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8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
1/36
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
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EDITORIAL STAFF
Publisher
Tom Poberezny
April 1995 Vol. 23,
No.4
CONTENTS
1
Straight
&
Level/
Es
pi
e "Butch" Joyce
2
AlC News/
Compiled by H.G. Frautschy
4
Ae
romail
5
Vintage Literature/Dennis Parks
9
Type Club NoteslNorm Petersen
PageS
11
Fabric Re
ju
venationlDip Davis
12
Details, Details .
Frank Sperandeo Ill 's Pip er
PA-20/22 Pacer/H.G. Frautschy
16
Frank Warren's
Thompson Trophy Pa intings
18 Gary Gran
fo
r's Cessna 172/
Norm Petersen
21 Time Bomb - That Old
Compressor Could be
Dea
dly/
Page 12
Cy Galley and H .G. Frautschy
23 Members Projects/Norm Petersen
25
Pass it to BucklE.E. "Buck" Hilbert
27
Mystery Airplane/George Hardie
28 We
lc
ome New Members
3
Calendar
31 Vintage Tr
ader
Page 18
FRONT COVER . The 1960 Cessna 172
of
Gary
Granfors and
his
partners
,
Gene Leclerc,
Rick
Worringer
and Bill
Worrlnger, was
selec ted as
the
Co n temporary Reserve Grand Champion
of
the EAA An t
ique/C
lassic Division
at EM OSHKOSH '95 . EAA
photo by
Jim
Koepnick,
sho t
with
a Canon EOS-l
equipped with an 80 -200mm /f2.8 lens . 1
/2
50 sec. a t f 10.0
on Kodak
Ektachrome
Lumiere 100 film . Cessna
210 photo plane
flown
by Bruce
Moore.
Vice-President
Market ing
&
Communicat ions
Dick Matt
Editar-in -Chief
Jock Cox
Editor
Henry
G. Frautschy
Managing Editor
Golda Cox
Art
Director
Mike Drucks
Assistant Art Director
Sora Hansen
Computer Graphic
Specialis
ts
Olivia
L. Phillip Jennifer Larsen
Advertising
Mary
Jones
Associate Editor
Norm Petersen
Feature
Writers
George Hardie
, Jr.
Dennis Parks
Staff Photographers
Jim
Koepnick Mike Steineke
Corl Schuppel
Donna
Bushman
Editorial Assistant
Isabelle
Wiske
EAA
ANTIQUE
/CLASSIC DIVISION .
INC
.
OFFICERS
President
Vice -President
Espie 'Butch '
Joyce
Arthur Morf]an
P.O. Box
1001
W211
N 11863 Hilltop Dr.
Modison ,
NC
27025
Germantown,
WI 53022
910/573-3843
414/628-2724
Secretory
Treasurer
Steve Nesse
E.E.
'Buck' Hilbert
2009 Highland Ave.
P.O. Box 424
Albert
Leo, MN
fHJJ7
Union,
IL
60180
507/373-1674
815/923-4591
DIRECTORS
John Berendit
Robert C. 'Bob'
Bra
uer
7645
Echo
Point Rd.
9345 S. Hoyne
Connon
Falls,
MN
55009
2D
507/263-2414
h l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Gene
Chose
John S. Cope l
and
2159 Carlton
Rd.
28-3 Williamsbur8 Ct.
Oshkosh, WI 54904
Shrewsbury, MA
1545
414/231-5002
508/842-7867
Phil
Coulson
George Daubner
28415 Springbrook Dr.
2448 Lough Lone
Lawton, MI 49065
Hartford, WI 53027
616/624-5490
414/673-5885
Charies
Horris
Stan Gomoll
7215 East 46th St.
1042 90th Lone, NE
Tulsa, OK 74145
Minneapolis, MN
55434
918/622-8400
612/784-1172
Dole
A. Gustafson
Jeannie Hill
7724 Shady
Hill
Dr.
P.O. Box 328
Indianapolis, IN 46278
HaNard, IL 60033
317/293-4430
815/943-7205
Robert
i k t e i
Robert D. 'Bob' Lumley
1708
Boy
Oaks r.
1265
South 124th
St.
Albert Lea, MN fHJJ7
Brookfield, WI
53OD5
507/373-2922
414/7B2-2633
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
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STRAIGHT LEVEL
by Espie Butch Joyce
The 1995 Sun 'n Fun Fly-In in Lake
land,
Florida
will most likely be in full
swing
when
this issue of VINTAGE
AIRPLANE reaches your mailbox. f
you've signed up for the Division dur
ing Sun 'n Fun, you may have recieved
this issue at A/C Headquarters. Wel
come aboard
As
the
kickoff fly-in of
the
season,
people come to rekindle their aviation
soul,
not to mention bask
in
the warm
sun and good weather. I'm looking for
ward to this early spring gathering and
I hope to see you there
I was
pleased to have
EAA
Chap
ter 1083, located at Salisbury, North
Carolina
(Rowan County),
ask that I
serve as the speaker
at
their
Chapter
program . Jack
Neubacher,
a
member
of
the Editorial
Advisory Board of
Southern Aviator
magazine
is
the
spark plug of this group, but he cannot
do
this
deed
alone. t
takes
all of
the
other members of the
chapter to help
keep it going. Joe Wilborn s the
per
son who invited me to address the
A gen tleman at the rear
of
the group
held up his hand and said, " I
know
an
other place EAA s doing a lot of good
and s not getting credit for this deed.
Somewhat
puzzled, I as ked him to ex
plain his statement.
He explained, Right here in Rowan
County." OK, you have my ear. "Well,
if it was
not
for
the
EAA, all of
these
people wouldn't be here tonight.
There
was
a
lot
of
flying
going on
here, but
this EAA Chapter s
the
on ly thing that
has brought us
together.
Now we
are
doing things together. It's good. Thank
Paul and Tom for me. Well,
I will,
and now that you have said so, I'm go
ing to thank them myself also.
We took a break and I fielded a
number of
questions about
EAA
and
A/e. After
leaving
the
meeting, while
driving back home,
I
started thinking
(Which has
caused
me trouble from
time to time) that when you work with
the staff
at
Oshkosh like I do, you have
a
tendency
to forget what it's
like
on
the
other end. At a number of Chapter
with
ESPN to
produce a 12
part
avia
tion series for ESPN. Dick writes, I'm
very excited about the series because it
has the potential to greatly impact
our
membership. As you know ,
commer
cial time
on the
series would be highly
effective for many products. f you
know of a company,
group
or individ
ual who might be interested in becom
ing a sponsor, please forward the name
of
a
contact person and phone
num
ber. f
you
know of a company
that
you think could benefit from this type
of
exposure,
drop
Dick Matt at EAA
Headquarters
in Oshkosh a note so this
project can move forward.
I
have
my Baron
down
for annual
again. I have always tried to do this an
nual in March each year, but every year
it seems
that
I get rushed
to
get every
thing back together
before
Lakeland.
This year I plan on having it signed off
in April. Besides all of that, it's got my
Clip-wing
Cub blocked
in
the hangar
and
wouldn't
you know it, we've gotten
pretty weather early this year
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
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compiled by
H G
.
ra
utschy
CI W I
M ND TORY
EMERGENCY
LYCOMING
D
As this issue of Vintage Airplane was going to press, we were advised that an
emergency Airworthiness Directive applicable to Lycoming engines was to be is
sued. The AD has been issued
via
Priority Mail to inspect for substandard connect
ing
rod bolts shipped by Superior Air Parts, Inc. between February 15 1994 and De
cember 20 , 1994.
f
you have overhauled your Lycoming -360, -540, -541 or -720
series engine since February 15 1994, you should immediately obtain a copy of AD
95-07-01
to determine if your engine is affected
by
this AD. The emergency AD im
mediately grounds applicable aircraft until the AD is complied with. The AD does
not apply to aircraft engines overhauled
by
Lycoming.
The suspect rod bolts have failed in a random pattern, and are the result of the
parts having been manufactured
by an
outside source from substandard materials.
Superior Air Parts issued Service Bulletin
No.
95-002, dated March
3 1995
detailing
inspection and identification of the suspect rod bolts. Copies may be obtained by
contacting Superior at 800/487-4884, or by writing: Superior Air Parts, Inc., 14280
Gillis Rd., Dallas, TX 75244-3792.
For more information on this AD from the FAA, contact Richard Karanian,
Aerospace Engineer, Special Certification Office,
FAA,
Rotorcraft Directorate,
2601
Meacham
Blvd.,
Fort Worth
,
TX
76137-4298,
phone
817/222-5195 , fax:
817/222-5959. or Locke Easton, Aerospace Engineer, Engine and Propeller Stan
dards Staff, FAA, Engine and Propeller Directorate, 12 New England Executive
Park, Burlington, MA 01803-5299, phone 617/238-7113 or fax at 617/238-7199.
The FAA views this emergency
AD as extremely serious - so much so, they will
not issue ferry permits to move affected aircraft.
OTHER FAA
NEWS
PMA
ENFORCEMENT
The FAA
has
announced that
it will
fully
enforce
total
compliance
with
the
regulations concerning the production
of replacement parts for sale and instal
lation on type certificated aircraft.
f you produce
parts for sale and in-
stallation o aircraft
you must
be
the
holder of
a
Parts
Manufacturer
Ap
proval
(PM A) issued by the FAA. As
detailed
in
Vintage
Airplane
in
the
past
, and
confirmed
in
conversations
between
the FAA
and
EAA,
this policy
statement
by the
FAA
does
not
effect
your ability to make parts for a type
certificated aircraft that you own, under
the provisions of
FAR
21.303.
20591 or call 202/267-8361.
ANOTHER
lOOLL
CONTAMINA
TION
The FAA has announced that an
other
fuel contamination incident has
occurred - this time on the East Coast.
3,000 gallons
of
100LL fuel was conta
minated with a small
amount of
diesel
fuel and was delivered to
the Chatham,
MA airport. The fuel was
used
at the
airport between December 2, 1994, and
January
13, 1995.
The contaminated fuel tested at 89.5
octane and no significant damage
has
been reported to the
FAA
as a result of
this contamination. The fuel was sup
plied by Texaco ,
who
has admitted re
sponsibility for the altered
fuel.
The
FCC LICENSE
NE
WS
Back in mid February, a bill was in
troduced
in
the
United
States
House
of
Representatives
that
could provide
the
FCC with a way
to
avoid what has be
come for them (and us ) a
bureaucratic
headache. The
title
of
the bill is: "
To
amend
the
Communications Act of
1934 in
order
to permit
recreational
ra
dio operations without radio licenses."
Representatives
Stupak
of Michigan
and Fields
of
Texas introduced the bill,
which
was
referred
to
the Commerce
Committee. t would allow the FCC to
get out of the licensing business for a por
tion of personal aviation, maritime and
personal radio services. The
part that
would affect aviation reads
as
follows:
" the commission may by rule au
thorize the operation of radio stations
without
individual
licenses
in
the
fol
lowing radio services: (A)
the
personal
radio
services; (B) aircraft
stations
op
erated on domestic flights when such
aircraft are not otherwise
required
to
carry a radio station "
"
(2) Any radio
station operator
who is authorized by the Commission to
operate
without an individual license
shall comply with all other provisions of
this Act and with rules prescribed by the
Commission under this Act."
You ' ll note
that
the bill would not
provide relief from a licensing require
ment if
you wish to fly your
aircraft
outside
of
the U.S.
-
international
agreements
still
require
a
station
li
cense for international flights.
You may wish to
contact
your U.S.
Representative
and
Senator
to urge
them to support this bill, H.R
. 963
point out that
the passage of
this
bill
will relieve the federal government of a
bureaucratic
licensing
burden, and
pro
vide you with a respite from what some
times
appears
to be a
never-ending
list
of fees
and taxes that
we
all
have to
pay. With the current
atmosphere
in
Washington of
"
making government
more
responsive to the
people
this line
of thinking may well provide a founda
tion of support.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
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Some
of
these guys take this STC thing
just
a bit too far
Staggerwing Club member Bill Helsell decided he 'd give the business to the young FAA inspectors who were coming for a
visit. (Should it be named the "Staggerwing OX trainer?" How about the "Staggerox?") The OX-5 seems to fit OK, and could
certainly lend itself to a nice cowl , but we're not sure that the climb and cruise won't suffer a bit from the drag
of
the radiator.
(But oh, think
of
the cabin heat you could have! ) The
90
"horseponies" put out
by
the OX are a bit on the light side as well.
We
suspect Bill and
his
rebuilder Orville Tosch probably sprained their tongues when they planted them so far into their cheeks!
Now before you go send off a note asking for more information about this modification for the Staggerwing, be sure and
check the cover date of this issue . . .
Our
thanks to George York
of
the Staggerwing Club for sharing these shots with
us
.
molded plastic knobs found in the cock
pits of so
many
of our airplanes. In
particular,
Bob is
rebuilding SIN
Aeronca
l lAC
Chief, and has to re
store the knobs for the throttle,
carb
heat
and cabin heat.
Without
resorting
to a lathe and sandpaper, which would
destroy the
heat
imprinted
legends
on
the
face
of the knob,
or
painting the
knobs themselves
(they
have a translu
cent look
to
them) is there a rejuvena
tion process
that can
be
done? If
you
know of such a method, please send
the
details to
us
here at
EAA
HQ,
at the
address at the end of
this
next IC
News item.
lC
CHAPTER
ACTIVITIES
AntiquelClassic
Chapters
have often
been
the
foc us of local
activities
for a
Those
folks in the Staggerwing Club certainly have a lot
of
fun -
member
Jim Gorman shared a list of interpretations for use the next time
you're
perus
ing the classified airplane ads Anybody else got a
few
to add to this list?
HOW
TO
INTERPRET ANTIQUE AIRPLANE ADS
Recovered -Airplane washed
Rebuilt -Recovered
Totally Restored -Recovered, painted
Fabric Good -Only
flaps
a little when flying
Fabric Fair -Finger
goes
through at the slightest touch
Rebuilt Engine
-New
spark plugs
Engine needs slight adjustment -Needs complete overhaul
Low Hours -About 10 000 hrs
Lost storage -Neighbors got court order
Needs interior -Seats are gone
NDH (No Damage History) -On its back
twice
200
mph cruise -Airspeed indicator broken
New tires Recapped
for
the third time
Modern radios -Omnigator
Propeller Overhauled -Straightened after hitting steel pole
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
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Dear Henry,
I thought I'd send you
the
latest up
date on the
restoration of
the
"MGM
Special." Also included is a photo you
can publish (see page 3). I'm still trying
to work up an article on the project.
Anyway, here's the latest: I was able
to get a copy of the original stress and
design analysis
done in Spetember
of
1927.
That little
gem
came from
the
San Diego
Aerospace Museum
. From
that , I was confident enough
to order
a
sufficient amount of chromoly tubing (I
hope!) to rebuild both Ryans.
Unfortunately, the
analysis
doesn
' t
have anything
on
the wood s
tructures.
I'm still looking for some form of con
struction drawings. I have a request
into
the FAA for a
copy of
what
ever
they
have
of the Approved Type Cer
tificate for the B-1 series. (#25).
f
all
else
fails,
Yankee Air Museum
in
Chino, CA has offered to call me when
their
B-1 (c/n 141 ,
NC6956)
is
rolled
onto the restoration floor. They will al
low me to take photos, dimensions, etc.,
to develop my own plans.
From
Harmon
Dickerson in
Colum
bia,
MO,
I
purchased
a partially
over
hauled Wright J-5
"W
hrlwind " engine,
with
all accessories. It 's abso lutely
georgeous
too
I
can't
wait until it's
finished and running.
Today, I
purchased
a pair
of B-1
ailerons from the Antique Airplane As
sociation . I'm also in the process of ob
taining from a
private
collector
the
DearH.G .
For
a while now I have
thought that
one
thing
that
would
add
value to the
whole of vintage/classic aircraft interest
would
be
well
prepared write-ups
com
plete with photos dedicated solely
to
what to check on any particular aircraft
prior to purchase
or
rebuild.
Because it occurs so often that a per
son,
full of enthusiasm, purchases a
cl
as s
ic ,
and
even if
it
were perfectly
painted up , finds
that
because
of per
ha ps rusted out tubing in the landing
gear, that his beautiful J-3 or other has
just now been totaled.
There
always exists a
natural
fear of
the unknown whenever I purchase a
classic. I have owned several during my
lifetime and
am
currently down
to
three,
namely
a PA-17 Vagabond , a J-3
Cub and
a beautiful Pietenpol.
Should
you publish in
Vint
age
Airplane
such a
series of articles describing what to ex
amine
closely prior
to
purchase, then
much of the usual uncertainly
will be
allayed within
all
of your members
,whether purchaser or seller. f nothing
more
, it would at least lay some
author
itative
"
sort of" ground
rules
into how
much of an inspection a person should
expect or allow on specific classics.
As an example of what I
am refer
ring to,
I
have
wanted a "good" Er
coupe/Aircoupe
for
years
. I
hav
e
the
manuals, I have bits and pieces of infor
mation, I h ave saved magazine articles,
etc., but still I shy away from purchas
is
that
there is much
to
be gained
by
knowledge
of what
to
inspect
for, not
only
for a
potential
aircraft purchaser
but for the health of the movement in
general.
Should my
suggestions
meet
with
your approval, may
I suggest the first
article
be
on
the Ercoupe
family
of
air
craft. I feel certain that the Ercoupe
Type
Club would
be happy to help
out.
Perhaps then
I will feel
more easy
re
garding the purchase of one. I have ad
mired
this little aircraft type now since
first seeing one back in the forties.
Should
you publish such an article in
VINTAGE AIRPLANE then I would
probably
have my
first Ercoupe/air
coupe
in
short order.
At
least
I
would
feel quite a bit more confident
regard
ing the aircraft, its future and my own.
Sincerely yours,
Ron M. Hynes
7 Maywood Road
Sherwood Park,
Alberta T8A
OJ9
Canada
P. S. EAA is
one
of
the
things in
this old world
that make life worth
while.
Thanks
for all
your
efforts,
and
a special
thanks to
Paul
Poberezny
, a
great man .
Ron s idea certainly
has
merit, as I m
sure that
most of
our
readers would agree.
The tough part
comes
with
the
execution
were
does
one gather the information
on
a
wide variety o aircraft types?
The
an
swer, certainly,
lies
with each of
the
Type
Clubs. Other
than
the few AI s out there
with antique/classic experience, there is
nobody with a broader knowledge o
each
aircraft
that those
who keep
the type
clubs
going. Our staff here at EAA,
while
expe
rienced,
cannot possibly cover all the air
craft that could potentially be in each o
the
articles, so, here s
my proposal:
l d
be
happy to publish a series of arti
cles on
the
pre-purchase inspection of spe
cific aircraft types authored by people with
experience with that aircraft make and
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
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V I ~ T A 3 ~
L I T ~ l 2 A T U l 2 ~
b ,
[)ennis
IJar-k.s!)
Libr-ar- , / ~ r c h i v e s [)ir-ect()r-
From the pages ero
CHICAGO 1911
During January
1910,
air
racing
came
to America
during a meet held at Dominguez Field outside of Los
Angeles. Twenty-five thousand spectators jammed the
field to see American pilots in Wright and Curtiss ma
chines
compete
with Bleriots and
Farmans
from
Eu-
rope. Curtiss brought a new airplane and won $6,500 in
prize money for speed and endurance contests. How
ever he was outdone by Louis Paulham of France in his
Farman, who captured over $10,000 in winnings. Both
Curtiss and Wright formed flying schools and exhibit
teams during the year. The number of pilots rose from
twenty in 1909 to one hundred by the end of 1910. In
October
1910 the aviation world
gathered
again for
America's second international meet on the occasion
of the second Gordon Bennett
Cup race
, the first in
America. This event took place at Belmont Park out
side
of
New
York
City.
Prizes totaled
$73,000 with
$10,000 set aside for a race around the Statue of Lib-
The Twenty-One Prize Winners
Aviator Machine Amount
Thomas SOpwlth Blerlot, Wright 13,120
Lincoln Beachey
Curtlss.. ..
. . . . .
. .
.
. .
10,622
C.
P. Rodgers Wright.. . . . . . . 9,960
G. W. Beatty Wrigh t 6,800
Earle
Ovington Bleriot, Curtiss. . . 6,300
A. 1.. Welsh Wright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 981
Rene
Simon
. .
.
.Molsant...
.,282
Eugene Ely Curtiss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,796
PhllUp Parmelee
. .
. Wright.. . . . . .
. .
3,701
James Ward
. .
Curtiss .
. .
. .. . . . .
. . . .
2,900
O. A. Brindley
Wright. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,606
J. A. D. McCurdy
McCurdy. 1,900
Howard Glll Wrigh t 1,860
John
J. Frisbie
Curtiss ,
. .
1 .96
Lee Hammond Baldwin... 660
George Meatach o r a n e . . . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . . 460
J. C. Turpin . Wright . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
460
Paul
W.
Beck
Curtiss.. ..
.
. .
.
..
. . . . . . . . 400
J.
V.
Martin
Grahame-Whlte.
. .
.
...
. . . .
260
Frank
T. Coffyn Wright. . . . . . . . . . 160
Andrew Drew . Wright. . 160
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
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tional aviation to the Midwest. In April
1911 a group of businessmen met at the
Greatest Event in the History of Aeronautics
invit
a
tion of
th e
Aero Club of
Illinois.
They
were asked
to
under
take
the pro
INTERNATIONAL
ject of bringing international competition
to
Chicago. Under
th e l
ea
d
er s
hip of
H
aro
ld McCormick success was assured.
A
VIATION
MEET
The site
ch
ose
n
was alo
n
gside Lake
Michigan at
Grant
Park. The location
in
downtown Chicago would ensure access
by large crowds. Ca lled the INTERNA
Grant Park-CHICAGO
TIONAL
A
VIATION
MEET
the event
was scheduled for nine days from August
August 12-20, 1911
12-20 and prize money was advertised at
$80,000.
ENTRANTS
Under Auspices
International
Aviation
Meet Association-Full
Official Sanction
T he A ugust S 1911 issue of
AERO
$80,000 N PRIZES
held that the many entries promised suc
cess of the Chicago Meet. "With a great
entry
li
st assured so
that hangar
s will be
provid
ed
for 30 mac hin es at least, and
Largest purse and most ambitiolB program ever offered in any country.
each flier entering as a contestant rather
Aviation field exceeding one mile in length. val course over one and one-thiJd miles
than as an exhibitor, it is believed
that
the
competition
will be
the
kee nest that
in circumference minimum distance. Events embrace every feature and novelty
has ever b
ee
n witnessed in America, and
that the meet will go down in aeronautic
in aviation. Hangars for 40 machines. Grand stand for 50,000 people.
annals as the beginning of truly competi
tive av ia
tion
in Am e rica .
T
he
li
st
of
thirt
y nam es published
included Harr
y
Atwood, Tom Baldwin, James McCurd
y
SPECIAL
RAILROAD RATES .
NINE
DAYS
EVERY
AFTERNOON .
Earle Ovington, Charles Willard , Linco
ln
Many Free Seats.
Beachey, Charles Hamilton, Cal Rodgers
and Eugene Ely from the United States.
International entrants included
Thomas
Sopwith, and Roland Garros.
One of
the
un u sua l fea tu res of th e m
eet
was th e
Scale of Prices, 25c to $1.50
Box
Seats
$2.00
novel pl an of di stributin g a large p
art
of
the prize money according to flying time,
thu
s making
the event
especially
at t
rac
tive to skill ed flyers. T he plan guaran
tee d contestants two do
ll
ars for eac h
erty. The Curtiss and Wright teams both
weren 't a
bl
e to match the performance of minute they were in the air during official
entered fo
ur aviators each. Th
ere
were
the Europeans. Graham-White was out
hour
s.
The
program also included a var
i-
also seven independent
Amer
ican en standing at th e mee t
winning
both th e
ety
of
contests: dura
ti
on, sp
ee
d, altitude
tra nts. Eng land, provided three pilots in
Gordon
Be nn ett Cup
and
th e
race
and cross-country races. This was the first
cluding
Cl
aude Graham-White
and around the Statue of Liberty. With in
tim e flyers weren ' t
paid appearance
Fra
nce nin e
including
Rola
nd Garros.
ternational eve nts o n both the West and
mon ey.
For
nin e days
th
e
fl
yers com
The event was quite a disappointment for
Eas
t
coasts
in 1910, it
was
dec ided in
peted for records and prizes. Top honors
the Wright a nd Curti ss tea ms who Chicago that it was time to bring interna
in th e spee d contest went to Sopwith,
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
9/36
'.
'
\j
'fj\'JII;Ioo
.. .
-I
Beachey and Ovington. Sopwith
recorded seven first-, two secondo,
and
one third-place awards. Prizes from the
speed
contest
netted
t he Englishman
over 10,000. Along with his other prizes
he earned over 13,000, the most for any
contestant. Beachey established an alti
tude record of 11,642 feet which wou ld
last for
three
years. Th
is
along with ten
other awards
earned
Beachey nearly
11,000.
Honors
for total duration went
to
a newcomer, Cal Rodgers. Using a
slow but reliable Wright B, he remained
aloft three
hours nearly every
day.
At
the close
of the
meet his total time aloft
was 27
hours
and
16 seconds, earning
him
over
9,000. Another highlight of
the meet
occurred
on
August
14 when
Harry
Atwood, piloting
a
Burgess-
Wright biplane
landed after
a 283 mile
trip from St. Louis . I t was the first
part
of a flight to New York city which would
earn him the 10,000
prize
offered by
Victor Evans, a Washington,
DC patent
attorney. His journey
of
1,295 miles ex
ceeded the world's distance record
by 82
miles.
(Above) Phillip Parmelee, one of the Wright team pilots, at the starting line in one of
the
short
wing Model Rs. Parmlee flew a little over five hours during
the
meet.
(Below)
Wright Model B Flyer in the
air.
Probably taken at Detroit during
September 1910.
The Model
B first flew
in July
1910.
fI
rn
."
2:
I
)
a:
I
a.
~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~
,
......
, ...........
_
...
- .......
_
_---- ..........
~ , . -
\ --------- ...._ ....._-------
\ ..., . . ----- -----.. .
I ........
L... - ..
- - T ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _ _ _ _ 1 ......
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
10/36
(Above) This Burgess Model E also known as the Grahame-White Baby, was flown in the Chicago meet by J. V. Martin. This
aircraft was
designed
by Grahame-White
and
manufactured by
Burgess.
It is
very similar
to
a Farman biplane.
(Above right) The
Curtiss hydro-aeroplane
flown
by Hugh Robinson attracted
a
great
deal
of attention.
The use
of this craft for
rescue work was demonstrated when the pilot landed at the site of Johnstone s crash into Lake Michigan.
ACCIDENTS
Even though it was a great meet, these
we re the p ioneer days of avia
ti
on, and it
was m
arre
d by a few acc ident s, two of
th em
fa
ta
l. Bot
h
of
the fa taliti
es
took
place on Tuesday, August
15
.
In the first , Willi am Badge r, flying a
Ba ld
wi
n biplane, ove rs
tr
essed his ma
chine by making a s
udd
en di ve a
nd
a
quick climb. As the climb was begun, the
w
in gs
collapsed and the
pl
ane dropped 50
fee t to th e ground , killing Bad
ger.
He
apparently was trying to duplicate a ma
neuv
er of
Li nco ln Beach ey's , where he
dove into a sunken portion
of
Grant Park
and then pulled up abruptly into a brea th
taking climb, giving t he a
pp
ea rance of
coming
up
out of th e gro
und
to th e as
se
mbled cro
wd
.
The o th
er
victim was S
t.
Croix John
sto ne fly ing a Moisa
nt
Bl e ri o t mono-
pl ane. H e had b
ee
n in th e a ir fo r two
hours when h
is
plane sudde
nl
y dove from
abo ut 3,000 feet
in
to Lake Michigan. The
pil
ot
was
tr a
ppe d in
th
e mac
hin
e as it
sunk out of sigh
t.
Some believed that the
gyroscopic forces
of
the Moisant 's rotary
eng
in
e had caused the accident. St. Croix
had
ea rlier announced that it was his in
tenti on
to
give up flying at
th
e close of
the mee t and go into the airplane supply
bus
in
ess on a large scale in New York.
GREATEST MEET
Th e August 16, 1911 issue of
AERO
de
cl
ared th at the
Grea
t
es
t Mee t Ever
Held E nds Happily. What T om Sop
with ca
ll
ed '
th
e greates t avi ation mee t
the world has ever seen,' end ed yes ter
day, the facts and figures
of
the nine days
of
ying proving it
wi
thout the shadow of
a do
ubt. Pr
obabl y
th r
ee
or fo
ur
mil
lions of people have witnessed at least a
pa
rt of
th e m
eet,
a t which $80 ,000 in
prizes have been won, two new world 's
records made and
1
40,000 taken in a the
ga te. How many p
eo
ple have b
eco
me
prac
ti
ca lly interested in avia
ti
on as a re
sul t o f the meet is a matter of co
nj
ec
tu r
e,
b
ut
if o ne in
every
thou
sa
nd wh o wit
n
esse
d th e m
ee
t has b
ee
n co n
ve
r
te
d ,
there
are
today 3,000 new foll owers
of
the spor t , science or industry. During
the nine days th
ere
has b
ee
n tw ice as
much
fl
ying as the world has ever h
eard
of
in a like period . Lin co ln Beachey, in
an all-American Curtiss biplane, has set a
new altitude mark of
11
,578 fee t
fo
r th e
w
or
ld to ma rve l a t , a
nd
W.G. B
ea tt
y,
with th
e
ink
h
ar
dl y
dr
y o n hi s
pi l
o t ' s
br
evet, has broken a long standing
dur
a
tion r
eco
rd with a passe nger by flyin g 3
hour s, 42 minut
es
22 1/5
se
conds in an
a
ll
-Am
er
i
ca
n
Wr
ight b ipl ane .
Cal
P.
R odgers , in anoth er Wright has
fl
ow n
more
th
an 3 hour s da
il
y wi
th
out stop
ping, save on one day when his
du
ra
ti
on
was less, using a Wright biplane that he
l
ea rn
ed to fly
on l
y a mo
nth
ago
. H e
showed the co
mpar
ative simplicity
of
the
task by lolling in his seat each afternoon,
legs crossed a
nd
dangling a ciga r in his
mouth . America n m
oto
rs a
nd
Amer
i-
can ae roplanes have co me
to
the front
with indis
put
able evidence
of
supe
ri
ority.
Altitud
e and duration with a passenger,
the two most sea rching tests, have bee n
met and passed with a rush
of
victory. A
Curtiss biplane with a Curtiss m
oto
r has
taken the
fo
rmer, a Wright Biplane with
a Wright mot
or
the later, with a wo rld's
record to the credit
of
each.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
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Notes
From the "International Cessna
120/140 Association Newsletter":
Bill Rhoades, Newsletter Editor
(612-652-2221)
Carb Ice
Through
the years there have been
attempts to warn the pilot
of
carburetor
ice by showing the
carb
air
temp,
etc.
Back in 1946 when the Cessna 120 and
14
came out, an MIT brain" and close
friend, introduced me to the installation
of
a manifold pressure gauge in his sin
gle
engine airplane
with a fixed
pitch
prop. I soon made a similar installation
in a Cessna 140 and haven't been with
out one since . Why? I think it is the
best power indicator to use and it
is
rel
atively cheap. I take off
at
full bore and
climb at 26" HG and cruise at 23"
HG,
which is
around
65% power. Also re
member that you lose about one inch
of
manifold pressure
per
thousand feet
of
climb
up to
8,000'
where
it is
slightly
less per 1,000' climb. Anyway, back to
the
HG
meter as an ice indicator. When
flying
at
a constant altitude
and power
setting,
if any ice
starts
to form in
the
carb throat, it restricts the flow into the
induction system, which acts
the
same
as closing the throttle, except it is much
more sensitive. When this happens the
HG
meter will drop. f the ice build-up
is
small and the meter reflects it slightly,
in most cases it isn't noticeable as far as
RPM goes. f the
meter
is down but an
inch
or two of HG,
put
on carb heat.
This will cause a further drop in
HG
be
cause of less dense heated air plus pip
by orm Petersen
After the time and money
to
overhaul
the engine,
there
was too much to risk.
As
it
turned out
we found
the
fault lay
in
a new
part of
the oil pump.
Due to the way the new cover plate
was machined, it was
warped
and al
lowed oil to escape from the pump cav
ity.
My A &
P who overhauled the en-
gine had used a petroleum based grease
in the pump to keep the gears from run
ing dry until the pump primed, and this
apparently sealed
the
gap for some five
hours
of
running.
Hard
to believe,
but
it did.
Today,
after
lapping
the
cover
plate
to
the pump
body
I
get
a
strong
40-45 psi
at
cruise and
at
idle.
Thanks
for the help.
- Craig Kloppenburg, NH Rep.
From the "American Bonanza
Society" magazine
Patrick Rowley, editor
(316-945-6913)
Propeller Ordeal
Which we'll subtitle - "It pays to g t a
second opinion "
I have just gone through an interest
ing ordeal with my Beech 278 propeller
that may be
of
interest to
our
members.
About one year ago, I had my
prop
overhauled by
Thunderbird
Propellers,
Inc. ,
in Bethany
, Okla. (405-789-1830).
A short time back, after about 100 hours
in use, I began seeing stains on the back
$1600
to $1900 to have the prop re-
assembled with new parts by the local
shop, I returned it to Thunderbird .
Upon receiving the disassembled
prop, Thunderbird immediately
sum
moned an inspector from the Oklahoma
City FAA office. All parts were re-ex
amined and micrometer measurements
were referenced to the Beech overhaul
manual by both Thunderbird personnel
and the FAA inspector. The hub was
sent
out
for an X-ray procedure and in
the end, all red tags were removed by
FAA.
Additionally, not
one of
the
10
discrepancies cited
by the local
shop
proved to have any merit
t is interesting to note
that
the hub
in question was supplied during a previ
ous overhaul by the local shop that pre
cipitated
this fuss.
Additionally, both
the FAA inspector
and
Thunderbird
could not understand (1) why the prop
was disassembled for a simple blade re
placement; and (2)
the
rationale behind
the
red tags without reference to either
micrometer readings or the Beech over
haul manual.
Throughout this ordeal, Thunderbird
responded
professionally, in good faith
and with utmost courtesy. The hub was
reassembled and the prop was returned
to service. My billing from
Thunder-
bird?
Not one
red cent
Thunderbird
even prepaid the return air freight
From my experience, I would highly
recommend
Thunderbird
to owners of
older
Bonanzas over
any local
prop
shop.
These
people
are
specialists and
appear
to be in business to keep
us
fly-
ing by fixing and repairing
rather
than
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
12/36
cally
for the pilot
to
get in. Th
ey
roared
back to the strip where
the
36
was billowing
black
smoke from the
cabin area!
After seve ral explosions, another
employee arrived with a hand-held fire
extinguisher. The
aircraft was almost
totally
melted
down, with flames com
ing
out of the open root of the
right
wing.
The
volunteer
fireman, risking
his eyebrows, squirted
out
the remain
ing fire.
The pilot
reported that
the only con
ceivable source
of
ignition was a magni
fying glass lying on a
map
in
the
back
seat.
The rudder and elevators
are
all that
remain unscathed
-
and they may
fly
again. (The
rudder is equipped with an
SMP Upper Bracket.)
- Dick Wilson, California
From "The
Texas
Chapter AAA
Newsletter"
Penny Richards, e itor
(817-482-6175)
Temple Monoplane Arrives
Love Field
On Thursday ,
Jan.
19, the
one-of-a
kind
Temple Monoplane
was flown
from
Temple,
TX by its restorer, Jerry
Ferrel, to Love Field. Jerry donated the
plane for display
at the
Frontiers of
Flight Museum.
The Texas
Temple
was
the first
aircraft designed
to be
mass produced
in Texas by the first commercial com
pany
to be licensed to sell airplanes in
Texas .
t
was
developed and
flown in
1927 by
George
W. Williams,
Jr.
who
was
the
first man to design
and
build
an airplane in
our
state.
He
built and
flew
Texas'
first
airplane
in 1910 in the
pasture behind
his
home
in
Temple.
Jerry Ferrel has been using a Warner
engine on the Temple, so on Monday,
January 30, he and
Joe
Haynes changed
out
that
engine for its original Anzani.
The
Anzani is a Clyde Cessna modifi
ed
engine which added push rods for th e
(Ed. note:
The
Texas Temple
is
listed
in
Juptner's
Volume I Page 121,
under ATC
45 dated June
1928)
Square Tip Prop?
David
Stark
is progressing well on
his Stinson SR-9, having
completed
the
wings,
tail, and put new wood on
the
fuselage. This news
was
passed on
to
(us) here by
Joe Haynes
along wi th a
question he couldn't answer for David.
Put
on your thinking caps.
David's prop has
a
squared-off
tip.
The blade is legal, but
doesn't
look like
the original blade. The
question
is:
"Will this
square
tip provide any better
performance?"
f you
have the answer
, call
David
Stark at 817-594-9519.
From "The Bucker Newsletter"
Chris Arvanites, e itor publisher
815-436-1011)
I attended an FAA Seminar the other
day regarding approved parts
for air
craft. t covered acceptable standards of
certification, identification of
parts
, ac
ceptable traceability , and how to
deter
mine if the parts conform to type design.
All these parts
that are approved is
any
part that is manufactured and approved
under
the provisions
of FAR
Part 21,
provided that the part
is used
for the
purpose it was originally intended and it
has been maintained
in
an airworthy
condition. As far as being airworthy,
they say
that
a part must
conform
to
type design and be in condition for safe
operation. Do
you
know that
you
can
produce a part for your own aircraft?
A few important things to remember
. .. know your supplier, issue specific in
structions on the P. O
.
(Purchase Or
der), perform receiving inspections
and
have a good certification and traceabil
ity.
There
is an
avition safety
hotline
number: 800/255-111l.
Also
something to
know
is
they
are
going to do away with all yellow tags on
parts and an
FAA
form 8130-3 airwor
enced a loss of oil pressure and
an
in
crease in oil
temperature.
While at
tempting to
locate
an
airport
for
land
ing
,
the engine quit.
The aircraft
sustained substantial damage during the
off-airport landing.
An
investigation and
engine
tear
down revealed sma ll
pieces of
a
paper
towel
caught
in
the
oil
pickup
strainer.
The remainder of the
paper
towel was
found
in
the engine
oil sump. t was
determined
the
paper
towel restricted
and/or blocked
oil flow
to the
engine,
resulting
in
#1 rod
bearing seizure
and
failure of the
connecting
rod.
Although the chain of
events
that
led to the
paper
towel getting into the
engine
could
not be determined,
it re
minds us
of the care that must
be
taken during maintenance
to
assure
items are not
left
in inappropriate
places.
Quite
often
towels or
rags are
used
to cover crankcases when
cylin
ders
are
removed
or oil dipsticks
are
taken out. Additionally, tools
used
during maintenance
have
been left
in
places
where
they could cause
fatal
damage
to
the aircraft and
its occu
pants. In this case , the occupants suf
fered
serious
injuries and a beautiful
aircraft was destroyed. Please use the
events related
in
this article
as a
re
minder to review your procedures for
assuring
proper
control of
all
items
not
intended for installation in the as
sembly
on
which you are working.
From Coupe Capers -
Ercoupe
Owners
Club
Carolyn Carden, e itor
(919-477-1832)
When Roy Prugh
wanted to
work
on his nose
gear strut, he
had to
raise
the
nose
of the
plane and control
its
position
by him self.
To do this,
he
started by removing the cowl,
then
lowering the tail with two bags of soft
ener
salt.
(Ed. note: think I'd want to wrap
tho
se
bags
in
plastic, and then give the
airplane a
good
bath after this
You also
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
13/36
RIC
REJUVEN TION
by W. D. Dip Davis N 1804 Cooper Aircraft, Inc.
Restoring
Your
Aircrafts Dope
inish
.
Here we go, misleading you right from
the title. Actually aircraft covering fabric
can't
be rejuvenated.
The
term really
refers to a process of restoring the finish
that is applied
to the fabric. Since syn
thetic fabrics, primarily polyesters , have
almost completely replaced the organic
materials of coUon and linen, the useful
life
of
the
actual aircraft covering has
been extended many times
over
, and un
less given regular doses of tender loving
care , the finish will
deteriorate
to the
point of unacceptability while the fabric
itself is still airworthy.
Thought should be given to the condi
tion
of
the
structure
which
is
hidden by
the fabric
on components
which can ' t be
thoroughly inspected through access pan
els .
The
amount
of
deterioration which
can occur in 15 or
20
years could be
enough to cause catastrophic failure un
der severe loads. f you (and your in
spector) are
satisfied with
the condition
of
the basic
airframe and have deter
mined that
the
fabric
itself
still
tests
above the minimum allowable tensile
strength, which
is
based on the wing load
ing and never exceed
(red
line)
speed of
the particular aircraft then finish rejuve
nation can be done.
Airplanes with a wing loading of nine
pounds per square foot
or less and a Vne
lowing direct exposure to sunlight. How
ever, there are probably cracks in the fin
ish next to
stringers
or other supporting
structure. Ringworming can happen
where a sharp
blow
occurred,
such as
from a hailstone
or
small
stones
from an
unimproved runway. These areas will re
quire individual attention before begin
ning an overa
ll
finish rejuvenation.
First, determine that the finish is
dope
rather
than enamel
or
other non-soluble
material.
f
there is any question about
the
topcoat, a quick
determination
may
be made by dampening a cloth with
MEK
or
acetone
and rubbing lightly in an in
conspicuous spot.
f
the color comes off
on your rag, the finish
is
resoluble.
Don't
be
misled by the removal of a little oxi
dized pigment-you can feel a drag
or
re
sistance to your rubbing if the material is
being softened. Check on the trim stripes
and registration numbers we well. It 's
not uncommon to
find that someone
sprayed enamel
trim
over
a
pigmented
dope base coat. This
can
usually be re
moved using sandpaper and /or solvents.
An
enamel finish is generally not re
pairable. f
the
topcoat is
beginning to
chip and flake in large areas it might be
feasible to remove dry using plastic scrap
ers. Chemical
paint
removers almost
never produce satisfactory results in re
dry. A terry cloth towel rinsed often and
pretty
well
wrung out
will
remove
all
of
the
soap
residue without a total soaking.
You will be amazed at the amount of oxi
dized dope which will be removed, which
will
open
the pores and allow good pene
tration
of
the rejuvenator.
When the airplane
is
completely
dry
you can
attend
to the cracks and ring
worms in
the
finish by brushing unre
duced rejuvenator
onto
those areas using
a
small
watercolor brush. Allow a few
minutes for the solvents to work and ap
ply a second coat. Thick finishes may re
quire
a third or even fourth application
to soften all
of
the material clear down to
the fabric. Avoid
direct
sunlight and
temperatures above about
85
degrees
,
which will dry
the
solvents before they
have
had
time
to
perform their
task.
When the dope is pliable enough to allow
you to
do so
, heal the cracks by rub
bing the softened dope into them with
your finger , making the surface as smooth
as possible and avoiding furrows.
After
all the damaged areas have been
taken care of, a spray coat of rejuvenator
is
applied to the entire surface.
Rejuvenator
is
a special
blend of
sol
vents and plasticizers that are strong
enough to penetrate completely through
old , brittle or sun baked nitrate or bu
tyrate dope.
It will probably be necessary to reduce
or thin the material to get it to atomize
properly
for spraying . Use retarder or
retarding
thinner rather
than regular
dope thinner so that the surface will stay
wet long enough for the solvents to pene
trate the entire dope film . Unless yours
is a minimal thickness finish, a second ap
plication of rejuvenator will be required.
This
is
followed
by a coat of
non
taut
ening clear
butyrate dope before the re
juvenator has
cured
more than a few
hours. Clear dope doesn't make a good
topcoat as it will tend to yellow with age ,
so
a light
coat of
pigmented
dope
should
be applied as soon as practical. You will
find that the original trim stripes and reg
istration number lines are still quite evi
dent and it won't be difficult to mask off
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
14/36
by H G Frautschy
Details
Details
he
Custom category
of
the
judging
guidelines for Classic airplanes allows for
modification for those who prefer
an
air-
pl ne
with
a few
more
amenities. You
Frank
Sperandeo II/IS
can take
it
as far as you wish from the
simple addition of a shiny paint job to
an
otherwise stock Piper Cub ll the way to
Piper
PA 20/22
Pacer
what you see on these pages.
( '
cl ai
r:
c
8
w
i
o
o
(Above left) In
the
category of
aerodynamic mods, the wings saw
a
great deal
of
cleaning
up. On
top of
the wing, the aileron
horns
were
covered
by
a
pair of
fairings. The
light two
piece
affair fits
cleanly
over the
aileron
horns on both the top and the bot
tom of the wings, and as the aileron
is
moved, the fairings telescope inside
of
one
another.
The flap
hinges
were also given a sim
ilar
treatment. All of these
fairings
were made of
fiberglass. The
fairing molds were first built up with balsa wood,
and
then fash
ioned out of multi-directional glass cloth.
(Above center) Even the
lowly
tailwheel was given its proper attention. Yes, Frank assures me that
the
tailwheel springs were
baked
to
eliminate hydrogen embrittlement after chroming. Thin
plastic
spring shims are used to keep
the
springs
from
chafing
on each other.
(Above right) Good golly, even his tiedowns were given the polishing treatment! Frank improved upon the three spike tiedown by
putting a bushing, made of Nylatrona graphite impregnated nylon invented
by
Dupont. He also used
the
Nylatroll
for the
cable
fairleads. Teflon
was
used
for
the control yoke bushing mounted
in
the instrument
panel.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
15/36
ank
Sperandeo III
(EAA 387132)
of Fayetteville, AR wanted an airplane
he could fly,
but
he also
wanted
some-
thing beautiful
at
the same time, and to
his eye,
that
meant each and every sur-
face
and
fitting on his
airplane
was
to
be
worked
on . Each part was to be
machined to a gleaming
finish,
po l-
ished, painted and buffed to perfection
or
it didn
' t
get on
the airplane . He
works
as a design
engineer
teaching
students the fine art of manufacturing
design
processes
in
the
physics
lab
at
the
University of
Arkansas, and
solv-
ing difficult mechanical
problems is
just part of the job. His job routinely
involves tolerances as tight as 113 the
thickness of a
human
hair (1 mil).
Frank also enjoys the cha ll enge of
imagining modifications and then ma-
chining them
into reality. (He
's a
pretty hot banjo player too ) On his
Piper
PA-20-22
Pacer, Frank has 75
different modifications he worked into
the basic airframe.
Special spring-loaded gap sea ls on
the aerodynamic s
ur f
aces, based on
Frank's
design
of
a spring lo
aded
laser
mirror mount
for
the
physics lab
were
built and installed. During EAA
Oshkosh '94 they were some of the
most talked
about
modifications
made
to the airplane.
Seemingly easy changes were made
to the airplane to
make
using it just a
bit easier. The baggage door is
held
open by a
gas-charged
door
opener
adapted from
an
automotive app lica-
tion . Wh en the door is opened, a mi-
croswitch activates a pair of lights in-
side
the
compartment so you
can
see
what
you
are doing . A custom de
signed microchip circuit then turns off
the lights after
2 112
minutes. All doors
are carefully sealed with weatherstrip-
ping to preclude excess w
ind
noise,
and
the doors were
installed
with
at
The
instrument
panel
does not depart
from
the original configuration
as
far
as
instru-
ment layout is concerned, but it was extended 2 inches on the
bottom
to make room for
switches and
circuit
breakers. t features a pair of yokes salvaged
from
a Piper Seneca
II. t has a
few
electronic gadgets
that
were fun
for
Frank to create. They re detailed in
the
text. Full dual controls , including brakes, are included on this Pacer.
An
interesting
addition
to
the
panel is a small
receptacle
(on
the
far
left
bottom
of
the
panel)
for
the
external antenna of a handheld radio, just in case
the
panel mounted
unit
fails.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
16/36
tant
on
a
cross
country
trip,
because
he has two lon g range tanks installed.
Flying solo with the
tanks
filled to
the
brim with 64 gallons of 100 octane
gives him
an
endurance of nearly 7 112
hours
his
modifications
to
a
mInImum.
Amazing weight savings
were
realized
by shaving 17
pounds
from
the seat
cushions
-
the result
of
removing steel
springs
from
the
cushions
and
replac
ing them with progressive resistance
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
17/36
(Above) The engine
compartment
filled
with the
sparkling Lycoming 0-32OB2B en-
gine
won
Frank
a
special
Antique/Classic award for the Best Custom
Engine Instal-
lation.
He
says
that a big portion of the
credit
for the compartments looks go to
air-
craft restoration
mechanic
Bob Bell of Springdale, AR. The ripple free baffles and
firewall
have a fine brushed finish, and even the
rubber hoses
in the
compartment
get
special
treatment with some silicone
and ArmorAII.
On the
back of
the
stain-
less steel baffles,
you
can see the
twin
air
intakes
for
the cabin
heater. Frank
says
that
he has
not
experienced any engine cooling losses due
to
this
installation,
but
he
was
careful
to point
out that
the
baffles and the
cowling
are all tightly fitted, so
there are
few
air
leaks. The
cowl
tops are held in
place
by a
pair
of
chromed tele-
scoping
tubes that
are locked
in
place with a thumbscrew.
It s not
visible in this
view, but the engine oil cooler is relocated to the back left engine baffle, using
an
available STC. The fuel sample tester and mount are available from Sporty s Pilot
Shop - you ll have
to
add
your
own
chrome
plating.
(Above) The cowl has been extensively modified, beginning
with
the
filling
of all the
holes on
the bowl
save
for the
cylinder cooling holes and
carb air
intake.
A starter
from B C
Specialty,
manufacturers
of an STC d
unit
for the
Lycoming was
used,
eliminating the protruding starter drive on the front of the nosebowl. A new scoop
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
18/36
934
T OMPSON
TROP Y
The winners
57
Roscoe Turner -
Wedell Turner
248.13
mph
33
Roy Minor
-
Brown B 2
214.93 mph
92
John Worthen -
Wedell-WIlliams
92
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
19/36
1933
T OMPSON
TROP Y
paintings y rank Warren
The winners
44
Jimmy
Wedell
Wedell-WIlliams 44
237 95 mph
92 Lee
Gehlbach
Wedell-WIlliams 92
224 95
mph
38 Roy
Minor Howard Mike
199 87
mph
Others in
the race:
1 George Hague Rider R-2
54
ZD.
Granville
Gee
Bee
Y
2 Roscoe Turner Wedell Turner
Disqualified cut
pylon
had fastest lap speed in race 265 mph)
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
20/36
y
orm
etersen
When all the shouting was over and the
co-owners of
th e airplane are Gene
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
21/36
Hills Comm
unit
y Co
ll
ege. He then be
Above) Original
interior
and
instrument
panel of N7758T features
black and ivory coloring. Center console has knobby trim wheel
and
manual
flap
operating handle - a feature loved by
many
pilots.
In this
day and
age,
the chrome
ash
tray on the
left
wall looks
a
bit
superfluous Left) High
among the fleecy
white clouds, Gary
Granfors brings the award winning
172 in
close
for Jim
Koepnick's
camera. Mike
Richardson
is
in the right
seat.
Note the standard
landing
light
in
the
leading edge
of
the
left
wing.
Dual
21-gallon
wing tanks caps are visible on
top
of the 36-foot wing. Below)
Close friends since
fourth
grade, Mike Richardson on
the
left and
Gary Granfors on
the
right, pose in front of
the award
winning
Cessna 172.
3
J
E
=;
in the small
town
of Hampton, Iowa. Cessna award in the 1701172 175 classifica
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
22/36
Reserve Grand h mpion-
ontemporary lass
genu ine nose
wh
ee l fairing, installing ex
ha ust pipe ex tensions to help kee p th e
be lly clean and carefully placing the o rigi
na
l
deca
ls
(as rep
rodu
ce
d by M
oo
dy
Graphi cs in Florid a) in the ir
exac
t loca
tio n
s.
A full -fl ow oi l filt e r kit was in
stalled to he lp keep the o riginal Continen-
tal
0-300
engine
cl
ean interna
ll
y.
Perhaps nowhere e lse is t
ea
mwork so
import ant than in polishin g a metal air
plane. It takes gobs of elbow grease and
can be a rea l ph
ys
ical cha llenge , such as
layi ng on your back, polishin g th e be
ll
y
above
you . This kind of
work
will
soo
n
make a co nvert out
of
th e stro ngest be-
liever - a ll airplanes should be pa inted
However, this partic
ul
ar 172 came o ut of
the fac tory in
bare
metal and paint - and
th
at
was
th
e goal. The work began.
Using every kind of polish available to
get the oxidation and scratches removed,
the crew ended up with Rolite for the mir
ror-finish shine. In spite o f sore muscles,
the result s were quite spectacul ar. When
contrasted with the o riginal paint scheme
of ivo ry a
nd
oran
ge,
alo ng with bl ac k
numbers on the wing and tail , the result is
a pleasing combination of brilliant metal
and shiny paint. Again, the super de ta il
ing improves th e o v
era
ll i
mpr
ess ion and
add s the important accents, so necessa ry
to achieving a balanced loo k. It is readily
apparent the Cessna marketing people did
their homework in
196O
Th e 172 is flo
wn
stri ctly as a VFR air
plane in that it has a Comm radio, a Loran
C fo r naviga
ti
on and an EL
T. Th
e original
ventu ris on the s ide of th e fuse lage runs
the three gyros in the pane l. Everything in
the
int
e
ri
or is just like it came o ut of th e
facto ry in 1960. This includes the o
ri
ginal
Ow
ner 's Manu al an d ph otos from 1960,
de ta iling th e ai rplane. (A bout the only
thing missing is th e 1960 sectional chart
the fa ctory ferry pilot wo
ul
d have used on
the delivery
fl
ig
ht )
The Annual Inspection on th e airplane
w
as
done by ve ter a n m
ec
hani c, W
ade
Lowry (EAA 138970), of Airlake Indus
trial Airport. Wade went through the old
girl from stem to stern and said, This has
to be
th
e cl
ea
n
es
t ai
rpl
ane I h
ave
ever
seen "
And
Wade Lowry has seen quite a
few airplanes in his long span of yea rs as
an " IA." It was at this point the
fo
ur own
ers began to suspect th ey had a winner on
their hands.
Gary G ranfors an d
hi
s sidekick, Mike
Richardson,
fl
ew the pretty bird to EAA
Oshkosh '94 and the res t is hi story. Ou r
co ngr
at
ul a ti ons go out to th e " fa mo us
fo
ur
so me who have work ed so hard to
upgrad e the Cessna to champio nship cal
ibe
r.
We look forward to seeing your pol
ished swe pt t ai l" o n th e lin e a t EAA
Oshkosh '95. ....
nately no one was hurt T
HI
S time.
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
23/36
by Cy Galley
That Old ir Compressor Could be Deadly!
One of
the
first purchases when
setting up a shop is probab ly one of
those cheap roll-a-round air compres
sors . Just about
everybody
is on a
budget these days, and since they
work
and
you only need one occa
sionally, why not
save
a few
dollars?
Wherever there
are
tires,
or
parts
to
be cleaned, it comes in
very
handy .
An "old-timer" can tell you
that
it
will sandblast rusted parts and then
paint them
so they
look
like
new.
You can bust rusted nuts , cut off muf
flers, drill holes,
drive
rivets, run im
pact wrenches, plus
sand and
buff.
Very handy indeed without the
fear
of
electrocution
present with electri
cal
too
l
s.
What
some "old-timers"
don
't real
ize is that their old compressors are
also time bombs. Time bombs
j ust
waiting to kill or maim them
and
pos
sibly YOU.
What did yo u look for whe n you
went to
buy
your
co
mpressor?
Most
people look
to get
the most powerful
motor, the largest tank, the
most
cubic
foot per minute o u
tput
for
their
money . These are very
important
items for
sure , but do
we
check the
working pressure
rating, a
reliable
pressure re lief valve, or
an
easy work
not
in the corner
of
the barn . Twenty-five
years
of
typica l "put it in
the corner
of
the barn and
forget it service." Plug it
in when air was needed. Then forget it
'til next time. Well , the last time they
won ' t forget- it exploded
The
cylin
drical
tank
now looks like a pig- a fly
ing pig with its wings fully extended.
I t
was on wheels. They found one of the
wheels
at
the opposite end
of
the barn.
Th e
other
wheel
flew out
th e
door
never to be seen again
Mark brought it to our attention be
cause there are probably many, many
other
inexpensive compressor tanks
just waiting
to " getcha." The best
guess was
that
the
electrical
pressure
switch stuck.
Witho
ut a
safety
valve,
press
ure kept building 'til fina lly the
ta nk exploded
Why wasn 't there a mechanical pres
sure safety valve? So it could be sold at
a low price, this corner was cut. Fortu
I to o k t he re mai
ns
of
th
e t ank
home. Fro m the
ru
st line
on
th e in
side
of th
e ta
nk
, wate r had bee n sta
nd
ing in the b
otto
m of the ta nk at least a
co up le inc hes dee p for a long, lo ng
t
im
e. Su r
pr i
s
in
gly, th e co nd e n
sate
dr ain valve was we ll worn by th e pli
ers
u
se
d
to
open and cl
ose
it
afte
r the
ha ndle
br
o ke. T he ta nk o nce had a
wa
ll thickn ess of 0.060 in. - af ter the
fai lu
re,
it now m easures about 0.020,
with heavy
pittin
g a t
th
e
rup
t
ur
e line.
Unbelievably all the welds held.
B
efo
r e Ma rk unv e il e d the de
s t roye d ta nk at o u r meet ing I ha d
h eard
of
ta nk ex plos ions,
bu
t had
never seen the results. I took the tank
home to wri te this
ar t
icle and started
aski ng q u
estions.
Ot
her members
started telling me
compressor
stories.
One
was
ab out a fairly
new
rig. The
owner
left it p lugged in so that he had
air without a wait. Coming back from
town one day, he noticed a hole in
the
metal roof of his shop.
Yep the
re
mains
of the
compressor, tank,
and
all
were
out behind the
shed.
I
called
several compressor
sales
companies.
Some comments
were
downright
hos
tile. Why all
the
hostility?
They
were
upset that
the unknowing
trusting
public were buying these
cheap
out
fits, and that they
could
not compete
with
the
low
prices.
Yet they were
also concerned
that
these
low priced
rigs down
the road
,
IF not
correctly
maintained
and checked,
could be
killers.
What does
this
ruptured tank
tell
us? Ch
eck your comp
ressor
set
up, es
pecially if it is inexpensive .
Does
it
have a
worki
ng safety valve? f the
when yo u insta ll that
new
hot water
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
24/36
The corrosion found on the inside of this air compres
sor tank
is quite severe. As you
can see
the welded
seam
of
the tank
held
when
the
steel
tank
ruptured
.
tank
s
several years old , you might
do
a
hydrostatic
pressure test.
For the
test, the tank is completely filled with
water,
and
then
pressure is app lied
with a
hand pump.
Then if
the tank
ruptures, the
incompressible
water
will
spurt
out. The difference in how
the
water
under pressure will rupture
the failure prone tank can be ex
plained with the
analogy of a water
filled balloon - rather
than
the
loud
explosive bang you get
when
you
over
fill a balloon with gas, a
completely
filled
water balloon will simply
"sploosh its
contents out
all
over
the
floor.
Oddly
enough,
Jim
Smith, our
other
Technical
Counselor , said that
even though an air tank can be a prob
lem , it
wasn't
as big a
problem
as
the
common
hot
water tank in
every
home . Every hot
water
heater shou ld
factor of 1600
times
. t is
instant
rocket
time.
He
has pictures of the
roof exit points of several water
heaters. Navy guys shou ld remember
that carrier launches are done
with a
steam catapult,
because
of
this very
large
expansion figure. So make sure
tank
, to also install a new relief valve.
From my research,
the test
pres
sure for hydrostatic testing is 150
per
cent your working pressure, i.e.
150
psi if
you
turn the
compressor
off at
100 psi .
There
are standards
for tanks in the
work place determined
by
the Ameri
can Society of Mechanical Engineers.
You can
inspect
ASME rated tanks
with working pressures
of
125
and
200
psi. These
can
be visually inspected as
they have a large
enough
plug so you
can insert a mirror and light.
If OSHA
comes
around, the
safety
pressure
re
lief valve
better
be
set
for these work
ing pressures
or
it
s
big fine time.
Your
safety valve should not be for
more than
100 psi , which is the work
ing pressure for most non-ASME
cheap
tanks. Before you run the pres
sure above the rated pressure on your
ta nk, take
another
look at the pictures
with this story.
Do
you rea lly want to
do
a
dynamic
tank
test
inside
your
sh
op?
So
safety
check your
tank.
See that
it has a working safety valve.
Do
a hy
drostatic pressure test if it has
been
in
use severa l years.
Make
it a
habit to
drain
your ta nk
after
use before quit
ting for the day. Waiting unti l the
next
time yo
u use the compressor
might
be months. Months that just
might corrode your tank into a Time
Bomb
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
25/36
IVII T OUR
MEMBERS
RE
RESTORING
by Norm
Petersen
are
then put in the 1979
T-Craft
F-19, N2004A, S N F
153, powered with a Lycoming 0-235
with
complete
e lectrical systems, radios, gyros and the works to finish
out
their Private license requirements - and never be ex
posed to a nosewheel
There
are a considerable num
ber of students
who
desire this exact
type
of training
and are extremely proud when they receive their ticket.
The contactperson at the club
is
Merton Meade, Jr.,
P
O. Box 1132, Leesburg,
VA
22075.
Vintage Aeroplanes of Leesburg
These two Taylorcraft airplanes are specifically used
for
training
brand new students in the joys of flying a
tailwheel aircraft. The first is a 1946 T-Craft BC-12D,
N422JE,
S N
9689, powered with a Continental A65 and
swinging a wooden propeller.
The
students are taken up
through their first dual cross-country in this airplane
complete with hand propping and
the
whole bit. They
Don Macor's Republic RC-3 Seabee
This beautiful
photo of Don
Macor s
Republic Seabee, N6224K,
S N
430, was
sent in by his good friend , Bruce Dudley
(EAA
347684, A C 21819) of Duluth , MN.
A
nearly
original
Seabee,
it still has
the
Franklin
B9-F engine
of
215 hp, control
lable prop
and
wing splates. The Seabee
had
been
laying derelic t for 23 years when
Don
acquired the project and proceeded
with the lon g rebuild.
He
literally had to
teach the Seabee how to
fly
again - it's fly-
ing very well now and really looks sharp in
its
original
silver
and blue paint scheme.
The
Seabee
is based
at
Sky
Harbor
Air
port and Seaplane Base on the east end of
the
Duluth
harbor, a most de lightful
spot
for watching seaplanes come and go.
Lee Parsons' Waco QCF-2
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
26/36
This
photo
of
Waco
QCF-2, NC11427, S N 3488, was
sent in by
Tony
Morozows ky , who
took
it
at their
Zanesville, OR, fly-in. The aircraft has been owned by
Le
e P
arso
ns (EAA 304394, A C 12214)
of Carreiton
,
Ohio, since he
bou
ght it from Bill
Gieb
in 1962. A com
plete restoration
was
don
e from 1970 to 1976 including
a new Contine
nt
al 220 hp engine from Cliff
Du
Charme
at West Bend, WI. T he Waco won
the
Si lver Age Run
n
er-up
tr
op
hy
at Oshkosh
'76
and
the Best Customized
Champion
Antique
at
Oshkosh
'78. t also
garnered the
Grand
Champion Trophy at the AAA Fly-In at Blakes
burg, lA , in '76. Lee is also restoring a second F-2 since
retiring as a Captain
for USAir. With
over
30,000
hours
in his l
ogbook, he
feels
very
fortunate
to hav
e
flown
DC-3
up through the "glass
cockpit"
of
the
7571767
Frakes Turbine Mallard, G-73
This
pretty
photo of a Turbine
Grum
man Mallard , N609SS,
SIN
1-09, nosed up
on a sandy shore in
Puerto
Rico, was
sent
in by Capt. Michael Steers (EAA 480778)
of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Al
though
quite modern
looking,
the Grum
man Mallard was manufactured in the late
1940's and
is
12 years
older than
Michael ,
who taught the
owner
how to
fly
the air
plane and acquire a
rating
t was con
verted
to
turbine power
by Frakes Avia
tion
which in
conjunction with
the fully
reversing propellers, allows the airpl
ane
to
push itself away from shore.
The
original
e
ngines
were
P&W
R-1340 's of 600
hp
.
There are presently 32 Grumman Mallards
remaining on the U.S. register.
. t f r : ~
/ jJ." ')
So
went
a quick exchange of letters a
few weeks back. Dick had purchased our
8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995
27/36
(
t
r ., . ;
by
Buck
Hi
lbert EAA 21 Ale
5
P.O. Box
424
Union
, IL 60180
Dear Buck,
I
was always
under
the
impression that
years
ago there was
a type of
Hobbs
meter
that was used to record the engine hours
on
aircraft that
did
not have
an
electrical
system. My thinking is that the
recording
instrument was activated
by the
vibration
of
the running engine. In on