the prefl ight
inspection.

As we have seen, missing just one

small thing has the potential to lead
to disaster. It could be loss of life or air
plane. But there have been some situa
tions where the only thing injured was
ego, and the only loss was of the use of
a pilot certificate for a period of time.
Again, one example I have in mind in
volved a loose fuel cap . . .
In next month 's article I will dis
cuss the guidance provided by the FARs
in relation to a preflight inspection.
We will also look at what constitutes a
no-go situation, as well as how we can
go ahead and safely as well as legally
fly the airplane, even if we might have
found a squawk.
In the meantime, be sure to take
your undistrac ted t ime as you thor
oughly preflight your airplane prior to
enjoying . . . blue skies and tail winds.

Doug Stewart is the 2004 National CFI

ofthe Year, a Master Instructor, and a des
ignated pilot examiner. He operates DSFI
Inc. (www.DSFlight.com) based at the
Columbia County Airport (lBi) . ......

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VI NTAG E A I RPLANE

33

Books and videos of interest to Vintage members

BY

The Story of the 1929-1949

National Air Races DVD
Two recent releases have crossed
my desk here at EAA headquarters,
both of which required a great deal of
self-control to prevent me from being
distracted while at work!
The first is a neatly done DVD of
the history of the National Air Races
in Cleveland, Ohio. One of the great
aspects of the DVD format is its
ability to have its content split by
chapters, and the National Air Race
Project (NARP) has taken advantage
of that fact.
Its new video, The Story of the 1929
1949 National Air Races , brings this
amazing period in aviation history
to life with professional narration
and both still photos and period film
footage. Many of the photographs
and much of the film footage have
never been seen publicly. Profession
ally produced and written, this of
fering by the NARP is a must for any
air-racing fan. I'll let the producers
tell you a bit about it:
"The Story of the 1929-1949 Na
tional Air Races represents an interest
ing and significant chapter in modern
aviation's development. The fascinat
ing story of the National Air Races
is recounted in this lively, two-hour
narrative which presents over 600
rare, original photographs, and more
34

FEBRUARY 2008

H.G.

FRAUTSCHY

than 50 minutes of vintage newsreel

clips and home movie footage, much
of this source material presented to
the public for the first time."
You can order The Story of the 1929
1949 National Air Races directly at its
website, www.Nationa IAirRaces. net. or
by calling 888-NAR-8886. The video
is available only in DVD format and
retails for $28.95, plus $4.95 ship
ping and handling. In writing this
review I also noticed that the NARP
has just completed its first interview
video, also illustrated by film footage
and still photos. It's a two-hour inter
view with Dick Becker, naval aviator
and postwar racer and good friend of
Cook Cleland. Becker, who recently
passed away, raced the Super Corsairs
modified into 4,000-hp racing beasts
by Cleland and his crew. Th e inter
view is available for $9.95, plus 4.95
shipping and handling.

pers used the oceans to form a vast

global network of travel routes. Juan
Trippe's Clippers would playa key
role in the evolution of transoceanic
flight, 'setting time and distance re
cords over the Atlantic and Pacific,
providing airmail delivery between
countries, and eventually serving the
Allies as troop and cargo transports
during World War II.
The year 2007 marked the 80th an
niversary of Pan American Airways,
and this fascinating , informative,
and richly illustrated book, titled Pan
American Clippers: The Golden Age of
Flying Boats by James Trautman, cele

brates the golden age of flying boats.

Trautman's book covers the era of
the Clippers in great detail, and it's il
lustrated with hundreds of period pho
tographs of not only the flying boats,
but also many of the locations and far
flung stations that served as outposts
for Pan American as Juan Trippe's air
line blazed a pioneering trail across
the Pacific. Places such as Wake and
Midway Islands had to be transformed
from desolate atolls in the Pacific to
luxurious overnight stops for passen
gers who could now cross the vast
ocean in five days, instead of the 17
days it previously took as a passenger
on a fast steamship. There's only one
problem with the book-like books on
Zeppelin travel, Pan American Clippers
makes you wish you could experience
such an amazing aircraft firsthand,
rather than vicariously. Oh well!
Pan American Clippers: The Golden
Age of Flying Boats by James Traut

Pan American Clippers: The

Golden Age ofFlying Boats
For a world coming out of eco
nomic depression in the 1930s, the
Pan American Airways Clipper "fly
ing boats" symbolized elegance and
luxury, adventure and romance. Like
their maritime namesakes, the Clip

. man; ISBN: 1-55046-476-0/978-1

55046-476-4; cost: $45.95, hardcover
with jacket; published by Boston
Mills Press and Firefly Books.
These items can be purchased
through EAA by calling 1-800-564
6322 (within USA/Canada) or 920
426-5912 (outside of USA/Canada),
or by placing your order on the EAA
website: http://shop.eaa.org.
.....

Bill Price

Burke, VA

_ Learned to fli' at aBe 16,

soloing in a TFC Champ
_ Former flight instructor
_ Earned Silver Soaring Badge in
a Schweitzer 126 sailplane
_ Participated in glider field in a
Cessna 170A he once owned

"AUA handled my claim promptly and without hassle."

- Bill Price (& Kermit)

AUA is Vintage Aircraft Association approved. To become a member of VAA call 80084336J2.

AUA's Exclusive EAA Vintage Aircraft Association Insurance Program

Lower liability and hull premiums - Medical payments included - Fleet discounts for multiple aircraft carrying all risk coverages
component parts endorsements

BY H.G. FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTH'S MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US FROM THE

EAA LIBRARY'S RADTKE COLLECTION.
Send your answer to
EAA, Vintage Airplane,
P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh,
WI 54903-3086. Your
answer needs to be in
no later than March 10
for inclusion in the May
2008 issue of Vintage
Airplane.

You can also send

your response via e-mail.
Send your answer to
mysteryplane@eaa.org. Be
sure to include your name,
city, and state in the body
of your note, and put
"(Month) Mystery Plane"
in the subject line.

NOVEMBER'S MYSTERY ANSWER

Here's one of the answers for No

vember's Mystery Plane:
"The November 2007 Mystery
Plane is one of 10 Verville Sportsman
ATs (aka Sport AT or Sport Trainer)
that was built between 1930 and 1932
(this aircraft is possibly NC455M).
"Following the Buhl-Verville J-4
Airster (ATC #1) of 1925-27, in 1928
Alfred W. Verville formed the Verville
Aircraft Company and constructed his
famous Air Coach. Next in the lineage
of Verville designs, the Sportsmans
were basically a civil version of the four
YPT-lOs that were constructed for the
USAAC (five versions: YPT-lO, A, B, C,
and D). The YPT-lOs had a span of 33
feet and an overall length of 25 feet for
the -10, 2S feet S inches for the -lOA,
25 feet 3 inches for the -lOB, 25 feet
36 FEBRUARY 2008
I

for the -lOC, and 2S feet 4 inches for

the -10D. Gross weights ranged from
2,289 pounds for the YPT-10 to 2,557
pounds for the YPT-10C. The maxi-

mum airspeeds ranged from 108 mph

for the YPT-lOA and B, to 112 mph for
the YPT-10C. The powerplants of the
YIT-lOs varied as well. The YPT-lO was

This picture was taken by me at Morganton, North Carolina, at the Kistler airport in the
middle 1930s with my faithful Brownie box camera. The Verville was being ferried by a crop
duster pilot to Foley, Alabama, to convert to a crop duster for his business. The pilot would
stop in Morganton to visit his teenage son for a couple of days when ferrying aircraft to Fo
ley. One trip, he flew through with a brand new 4Ohp Taylor J2 to Foley with the intention
of converting to a crop duster. I was a teenager at that time, learning to fly in a J2, and
thought that would be a tad underpowered! He ferried at least two of these Verville trainers
to Alabama. We were all fascinated with the operation of the Heywood starter.-AI Patton,
Augusta, Georgia.

powered by a 165-hp Wright R-540-1,

while the YPT-10B used a 165-hp
Wright YRG -540. The -lOA used a
165-hp Continental YR-545-1, and the
-lOC was powered by a 180-hp Lycom
ing YR-680-1. The YPT-lOD appears to
have been converted from the origi
nal YPT-lO and was retrofitted with a
170-hp Kinner R-720. All YPT-10s were
delivered to the USMC in 1931-32 (Fa
hey, James c. U.S. Army Aircraft 1908
1946, pp 35, 60).
"The Sportsman AT was originally
priced at $5,250 in 1930, which in
creased to $5,500 in 1931. Powered
by a 165 -hp Continental A-70, the
AT had a VMAX of around 120 mph .
The span of the ATs was reduced
to 31 fee t , and the overa ll length
was likewise reduced to 24 feet 3.5
inches. The height of the Sports
man AT was 8 feet 9 inches, and the
empty weight was 1,562 pounds. An
other prominent visu al difference
between the YPT-10s and the Sports
man ATs are the smaller balloon
tires . Sportsman ATs also d isplayed
NC marking on the wings and verti
cal fin, which also sported (no pun
intended) the Verville Aircraft Co.
logo. The particular aircraft depicted
in Vintage Airplane appears to be

NC455M. I base that on the strong

similarity to NASM laser videodisc
image 45,224 (Disc I, Side B, frames
45,220-45,226). According to Aero
files.com, the 10 Verville Sportsman
ATs were consecutively registered
NC450M to NC459M.
"The sole remaining Vervill e
Sportsman AT (NC457M, no. 8 of 10)
is held by the National Air and Space
Museum at Washington, D .C. In
1958, Alfred Verville bega n searching
for a Sportsman AT and in 1960 re
ceived a letter from William Cham
plin of Rochester, New Hampshire,
which stated that NC457M was in
storage at the Skyhaven Airport. The
aircraft was officially handed over to
the old National Air Museum (NAM,
now NASM) on April 18, 1963, and
was stored for many years at the
Paul E. Garber Preservation and Res
toration Facility at Suitland, Mary
land, before apparently being moved
to the new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Cen
ter at Dulles."
Wesley R. Smith, Springfield, Illinois.

Other Correct answers were re

ceived from Jack Erickson, State Col
lege, Pennsylvania; Tom Ramsey, Mt.
Juliet, Tennessee; and Thomas Lym
burn, Princeton, Minnesota.

Antique Airplan e Association fly-in

in Blakesburg, Iowa, and I am deter
mined to get there this year or next
for certain. Th en of cou rse th ere's
the Waco event in Creve Coeur, near
St. Louis, Missouri, that I would love
to get to. I have been to th e ai rport
there but never th e Waco even t. Of
course, the members-only fly-in for
the Midwest Antique Airp lane Club
at Brodhead, Wiscon sin, is always a
fun time. I missed th at one last year
beca use I was o ut vo lu n t eeri n g on
the EAA's B-17 tou r. Yes, in the mid
d le of all this fly-in activity, I also
hope to spen d at least five weeks on
the tour this year.
Here 's hop i ng my wife d oesn't
read this column an ytime soo n, as I
can just see her eyes roll ing already. I
hope to see many of you out there on
th e circuit!
Do us a ll t he favor of inviting a
friend to join th e VAA, and h elp us
keep strong the association we h ave
all enjoyed for so many years now.
I know we all hear sim il ar com
mentary sometimes on a da ily ba
sis, bu t please keep our troops in
your day-to-day t h o u gh t s. I h ave
a cousin so m ewhere in t h e m o u n
tains of Afghanistan and a n ephew
who is headed to Iraq in t h e next
few weeks. Th ese brave youn g m en
are in my m ind each and every day,
and we can n ever properly th ank
th em for their proud service to this
co u n t ry. Freed o m is not free! The
least we can do is keep th em in our
thoughts and prayers until they can
come home.
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2008, the
World 's Greatest Aviation Celebration,
is July 28 through August 3. 2008.
VAA is abo ut participation : Be a
member! Be a volunteer! Be there!
Let's all pull in the same direction
for the good of aviation. Remember,
we are better t oget her. Join us and
have it all.

A~

V INTAGE AIRPLANE

37

2008

MAJOR

FLy-INS
For details on EM Chapter flyins and other local
aviation events, visit www.eaa.org/events
Sun 'n Fun Fly-In

Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL),

Lakeland, FL
April 8-13, 2008
www.Sun-N-Fun.org

Golden West EAA Regional Ry-In

Yuba County Airport (MYV), Marysville, CA

June 6-8, 2008
www.GoldenWestFlyln.org

Virginia EAA Regional Fly-In

Suffolk Executive Airport (SFQ), Suffolk, VA

June 14-15, 2008

www. VAEAAorg
Rocky Mountain EAA Regional Fly-In
Front Range Airport (FTG ), Watkins, CO

June 27-29 , 2008

www.RMRFI.org

Arlington Northwest EAA Fly-In

Arlington Municipal Airport (AWO),

Arlington , WA
July 9-13, 2008
www.NWEM .org

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Wittman Regional Airport (OSH ),

Oshkosh, WI
July 28-August 3, 2008
www.AirVenture.org

EAA Southwest Regional-The Texas Fly-In

Hondo Municipal Airport (HDO), Hondo, TX

October 10-11, 2008

www.SWRFI.org

38

FEBRUARY 2008

The following list of coming events is

furnished to our readers as a matter of
~- ~ information only and does not constitute
approval , sponsorship, involvement, control, or direction of any event (fly-in,
seminars, fly market, etc.) listed. To submit an event, send the information via
mail to: Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Or e-mail
the information to: vintageaircraft@eaa.org. Information should be received
four months prior to the event date.

.:. ,;i _ ....

_"

April 27 - Half Moon Bay, CA - Half Moon Bay Airport 18th Annual Pacific
Coast Dream Machines Show lOam - 4pm More than 2,000 antique,
vintage, classic , custom and exotic displays. Helicopter, bi-plane and
B-17 rides will be available for $50-$425. For info 650-726-2328 or
www.miramarevents.com
May 2-4 - Burlington, NC - Alamance County Airport (KBUY) VAA Chapter 3
Spring Fly-In . All Classes Welcome! BBQ on field Fri Eve. EAA judging all
classes Sat. Awards Dinner Sat night. Info: Jim Wilson, 843-753-7138
or eiwilson@homexpressway.net
May 30-June 1 - Poplar Grove Airport, IL (C77) - Army Wings and Wheels
2008 Vintage Wings and Wheels Museum L-bird fly-in and living history
re-enactment. Flying events, pancake breakfast, awards. See website
at www.ArmyWingsAndWheels.com or call Museum at 815-547-3115
for further details .
June 5-7 - Bartlesville, OK - 22nd Annual Biplane Expo , Contact 1-918
622-8400, www.biplanexpo.com
June 7-8 - Troy, OH - WACO Field (lWF) VAA Chapter 36 Wings and Wheels
Strawberry Festival Fly-In. 9am - 6pm Airplane rides, Aviation Safety
Team Seminar, Military reenactments, cash prizes.
June 12-15 - Middletown, OH - Hook Municipal Airport (MWO). 14th
National Aeronca Association Convention. See more Aeroncas in one
place than you 'll see anywhere in the world. Tours , forums and lots
of fellowship, fun and flying will make this a weekend event you won't
want to miss. For more information: www.aeroncapilots.com, email
nationalaeroncaassociation@yahoo.com or call 216-337-5643.
June 21 - Porterville, CA - Eagle Mountain Air Show at Porterville Airport
Aerobatics, Warbird fly-bys , vinatge, military and civilian aircraft on
display, Awards for display planes Gates open at 8 AM Flour bombing
and spot-landing in the morning. Food, beverage, crafts vendors
Contact: (559) 289-0887.
June 2629 - Mt. Vernon, OH - Wynkoop Airport (6G4) 49th Annual
National Waco Club Reunion. For more info contact Andy Heins at 937
313-5931 or email wacoaso@aol.com
Aug. 10 - Queen City, MO - Applegate Airport. 21st Annual Watermelon
Fly-in and BBQ 2:00 PM -Dark. Come and see grass roots aviation at its
best. Info: 660-766-2644 or 660-665-0210 or ccpha@nemr.net
August 10 - Chetek, WI - Chetek Municipal Southworth Airport (Y23)
Annual BBQ Charity Fly-In 10:30 - 3:30 pm Modern, Antique, Unique
planes and Warbirds. Antique and Collector cars. Children activities
and airplane ride raffle. Water ski show to follow. www.hydroflites.com
Contact info: Chuck Harrison 715-456-8415, charleytango@yahoo.com
Tim Knutson 651-308-2839, n3nknut@citizens-tel.net
September 19-20 - Bartlesville, OK - 52 Annual Tulsa Regional Fly-In ,
Contact 1-918-622-8400, www.tulsaf/yin.com
October 3-5 - Camden, SC - Woodward Field (KCDN) VAA Chapter 3
Fall Fly-In. All Classes Welcome! BBQ on field Fri Eve. EAA judging all
classes Sat. Awards Dinner Sat night. Info: Jim Wilson , 843-753-7138
or eiwilson@homexpressway-net

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Over 2 hours long, the DVD is filled with
never-before-published vintage film and photos.
Join legends like Jimmy Doolittle, Amelia Earhart
and Roscoe Turner in the race cockpit!
Order your

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Call toll-free: 888-NAR-8886

On-line : www.NationaIAirRaces.net

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PO Box 51 (107 Woodville Rd.)

Wood River Jet , RJ 02894

(401) 364-3839 fax (401) 364-3830

www.narragansettreproductions.com

Ell

Something to

buy,

sell,

or trade?

Classified Word Ads: $5.50 per 10 words, 180 words maximum, with boldface
lead-in on first line.
Classified Display Ads: One column wide (2 .167 inches) by 1, 2, or 3 inches
high at $20 per inch. Black and white only, and no frequency discounts.
Advertising Closing Dates: 10th of second month prior to desired issue date
(i.e., January 10 is the closing date for the March issue). VAA reserves the right
to reject any advertising in conflict with its policies. Rates cover one insertion
per issue. Classified ads are not accepted via phone. Payment must accompany
order. Word ads may be sent via fax (920-426-4828) or e-mail (c1assads@eaa.org)
using credit card payment (all cards accepted). Include name on card, complete
address, type of card, card number, and expiration date. Make checks payable
to EAA. Address advertising correspondence to EAA Publications Classified Ad
Manager, P.O. Box 3086 , Oshkosh , WI 54903-3086.

AIRCRAFT

MURPHY ELITE: T.T. 50 Hrs, Lycoming

0-360 , 500 SMOH , 50 STOH .
$52,000 Don-Sky Harbor, Duluth,
MN ph/fax 218-723-1126

MISCELLANEOUS

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150 Different Airplanes Available

WE PROBABLY HAVE

YOUR AIRPLANE!

www.airplanetshirts.com
1-800-645-7739
Flying wires available. 1994 pricing.
Visit www.flyingwires.com or call
800-517 -9278.
Aircraft Construction and Restoration,
Russ Lassetter, Cleveland, GA. 706
348-7514

BABBITT BEARING SERVICE - rod

bearings, main bearings, bushings,
master rods, valves, piston rings.
Call us Toll Free 1-800-233-6934,
e-mail ramremfg@aol.com Website
www.ramengine.com VINTAGE
ENGINE MACHINE WORKS,
N. 604 FREYA ST., SPOKANE, WA 99202
Charles Hubbell Paintings - 100
assorted history of aviation - in mint
condition. $1000 - 828-369-8209

SERVICES
Always Flying Aircraft Restoration, LLC
A&P I.A.: Annual, 100 hr. inspections.
Wayne Forshey 740-472-1481
Ohio - statewide.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

39

Membershi~ Services
VINTAGE

AIRCRAFT

ENJOY THE MANY BENEFITS OF EAA AND

EAA's
VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION
ASSOCIATION

OFFICERS
President
Geoff Robison
1521 E. MacGregor Dr.

Vice~President

George Oaubner

New Haven , I N 46774

260-493-4724

2448 Lough Lane

Hartfo rd, WI 53027
262-673-5885

cllie(702S@aol. cOI1l

gdallbner@'eaa.org

Secretary
Steve Nesse

Treasurer
C harles W. Harris

2009 Highland Ave.

Albert Lea, MN 56007

7215 E.1St 46th St.

Tulsa, OK 74147

9 18-622-8400

507-373-167~

stnes@desbnedia .coll1

cwh@h vsu.col1l

DIRECTORS
Steve Bender

Dale A. Gustafson
7724 Shady Hills Dr.

85 Brush Hill Road

Sherborn, MA 01770
508-653-755 7

Indian a polis, IN 46278

sst1 ()@comC(lst.l1et

dalefaye@"lSlI.com

David Bennett
375 Killdeer C t
Lincoln, CA 95648
916-645-8370
antiquer@;Ilreach.colll

317-293-4430

Jeannie Hill
P.O. Box 328

Harvard, IL 60033-0328

815-943-7205

dinshao@O IV(.Ilet

John Berendt

[spie "Butch" Joyce

7645 Echo Point Rd.

Cannon Falls, MN 55009
507-263-2414

704 N . Regional Rd.

Greensboro, NC 27409
336-668-3650
WilUisock @aol.colll

fclIld@bev(omm.1Iet
Jerry Brown
4605 Hickory Wood Row
Greenwood, IN 46 143
317-535-8882

Ibruwn4906@aol. com
Dave Clark
635 Vestal Lane
Plainfield, I N 46 168
317-839-4500

Dan Knutson
106 Tena Marie Ci rcle
Lodi, WI 53555
608-593-7224
/odiClI/JCritJmrter.net

davecpd@iquest. net

ss kros(~PfIOI. (o m

John 5. Cope land

1A Deacon Street

Robert D. "Bob" Lurnlev

126S Sou th 124th St ..

Northborough, MA 01532
508-393-4775
copelalldl@;wlO.com

Brookfi eld, WI 5300S

262-782-2633
/lIlllper@execpc.colll

Phil Coulson

28415 Springbrook Dr.

Lawto n, MI 49065

269-624-6490

r( 0 1l150115

J6@Cs.com

Dean Richardson
1429 Kings Lynn Rd
Stoughton, WI 53589
608-877 -84 8S
da r@aprilaire.com

S.H. "Wes" Schmid

2359 Lefeber Avenue

Wauwatosa, WI 53213
414-771-IS45
sllscllmid@milwpc.com

DIRECTORS

EMERITUS

Robert C. Brauer

[,E. "Buck" Hilbert

934S S. Hoyne
Chicago, I L 60620

8102 Leech Rd.

Union, IL 60180
81 S-923-459 I
b'l(k7ac@dls.flet

80S-782-9713
pllOtopiivt@aoJ. COlll

Gene Chase
2159 carlton Rd.
Oshkosh, WI 54904
920-231-S002
GRCHA@clmrter.llet

Gene Morris

5936 Steve Court

Roanoke, TX 76262

817-491-9110

gellemorri s@charter.llct

Ronald C. Fritz

John Turgyan

l S401 Sparta Ave.

Kent City, MI 49330

POBox 219
New Egypt, NJ 08533
609-758-2910
jrrurgyClI14@ao/,(01ll

616-6 78-S0 12
rFritz@patilwaynet,com

EAA Aviation Center, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh WI 54903-3086

Phone (920) 426-4800

Fax (920) 426-4873

Web Sites: www.vintageaircra{t.arg, www.airventllre.arg, www.eaa.arg/memberbenefits

E-Mail: vintageaircra{t@eaa.arg

Flying Start Program .. .... ...... 920-426-6847

EAA a nd Division Membership Services

Library Services/Research ....... . 920-426-4848

800-843-36 12 ........... . . FAX 920-426-6761

Monday-Friday CST)
(8:00 AM-7:oo PM
Medical Questions.............. 920-426-6112

Techn ical Counselors ........... 920-426-6864

- New/renew membersh ips: EAA, Divisions

Young Eagles .................. 877-806-8902

(Vintage Aircraft Association, lAC, Warbirds),

National Association of Flight Instructors
Benefi ts
(NAFl)

AUA Vintage Insurance Plan ..... 800-727-3823

- Address changes

EAA Aircraft Insurance Plan .. . .. 866-647-4322

- Merchandise sales

Term Life and Accidenta l ........ 800-241 -6 103

- Gift membersh ips

Death Insurance (Harvey Watt & Company)

EAA Platinum VISA Card .. 800-853-5576 ext. 8884
Progra m s a nd Activities
EAA Aircraft Financing Plan .. .. 866-808-6040
EAA AirVenture Fax-On-Demand Directory
EAA Enterprise Rent-A-Car Program
. ............................ 732-885-6711

. . .. . ..... . . . ..... . . . ... . . 877-GA1-ERAC

Auto Fuel STCs ....... ......... 920-426-4843

Editorial ...................... 920-426-4825

Build/restore information ....... . 920-426-482 1

VAA Office .. . ............. FAX 920-426-6865

Chapters: locating/organizing ... . 920-426-4876

Education..................... 888-322-3229

- EAA Air Academy

EAA Aviation Founda tio n
- EAA Scholarships
Artifact Donations ........ ... .. 920-426-4877
Flight Advisors information ...... 920-426-6864
Financial Support . .......... ,. 800-236-1025
Flight Instructor information ..... 920-426-6801

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

Steve Krog

1002 Heat he r Ln.

Hartford, WI 53027
262-966-7627

Directory

EAA
Membership in the Experimen tal Aircraft
Associatio n, Inc. is $40 for one year, includ
ing 12 issues of SPORT AVIATIO N. Fam il y
membership is an addi tional $10 ann ually.
Junior Members hi p (un der 19 yea rs of age)
is available at $23 annua lly. All major credi t
ca rds accepted for membership. (A dd $16 far
Fareign Postage,)

EAA SPORT PILOT

C u rre nt EAA membe rs may add EAA
SPORT PILOT m agazine fo r an add itional
$20 per year.
EAA M embership a n d EAA SPORT
PILOT magaz in e is ava il able fo r $40 pe r
year (SPORT AVIA TION magazine not in
cluded) . (A dd $16 fo r Fareign Postage.)

VINTAGE AIRCRAFf ASSOCIATION

C u rre n t EAA me m be rs m ay jo in th e
Vin tage Aircraft Association and rece ive
VIN TA GE A IRPLANE magaZine fo r an ad
ditio n al $36 per year.
EAA Membership, VINTAGE AIRPLANE
magaZine and one year membership in the EAA
Vintage Aircraft Association is available for $46
per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not in
cluded). (A dd $7 fo r Foreign Postage.)

lAC

Curren t EAA m embers may join th e

Interna t io n a l Aerob a ti c C lu b, Inc. Divi
sio n and rece ive SPORT A EROBA TICS
magazine for a n add itio n al $45 per year.
EAA Membersh ip, SPORT AEROBAT
I CS magazi n e a nd one yea r m e m bers h ip
in t h e lAC D iv isio n is ava ilab le fo r $55
per year (SPORT A VIATION m agazine
no t in cl u ded). (A d d $ 18 for Fore ig n
Pos tage.)

WARBIRDS
C urren t EAA m embers may join the EAA
Warbirds o f Am er ica Division a n d receive
WA RBIRDS magazine for an additional $4S
per year.
EAA Me mb e rshi p, WA RBIRDS maga
zi n e and one yea r me m bers h i p i n t h e
Warbirds Divisio n is ava ilable fo r $55 per
year (SPOR T AVIATIO N m agaZine n ot in
cl uded). (Add $7 for Fareign Postage.)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS
Please su b mit your re m itta n ce with a
check o r draft drawn on a United States
bank payabl e in Un ited States do llars. Add
req ui red Foreign Postage amount for each
membership.

Membership d ues to EM and its divisions a re not tax deductible as c haritable contributions
Copyright 2008 by the EM Vintage Aircraft Associalion, All righls reserved.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE (USPS 062-750; ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EM Vintage Aircraft Associalion of Ihe Experimenlal Aircraft Associalion and is published monlhly al EM Avia
tion Center, 3000 Poberezny Rd., PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54903-3086, e-mail: vintageaircraft@eaa.org. Membership to Vintage Aircraft Association, which inctudes 12 issues of Vintage Airplane magazine,
is $36 per year for EM membe!s and $46 for non-EM membe!s. Periodicals Postage paid al Oshkosh , Wisconsin 54901 and al addilional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes 10 Vinlage Airplane,
PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. PM 40032445 Relum undeliverable Canadian addresses 10 World Dislribulion Services, Stalion A, PO Box 54, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5, e-mail: cpcreturns@wdsmail.com. FOR
EIGN AND APO ADDRESSES - Please allow at leasl two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPLANE 10 foreign and APO addresses via surface mail. ADVERTISING - Vintage Aircraft AsSOCiation does nol guarantee
or endorse any product offered through the advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken.
EDITORIAL POLICY: Members are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with
Ihe contributor. No remuneralion is made. Malerial should be senllo: Edilor, VINTAGE AIRPLANE, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Phone 920-426-4800.
EM and EM SPORT AVIATION, Ihe EM Logo and Aeronaulica'" are registered trademarks, trademarks, and service marks of lhe Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. The use of these trademarks and

service marks without the permission of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is strictly prohibited.

40

FEBRUARY 2008

Llfaonthe
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