The naqazine of the:EAA Antique/Classic Division, October1989

by Espie "Butch" Joyce

Where has the summer gone? August
went really quickly this year. I suppose that
returning to my office after the Oshkosh
Convention for two weeks and facing a
mountain of paper work on my desk made
time seem to pass faster than normal. Now
we are moving into fall which is one of my
favorite times to go flying. The color of the
autumn leaves, the clear skies and the ab-
sence of thunderstorms makes flying
around with the door of my Cub open a
real pleasure. It will not be much longer
before I must close the Cub's clamshell and
flying won't be quite as pleasant any more.
Bad News
A number of Antique/Classic members
may know by now but I need to report that
Peter Hawks, an advisor for the division
for some time and a judge at Oshkosh
passed away one week before the Conven-
tion after a long illness . Peter really en-
joyed the Antique/Classic Division. He
worked hard at his job and was well thought
of by everyone who knew him. Peter was
from San Carlos, California and was the
owner of a Spartan Executive and a Grum-
man Widgeon. He had owned an FI7D
Staggerwing in the past which was dam-
aged by another pilot in an accident. He
was 65 years old and was the son of movie
producer, Harold Hawks who produced a
number of aviation movies. There was a
memorial fly-in held in California by a
number of his friends on September 23.
Peter will certainly be missed by the An-
tique/Classic Division.
More bad news
One week following the Oshkosh Con-
vention, Dale Wolford of Ashland, Ohio,
who was George York's co-chairman of the
Classic Judging Committee passed away
while at work in his office. Dale was 61
years old and worked in the judging at Osh-
kosh for 15 years. He was on stage on
Thursday night of the Convention to help
present the trophies and was the picture of
good health. He was very active with
Aeroncas and owned a Chief for over 20
years. He also owned an Aeronca C-2 and
a C-3. The C-2 has been featured in
SPORTSMAN PILOT Magazine. We are
going to miss Dale also.
2 OCTOBER 1989
STRAIGHT AND LEVEL
TeA trauma
Well, as everyone knows, the 30-mile
veil around the TCA airports is now in ef-
fect. In August of this year, Charlotte,
North Carolina became a TCA . I think
everyone should get themselves a new
Charlotte chart so they can look at this
TCA. The control management at Charlotte
worked very hard to accommodate all of
the surrounding airports as far as the up-
side-down wedding cake boundaries go and
should be commended for that. Although
Mode C is still required within the 30-mile
veil, the local airports are almost 100 per-
cent free of the TCA itself.
When you look at this chart , you may
see something that illustrates how govern-
ment agencies "cooperate" with each other.
One group said that the cetner of the TCA
will be the VOR, which is not on the air-
port. The other said that the 30-mile veil
will emanate from the center of the airport.
Consequently, the two rings do not match
up and are printed on the chart that way. I
don't suppose we should take it personally
that the people in Washington seem out to
get us sportsman pilots. The controllers'
management people in the field tried to
have the chart discrepancy corrected, but
evidently Washington does not listen to the
people in the field, (so life goes on).
Old radios
While we are talking about Washington,
there is another issue brewing there that
has been overlooked by a lot of pilots.
Being aviators, you don't necessarily pay
attention to the Federal Communication
Commision but in 1985, the FCC issued a
notice of proposed rulemaking that would
require tighter frequency tolerance on
transceivers carried aboard aircraft. This
rule, with very little opposition, has now
come to pass and takes effect January I,
1990. What this means is that if you have
a 360-channel or a 90-channel radio, you
more than likely will be illegal after that
date. Some of the radios that I feel sure
will be on the "illegal" list will be, for
example, the Genave 100, 200, 200A,
Narco Mark 12s, King 100s, 150s, 160s
and yes, the KX 170As.
One positive note, the FCC may consider
postponing or backing off on this require-
ment date, not knowing how to enforce the
rule at this time.
Women's Air Derby
On the plus side, the anniversary flight
of the First Women's Air Derby has just
been completed. This was Susan Dusen-
bury's reenactment of Louise Thaden's
winning flight in the same Travel Air 4000.
The route was the same as the original
which started in Santa Monica, California
with stops in San Bernardino, California;
Yuma and Phoenix, Arizona; Douglas,
New Mexico; Pecos, Midland, Abiline and
Fort Worth, Texas; then on to Tulsa, Ok-
lahoma, Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas;
East St, Louis , Illinois; Terre Haute, In-
diana; Columbus and, finally , Cleveland ,
Ohio. The re-enactment was the brainchild
of Dub Yarborough who heads up the
Travel Air Division of the Staggerwing
Museum Foundation . The tour ws made
possible by a lot of volunteers and received
a lot of good publicity along the route, in-
cluding an article by Jack Williams in USA
Today. All the participants in the trip wore
name tags with the EAA Antique/Classic
logo on them . I would like to thank them
for the recognition paid to our division. We
just can' t get enough good media exposure.
If any of our members feel they can be of
assistance after the fact on this particular
tour, please contact Dub Yarborough at the
Staggerwing Museum Foundation: PO Box
550, Tullahoma, Tennessee 37388 and ask
him how you may be of assistance.
Goodies
We have had a number of requests to
order some of the merchandise that we sold
out of during the Oshkosh Convention,
such as T-shirts, jackets, etc. We are now
in the process of restocking our merchan-
dise and will place an ad in VINTAGE
AIRPLANE so that you can order these
items from Headquarters . Hopefully, we
will have all this accomplished in time for
the Christmas season.
Vintage Trader
Mark Phelps, our editor of VINTAGE
AIRPLANE has arranged with our printer
to allow your ads in "Vintage Trader" to
run with only a 30-day lead time, instead
of 60 days as in the past. Deadline for ads
will be the first day of the month preceding
the month of issue (i.e December I for the
January issue). This should encourage
more of you to utilize this service . We have
had a number of members who have gotten
good results with "Vintage Trader" and I
encourage you to take advantage of it also.
Speak out
Your Antique/Classic Board of Directors
will be meeting the first part of November
and I would like to encourage everyone to
let me know of any concerns or suggestions
before. the meeting so that we can address
these matters at that time. Also again, I
would like to ask that if you know of a
person or aircraft that would be of interest
to the membership, please send this infor-
mation and photos to Mark Phelps at Head-
quarters in Oshkosh or to me, so that this
might be used in VINTAGE AIRPLANE for
everyone to enjoy.
Let's all pull together in one direction
for the good of aviation. Join us and have
it all!
PUBLICATION STAFF
PUBLISHER
Tom Poberezny
VICE-PRESIDENT
MARKETING &COMMUNICATIONS
DickMatt
EDITOR
MarkPhelps
ART DIRECTOR
MikeDrucks
ADVIERnSING
MaryJones
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
NormanPetersen DickCavin
FEATURE WRITERS
GeorgeA Hardie,Jr. DennisParks
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
IsabelleWiske
STAFF PHOTOGRAFHERS
JimKoepnick CarlSchuppel
JeffIsom
EAAANTIQUE/CLASSIC
DIVISION, INC.
OFFICERS
President VicePresident
Espie"Butch"Joyce ArthurR. Morgan
604HighwaySt. 3744North51stBlvd.
Madison,NC27025 Milwaukee,WI53216
919/427-0216 414/442-3631
Secretary Treasurer
GeorgeS. York E.E. "Buck"Hilberl
181SlobodaAve. P.O.Box424
Mansfield,OH44906 Union,IL60180
419/529-4378 815/923-4591
DIRECTORS
RobertC "Bob"Brauer JohnS. Copeland
9345S.Hoyne 9JoanneDrive
Chicogo,IL60620 Westborough,MA01581
312m9-2105 508/366-7245
PhilipCoulson WilliamA Eickhoff
28415SpringbrookDr. 41515thAve.,N.E.
Law1on,MI49065 St. Petersburg,FL 33704
616/624-6490 813/823-2339
CharlesHarris StanGomoll
3933SouthPeoria 104290thLane,NE
P.O.Box904038 Minneapolis,MN55434
Tulsa,OK74105 6121784-1172
9181742-7311
RobertD. "Bob" Lumley
DaleA Gustafson N104 W20387
7724ShadyHillDrive WillowCreekRd.
Indianapolis,IN46278 Colgate,WI 53017
317/293-4430 414/255-6832
GeneMorris StevenC Nesse
115CSteveCourt,R.R. 2 2009HighlandAve.
Roonoke,1)(76262 AlbertLea,MN56007
817/491-9110 507/373-1674
DanielNeuman s.H. OWes"Schmid
1521BerneCircleW. 2359LefeberAvenue
Minneapolis,MN55421 Wauwatosa,WI53213
612/571-0893 414m1-1545
DIRECTOR EMERITUS
s.J. Wittman
7200 S.E.85th Lane
Ocala,FL 32672
904/245-7768
ADVISORS
JohnBerendt GeneChase
7645EchoPointRd. 2159CarltonRd.
CannonFalls,MN55009 Oshkosh,WI54903
507/263-2414 414/231-5002
GeorgeDaubner JohnA Fogerty
2448 Lough Lane RR 2,Box70
Hari1ord,WI 53027 Roberts,WI54023
414/673-5885 715/425-2455
JeannieHill
P.O.Box328
Harvard,IL60033
815/943-7205
OCTOBER1989 Vol. 17, No. 10
Copyright 1989bythe EMAntiquel Classic Division, Inc. All rights reserved.
Contents
2 StraightandLevel/byEspie"Butch"Joyce
4 ChapterCapsuleslbyBobBrauer
5 VintageLiteraturelbyDennisParks
6 Members'ProjectslbyNormPetersen
9 VintageSeaplaneslbyNormPetersen
12 RudyKlingRemembered/
byClarenceMather
15 SpiffyPlanelbyBobBrauer
16 BehindtheBallyhoolbyRuthNichols
(reprintedfromAmerican Magazine,
March1932)
Page16
22 48x3lby WilliamG. Wright
29 PassItToBucklbyE.E. "Buck"Hilbert
31 VintageTrader
35 MysteryPlanelbyGeorgeHardie,Jr.
Page22
FRONT COVER ...William Wrightand his 1948 Luscombe11A Sedan
completed a tourof48 states in less than 48 flying hours.Read the
wholestoryonpage22.
(Photo byCarl Schuppel - photoplaneflown byCarlKoeling)
REAR COVER...In 1932,Ruth Nicholswasoneofthenation'spremier
aviators. She shared her predictions with the readers ofAmerican
Magazinein March1932.The article is reprinted on Page16.
(Pastel Drawing byNeysa McMein)
Thewords EM,ULTRAUGHT,FLYWITHTHE FIRSTTEAM,SPORTAVIATION,andthelogos01 EXPERIMENTALAIRCRAFTASSOCIATION INC.,EMINTERNA
TIONAL CONVENTION,EM ANTIOUE/CLASSIC DIVISION INC., INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB INC., WARBIRDS Of AMERICA INC. ,are regstered
trademar1<s. THE EMSKY SHOPPE and logos 01 the EM AVIATION FOUNDATION INC.and EM ULTRALIGHT CONVENTION are trademar1<s 01 the above
associations and !heiruseby aI'f person otherthan the above associations is strictly prohibited.
EditorialPolicy:Reader> are encouraged 10 stories and pOOIographs.Policy opinions expressed in arldes are solely Ihose 01 the authors. ResponsiJi lity lor
accuracy in reportilg res1s entirely with the contriJutor.Malerial should be sentto: Edtor,TheVINTAGE AIRPlANE,Willman RegioM Airport, 3000 Poberezny Rd.,
Oshkosh,WI 54903-3086. Phone:
TheVINTAGEAIRPLANE ilSSN00916943) andowned byEMAntique/Classic Division,Irx:. 01 theExperimentalArcraHAssociation,Irx:. and
put;ished al Willman Regional Aiport.3000 Poberezny Rd., Oshkosh,WI 54903-3086. Second Class pootage paid al Oshkosh,WI 54901 and
mailing offices.MerrlJershipraleslorEMAntiqueJCIassic Division.lrx:.are $18.00 lorcunenlEMmembers for 12roonth peOOd 01 which 512.00 forthe
of The VINTAGE AIRPlANE. MerrlJership open to all who are "Ierested in
ADVERTISING- Antique/ClassicDivisiondoesnotguaranleeorendorseaI'f productofferedthro'-'Jhouradvertising.Weinvitecoostruc1ivecriticismandwelcome
aI'f reportofinferiormerchandiseobtained through our advertising so thaIcorrectivemeasurescan be laken.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes 10 EMAntique/Classic [);vision,Irx:.P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh.WI 549033086.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3
CHAPTERCAPSULES
by Bob Brauer
Editor's note: The August installment
of this column incorrectly listed Bob
Lumley as the author. Bob was quick
to point out that Bob Brauer deserves
credit.
Chapter 13
OnJanuary 12, 1984 interest in a
chapter for "antique bird buffs" from
south central Minnesotaculminated in
theformationofAntiqueClassicChap-
ter 13. Charter members and original
organizerswere Bob Lichteigand Paul
Steiler of Albert Lea, Minnesota and
Roy Redmond of Faribault, Min-
nesota.
They named their group the "Ber-
nard H. Pietenpol Chapter" to honor
the man who originally built the
Pietenpol Air Camperaround 1929 or
1930, making this homebuilt an an-
tique. In addition, Bernie Pietenpol
had his airport located in Cherry
Grove, Minnesota which is approxi-
mately the center of Chapter D's
membership. The original hangar that
Pietenpol built and used in his early
days ofaircraft development was dis-
assembled in October 1984andrecon-
structed at Pioneer Airport where it
now houses many oftheEAA Founda-
tion's antique aircraft. Details of the
move are covered in the January 1985
issue ofVINTAGE AIRPLANE.
Chapter D's current president,
Steve Nesse ofAlbert Lea, explained
how they attracted members to their
new chapter, "The original organizers
went to EAA Headquarters and ob-
tained an address printout of EAA
members residing in the area's zip
code.Noticesweresenttothosepeople
and the organizers also distributed
flyersatlocalairportsabouttheforma-
tion ofa new NC chapter." As a re-
sult, thegrouphad averygoodturnout
at its first meeting. The membership
today, numbering about 28, covers a
75-mile radius from Owatonna, Min-
nesota extending into northern Iowa.
Meetings are held in various loca-
tionsduetothewidemembershiparea,
ranging from the Northwood, Iowa
4 OCTOBER 1989
Vern Deal, Sr. in his Corvair-powered Air Camper, possibly the last to fly from Pietenpol
Field.
Bernard Pietenpol's hangar during its systematic disassembly prior to shipment to Osh-
kosh in 1984.
Airport to Buzz Kaplan's hangar in
Owatonna,MinnesotatoSteveNesse's
basement! However, during the three
or four months of relatively mild
weather during the summer, the chap-
ter dispenses with the regular format
and instead meets at as many fly-in
events as possible. The committee re-
sponsible for setting up Chapter 13's
programs emphasizes subjects of in-
terest to the members such as two re-
cent programs covering antique and
classic model-aircraft plans and the
history ofantique aircraft restoration.
Chapter I3'sindividual membership
projectsconsistofagoodsolidbaseof
ongoing restorations. One ofthe most
recent is that of Jim Stier of North-
wood, Iowa. Jim, an airport operator
and crop sprayer is restoring a Stear-
man and a Beech C-45/SNB. A Fair-
child project is occupying the talents
ofJohn Berendt ofCannon Falls and
Jim Hiner of Kenyon, Minnesota.
Gary Underland of Medford, Min-
nesota played a large part in the resto-
ration of Buzz Kaplan' s Savoia Mar-
chetti S.56 amphibian that we have
seen at Oshkosh and in the pages of
VINTAGE AIRPLANE.
The group's main social event is an
annual picnic for all members and
guestsonthethirdSundayofJuly,usu-
ally at Vern Deal's airstrip in St.
Angsar, Iowa. Speaking of picnics,
Chapter President, Steve Nesse made
all thearrangementsforthisyear'sAn-
tique/Classic Division picnic at the
Oshkosh Convention. If you missed
this outing at the Nature Center, well,
wait 'tilnextyear. Bethere, you won't
regret it!
USED AIRCRAFT GUIDES
(Part Two)
In the September installment of
"Vintage Literature," used airplane
classified ads were examined from
1915 until 1937, the year thatTRADE-
A-PLANE first appeared . TRADE-A-
PLANE was published expressly as a
national advertising vehicle for those
wishing to sell used airplanes .
TRADE-A-PLANE was not the first
nor the last such publication, but it is
the longest lasting one and the most
respected one having been published
for over 50 years .
The earliest publication devoted to
used aircraft sales that is in the EAA
A viation Foundation library is the
USED AIRCRAFT DIRECTORY
published in Athens, Georgia in 1934.
The copy examined was published
as Volume No. 1 issue No. VII dated
September 1934. It consisted of 10
pages of ads listing more than 50 air-
craft. Apparently some reader was
doing a study of used aircraft as there
are penciled notes on the cover as to
the number of aircraft in different price
ranges.
The notes indicated that there were
four aircraft for sale at less than $100,
16 under $200, six under $375 and 24
under $400. A quick glance through
the publication shows the most expen-
sive plane was a Curtiss-Wright J-6
Thrush at $4,250.
TRADE-A-PLANE appeared in Oc-
tober 1937. It was the development of
Cosby Harrison of Crossville, Tennes-
see. He was the owner of a damaged
Swallow airplane and while trying to
get parts to repair it he was dreaming
of getting another airplane.
Like others he read the classified ads
in AERO DIGEST and A VIA TION.
While scouring the countryside look-
ing for parts for his bent plane, he en-
countered others needing to sell or pur-
chase parts and came up with the idea
of circulating a list of want ads .
These lists were handwritten and
mailed to interested people or posted
at airports. When his second list had
grown to 18 items, he decided to pub-
lish his lists as a business venture.
His fust step was to obtain a list of
pilots and aircraft owners from the De-
partment of Commerce. He then had
by ()enni Vark
Libf"arY/ An:hive
()if"ect()f"
flyers and postcards printed asking for
people to advertise in his publication.
He received about 50 ads for his first
publication.
The first issue had the ads on one
side of a 12 x l8 sheet of paper. There
were 9,000 copies of the first issue
printed. Cosby had decided that the au-
dience for the publication would be the
8,000 pilots who had over 200 hours
and who could teach others .
As stated in the first issue:
"This sheet carrying classified and
display advertising from different parts
of the country, will be mailed FREE
every ten days to each registered
TRANSPORT PILOT in the United
States. We feel that this will prove to
be the best medium for better acquaint-
ing the BUYERS and SELLERS of
used airplanes and parts for airplanes.
The reason for sending this advertising
to transport pilots is that they are the
key airmen of today. They manage and
operate most of the airports . They do
most of the instructing. Their advice is
generally called for and accepted when
a decision is to be made as to the pur-
chase of an airplane or part. "
AERONCA
AERONCA MODEL K: Lus than 160
hours . Brakes, navigation IIlthto. Ship In
perfect condition. Price 11300.00. McKinley
Air Transport, Inc. , Canton, Ohio.
1937 AERONCA K: 80 hours total time.
Ship absolutely just like new. Price U400
terms. W. Clayton Lemon, Roanoke, Va.
DeLUXE C3 AERONCA SEAPLANE: (Built
for .,.It water) like new. Price t1260. Fred D.
Cook, 11 Revere Drive, Floral Park, N.Y.
AERONCA K: 260 houn total, like new,
U200, ... 80 down. Tred Avon Flying Sen
Ice, Eastland, Maryland.
19a3 AERONCA C3: t660. Color red wings
with black fuselage. 40 hours on motor since
overhaul. 460 total hou.. on ship. Cover In
good condition. OIro strut landln'f gear. LI
until July. 1938. B. C. Wllk nlon. Box
1306, Raleigh, N.C.
FOR SALE OR TRADE for StlMon, C3 Aer
onca E 113 engine, winter Just
overhauled, windshield and flberlold sheet
Ing repl"eed; wing "nd tall grou
d
refinished;
color International orange an bl"ck: ha.
new propeller. Engine and airplane has 486
houn since new: has oleo landing ge"r. LI
cenn expires June, 1938. ThIs ship Is In tip
top .hape and I. worth more than t860,
whIch Is my prIce. R. E. Lee, Rocky Mount
Flying Senlee, Rocky Mount, N.C.
From that first edition of a single
sheet, TRADE-A-PLANE has grown
into a publication of l60 to 170 pages
per issue with a circulation of over
180,000.
Through the years TRADE-A-
PLANE has had some competitors but
none survived very long. One that is
in the library is THE PICTORIAL
AMERICAN AIRPLANE EX-
CHANGE. The issue consists of one
12 x 18 sheet with ads on one side and
seems to have been published in 1940.
It is unusual for its time period in that
there is a photograph for each of the
21 planes advertised . It was published
by the Myers Co. of Topeka, Kansas.
Another competitor was the NA-
TIONAL AIRCRAFT BEACON
which lasted three issues and was pub-
lished from January to March 1940 in
Meadville, Pennsylvania. Another
similar publication was: AIR-ADS,
Aug. 1944 - April 1948, Royalton,
Minnesota.
Cosby Harrison, the founder, died
in 1984, but the publication carries on
as a third-generation family business.
Quite a record of accomplishment. An
original copy of the first issue provided
by Jean Durfee and Carolyn Flick of
the TRADE-A-PLANE staff is on
exhibit at the EAA Air Adventure
Museum in the library .
AMERICAN EAGLE
AMERICAN EAGLE OX6: Complfltely reb
ullt but not Rssembled. Motor extra good con
dltlon. Will license and auemble lor "'60.
Tho . O. Kutenon, Box 1146, Knoxville,
Tenn.
ARROW
ARROW SPORT: 80 LeBlond. New cover on
upper wIng and fuselage, lower wing covered
year ago. Licensed till July 1938. Ship I. fin
Ished In hlack. Sell for t860. Trade for
Franklin Sport 90, Stearman, or Aeronca K.
K. A. Weed, Box A, Kalama.oo, MIch.
BEECH
BEECHCRAFT: 4place with Jacob. 226 mo
tor. Excellent condition. JUlt rellcensed to
October 1938. Color red and gray. Price
'3760. Tho. O. Kesterson, Box 1146, Knox
ville, Tenn.
BEECHCRAFT B7R: Wright 460. Small total
time and fully equipped. SlIlt"en months old
and like new. Just majored by Pacific Alrmo
the. Cost over U6,OOO. Must nil, t8ooo.
Mouton eo Clyde, San Franclsoo Airport, San
francl.co. Cal.
BIRD
BIRD: Warner Motor, very fine condition.
Tar.lorcraft DI.trlbuto.. for Northern 1111
no s, WI.coullln, and upper Michigan. Fox
Valley Flying Senloe, Aurora Airport, Auro
ra. III.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5
MEMBERS'PRO ECTS...
by Norm Petersen
This yellow Be black 1941 N2S-1 Stearman is the pride Be joy of Jack Pollack (EM 328199, NC 13555)
of Scoffsdale, Arizona. Registered N51034, SIN 75-1048, the Stearman spent its wartime years at
NAS. Jacksonville and Anacostla, Washington, D.C. In 1943 it was assigned to NAS. Memphis
where it was tumed over to the R.F.C. in 1944 and sold as surplus. It was a "duster" for many years
until retumed to "aimosf' original condition in 1974. Jack bought the Stearman in 1989 and is
slowly retuming the rugged oid biplane to its original condition as when it came out of Boeing's
Wichita, Kansos plant in 1941. The delivery cost of this airplane was $5,930 in 1941, which did not
include the engine, prop, wheels, tires and instruments! Total cost in those days was $9,120.
This partially completed Aeronca C-3 "Razorback" Is being rebuilt
by AI Meyer (EM 327839, NC 13514) of Panacea, Florida. AI reports
the project is about 60% finished. Note what appears to be a
pair of (precious) 7:00 x 4 tires on the wheels!
This pretty white with yellow trim Luscombe 8A, NC1192K, SIN 3919,
is owned by Scoff Davis (EM 326018, NC 13347) of Lebanon, Ore-
gon. Darlene Davis writes, "This aircraft had been on its back
when Scoff purchased it at the age of 16 for $800 in 1974. Together,
we got it flying In 1976 and she's been flying ever since. Scoff has
put 1800 hours on it since then."
6 OCTOBER 1989
Truly a labor of love is this 1945 Stearman. N1363V. SIN 75-8704. owned by Charles Lewis (EM 328768. NC 135n) of
Meridianville. MississippI. Resfored over a 5"12 year period. the Stearman features a 300hp Lycoming R-680-13 swinging
a Hamilton-Standard 2B20-9 prop. The dishpan and exhaust is modified Beech AT-10 with the cowl literally hand-made!
The wheelpants are Wag-Aero and the covering is Ceconite with polyurethane colors. The beautiful spinner and prop
were polished with Rolite for that mirror finish. This is Charles' first project and reflects a meticulous piece of work!
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7
M E M E R S ~ PROJECTS...
by Norm Petersen
These three photos are from Tara Field, an
airport near Mocksville, North Carolina
that features a World War II setting and is
owned by Navaro and Jan Nichols (EM
87373, AlC 8601). Even the WW II Quonset
Hut is decked out In appropriate memo-
rabilia. Aircraft Include a 1942 Stearman
which came from Callfomla, a Vultee BT-
13A, a North American L-17 and a Cessna
UC-78 "Bamboo Bamber" under restora-
tion. The ''Tower'' Is used for flow control
during the annual fall fly-In at "Old South
Airplane Works," a well chosen name.
8 OCTOBER 1989
VINTAGE SEAPLANES
by Norm Petersen
Photos courtesy John Finiello
This sequence of four faded pictures from over forty years ago
shows how to launch a Piper Cub Special (PA-11) mounted on
Edo 1400 floats from a dock about 12 feet above the water!
In the first photo, the ramp Is watered down with a hose and
manpower Is gathered. Next, the engine Is hand-propped and
the pilot crawls In the front seat. With all hands helping to
push, the PA-11 Is tipped over the edge and begins Its slide
to the water. Note how the engine Is tumlng up to help the
operatlonl Finally, the Cub slides Into the water and bobs to
a level position, ready to taxi. Just how the Cub Is put back
on the shelf has not been explalnedl
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
VINTAGE
by Norm
Photo courtesy of l W. Stephenson
From the extensive photo collection of I. W. (Ike) Stephenson (EM 82203, AlC 3704) of Menominee, Michigan, comes this picture
of a G-21 Grumman "Goose," complete with retracting wing floats and registered in Great Britain as G-ASXG. (Note entrance
stairway) Previously registered In the U.S. as N3692, the Goose was converted to a McKinnon Turbo Goose in 1968 and became
CF-AWH in Canada in September of 1973.
10 OCTOBER 1989
SEAPLANES
Petersen
Typical busy day at the Philadelphia Sky Port Seaplane Base as recorded by John Flniello In the late 1940s. In the foreground Is
a Grumman Widgeon with Ranger engines and Curtiss-Reed props, a Luscombe SA on Edo 1320 floats, two Republic "Seabees"
and five Piper J-3 "Cubs" on Edo 1320 floats, all parked along the dock. N; John says, ''There was always a great deal of activity
at the seaplane base!"
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
RUDY KLING
REMEMBERED
by Clarence Mather
The year 1987 marked 50 years since
the Clayton Folkerts air racer design,
SK-3 , "Jupiter, The Pride of Lemont ,"
with Rudy Kling pilot, had its day of
glory and tragic finale. I would like to
share with you my memories of some
of the people, places and events of that
era. I'll be as accurate as a mediocre
memory permits.
Lemont, Illinois is about 30 miles
southwest of Chicago on the hilly ,
southeast bank of the Des Plains River
flood plain. The Albert Kling farm was
a couple of miles from town on a
gravel road. A couple of turns farther
along the road was the John Mather
farm where I was born. Among my
earliest memories is one of riding to
town in the family Model T. On the
way, we passed the Kling farm which
was somewhat unique in that the house
was on one side of the road and the
barn on the other. Often one or more
of the Kling boys would be about and
wave as we passed. There were three:
George, Rudy, and Fritz.
One day there was a gang of work-
men, some horse-drawn earth scoops
and a concrete mixer on one of the
gravel roads . When the paving was
completed, it was named Highway 66 .
Many years later I traveled that con-
crete ribbon all the way to Los
Angeles!
12 OCTOBER 1989
Rudy and Fritz Kling were gifted
mechanically and worked on farm
machinery, motorcycles , and cars .
Soon after Highway 66 was com-
pleted, they built a gas station/garage
by the highway and opened for busi-
ness .
Sometime later, probably several
years, there was a yellow biplane
parked in the pasture across the high-
way from their garage . Rudy Kling
was now flying. Sometimes I would
be lucky and the airplane would be
landing as we drove by. I believe that
Rudy kept the airplane at Art Chester's
airport near Joliet. That was just a few
miles away as the biplane flies . So on
certain days Rudy would fly to the pas-
ture and get some flying time in during
breaks in the garage routine.
Quite a while later, Dad heard that
Rudy had purchased a racing plane and
kept it in the garage part of the time!
I would now beg Dad to stop at the
garage during trips to Lemont so that
I could ogle the racer. It was one of
the Keith-Riders purchased second-
hand. It was named "Suzie" and was
painted light blue and yellow. The craft
was carried on a flat bed car trailer
with the wing removed. Frequently the
engine cowling would be off and the
engine worked on. Once I was puzzled
to see someone rubbing a tail surface
with a piece of gray paper in a puddle
of water! That was my introduction to
wet-or-dry sandpaper. Suzie placed in
a number of air races with Rudy Kling
as pilot. It was destroyed at the Los
Angeles Air Races when a car drove
right in front of Suzie as Rudy was
setting it down! Considering the high
landing speed and the fragility of the
tight-fitting aircraft, it was a miracle
that Rudy was not injured. Dad pre-
dicted, with deadly accuracy, that
Rudy would kill himself someday in
those racing planes.
Next we learned that Rudy was
building a new racing plane in Lemont!
Now when the family went to town for
supplies and banking , I would hurry
over to the building where Wurtzler's
Drug Store used to be. There, "Jupiter,
The Pride of Lemont" was being con-
structed. The project was sponsored,
at least in part, by some Lemont
businessmen who gave rise to the latter
part of the name .
Now I would like to digress from
airplanes and tell you some things
about Lemont. Though patronized by
local farmers such as Albert Kling and
my father , it was not a typical farm
town as is found throughout the mid-
west. The population was about] , 100
in the early 1930s. Some people
worked in nearby limestone quarries or
a local aluminum products plant.
Others rode the street car to Chicago
area industries . Lemont is a French
name and most of the people were
Catholics. There were three Catholic
churches in town . There was an Irish
Catholic, a German Catholic and a
Polish Catholic, but no French Catholic!
During my preteen years, prohibi-
tion was the law but it was often bro-
ken. One day my father and I were
walking on a Lemont sidewalk when
we met one of his uncles. After a short
discussion, they headed for a small
dress shop. We entered and walked to
the rear. The lady proprietress ushered
us through a curtained doorway into a
backroom. There was a small bar in
the room and the men downed a couple
of "shots" of bootleg whiskey! Judging
from their facial grimaces and tear-
filled eyes, they got a lot of internal
action for their money! Just a few years
ago I was in Lemont at services for my
father and was astounded to see the
same dress shop still being operated by
the same lady! That was over 50 years
by the same owner in the same build-
ing!
The Chicago Drainage Canal , really
just a huge open sewer for the city of
Chicago, ran by the edge of Lemont.
Barges plied those filthy waters and I
wondered how the bargemen could
stand the stench for days at a time . The
canal served other purposes. At irregu-
lar intervals corpses were fished from
those vile waters . Some were the re-
mains of despairing souls who decided
to end their earthly life. Others, it was
rumored, had offended the Chicago-
land underworld hierarchy and were
pursuaded to take the terminal dive into
the canal. Some had received a pre-
liminary dose of lead poisoning. The
hitmen thus avoided littering the streets
and vacant lots of Chicagoland.
The Illinois Central Railroad went
right through the business area of Lem-
ont so there were several crossings
with gates, lights, and bells . It was a
terrifying experience, especially at
night, to be waiting by the tracks. The
red warning lights flashed, the alarm
bells clanged, the earth shook, and the
shrieking whistle crescendoed as the
cycloptic monster thundered by! In
spite of all those warnings, an occa-
sional impatient motorist zig-zagged
around the lowered gates to beat the
train. A few lost the race and were
given a rapid and violent ride to eter-
nity, courtesy of the "cow catcher" in
the steam locomotive of the "City of
New Orleans."
So the "good old days" weren't all
good but they weren't all bad either.
Lemont was a picturesque town with a
lot of friendly people. And, "Jupiter,
The Pride of Lemont," was built there.
I have a mental image of a sleek unco-
vered fuselage built of metal tubing
with wooden formers and lots of strin-
gers. Later the completed craft was
often in Kling's garage on its trailer.
Usually the cowling was off and the
engine was being worked on .
Then in September, 1937, came the
Chicago Tribune headline, "Kling
wins the Thompson." Actually he had
won both the Greve and the Thompson
Trophy races . The Greve race was re-
stricted to engines of a certain displace-
ment. Jupiter's 250 horsepower
Menasco was small enough to qualify
for that event. The Thompson race had
no engine size restriction so Rudy was
competing against racers with as much
as 1,000 hp! It was a tremendous thrill
to have a farm boy neighbor make
good in a sport that required an ex-
tremely specialized aircraft and highly
skilled piloting! And he did it in The
Cleveland Air Races that could be
called the Indy 500 of the air!
The winning speeds were not impres-
sive. Fritz Kling later indicated that
Rudy took it easy on the throttle be-
cause it was a new plane in its first
Rudy Kling and the Folkerts SK-3, ''The Pride Of Lemonf'.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13
Rudy Kling, Steve Wittman and Frank Haines at the Miami Air Races in 1937. Of the three, only Steve survived.
races , and that it was capable of much
higher speeds. It certainly seems so! In
the air the fuselage is a slim oval tube
tapering smoothly to the rear. It was
just wide and deep enough to enclose
the parts and mechanisms. A bullet
shaped spinner covered part of the high
drag propeller hub and provided an
easy entry to the air. The retracted gear
openings were completely covered by
doors that conformed to the fuselage
lines . The windshield was a smooth
curve as small as safe viewing would
allow. The tapered wing was of low
aspect ratio and plywood covered . Its
zero dihedral and shoulder mounting
produced large angle, low drag junc-
tions to the fuselage. The propeller was
very high pitch. That meant low accel-
eration at the start but helped Jupiter
to really move out at top speeds . Jupi-
ter was a small, very clean , light-
weight airplane with a thin airfoil. It
all added up to lots of speed! It is said
that beauty is in the eyes of the behol-
der. To this beholder Jupiter is among
the most beautiful of aircraft. Yet it
was very functional.
14 OCTOBER 1989
The Cleveland races had been held
in early September and just three
months later the Miami Air Races were
held. This time the Chicago Tribune
headline told a different story, "Kling
and Haines killed at Miami ." We were
all stunned and felt a terrible sense of
loss. Rudy's wife and young boy were
in Miami . Reporters asked the five-
year-old what he was going to be when
he grew up. ''I'm going to be a farm-
er," he replied . And he did.
Rudy Kling and Frank Haines were
one-two at the start of the Miami race
and stalled out at the first pylon tum .
The newspaper reported that gusty
winds were present. When the racers
are in tight pylon tum they are likely
near the stall speed and a wind shear
of several miles an hour could produce
the fatal stall. And in the excitement
of a close race a pilot could exceed
safe flight limits . Later the SK-4 was
built and it was very similar to Jupiter.
It also crashed killing the pilot so
perhaps the design was very marginal
in stability. Most articles mention that
Rudy had rather low overall flight time
and experience. Yet he surely had con-
siderable skills. He flew Suzie in sev-
eral races and had flown Jupiter at least
several times . Anyone who can fl y a
high speed plane with narrow tread
gear and tiny wheels off dirt fields cer-
tainly has skill! And experience
doesn't always help . Veteran racer Art
Chester was killed in a pylon tum in a
much more docile aircraft than Jupiter
was.
When Jupiter crashed the red spin-
ner popped off and was hardly dam-
aged. Fritz Kling had it in the garage
for years afterward. After the war sev-
eral of us who rode Harleys used to
stop at the garage to gas up and talk
with Fritz. The spinner would remind
us of the days that used to be.
I didn't really know Rudy because
he was quite a bit older than I was. But
I have some impressions. He was
rather short and of average build. He
was quiet and not stuffy or arrogant.
Rudy always had a friendly grin. And
he willingly and cordially answered
questions put to him by a scrawny farm
boy in big overalls .
SPIFFYPLANE
A spiffy red-and-white, twin-engine
aircraft owned by Ben Runyan of Van-
couver, Washington was the center of
much attention at EAA Oshkosh '89.
"I like to hear peoples' speculation
about its type, such as 'British-built
with Gypsy Major engines,' " explains
Ben when he overhears casual conver-
sation of spectators near the aircraft.
Not even close!
Actually the plane is an Omnipol
Super Aero 45 built at the Czecho-
slovakia National Aviation Factory.
This factory was where the Czechs
built He Ills for Heinkel of Germany
in the early 1940s. Although there are
many theories concerning the design
origin, Ben narrows it down to two
possibilities: It may have been a Ger-
man design taken by the Czechs; or the
Czechs predicted their orders for He
III s would disappear and to cover this
loss of business, they came up with the
Super Aero for the post-war market.
Ben's plane served as a working air-
craft in Scandanavian countries before
by Bob Brauer
it was flown from southern England to
Colorado by Jon Svendsen of Denver.
Ben purchased the Super 45 at Osh-
kosh last year along with a crate of
spare parts and one complete engine.
He said that many fittings were con-
verted to ASA standards so that
maintenance would not be such a
headache. Parts are "sort of' available,
but gaskets for the exhaust and other
miscellaneous engine systems must be
hand-made. On the other hand, how-
ever, each design feature is welI
planned resulting in superb aircraft
handling qualities.
Now for the numbers: maximum
gross weight - 3,350 pounds; cruising
speed - about 135 knots; fuel con-
sumption - 12 to 13 galIons per hour,
for both engines.
The engines ar Walter Minors , the
same powerplant instalIed on some
Bucker Jungmans . Each engine devel-
ops 105 to 110 hp depending on the
Czech-to-English translations . Ben
calls attention to the Super Aero's un-
canny resemblance to the He Ill, not-
ing items such as the forward airframe
shape and propeller mounting on the
wings.
Anyone who was unable to attend
the Convention or to get a look at this
aircraft may refer to the April 1983
issue of SPORT AVIATION which car-
ried a feature article about this plane.
Aerogram Reprints
The above article is a revised reprint
from AEROGRAMS, the Antique/
Classic Division's daily news sheet is-
sued during the 1989 EAA Convention.
For a $3.00 donation to the Antique/
Classic Division of EAA , a complete
set of seven AEROGRAMS is avail-
able. To receive a set ofAEROGRAMS
by mail, fill out the form below and
mail it along with a check made out to
Antique/Classic Division of the EAA,
to: Bob Brauer, 9345 S. Hoyne Av-
enue, Chicago, Illinois 60620 .
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
,
-BEHINIJ THE BALEYRlO,Q
. A famous pilot explains the showmen ofthe,.,'air.
by Ruth Nichols
16 OCTOBER 1989
Last December a happy-go-lucky
young Englishman took off from
Natal , Brazil , headed eastward over
the Atlantic. No cheering mob was
there to speed his going , nor did he
have the prayers of a breathless world
behind him. In fact, he had been in jail
- something to do with lack of pass-
ports. The British diplomatic service
had finally opened his cage door , and
off he flew .
Before him lay 2,000 miles of ocean
- more open water than confronted
Lindbergh - a southern sea devoid of
busy ship lanes. His plane was a Puss
Moth , a light English sport plane , the
sort the Prince of Wales uses to keep
his tea and tennis dates - not the
sturdy, high-powered airplane one usu-
ally associates with transocean flights .
He was not headed for the crowded
Old World. If he overshot his objective
in soupy weather he might find himself
over febrile swamps or beast-infested
jungles. He was on his way to
Bathurst, British Gambia, in Africa.
And he arrived there on schedule. But
the only applause was a few brief
notices in the papers of larger cities,
briefer notices in the wire service.
This person was Bert Hinkler. It was
a truly wonderful flight, and one that
aviators all over the world saluted. In
many respects it was a greater indi-
vidual achievement than Lindbergh 's.
Certainly it carried more immediate
significance to the layman; it demon-
strated the reliability of even the light
type of plane, built primarily for pri-
vate owners, for long-distance flight s.
HinkIer was the second person ever to
fly across the Atlantic Ocean alone,
and the first flyer alone or in company
to cross the South Atlantic from west
to east. Yet the significance of his feat
was lost to the world, which, only a
little more than four year's before, had
gone wild over Lindbergh' s hop to
Paris.
So Bert HinkIer's flight, the most
outstanding example of the present ef-
ficient status of light airplanes, proved
to pilots that flying is no longer the
profitable show it was and if any flyer
ever wants to command the public in-
terest which greeted Lindbergh, he will
have to fly to the moon!
Still, if record flying were to stop,
aviation progress would slow down .
That is why pilots go on trying for
novel and hazardous feats with which
to arrest public attention . Consider a
dramatic occurrence of one afternoon
last December. Although the day was
warm and still, employees and onlook-
ers at the Wayne County Airport were
shivering. No one knew why; they
looked at one another as people do who
share a furtive presentiment about
which they are afraid to talk . It was as
though an unseen door had opened to
let through a chill breath of the un-
known .
All at once activity at the airport
ceased and tension closed in, as from
one of the hangars was brought forth a
queer-looking airplane, with stumpy
wings, a short tail, and a huge nose
housing the motor. The ship resembled
a bumblebee among a flock of swal-
lows . Yet one young man regarded it
with tender care; he walked behind it
in a flutter of caution, personally guid-
ing the "dolly," or undercarriage,
which served to lift the plane ' s tailskid
across the cement apron of the hangar
to the turf beyond.
He was Lowell R. Bayles, the tiny
airplane's pilot, and his happy smile
showed that he did not share any vague
premonitions . Rather, he was confi-
dent that within a few minutes he
would recapture the world' s landplane
speed record for the United States and
win honor for his ship and reputation
for its makers.
Deftly he took the ship off the
ground and away in a climbing bank.
He was flying at five miles a minute
- perhaps faster - when he leveled
off over a comer of the field. Then
something happened; nobody knows
what - yet. The ship wobbled , flashed
through several lightning rolls, struck
the ground, and cartwheeled along in
a waving sheet of flame.
Pictures of Bayle's crash will be
studied and every possible cause will
be subjected to the minutest analysis,
just as the details of every flaw or mis-
hap in test flying are put upon the lab-
oratory tables of the engineers and out
of that study will come new contribu-
tions to safer and speedier flying.
Most veteran pilots will tell you that
in the early days they flew and lived
to fly again because they read the les-
sons in the wreckage which was strewn
over the countryside in those years. It
was thus that the modem technic of
aviation grew up. And it is thus that
the design of airplanes and motors will
be further developed and improved; for
in record flying, where superperfor-
mance is desired , necessity becomes
the mother of invention. And so, be-
cause of Lowell R. Bayles and others
who have flown to a similar fate, ten
years or so hence you will be commut-
ing in a small private plane from your
city office to your suburban home in
the mountains 300 miles away in one
hour flat .
Just as the racing-car speed of yes-
terday is the stock-car speed of today,
so the record-seeking plane of today
will be the stock plane of tomorrow.
In May of 1919 Captain M. R. James
won the Pulitzer Trophy and con-
founded critics of aviation by flying
from Atlantic City, N. J ., to Boston,
Mass ., in the elapsed time of four
hours flat ; roughly , about 125 miles
per hour. But , today, even the exuber-
ant neophyte of private flying scorns a
personal ship that doesn't make at least
125 for a top speed.
A viation is going through an indus-
trial and scientific history which curi-
ously parallels the story of the au-
tomobile. The spectacular laboratory
and proving ground of the automobile
was the Indianapolis Speedway Classic
and its lesser rivals; the laboratory of
the airplane is record-flying - all sorts
of spectacular distance chasings, ocean
flights, speed and endurance tests .
In airplane building , one of the ac-
cepted fundamentals has been that a
ship designed to shatter speed records
should have short wings and be "all
engine;" that a ship intended for al-
titude records should have large wings
to give extra lift ; and that a ship for
long-distance flight records should
have a large body for the installation
of extra gas tanks . Three different de-
signs, each highly specialized. My
technical adviser, Colonel Clarence
Chamberlin, and I figured that all these
characteristics were necessary for an
airplane which could make the trans-
lantic crossing with maximum safety .
So we set to work to develop such a
plane.
A year ago I obtained a Lockheed-
Vega plane provided by the Crosley
Radio Corporation. Immediately we
decided to go after a record in each of
the three major phases of specialized
performance - speed, altitude, and
long distance; each attempt for a record
to be a stepping-stone toward the
climax - the ocean flight, now
planned , after two postponements, for
this spring.
Before tackling the world's records,
however, we decided on a general test
hop for the ship to see what she would
do. So I flew back and forth across the
continent against the time of Mrs.
Keith Miller, who then held the
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
women's transcontinental record, and
found myself fortunate enough to bet-
ter Colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh' s time
by almost an hour and a half. My time
was 13 hours, 21 minutes - 55 min-
utes slower than the record of Captain
Frank M. Hawks.
Although I flew high during the
flight, I felt that we had not reached
the ship's maximum performance and
that in the ocean flight more altitude
might be required to jump bad weather ,
so I called in Colonel Chamberlin for
technical help. Most people know him
only as a transatlantic flyer. In addi-
tion, he is a keen test pilot and a re-
markable engineer.
In trial hops we experimented with
various kinds of propellers - long
ones, short ones, thick ones, and slim
ones - increasing and decreasing the
pitch, or angle, at which the propeller
screws forward into the air .
I remember one late afternoon,
when we had hit upon certain changes
in the ship that seemed to promise quite
startling results, Colonel Chamberlin
decided to "try her out." It was within
half an hour of darkness, there were no
lights on the field of his factory in Jer-
sey City, and there was only a little
oxygen left in the ship' s tanks for
upper-air breathing. I urged him to
delay the hop until next morning , but ,
no, he was too anxious to find out how
the new idea would work. The
parachute was inside the factory, and
I nearly broke my neck running for it
and trying to get back before he could
take off. You see, there was a big
chance that he would faint from lack
of oxygen in the high altitudes and that
the ship, without his control, would go
into a sudden power dive , pulling off
its wings and enforcing a jump. Well ,
18 OCTOBER 1989
I got back to the field with the 'chute
just in time to see the golden tail of my
plane disappearing off the far end.
The ship and the colonel arrived
back intact - oh, yes! - but the en-
thusiastic and impetuous inventor was
forced to admit that he had been un-
comfortable at 28,000 feet without
oxygen. The oxygen had given out,
and he had come down in a hUrry.
Altitude flying had not hitherto been
linked to ocean flying, but there were
three very good reasons for wanting to
bring about this combination:
First, the higher the ship could fly,
the better were the chances of clear
weather.
Second, because air is thinner at
high altitudes and offers less head re-
sistance , the plane could travel faster.
Third, because of the rotation of the
earth there are great wind velocities at
high altitudes. If advantage can be
taken of these gales as "tail winds" -
or winds that blow behind the tail of
the plane, adding their speed to the en-
gine speed - it will soon be possible
to attain speeds of 500 miles an hour.
A Junkers plane which will have the
cabin supercharged, as well as the
motor, thus maintaining a constant air
pressure for the passengers at high al-
titudes, is now being developed in
Europe. Imagine the possibility of
sending a nonstop aerial train, refuel-
ing in flight, around the world in,
perhaps, four days! And dropping off
passengers in gliders at midway
points!! Not such a Jules Verne dream
as you might believe.
At any rate, thanks to our continued
experimental work, I was presently
able to break the women's record for
altitude, held by Elinor Smith, and to
come within 1,710 feet of the men's
record for commercial planes, held by
George Haldeman at 30, 453 feet.
The next step in the plans for my
ocean flight was an assault upon the
world's maximum speed record for
women, held by Amelia Earhart.
Again Colonel Chamberlin's engineer-
ing genius shone through. He designed
a special landing gear for my heavy
ship which added twenty miles an hour
to its top speed. Besides, in coopera-
tion with the manufacturers of my
ship's motor, we tried out a develop-
ment which gave us ultimately 700
horsepower from what was designed
as a 425 horsepower motor. Now I was
set to prove that my ship had the sec-
ond essential characteristic - speed.
And on April 13th we set a record of
210.6 miles per hour.
Colonel Chamberlin and I came at
last to the third requirement we had set
for my transatlantic ship - the ability
to lift a huge quantity of gasoline from
a relatively limited runway for a long-
distance flight with a high-speed motor
which eats gas faster than you may im-
agine. Again we turned to experiments
with an adjustable-pitch propeller,
which proved its weight in gold, and
Ruth Nichols is greeted In at Roosevelt
Field in New York upon establishing a new
west-east transcontinental record.
presently we had the ship carrying 550
gallons of gasoline - plenty to carry
me from Newfoundland to Paris. This
meant lifting a ton and a half of fuel
off the ground after a run of only 1,500
feet. Moreover, I was able to climb at
135 miles an hour and slip immediately
into a cruising speed of 160.
The accident late last spring at St.
John, New Brunswick, Canada, in
which I cracked five vertebrae, pre-
vented the final act in my year's adven-
tures - the ocean flight. I kept the
news of the cracked vertebrae out of
the newspapers, because I wanted to
raise more money immediately for
another attempt last fall. But in the late
summer, after my recovery, pheno-
menally bad weather harl closed down
upon the North Atlantic, and I found
the flight would have to be postponed
again.
The significant point about our ef-
forts, however, was not that the trans-
atlantic hop was thwarted, but that our
work leading toward my attempted
flight resulted in new and interesting
ideas and designs . Therein lies the final
justification of spectacular flights.
But how, you are probably wonder-
ing, does streaking across the continent
or taking an altitude jaunt into the
upper air prove anything of scientific
value?
Answer: It is by such means that
new equipment and new ideas are de-
veloped in this far-reaching industry of
the air. For we need planes that can
carry large loads, either of passengers
or freight. And long-distance flying for
records demands the development of
planes with greater and greater carry-
ing capacity; for the farther you fly,
the larger load of gasoline you must
carry.
And so, the three records just de-
scribed: altitude, speed, and long dis-
tance - each one ordinarily requiring
a ship of entirely different design -
were, in this case, set by one airplane.
To my knowledge, this is the first time
in history that a single airplane has
filled three roles of entirely different
character. Obviously, it is not the final
answer to our dreams, but the net result
showed the combination of qualities
that are wanted. And, consequently,
the ideas and designs which were
evolved can eventually be incorporated
into standard equipment for the com-
mercial transport lines. But the chief
point of interest is the fact that these
ideas could not have been developed
had not the flights been of a spectacular
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
enough mixture to produce news
value. News is a salable asset and has
a concrete value in dollars and cents,
which can beget money with which to
carry on experiments.
Another reason for such flights, par-
ticularly by women, is to stimulate
further public confidence in the safety
and advanced stage of aviation. That
is one of the reasons why I feel it is
important for a woman to make a trans-
atlantic solo flight. A man has done it;
a woman can do it. When that has been
accomplished, everyone will feel that
he or she can do it, given training and
equipment.
I have to chuckle over a rather strik-
ing incident showing the gradual ac-
ceptance of women in the air. Late one
afternoon a girl pilot I know was flying
cross-country. Because of low fog she
found it imperative to get information
about the weather on the far side of a
mountain range before attempting to
cross it. The nearest available airport
happened to be an army field, so she
dropped down there. Officers and
mechanics were all around, attending
to their duties, yet, when she stepped
from her ship, no one seemed at all
astonished or interested in the fact that
a pilot in skirts had arrived in the most
threatening sort of weather, with a
storm on three sides of the sky.
Eventually a brisk top sergeant
asked her, quite peremptorily, why she
20 OCTOBER 1989
I
had landed. Didn' t she know that thi s
was an army post and that non-military
flying from it was not permitted? She
called his attention to the storms and
asked for weather information. He told
her she' d have to go to headquarters
and get a permit before anybody would
tell her anything. No one else looked
up or came near her.
No special privileges were offered
her, either as a record buster or as a
girl. That incident showed that accep-
tance of the air as a commonplace
highway has arrived .
If one reason for setting air marks is
to earn a few shekels, I assure you the
pilots and pilotesses are not getting
someting for nothing . As a matter of
fact, a wisecrack often heard on the
field nowadays is, "Say , lady, don't
you want to go for a hop?" ... "Why,
sure, ma'am, there' s nothing to be af-
raid of - the only danger in aviation
is starvation." And thi s brings us to the
point of finances. Oh, me, oh, my!
And thereby hangs a tale. Twenty-five-
thousand-dollar airplanes (and mine
cost that much) don' t grow on trees. If
they do , I wish someone would tell me
where that forest is located.
Record-smashing cannot go on with-
out money, and the gold-mine flight s
of 1927 will never again be equaled.
Then it was sound business to borrow
money for ocean flight s, because you
knew that if you came back you could
repay the loan many times over; and if
you did not come back, what did it
matter? Today you couldn't possibly
earn enough from a successful flight to
lift the mortgage on the old bus. In the
old days the lowest price paid by news-
papers to record-setting flyers for
signed stories was $5,000. One head-
liner got $30,000. Nowadays the
newspapers will pay, at the maximum,
only $2,500 for a transocean flight,
and then only if the flight is extraordi-
nary . For land flights , you might get
$100 from the papers if you should do
something undreamed of, but you're
more than likely to get nothing at all!
The reason is plain: Today the public
bets you will; yesterday it bet that you
wouldn't!
Still , an individual pilot can (if he is
lucky and hard-headed enough) raise
money for record flights to make pos-
sible new improvements and so ad-
vance aeronautical science. Endorse-
ments have been overdone, but one
way is to find an "angel" - some
wealthy person who will give him
money or a ship as a sporting gesture .
Second , he might persuade a large na-
tional advertiser to buy a ship for him
on condition that it will be named after
the company's product. It is not an
easy matter, however, to convince an
advertiser that if he puts up $40,000
over the period of a year he will get
the value back in advertising. He
Ruth Nichols atop her Lockheed Vega at
Burbank Airport, California.
knows that a bad crash would be a
boomerang.
Usually , a compromise is effected
in which the advertiser puts up part
cash and the pilot is supposed to obtain
the rest from the various aviation com-
panies, or his own savings - if he has
any.
Among all the ocean flights - the
triumphs and even the tragedies -
cannot recall one from which some-
thing of value to future sea flyers was
not learned. The crashing of the Jun-
kers plane, Bremen, on Greenley Is-
land showed an urgent need for a
knowledge of celestial navigation by
pilots. The pathetic wreckage of sev-
eral unsuccessful planes, picked up
floating far off their original courses
and carrying mute stories of wander-
ings in fogs, demonstrated the vital
need for radio equipment on ocean
planes and for radio directional
beacons on shore stations. The amaz-
ing rescue of the Portugal flyers, after
they had bobbed for eight days on the
sea ninety miles off Halifax last fall,
told something new and unsuspected
about the flotational qualities of land-
planes and indicated how advantage
could be taken of these qualities .
In the round-the-world dash of Post
and Gatty, their misadventures on
boggy fields in Russia and in Alaska ,
where their ship went up on its nose
and almost came to grief, called every-
body's attention to the fact that good
landing fields on international airways
must be developed before world trade
and travel by air will become com-
monplace.
While there have been and always
will be some stunt flights which have
absolutely no value, the list of the les-
sons and achievements of circus and
record flying grows rapidly; but it is
the perverse fate of these feats to attract
less and less notice .
Most of us women flyers have re-
ceived far more attention than is our
due, but there is a class of flyer of
whom you should hear and whom you
should remember. He is the pilot who
carries modem flying beyond its safe
modem technic, in order to find a safer
one. And so, in future days , with every
mile you fly in safety and comfort, you
will realize the debt you owe to the
present ballyhoo of aviation and to the
great number of aviation mechanics
and pilots whose names are unknown
and whose feats are unheralded , who
live quietly, work strenuously, and fly
deftly, behind its raucous banners .
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
Flying a light plane to 48 states first
occurred to me in 1957, when there
were still only 48 . Skipping gradua-
tion, a college friend and I flew round-
trip from Reid' s Hillview Airport in
San Jose, California to New York Har-
bor in a Luscombe 8A for no other
reason than to do pylon turns around
the Statue of Liberty. We did six, and
I started thinking of other adventures.
However, law school and the things
that follow intervened.
So, when I purchased a ragged ,
four-place Luscombe Model ll-A
Sedan (NCI666B) about 30 years
later, and spent the next two years re-
22 OCTOBER 1989
storing it (just in time for an Oshkosh
'88 debut), the dormant fantasy was
sure to resurface . It did, on a Sunday
evening last February, but with some
new wrinkles: do it in the 1948 Sedan
and in 48 hours or less flying time.
Actually, Bridgette, my VAL flight-
attendant wife, is to blame. She had
coaxed me back to flying about six
years earlier - after a shameful hiatus
of 23 years. Now, here she was again
pushing the right buttons. "You're
crazy, it can't be done," she said.
"You're only half right," I retorted , "I
think it can." The next hour was spent
at the planning chart taped to the laun-
dry room wall. Bridge was right! There
was no way the classic taildragger,
which cruises at 125 mph, could do a
7,000-mile round-trip from EI Cajon's
Gillespie Field in under 48 hours.
I confessed. "So who says you have
to start and end at Gillespie," Bridge
quipped? Grateful she hadn't added
"Stupid," I retreated for another feasi-
bility study. By starting at Needles,
near the California-Arizona- Nevada
borders, and ending at Pendleton, Ore-
gon, about 40 miles southwest of
Walla Walla, the distance through all
48 contiguous states quickly melted to
about 6,000 statute miles. With refine-
ments, I knew it would shrink even
more. I broke the news, but
PROJECT
x
A '48 Luscoll1be
Flies to 48 states
In 48hours' flying till1e
. . . or less
Qi
by William G. Wright
0.
0.
:>

'" o
U
sheepishly. "When do you leave?" was
all she asked.
It was late, but I called Mike La France,
an A&P friend who had restored his
own 1949 ragwing 8A and had helped
with the Sedan's restoration. Did he
want to go along as a co-pilotlmechan-
ic/guest? "When do we leave?" he
asked .
Planning and Preparation
As Duane Cole suggests in one of
his books, I spread about $120 worth
of sectionals on the kitchen floor and
massaged the route again and again,
shaving a few miles each time. "Run-
way," our year-old Cocker, thought
Mike LaFrance andthe authorwith theSedan.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
the maps were on the floor for another
purpose. Over the next few weeks a
dozen or so revisions reduced the dis-
tance between general aviation airports
(no duster or private strips for the
Sedan) in the 48 states to about 5,800
statute miles. We had a race.
The sectionals went up on the hangar
wall as final, but I wasn't thrilled.
Batches of l2,000-foot peaks loomed
in our path, both east and westbound,
and the Sedan had never breathed that
high - nor had we. The route also
included almost three hours over open
water (the Atlantic east of JFK, Lake
Erie and Lake Michigan), hours of no-
landmark, VOR-sparse deserts, and
about a half-dozen of the new TCA
rings.
If I was worried about the route, I
wasn't about "Triple-Six Bravo." It
was ready to go as restored . However,
I found a battered pair of Stinson 108
wheel pants in April at Sun 'n Fun.
They were lighter than the fiberglass
J-3 reproductions installed during the
Sedan's restoration, and had only
about two-thirds the frontal area.
Switching might mean a couple of
mph's, so Mike agreed (or was
coerced) into restoring and hanging
them. He did a first-class job. How-
ever, I couldn't get him to exchange
the balding 7:00 x 6 tires for the new
ones I bought. He was convinced the
smoothies were good for at least 48
more landings. Finally, Mike installed
an II-foot, non-precip ADF antenna
wire from the fin to the cabin roof, and
the Sedan was ready .
The Magic Box
The ADF wire was for a portable
loran. From the onset, Mike, who had
used one, argued for taking a loran on
the trip. Stubbornly, I resisted. I've al-
ways been confused by electronic
gadgets, I didn't want to disturb the
Sedan's back -to-original panel, and
besides, it just wasn't Luscombe fly-
ing. We'd do it the "old fashioned
way" - with VORs, a DME aleady
hidden in a glove box, a magnetic com-
pass, a DG, and about two pounds of
sectionals.
As the number of skeptics grew, so
did our desire to complete the trip in
less than 48 hours. In May I read about
Azure Technology's new "Long
Ranger F/P" receiver, which had a 30-
hour battery pack and did not require
panel installation. I gave Azure VP Jim
Getsch a call. I told him about the trip,
recently dubbed "Project 48" by avia-
24 OCTOBER 1989
Never look back when going for a record.
tion writer Don Downie, and he agreed
to loan us one of the first units to come
off the line.
The "Long Ranger" arrived, as
promised, in the second week of June.
I programmed it with all 48 stops in
about an hour on the kitchen counter
and, using it to fiddle with the route,
brought the distance down still further
to 5,765 miles. We didn't get a chance
to put it in action before we left, so
Mike taught me how to use it on the
90 minute flight to Needles. I felt like
a wizard with a magic box.
I'm convinced there's no way we
could have completed "Project 48" in
under 48 flying hours without the
loran. Except for Needles, our starting
point, neither of us had ever been to
any of the other 47 airports, many of
which were camouflaged in surround-
ing landscapes, hidden in forests, or
always just over the next ridge. At the
low altitudes we flew, we could have
wasted a lot of time searching for
them, but the loran homed the Sedan
virtually dead-center almost every
time. We didn't overfly a single air-
port.
Also, if there's a mid-continent gap
out there, the Long Ranger had diffi-
culty finding it. Maybe it was the ADF
antenna or just blind luck, but except
for two stretches of about 75 miles
each, we received reliable signals
throughout the entire trip. Unlike line-
of-sight VOR, which would have been
ineffective at our altitudes, loran sig-
nals hug the ground - our domain
most of the trip.
This isn't a commercial, simply a
recommendation. If you're still resist-
ing loran-C like I was, think again,
particularly if you want to stay out of
(or enter) the ARSA and TCA rings,
conserve fuel, and can't get those sec-
tionals folded again in your cockpit. A
loran is simply another nav aid, like
a DME or VOR, so why not use it?
But beware, it's habit forming; don't
try it unless you're ready to get
hooked .
A Record By Default
Most pilots are unimpressed with
flying records. I'm one of them. Flying
is its own reward. So, when a friend
from Albuquerque suggested I contact
Eric Presten studies his stopwatches. His in-
tegrity was uncompromised.
the National Aeronauti c Association
(NAA), the U. S. affiliate of the Fed-
eration Aeronautique Internationale
(FAI), which verifies and maintains
aviation records, I dismissed the idea.
After all , Project 48 was just a string
of short cross-country races against a
clock, and it had undoubtedly been
done before in less time .
I weakened a few weeks later when
Tom Haines , a writer with AOPA Pilot
who had done a feature article on the
Sedan's restoration, urged the same
thing. He had the NAA's phone
number handy, so I hesitantly dialed
and spoke with Contest and Records
Secretary, Wanda Odum. I was sur-
prised if not astonished. The NAA had
no record of anyone taking-off and
landing in the 48 contiguous states in
"X" amount of flying time. That didn't
mean the trip hadn't been done before,
even in less than 48 hours, just that
there was no official record of it.
Record or no record, Mike and I
were going to do the trip anyway, and
we had already set our goal. So if a
record could be set, even by default
because none existed, why not ? The
record might focus some favorable at-
tention on general aviation, encourage
a few new pilots (or hibernating ones)
into the air, and offer someone else the
opportunity of breaking it. Although
the Sedan would be the only horse in
the race, the record thing was also sure
to pump us up a little more in our quest
to silence the skeptics .
Wanda urged that we take along
someone associated with flying who
was willing to serve as an NAA official
to verify the route and flight times.
Enter Eric Presten, the 25-year-old
manager of the Sonoma (California)
Skypark, whom I'd met briefly a year
earlier at Oshkosh. His reaction was
one I'd heard before. "When do we
leave?" When we finally did, Eric had
a stack of NAA forms , a pair of stop-
watches, and a bride of only seven
days (Debbie) waiting for him back in
Sonoma.
Eric is also the author/photographer
of a delightful cataloging of antique
and classic aircraft The Aviator's Time-
less Choice. He is as enthusiastic about
general aviation as anyone I've met.
Early in the trip we had a minor dispute
over 16 seconds of elapsed time to the
Sedan's disadvantage. When Eric
wouldn't budge, I suggested a com-
promise - split the 16 seconds. No
way! He believed he was right, so there
was no compromising. In the end, it
didn't matter, except as evidence of his
integrity.
Get Set, Go
Thunderstorms or not , we purpose-
fully selected July I st as our starting
date. We wanted to do the trip under
the new Mode C rules that would be-
come effective that day and on the
heels of June, the General Aviation
Manufacturers Association's "Learn to
Fly Month ." "0" or departure day fi-
nally arrived. We left Gillespie for
Needles at about 5:30 a.m. (to beat the
heat) with the mini-Hobbs meter read-
ing 183 .5 hours since restoration .
Electronic calculations demanded an
average speed of 120.1 mph, about two
miles a minute, in order to complete
the 5,765 statute mile trip in 48 hours.
This included time spent in climb-outs,
patterns, dog-legs (intentional or not),
and locating those 47 unfamiliar air-
ports. While we counted on tailwinds
flying east and up the Atlantic sea-
board , we knew any advantage they
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
offered would be more than cancelled
when we finally turned westbound.
Editor's note - Remember, you can
never regain all the time lost to a head-
wind when you make the return trip
with an equal tailwind. The reason is
you spend more time flying at the
slower groundspeed, so it doesn't can-
cel out evenly.
Mike and I came up with a few ideas
we thought might help. Fuel was not a
consideration, so we planned on push-
ing the Continental E-185-3 engine at
max cruise, about 25 inches MP and
2,300 rpm. We did , and fuel consump-
tion jumped from about 9.5 gph at "20
squared" to 13.7 gph. To minimize
climb-out and descent time we also de-
cided to fly most of the short legs at
1,000 to 2,000 feet agl and, foolishly,
we lifted off near the departure end of
most runways to lower airborne time
by a few seconds, when we felt it was
safe. Of course, it never is .
Landings were another matter. We
drastically shortened our patterns and,
in some carefully selected instances,
unwisely eliminated a few. At a
number of airports we also brought the
Sedan in fast (too hot to tell), let the
main gear bounce off the pavement to
kill Eric's stopwatches, and then made
normal, full-stop landings. This dubi-
ous procedure probably had a lot to do
with the purchase of another set of tires
in Chester, Connecticut. Mike in-
stalled them while an electrical storm
raged outside and fried the FBO's com-
puter.
We left everything we could at
home, including Eric's video camera.
Enroute we decreased our gross weight
even further and installed (or "de-in-
stalled") a custom speed-kit. About 15
or 20 pounds of non-essentials (includ-
ing my underwear), were shipped
home from Perry town, Texas and we
threw away the sectionals and other
consumables as they were used. The
"custom speed kit" involved removing
the hinged pitot tube cover, an orna-
mental brass venturi, rubber step pads,
and the outside-air temperature gauge .
We stripped the Sedan while we were
stalled in Beckley, West Virginia by
the lingering remnants of the season's
first tropical storm, Allison, who was
no lady. Other than making Mike and
me feel better, the speed kit had no
measurable effect.
One thing we did, which may have
saved some time, was to clean and
debug the Sedan's frontal and leading
edges at more than half the stops. We
also coated them with a slick, Teflon-
based polish. Accumulations of oil and
dirt were removed from the underbelly
with lOO-octane at least three times.
Having passed through a half-dozen or
more showers, which peeled the paint
from the tips of the Hartzell prop ,
washing wasn't necessary . Even bad
weather has some redeeming qualities .
Beating the Clock
Before leaving I made a "bank
book" which had a separate page for
each stop containing, among other
data, the distance from the prior airport
and the estimated time enroute
budgeted on the basis of two miles per
minute . For example, the first page in-
dicates Searchlight, Nevada was 49
miles from Needles. Therefore, at the
average speed necessary to complete
the trip, the Searchlight leg should
take 24 minutes and 30 seconds. If
we completed it under budget, the
"savings" was deposited in our run-
ning time "account." If over budget, a
"withdrawal" was made. Thus, we
kept watch on the stopwatches watch-
ing us - and on our progress.
At the end of the first day (Perryton,
Texas and 876 miles from Needles) we
had 54 minutes and 44 seconds in the
Finding 80-octane fuel proved difficult.
26 OCTOBER 1989
bank even though we sustained our
first, painful withdrawal (one minute
and 44 seconds) enroute to Perryton.
While we would have to spend this
savings (and more) flying west in a few
days, we felt pretty flush. In fact, we
set a mini-goal of having three hours
in the bank before turning west from
Maine.
We fell about 15 minutes short of
that goal. There were several reasons
- most of them involving Allison,
who continued to hover over the South-
east. We had to climb over and/or
weave through broken cumulus stacks
on three occasions, dog-leg at least
four times around heavy showers, cir-
cle a restricted area northeast of Balti-
more, and back-track once about five
miles when faced with an obvious IFR
system. It all cost time. Contrary to
expectations, we also ran into 15- to
20-knot headwinds flying northeast be-
tween Chester, Connecticut and Paw-
tuckett, so I decided we'd sit them out
until evening.
Eric had been campaigning for a side
trip to Cole Palen's Rhinbeck Aero-
drome since before we left. He lucked
out, a gift from the wind gods. It was
Saturday morning, and Rhinbeck was
only 110 miles due west on the New
York sectional. I told Mike and Eric to
take the Sedan and go (they needed
relief from the father-figure) and to be
back that evening when the headwinds
were expected to decrease. They said
they had a ball, including formation
rides in Cole's Jennies. They were
even back on time.
The northeast winds had calmed by
6:00 p.m. when we left Pawtuckett,
and the Sedan lost less than two min-
utes to Eric's stopwatches enroute to
Eliot, Maine. After 3,200 miles and
23 hours, 52 minutes of flying, we fi-
nally turned west. The Sedan promptly
earned the two minutes back from the
same winds that had swallowed them.
We ended the eighth day at Ben-
nington, Vermont with two hours 47
minutes and 33 seconds in the bank.
We now had to average only about III
mph enroute to Pendleton, but those
winds blowing across the Great Lakes
and Plains states could be brutal. We
had hope, but not confidence.
Except for about six hours between
Erie, Pennsylvania and Prairie du
Chien, Wisconsin, during which the
Sedan averaged a groundspeed of only
110 mph and gave up 27 minutes to
Eric's watches, the Witch of the West
Winds never showed. Although our
Mike becomes familiar with the line crew at Greenville. Tennessee.
worst ground speed (97 mph) was be-
tween Galt Field in Illinois and Prairie
du Chien, the winds shifted to the
Sedan's tail, and we gained back al-
most an hour by the time we reached
Hettinger, North Dakota, where Mike
finished the fastest leg of the trip at
146.9 mph.
It was at Hettinger I became con-
vinced that, barring anything drastic or
unforeseen, we had it made. Only
about 817 miles separated the Sedan
from Pendleton, and there was still al-
most 10 hours unwound on Eric's stop-
watches. We could average a
groundspeed of 82 mph and still come
in under 48 hours!
The rest of the trip was routine -
no suspense - no sweat. We had to
dog-leg around a pair of serious thun-
derstorms that barred our route to Cow-
ley, Wyoming and then escape some
severe clear-air turbulence over Cus-
ter's battlefield by making an un-
scheduled landing. However, our
groundspeed had been so good after
leaving Hettinger (about 145), that the
diversion didn't even result in a with-
drawal.
At Powell, Wyoming, where we
stayed in a cavernous room our tenth
and last night, we decided to splurge
some of the time we had saved so mis-
erly. Instead of spending two or three
hours threading the many 12,000-foot
peaks that separated Powell from Dil-
lon, Montana and Grangeville, Idaho,
we routed ourselves farther north to
Butte and then west across the Bit-
teroot Mountains. The lower, still
snow-capped peaks were awesome,
and we were grateful we had spent the
time from our bulging bank account to
avoid the higher ones to the south. In
fact, in smooth air we still made four
more deposits to the bank before touch-
ing down on Pendleton's runway 11 a
few minutes before Noon on July II th,
our lith day out.
Eric's 48-hour stopwatches had
three hours, 24 minutes and three sec-
onds left, and that's the way they
would stay. The 41-year-old taildrag-
ger, averaging a shade under 130 mph,
had completed the trip (now totaling
5,781 miles) in 44 hours, 35 minutes,
and 57 seconds - and not a second
too soon. We were tired, the Sedan
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27
We were met by a welcoming commiHee of one at Pendleton. Paul Sands and his pink (honest!) Tripacer.
was still about I, 100 miles from Gil-
lespie, and Eric had been with Mike
and me almost twice as long as he had
been with his new bride.
Reflections and Impressions
"Project 48" turned out to be more
than just a race against a stopwatch. In
a sense, it had a life of its own, starting
with a 3D-year incubation period.
However, the memory of its 11 day
life-span is a kaleidoscope of unsorted
sights and experiences.
I recall: that the west end of the
Grand Canyon rises in a sheer wall
from the desert floor southeast of Lake
Mead - seeing Shiprock mountain to-
wering on the New Mexico horizon , a
sentinel guarding the "Four Corners"
- the altimeter briefly passing 14,400
feet between Durango and Raton .
Eric disappeared at every airport,
scanning the tie-downs and hangars for
antique and classic treasures to photo-
graph for a new book, and Mike fueled
the Sedan (he wouldn't let anyone else
touch it), leveled the oil, and checked
with weather. I remember: an ante-bel-
lum Tara-type mansion in Lake Provi-
dence, once occupied by General
Grant, but now owned by the FBO
operator- grey underside of Allison's
overcast for four days, during which
we made only 900 miles - the biggest
28 OCTOBER 1989
prime rib I've ever seen (at "Billy
Joe's" in Beckley, West Virginia) -
untouched forests as far as the eye can
see in Arkansas, Alabama, and upstate
New York; prerevolutionary war
homes in Bennington, Vermont, each
brass-placarded with the date it was
built - and at least IO jarring, "Oh-
dark-thirty" wake-up calls.
A crop duster topped the Sedan off
from his own tanks in Perryton, Texas
at 5:30 a.m. while the local FBO slept
and lost a sale. In Pawtuckett, singer
Jimmy Buffett (he flies a Lake Amphi-
bian) signed an autograph for Eric's
waiting bride. The Long Ranger di-
rected us past the dirigible hangars at
Lakehurst, and directly over pictures-
que Cooperstown, New York. I won-
der if I'll ever actually visit the
Baseball Hall of Fame. Our route also
led the Sedan over dozens of forest
clearings in Vermont and New Hamp-
shire filled with stone mansions, pools,
tennis courts, and multi-car garages.
We passed through a half-dozen of the
new 3D-mile TCA rings without inci-
dent.
There was a carrier-top runway at
Pikeville, Kentucky, part of which had
eroded away; and a line boy at Galt
Field in Illinois who insisted on pick-
ing us up at our motel to take us to the
airport - at 5:00 a.m. I remember a
friendly runway under the Sedan's tail
at Columbus, Georgia when her
windshield was suddenly filled with an
ugly IFR wall. The tower guys in
Walla Walla said they had been watch-
ing for the Sedan for several days and
the airport at Hardin, Montana, bec-
koned a few miles away when we ran
into clear air turbulence and retreated
just where General Custer should have.
I remember sitting behind the
windshield of cars and pickups that had
been loaned without a request, a steady
blur of Visa charge slips under a pen,
too many curious faces scrutinizing the
Sedan to recall any clearly and that
there was no coffee in Coffeyville be-
cause the FBO was still sleeping. One
cantankerous roll-away bed decided to
fold with Mike in it. Mike neatly
printed a notation on the last page of
our bank book, "Free at Last!"; and we
had a welcoming committee of one,
Paul Sands, a former Luscombe driver
who flew down from Felts Field
(Spokane) to meet us at Pendleton in a
pink Tripacer.
Now, many of you reading these
final lines may be thinking, "I could
do that, too; it's only 48 little cross-
countries strung together. I can even
do it in less time."
You're right. Of course you can.
"So when do you leave?"
EASS IT TO
--1]
An information exchange column with input from readers.
The end ofAugust is almost the end
ofsummer here in the Nawth. I'mnot
looking forward to the blowin' snow,
butthe signsarethere! Justa matterof
time. Maybe this winter I'll get the
otherAeronca C-3 going.
AfterOshkosh Dorothy & Itookoff
for Canadatodo some serious fishin'.
Despite the fact that Ontario seems to
be acting more and more like a police
state, we had a very successful trip.
We"Limited" outand did thecatch &
release routine about 75 times apiece,
turning back the small ones and those
in the "slot". The "slot limit" is from
19 inches through 21 inches for Wal-
leyes.That'sthebestbreedingsizeand
by Buck Hilbert
(EAA 21, Ale 5)
P.0. Box 424
Union, IL 60180
age for them and so I am in complete
agreement with the practice ofreleas-
ing the "Slots". I'm very greedy,
though,aboutkeepingthebiggerones.
We' ll beeatingsomeofthemtonight.
Sittingin theaudienceandwatching
the final awards Thursday night there
at OSH in the Theaterin the Woods, I
was struckby the fact that it wasn'tas
much fun as it used to be. I sort of
missedtheoldEv& Dustyroutinethat
used to be so much fun. Even the
George York & "Buck" Hilbert antics
were bore breakers . In the interest of
keeping people's attention, though,
and gettingrightdownto business,the
event has lost a little of its "Fun &
Chatter" . Most of the recIpients had
already flown off, so it was probably
that, too, thatledtothefeeling thatthe
importance of the event has faded
somewhat. Has anybody out there got
any suggestions as to how we can im-
prove upon this event?Get 'em to me
and I'll try to getit across to HQ.
On stage, taking George York' s
place, was Dale Wolford. I'm sure all
ofyou who have evermet Dale know
what an enthusiastic EAAer he was.
Well, we've lost him. He had a mas-
siveheartattackMonday, August 14th
and nevercameoutofit. Dalewasthe
spearheadwhostartedChapter148. He
was a guy who loved Aeroncas and
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
spent countless hours working on that
beautiful C-2, as well as his Chief.
Chief Engineer for the Gorman-Rupp
people , he used that 800 line constantly
to answer questions and help people
all over the world with Aeroncas , my-
self included. When I was lookin ' for
a C-3 back in the 1960s, it was Dale
who told me what to look for. He was
never too busy to help a guy find some-
thing or give you the one he had if you
needed it. The Division is going to
miss him . I know I will. I' ll never be
able to watch the aircraft judging with-
out a thought for Dale Wolford . I'm
sure they have Aeroncas in pilot
heaven, Dale, so you'll be right at
home there.
We got home Friday evening from
the fishing trip and the stack of phone
messages went all the way back to
early July. Dorothy & I had left here
and joined the volunteer staff at OSH
right after the Fourth. It was a very
pleasant time up there, just visiting
with all the rest of the die-hard EAAers
who do the same thing. I spent some
time working with Gordy Selke and Pat
Packard building crates to be used in
the new Eagle Hangar. It was a real
kick to see them being used under the
B-17 and to hold the various dioramas
spread throughout the hangar. And as
to the Hangar and the dedication cere-
mony, I wish everyone could have
been there. The World War II band,
"Skitch" Henderson, Joe Slattery, Bob
Hoover's speech and the presentation
of the colors and all turned out to be
one great patriotic rally. I had goose
bumps and tears when "Skitch" led us
through the final "God Bless America"
sing-along. I even weakened to the
point where I shook hands with one of
the Warbirds! Now THAT, guys and
gals, shows how shook I was!
Back to the present. As I was scan-
ning the message reminders, the phone
began ringing. I've had calls from Il-
linois, Indiana, Ohio, California, Iowa
and even Oshkosh . I can't get people
to write letters, but they sure know
how to use the phone. Most of the calls
were questions that I could provide an-
swers for, but one or two were the
usual stumpers I had to pass on to
someone else. I'm fortunate in that re-
spect. I may not know an answer, but
I usually know someone who does.
And it is gratifying to get another call
a day or so later, telling me that advice
or name I'd given had paid off.
One of the more interesting ques-
tions I ran across this past week is the
30 OCTOBER 1989
eternal one of engine "time" versus
"age". The fellow had located an an-
tique airplane that had been in storage
about 20 years. He was elated because
the Kinner only had about 150 hours
on it SMOH. I spent half an hour on
the phone explaining to him that the
150 SMOH didn't mean a thing be-
cause of the long storage, that it'd be
best if he tore it down right then and
there before he flew it. Well, it was
too late! He'd already ferried it some
200 miles. He was tearing it down now
and found all sorts of little items that
all add up to a major. Valve guides
worn out, severe pitting and rusting in
the cylinders, almost complete loss of
compression on SEVERAL of the
cylinders-all in all, I hope there's
enough left to build an engine.
The point is, an engine in storage,
or one that has lain on the shelf for a
number of years just won't be airwor-
thy. Even if it has been pickled for
long-time storage, which many of
them aren't, it should be very closely
inspected before anything is done with
it. This applies to modem engines as
well as the old-timers. If there is any
sign of rust on the outside, it's bound
to be inside too! Don't try to run it
until you've looked in the bores, in-
spected the valve stems, peeked at the
gear trains and otherwise assured your-
self that it can be run without letting
loose abrasive rust particles throughout
the entire engine .
Keep in mind too, that there were
no 2,000 hour engines built until the
late 1960s. Engine life of engines prior
to World War II was definitely limited.
The metalurgy and the lubricants were
not up to the stuff we have today . The
machining methods were there, but the
metal alloys weren't! Neither were the
great lubricants we have today . The
lubricants serve three purposes in an
aircraft engine. We all know they oil
things up, but they also provide
CLEANING as well as COOLING.
They hold all that guck you used to
find in the old engines in suspension
and transport it away when you change
oil. A good practice is to limit your oil
time to 25 or at the maximum 30 hours
between changes if you DON'T have
a full-flow oil filter and 50 hours if you
do have the full-flow filter. In both
cases look after the screens too when
you change, and don't let more than
four or five months go by without an
oil change regardless of the time you
put on the engine.
I recently read about the so-called
fallacy of "pulling the prop through"
after your engine has been setting for
awhile. Well, I've always taught my
students to do just that. They do it on
the preflight before the first start in the
morning. I feel it serves a couple of
purposes - the main one is what I
term a "Poor Man's Compression
Check". Second, it does prelube some
of the moving parts and prime the oil
pump so it'll pick up the oil quicker.
In the case of a separate oil tank or dry
sump engine it'll give the scavenge
pump a head start on pulling oil out of
the sump. But the article I read was
dead set against the practice calling it
unnecessary, old-fashioned and a
hangover from the old radial engine
days. The author doted quite a bit on
how dangerous it was too, as to how
you could get hurt if the engine fired
and therefore it was much SAFER to
do it with the starter. I can't argue with
that one. You always have to be aware
of the potential damage that prop can
cause. He also said that pulling the
prop through backwards was hard on
the gear trains, vacuum pumps and
stuff like that. Well, maybe he's right
on that one too, but I'm still gonna do
it. Any comment?
Over to you .
1947 Piper PA-12- 15 SMOH,original red and
Wanted:CallairA2.A3 orA4 basketcaseorflying.
creampaint.Excellentinsideandout.KY97Aradio,
Harold Buck, Box 868,Columbus,Georgia31902,
KT76A transponder with encoder. Annualed until
404/322-1314.(7-2)
4/90. Always hangared, completely restored in
Where The Sellers and Bu ers Meet...
1981. $22,500. or trade. (Prefer C-150 orC-172).
BruceLamont,P.O.Box8162,Coburg, OR97401,
503/484-6511 days, 503/995-8356 evenings til
11:00. (10-1)
Wanted - Carwil "Bobble Face"Compass. Paul
O'Donnell, 30 Roosevelt Avenue, Chatham, NJ
07928,201/635-2850 nights.(10-1)
25 per word, $5.00 minimumcharge. Send yourad to
The VintageTrader, EAA AviationCenter
Oshkosh,WI 54903-2591.
AIRCRAFT:
(2)C-3AeroncaRazorbacks,1931 and 1934.Pack-
age includes extra engine and spares. Fuselage,
wingsparsandextraprops.Museumquality!$30,000
firm! Hisso 180-hp Model "E". 0 SMOH with prop
and hubandstacks. Bestofferover$10,000. 1936
Porterfield 35-70, the lowest time Antique ever!
Less than 200 hrs.ITA&E. 20 hours on engine.
$12,500. No tire kickers,collect calls or pen pals,
please! E.E. "Buck" Hilbert,P.O. Box 424, Union,
Illinois 60180-0424.
Replica213 scaleJenny- 2place,4130.Outper-
forms theoriginal. Inexpensiveand fast to build-
flown to Oshkosh twice. Plans - $75.00, video -
$25.00, info - $1.00. Wiley, P.O. Box 6366,
Longmont,CO 80502.(12-3)
Cessna Airmaster - C-34 Project. Warner 145
Scarab, Curtiss-Reed prop. Factory drawings,
needs new wing.$12,000. 201 /832-2009. (11-2)
PLANS:
POBERPIXIE- VWpoweredparasol- unlimited
in low-cost pleasure flying.Big,roomy cockpit for
the over six foot pilot. VW power insures hard to
beat 3'/2 gph at cruise setting.15large instruction
sheets.Plans- $60.00.InfoPack- $5.00.Send
check or money order to: ACRO SPORT, INC.,
Box462,HalesCorners,WI53130.414/529-2609.
ACRO SPORT- Singleplacebiplanecapableof
unlimited aerobatics. 23 sheets of clear, easy to
follow plans includes nearly 100 isometrical draw-
ings,photos and exploded views.Complete parts
and materials list. Full size wing drawings. Plans
plus 139 page Builder'S Manual - $60.00. Info
Pack- $5.00.SuperAcroSportWing Drawing-
$15.00. The Technique of Aircraft Building -
$12.00 plus$2.50 postage. Send check or money
order to: ACRO SPORT, INC., Box 462, Hales
Corners, WI 53130.414/529-2609.
WANTED:
We are rebuilding a Stinson SM1-B. This is the
six-place Detroiter 1928 monoplane. Interested in
majorcomponents.small partsand32x6wheels.
AppreCiate any leads. Donald Fyock, R.D. 2, Air-
portRoad, Johnstown, PA15904,phone814/536-
0091 evenings.(10-3)
MISCELLANEOUS:
Super Cub PA18 luselagesrepaired or rebuilt
- in precision master fixtures.All makes of tube
assemblies or fuselages repaired or fabricated
new.J.E.SoaresInc., 7093 DryCreekRoad,Bel-
grade,Montana59714,406/388-6069,RepairSta-
tion 065-21. (c/12-89)
Antique AlC Model Plans: "Meticulous Delinea-
tions" by Vern Clements (EAA 9297), 308 Palo
Alto,Caldwell, 10 83605.Catalog $3.00,refunda-
ble.(10-3)
1910-1950Originalaviationitemslorsale- in-
struments, wood propellers, helmets, goggles,
manuals,44-pagecatalogairmailed,$5.00.JonAl-
drich,Box706,Airport ,Groveland,CA95321,209/
962-6121. (c-2/90)
Will Sharemytreasure01 aircraft parts!- 24-
year collection with continuous additions ...and
stillbuying...forall typesofaircraft.Tellmewhat
you need! Air Salvage of Arkansas, Rt. 1, Box
8020, Mena, Arkansas 71953, phone 501 /394-
1022any1ime.(c-3/90)
Monocoupe,Rearwin,Culver- GeeBee's,Hall,
Chester, etc. Catalog/News - $3.00. Refundable.
"MeticulousmodelPLANS"byVernClements,308
Palo Alto,Caldwell, 1083605.(12-3)
The Golden Age of Air Racing-Pre-1940
Vol. 1(NO.21-144521.. $14_95
Vol. 2 (No.21-14451) .. $14_95
Includepostageandhandling
$2.40 foronevolume- $3.65 bothvolumes
EAAAVIATIONFOUNDATION/WriteDept_MO
EAAAviation Center Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086
The LegendaryPre-War Races
Thedaysofheroes-namessuchas Doolittle,Turner.Wedell.
Wittman,Chester.Howard-immortalizedastheworld's
premierracepilotsduringthe1930s.It'sallhere!Relive
thesegreateventsastheyunfoldinthisincredible6OG-page,
two-volumeseries.Includedareofficialraceresults1927
through1939-morethan1000photosand3-viewdraw-
ingsthatrecapturethedrama,excitementandgloryof
airracingduringthegoldenyears.Neverbeforesuch
complete,in-depthcoverage.Printedonhigh-gradepaper
forsharp,clearphotoreproductions.Majorcreditcards
accepted-writeorcall
1-800-843-3612.
(WI residentscall414-426-4800)
MEMBERSHIP
INFORMATION
EAA
Membership in the Experimental
Aircraft Association, Inc. is $30.00
for one year, including 12 issues of
Sport Aviation. Junior Membership
(under 19 years ofage) is available
at $18.00 annually. Family Member-
ship is available for an additional
$10.00annually.
ANTIQUE/CLASSICS
EAA Member - $18.00. Includes
one year membership in EAA An-
tique-Classic Division, 12 monthly
issues ofThe Vintage Airplaneand
membership card. Applicant must
be a current EAA memberandmust
giveEAAmembershipnumber.
Non-EAA Member - $28.00. In-
cludes one year membership in the
EAA Antique-Classic Division, 12
monthly issues of The Vintage Air-
plane, one year membership in the
EAA and separate membership
cards. SportAviationnotincluded.
lAC
Membership in the International
Aerobatic Club, Inc. is $25.00 an-
nually which includes 12 issues of
SportAerobatics. AlllAC members
are required to be members ofEAA.
WARBIRDS
Membership in the Warbirds of
America, Inc. is $25.00 per year,
which includes a subscription to
Warbirds. Warbird members are
requiredtobemembersofEAA.
EAAEXPERIMENTER
EAA membershipandEAA EXPERI-
MENTER magazine is available for
$28.00peryear (SportAviationnot
included). Current EAA members
may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER
for$18.00peryear.
FOREIGN
MEMBERSHIPS
Please submit your remittance with
a check or draft drawn on a United
States bank payable in United
Statesdollars.
Make checks payable to EAA orthe
division in which membership is
desired. Address all letters to EAA
or the particular division at the fol-
lowingaddress:
EAA AVIATIONCENTER
OSHKOSH, WI 54903-3086
PHONE(414)426-4800
OFFICEHOURS:
8:15-5:00MON.-FRI.
CMLAIRPlANESBEFORE 1946<ndALlWARBIRDS
N-namher ModeI Owner
DateBuilt Series Address
ManuIacluter - Serial# Regis:.Date
MasterListinN-numberorderwithcross-reference
indexessonedbyMake/ModellSeries/SerialNum,
andState/City/Owner/Mal<e/Model
MdlcheckOJ' mon.,.ordsrlD: $27pp
FLIGHTLlNE 800 842-1716
POBox19047 VISAIMASTERCARD
Balto. , MD21284 MONEYBACK
EAAAVIATION
OPPORTUNITIES
FORYOUTH
PARTICIPATE IN THESE SPECIAL
EAAACTIVITIESDEVElOPED
EXCLUSIVElYFORYOUNGPEOPlE!
VEAAYOUTH MEMBERSHIP
Full EAA MemberbenefitsforonlyS18annually.
VEAAPROJECTSCHOOlFUGHT
Buildingrealairplanesinschoolsandyouthgroups.
VEAASCHOLARSHIPPROGRAM
Providingsupportfor thoseseekingaviationrelated
educations.
VEAAAIR ACADEMY
AnIntensivehands-onsummeraviaUonexperience
attheEAAAviationCenterinOshkosh.
VEAAAIR ADVENTURE DAVS
Aone-dav,hands-onaviation'NOrkshoploryoung
peoplepresentedatsitesacrossthenationbyEAA
Chaptersandclubs01 theAcademyofModel
Aeronautics.
EAAAirAcademyprogromsaresupportedbytheAVEMCOInsuranceCo.
fORINFORMATIONCONTACT:
Chucklarsen, EducationDlfecklf
EAAAviationFoundatiOn
WillmanAirlield
E ~
Oshkosh,WI 54903-3065
~ lelephOne(4141426-4800
OWN APIECE OF AVIATION HISTORY
Smithsonian aviation prints... with original fabrk from each aircraft!
Limited-edition prints
feature 7historic aircraft in
collection ofSmithsonian
Institution's National Air &
Space Museum in
Washington D.C.
Four square inchesof
original fabric, removed
from the aircraft during
reslOration by Smithsonian,
is affixed 10 each print. Each
piece of fabric unique and
different , textured by the
passage of time and
weathered by the elements.
"...a most imeresting gift
idea Jor the vimage airplane
lover, or just aboUl anyone
who wants to brighten his
den , airplane lover or not. ..
The Saturday Evening Post
"...remnants cut from the
cloth oj history, Aviatioll
Relic Prints has gaze beyond
mere pailllings with irs series
oj duotone prill/s. ,.
AOPA Pilot magazine
WRIGHT EX "VIN F1Z"
1st trans-US flight. 1911
FOKKER T-2
1stnon-stoptrans-US. 1923
BLERlaT XI
1914 French monoplane
ALBAlROS D.VA
Gennan WWI fighter
DE HAVILLAND DH4
US-built WWI bomber
CURTISS NC4
1st tranS-Atlantic flight. 1919
DOUGLAS WORLD CRUISER
1st round-the-world fli ght, 1924
Asigned Certificate of
Authenticity from the
Smithsonian and acolorful
2-page history, portraying
the aircraft and its illustrious
past , isincluded with each
print.
Special duotone printing
process adds realism and
depth to the aircraft images,
reproduced from Smithsonian
archival photos.
Aviation Relic Prints..,
an investment in aviation
history!
Print, framed in solid wood
(20'12 x26'12 ), with color-
coordinated matboards.
($150 each, includes shipping)
Print only (IS x20).
($58 each. includes shipping)
Michigan deliveriesadd 4%
MC/VISA orders call TOLL-
FREE: 800-533-7763, or send
check to:
AVIATION RELIC PRINTS
8152 N. 32nd St.. Box 576
Richland, MI 49083
616-629-5858
Prices effective thru 1115190
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
STATEMENT OF OWNE= AND CIRCULATION
1I. 'VIlICATlONftO. 2. 0". ot Fling
VINTAGE AIRPlANE
Monthly 12 -
EAA. Ayii!l.tion Center . )000 Poberezny Road , Oshkosh. WI 5490J-J086
EA.A. Avii!l.tion Center. )000 Poberez:ny Road , Oshkosh . WI 54903-3086
41 31 9/22/99
I
_.-.::rlpl.... _
S28.00
Tho-as P.Poberez:ny. EAA Ayi a ti on Ce nter . 3000 I'oberezny Road , Oshkosh, loI J 5490J-J086
Hark D.Phelps, J.A Avia t i on Center. 3000 Pobe rezny Road , Oshkosh. WI 54903-J066
n/.
J. o....-ltI __ ... __IJ_" _N _ _ -'''_'-'''_ r_...
... _ ., .... _""____ .. __., ....,....-.''__,_-.......11/ ,"" ____... _ .. _ .,. __"..
... .... ___ ... .. _ .. _., _____..
__.... .. __ .. ..
ComptM. II1II.1"", .........
E eri.
5 490)-3086
. t.: .... .. . . . ... O<t _ .._O'.... s.c...Ity_.O_"'..... o<_. lP..c...,o.Mo<. oIlol.. A Mono_. ... O!....
... 11/ r/w.. .,. _ .... _1
II. 'o<C"""l'letIollt>,.._... oIilOrtl ........Ion.....,,""'I ,.., lo ..... . 'S....:I.. ..
n .. __. Iun''' ..... o.nd _0111 0'.'". 01 ''''" ...,I...... ."",1\0 . ,_I .I.,uo to< F_"_lu _ ... tOwd_t
1..
_ ,._ "'"' __1
Gr. __.rwrwoiJrJ
.. _ _ """C... l ..... I._ Dwing ..el ..... ....,C..... oISinollI._
",..,-.12_ ...

I . S...'IfwOUglo oH..... _ ........ . . "", ..-._cou,,, ...... .
2 . ..... Sut>oc.lpl ....
.." .. " ,NI
C. lOl .. ...... . ..
jS.-_lo.l_lo.1I
o. J ... 011"..... _t>,.. M... C......... O',... .... "'.
s ......... . ... C_.
,. C"""....... D>."IbuI .d
I.OfnUUH. .. It OVl! II<NIe<I .I1.. pnn'''''II
1. !t;"...... tt ..... ,.......__
G'Ol..... .... _,..IJ .... _ .. '"
6,566
5 , 113
5.847
6,064
5o,
6.568
1,115
".
6,162
6 . 319
178
6 ,556
1.219
1.115
Fly high with a
quality Classic interior
Complete interior assemblies for do-it-yourself installation.
Custom quality at economical prices.
Cushion upholstery sets
Wall panel sets
Headliners
Carpet sets
Baggage compartment sets
Firewall covers
Seat slings
Recover envelopes and dopes
Free catalog of complete product line.
Fabric Selection Guide showing actual sample colors and
styles of materials: $3.00.
INC.
259 Lower Morrisville Rd., Dept. VA
Fallsington, PA 19054 (215) 295-4115
34 OCTOBER 1989

STITS POLY-FIBER
THE MOST POPULAR
AIRCRAFT COVERING MATERIALS
IN AVIATION HISTORY

History. * Superior Quality Coatings Developed and Manufactured
Under the Quality Control of an FAA-PM A especially for Polyester
Fabric on Aircraft, Not Brittle Automotive Finishes, Modified Short Life
Water Borne House Paint, or Tinted and Relabeled Cellulose Dope.
* Will Not Support Combustion. * Lightest Covering Approved

Under FAA-STC and PMA. * Most Economical Covering Materials
Considering Years of Trouble Free Service. * Easy Repairability.
* No False or Misleading Advertising Claims.

VIDEO TAPE AVAILABLE
FABRIC COVERING WITH RA Y STITS Sponsored by EAA
Aviation Foundation. Before Making Expensive Mistakes, See This
a.;: Tape and LEARN HOW TO DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. VHS
or Beta, $49.95. Also Direct from EAA (1-800-843-3612), and from
Stlts Distributors. PAL, PAL-M, PAL-N & SECAM also Available.


Very Smooth 1.7 oz. Patented Polester Fabric Developed
Especially for Aircraft Covering. * Poly-Fiber Manual with a.;:
Detailed Instructions for Fabric Covering and Painting Aircraft
for Corrosion Control. * Latest Catalog and Distributor List.
STITS POLY FIBER
AIRCRAFT COATINGS
P.O. Box 3084-V, Riverside, CA 92519
Phone (714) 684-4280


p.o. box 88
madison, north carolina 27025
(919) 427-0216
AWWA
MEMBER
MEMBER
lANK PAINIINb AND REPA'.'NG
SANOIlASTING. TANK LINERS ANO COMINGS
PR(VENIIYE TANK MAINTENANCE INVKTlON SERVICE
lADDER SAfETY EOUIP..ENI
RESERVOI. LINERS AND ROOfS
DISMANIUNG AND ..OVING TANKS
NEW. USED AND IECONDITIONED TANKS
by George Hardie Jr.
No, it's not a prehistoric bird from
the dinosaur era. This airplane was a
product of a famous aeronautical de-
signer who became embroiled in a con-
troversy with the Air Force over one
of his designs. The photo was submit-
ted by Pete Bowers of Seattle, Wash-
ington, date and location unknown .
Answers will be published in the Janu-
ary, 1990 issue of VINTAGE
AIRPLANE. Deadline for that issue is
November 10, 1989.
George Goodhead of Tulsa, Ok-
lahoma correctly identified the Mys-
tery Plane for July. He writes:
"It's a Cairn Sport CC-14, a two-
place open landplane monoplane pow-
ered with a 95-hp A.E.C Cirrus Hi-
Drive engine. It was manufactured
under Group 2 Approval #2-383 dated
September 11, 1931. I believe it could
be NC 11342."
Herb deBruyn of Bellevue, Wash-
ington adds this:
"The question is, were more than
two built? The one in Juptner is NC
11432 and if I interpret his writing cor-
rectly, Serial No. 2 was awarded the
Type 2 certificate. What I can see of
the registration number on the wing in
your photo looks suspiciously like
11342. Perhaps it is the same airplane
and only two were built."
Answers were also received from
Charley Hayes of Park Forest, Illinois;
H. Glenn Buffington ofEI Dorado, Ar-
North Dakota; Marty Eisenmann of
Garrettsville, Ohio; Cedric Galloway
of Hesperia, California; Casimier Gre-
vera of Sunnyvale, California; Robert
Wynne of Mercer Island, Washington,
and Hal Swanson of Shoreview, Min-
nesota.
John Underwood of Glendale,
California adds more on the Great
Lakes amphibian featured in the May
issue:
"The airplane was in fact the 4A-I ,
not the 4T-1, and J. S. McDonnell had
absolutely nothing to do with it. Capt.
Holden C. Richardson, USN, designed
the hull and P.B Rogers, formerly
wing-designer for Martin, did the
wing. Three were built, these being
850K, 851 K nad 852K.
"The Hermes model would not leave
the water and test pilot Charlie Meyers
demolished one of them in a valiant
effort to make it unstick. It was sold
to a junk dealer across the street from
the Great Lakes plant in Cleveland.
The next day, much to the manage-
ment's chagrin, the 4A-1 was roosting
on the roof of the junkyard office, a
reminder to everyone of a dodo they
wished to forget.
"Contrary to Bob Mosher's informa-
tion, the 4A-I flew sufficiently well to
attract a buyer. This was 850K, fitted
with a Wright J6-7 of 165 hp, and it
operated in the Milwaukee area during
1932-33. The type was uncertified,
however, and therefore inelligible for
passenger work.
"I hope you wilI rectify the impres-
sion given by Dick Gates that J. S.
McDonnell was 'not too swift' as a de-
signer. He was a great designer, never
mind what anyone else says. He had
much to do with making better
airplanes out of the Ford Trimotor and
the Hamilton H-series of transports , to
say nothing of the many naval aircraft
that brought his name to the forefront
of American aviation. He was an ex-
cellent pilot as well ."
kansas; Bob Nelson of Bismarck,
Calm Sport CC-14
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 35