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8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Aug 2007
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G OFF
RO ISO
N
PRESIDENT VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION
Volunteers and
speaking
up
The big show
is
now only days away,
and I am busy preparing myself to be
gone from
the
office for
an extended
period
of
time. In fact I will be
in
Oshkosh for a total of 19 days on this
trip.
Our
annual July Vintage Aircraft
Association VAA) work party is set for
the weekend ofjuly 13-15 this year.
t
amazes me each year
the
number
of individuals who will travel hundreds
of miles to
engage
themselves in the
always-extensive efforts to prepare the
grounds at Wittman Field for each
EM
AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The
VM will typically schedule at least three
different volunteer work weekends, and
we
will see dozens of individuals arrive
solely for the purpose of volunteering
their
personal time
to
prepare
the
Vintage area of the convention grounds.
That 's not
to mention
the
dozens
of
folks
who will arrive
as
early
as
April and
actually stay right through AirVenture,
volunteering their
time performing a
myriad of duties.
As you can imagine, a fair amount
of these folks are retired
and
find this
sort
of volunteering
rewarding.
EAA
has been
so successful in
upholding
outdoor theater was reportedly shocked
and
amazed
when the
movie
ended
and the hundreds of happy campers got
up
to leave. Typically
the owner
hires
several individuals to do cleanup of the
theater area at the end of each evening.
His amazement
was based on
the
fact
that when everyone left, typical to EM's
high
standards,
there
was virtually
no
trash or debris left behind for his crew
to clean up. In a normal evening, his
crew would work several hours policing
the area of all the trash. This gentleman
has been providing this outdoor theater
service for many years
and
had never
witnessed a phenomenon of this sort
in all that time. That certainly speaks
volumes about our fellow members
and your strong support
of
EM s high
standards of quality and cleanliness.
The issue
of
user fees for general
aviation continues
to be big news
in
most all of the aviation publications.
Are you getting the feeling,
as
I am, that
the
virtual camel has
now
successfully
managed to get its very large nose under
the tent flap by imposing a
number
of
new and more expensive user
fees?
f
the
ATA
and FAA
win, user fees are certain
for us to stay airborne. However, based
on the volume and extensiveness of the
rhetoric
we continue
to hear from th e
airlines and the current administration,
I strongly suspect that we are beginning
to see
only
a small
portion
of what
is
likely to be a large iceberg
that
is being
developed inside the beltway. Do we
really
want
to
see a fee-based system
based on a European model? Look what
it's done to limit civilian aviation on
that side of the Atlantic
The airlines are
determined to shift
as
much of the expense of the system to
as many of the hobbyist, non-revenue
aviators as
they possibly
can. What
can we "little guys" do? What should
our
reaction be ,
and
how
can
we be
as effective as possible in combating
these burdensome changes? The best
approach I can recommend is for us all
to
remain
vocal. In fact,
at
this
point
we need to do even more by turning up
the
volume
and continuing
to inform
our
representatives that these changes
are overly burdensome and expensive.
Yes, I would agree that a number of our
representatives have really done a good
job of supporting general aviation. So
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G
N E
AUGUS T
VOL. 35, No 8
2 7
CONTENTS
Fe
Straight&Level
Volunteersandspeakingup
byGeoffRobison
2
News
5 Lockheed
12A
TheWhittleseyfamily's68-year-old limo
byBuddDavisson
1
TheGoldenWestEAA RegionalFly-In
Lookwhat'sgrowinginCalifornia'sCentralValley
byH.G.Frautschy
15 What Our MembersAre Restoring
8 Woolaroc
TheWinnerofthe 1929Dole
Race
by
Ed
Phillips
5
GettingYour
A&P
Rating
PartII - Long-in-the-tooth
A&P
students
byDaveClark
3 Pass
It
to Buck
Changein
the
air
byBuckHilbert
34
TheVintageInstructor
"Therearetwoemergencyexitson this
PA-12
aircraft
"
byDougStewart
ST FF
36
MysteryPlane
E
Publisher
Tom Poberezny
byH.G.Frautschy
Director of E Publications
David
Hipschman
Executive Director/Editor
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V
Board Expands
Contemporary
Judging Category
The VM Contemporary judging cat
egory has been expanded to include
aircraft built up to December
31
, 1970,
from December 31,1967. This change,
made by the
EM
Vintage Aircraft
Asso
ciation's board of directors, gives EM
and
VM
members who have restored
many
of the capable personal aircraft
of the late 1960s an opportunity to par
ticipate in EAA s world-class judging
program. This distinction also allows
those aircraft to be insured
through
VAA s
aircraft insurance program, ad
ministered by
AUA
Inc.
Effective
starting
with this
year's
EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh
2007, the
VAA s
internationally recognized
judging categories are:
- Antique: Aircraft built prior to
September I , 1945
- Classic: September I, 1945 - De
cember 31, 1955
- Contemporary: January I , 1956-
December 31, 1970
Rim Roller
Pete Gorman of Lake Worth, Flor
ida, wrote to us looking for someone
who
could
form a
unique
tire rim.
Pete's building a Fokker
D-VII
replica
and
needed to make a pair of 23- by
2.75-inch rims.
As
so often happens,
as
soon
as
he wrote
us,
he
found
someone
with
the
adjustable rim
forming machine he needed,
and
he
E
Chapter
1
Makes
V Friends
of the
Red am Donation
Vintage Aircraft Association Chapter 10, Tulsa, has been a Friends
of
the Red Barn FORB) contributor since its origin, always contributing at
the top level each year
of
the program s existence. This year the chapter
is a Diamond Plus contributor. For more information on the VAA
FORB
program, please visit http: VintageAircraft.org/programs/redbarn.html
or call 920-426-6110.
The chapter is actively involved with all spor t aviation activities in the
Tulsa area. It is a co-sponsor
of
the Annual Tulsa Regional
Fly-In, www.
TulsaFlyln.com as well as strong volunteer supporters of the Biplane
Expo.
The
chapter has co-hosted the EAA B-17 Aluminum Overcast for
all
of
its Tulsa tour stops as well as the
Ford
Tri-Motor in
2006
, and it
will host the Tri-Motor on its
2007
tour on September 13-16, 2007
The
Tulsa EAA chapters are unique in that they are all Chapter 1O in
addition to VAA Chapter 10, the other Tulsa chapters include EAA Chapter
10, lAC Chapter 10, Ultralight Chapter 10, and Warbird Squadron 10.
endary Aircraft
Kft,
Gyor-Per Airport,
9099
Per,
Hungary. Cell phone: +36
20/9188009,
Phone: +3696547038,
Fax: +3696547039. E-mail:
info@War-
H-P
, which resulted in
EM
receiving a
considerable discount from
H-P
on the
purchase of 150 of the company's iPaq
handheld computers.
http://vintageaircraft.org/programs/redbarn.htmlhttp://vintageaircraft.org/programs/redbarn.htmlhttp://vintageaircraft.org/programs/redbarn.htmlhttp:///reader/full/TulsaFlyln.comhttp://vintageaircraft.org/programs/redbarn.htmlhttp:///reader/full/TulsaFlyln.com
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omet
Model
News DVD
I'd bet that the vast majority of our members started out in aviation by
build ing models when they were young. Before World Wa r II , the Comet
Model Airplane
&
Supply Company was one of the most prolifi
c
churni
ng
out thousands
of
ki
ts
sold by more than 6,
000
dealers worldwide. There
were not too many million dollar businesses built during the depths of the
Great Depression , but Comet was one that made
it
big. Bill Bibich kow and
Sam
Go ldenberg began their business in the back
of
Bi ll 's father' s tailor
shop on
the near west side of Chicago. They made a pro
fi
t from the very
beginning, with innovative designs that flew well
and
could
be
construct
ed
by
youngsters of nearly all ages.
One of the
300
employees who work
ed
for Comet during t hose heady
days was Eddie Kapitanoff, who served as the company 's We st
Co
ast
salesman.
In add
ition to being
an
effective salesma
n
Edd
ie had a hobby
that served to preserve Comet's history; he was
an av
id photographer,
skilled with both a sti
ll
camera
and
movie film. This treasure trove of mate
ri
al
, do rmant in the fam ily collection for many years, served as the basis
for Nancy Kapitanoff's short documentary,
The
Comet Model
Ne
ws
now
ava ilable
on
DVD
. Ms. Kapitanoff is the daughter of Edd ie and his wife ,
Comet's former bookkeeper. Using the information from the company
newsletters
that
Nancy's mother saved , Nancy has skillfully woven the
stills and movie footage shot by both her father and Bill Bibich kow (inclu
d
us. The new units will streamline the
judging process,
and
take
what is
al
ready
the
world standard for aircraft
judging to even greater heights.
H-P is also
now
the
new
technol
ogy sponsor of the
EAA
Aircraft Judg
ing Program. AeroShell Flight Jacket
is the official sponsor of the judging.
EAA s New Video
Player
is
one for all
Perhaps you were one of the thou
sands of members who
atten
ded
EAA
AirVenture, or you missed it this year,
and you want to see what you missed.
Whichever the case, we invite
you to visit the EAA AirVenture web
site at your
earliest
convenience
and check out the new video player
there. Hosted by a company called
Brightcove
and
sponsored
by
Micro
soft and RotorWay, it's available 24/7.
The player allows aviation enthusi-
asts around the world to experience
AirVenture wherever and whenever
they want.
One of its features allows viewers to
also be producers; EAA members can
upload their own videos, providing
a potentially endless variety of per
spectives on
the
world of flight, and
naturally, we're expecting a lot of sub
missions from this year's AirVenture.
The first user submission arrived just
a few days after
the
player was made
available online at www AirVenture org
U S
Air Force
Maj
. Paul Max Moga,
an
F-22 pilot who
is
slated to
fly
one
of the advanced fighter aircraft at
Os
hkosh this year, posted a five-minute
clip showing a recent air show demon
http:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.orghttp:///reader/full/www.AirVenture.org
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Reach
for
the
Sky
At
EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh
2007,
a Learn to
Fly
Center staffed
by EAA
and the National Association
of
Flight
Instructors provides inspiration
and
in
formation for those who desire to learn
to
fly
but haven t
yet realized
their
dream.
As
part
of
that outreach
EAA
produced a
new
publication
Reach for
the Sky
which explains the process
of learning to fly. The new piece also
includes a guide to
ali
of the available
special light-sport aircraft.
each for the Sky
is also
now
available in
format to download
from
www.EAA.org
so
you
can share
a copy with your friends who might
be
interested
in
learning to fly. Avia-
tion newcomers are faced with the
potentially intimidating jargon
of
fly
ing airport fences and the attitude
of
exclusivity exhibited
by
some pilots.
Reach for the Sky
is EAA s
effort
to
remove these and other barriers and
and the public are seeking richer and
more immediate multimedia content
delivered via the Internet.
Other features : The Brightcove
player has a built-in syndication com
ponent, allowing
any
EAA member or
chapter to host the video
player
on
a website, blog, or other web-based
medium.
Other
enhanced features
include an RSS (really simple syndi
cation)
feed, sharing content with
friends via
e-mail,
and
imbedding
individual clips
into your own
blogs
and websites.
It's
available
right now. All
you
need
is
a broadband Internet connec
tion and the Macromedia Flash player
installed
on your
computer.
Log on
and tune in
at
www.AirVenture arg
FAA
Issues
Young
Eagles
Exclusion to
Air
Tour
Rule Requirements
The FAA
delivered on a
promise
made earlier in the year by issuing an
amendment to the National
Air
Tour
Safety Standards rule to specifically ex
clude EAA Young Eagles flights from
the
rule's tighter requirements.
As
originally
written,
the
rule would have adversely
affected the Young Eagles program by
limiting what aircraft could be used, as
well as placing additional restrictions
on pilot qualifications and frequency of
Young
Eagles activities.
Of course,
EAA
already received
the
exclusion in February in
the
form of a
letter from FAA headquarters
to EAA
President Tom Poberezny. That letter
stated that the rule does not apply to
Young Eagles flights where
the
pilot
nal rule applies to only Young Eagles
flights that are flown for compensa
tion
or hire,
but the
rule does not ap
ply to other Young Eagles flights .
Good
01 Days
: Pioneer Airport
EAA Pioneer Airport's annual liv
ing aviation history event, Good 01'
Days,
is
August 18-19,
bringing
the
excitement and adventure of avia
tion's golden age back to life.
Good 01'
Days features a family
activity
center where
kids will
have
the opportunity to play games that
were
popular
back in the day. A va
riety of vintage vehicles
on display
add
to the
experience,
and
attendees
will have a chance to ride
around
the
EAA grounds in a Vintage, pre
WWll
vehicle. Other activities in
clude
a
time
capsule
opening,
pie
eating and Charleston dance con
tests,
and
special flightline displays
and
tours.
Pioneer
staff
and
volun
teers will be
dressed
in period cos
tume,
adding even
more flavor
to
the event.
Of course, visitors can also take an
airplane ride
in one of
EAA s
fleet of
Pioneer aircraft, including the 1929
Ford Tri-Motor,
1929
Travel Air bi
plane,
1927 Swallow biplane , and
several Young Eagles airplanes. Ad
mission to EAA members is always
free,
and
Good
01'
Days is included
with regular museum
admission
for
nonmembers.
Whodunit?
Murder and intrigue abound at Pio-
neer Airport ... can you solve the crime?
http:///reader/full/www.EAA.orghttp://www.airventure.arg/http://www.airventure.arg/http://www.airventure.arg/http://www.airventure.arg/http://www.airventure.arg/http://www.airventure.arg/http:///reader/full/www.EAA.orghttp://www.airventure.arg/
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The cabin s outstanding appointments extend
to the
cock
-
pit
.
The
center
console
includes
a
nifty cover
du
plicating
the look of the
old autopilot
which
covers
th
e
modem
The stately cabin of the
Whittlesey
Lockheed is
perfectly
ap
r
adios when the
aircraft
is on display
.
and I took
both
Wacos across
the
U.S.
and barnstormed a
bunch
of Waco
fly
ins and also made it to Oshkosh, where
the ZPF won a Bronze Lindy. We called
the trip '2001, A Biplane Odyssey.' The
only thing better
than
flying across the
U.
S. in
a couple
of
biplanes is
having
your dad fly one of them.
This is a man who isn't afraid to ven
ture out in
his
old
airplanes, feeling
that, if they are properly maintained
and
were mechanically 100 percent at
the beginning, there's
no
reason
they
shouldn't rival a
modern
airplane for
both utility and reliability. Plus,
they
have the
added benefit of providing
much classier transportation.
I had always admired
the
polished
12A
owned
by Sandy and Kent Blan
kenburg, but it wasn't until '96, when I
saw serial number 1277 at the Stagger
wing Fly-In at
Bill
Allen's
on
Gillespie
Field in San Diego,
that
I saw
them
in
pointed for long-distance cruising.
wife was very reluctant in
putting
the
plane up for sale.
We
started e-mailing
back
and
forth about the plane,
and
I
finally made
an
offer
that
was rejected.
I e-mailed my best and final offer from
work before the Thanksgiving holiday
and
left for
the
long weekend. I came
back into work and checked my e-mail
and
to find
out
that she
had
accepted
my
last offer.
When
I
told my
wife, I
reassured her that this was not a proj
ect, that we had bought a flyer that just
needed a little work. She still periodi
cally reminds me of
that
conversation,
even
though
she really loves
what
we
did with the airplane.
The Lockheed 12A is an interesting
airplane, if nothing else because it has a
massive identity problem: Far too many
people
mistake it
for a Twin Beech,
which
is
frustrating for Lockheed own
ers because, to their eye, the long lines
and sleek, chopped-windshield look of
Treasury Department to become part of
a Lend-Lease package headed for Eng
land. She became part of the
RAF
and
for the balance of the war did utility and
liaison duties before being discharged in
1945. Rumor has it
that
even Winston
Churchill rode in her.
For the next 17 years
she
passed
through a number of hands before be
coming part of a short-haul airline in
France being operated by a Monsieur
Chapeau. This was 1962,
and
for the
next 20 years Monsieur Chapeau con
tinued flying 1277 all over Europe.
He
would probably still be doing it but
as
he
coasted past his 78th bi rthday the
French government took an increas
ingly dim view of him continuing to act
as
chief pilot. It would be nice to know
more about characters such as Monsieur
Chapeau because he wasn't about to sit
on
the ground while other people
flew
his airplanes.
So
he
unceremoniously
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plane and it was sent to Florida. In the
process, he decided to sell the airplane,
and
it was bought by Dave Swanson,
who had the work finished.
If
you've been reading closely, you'll
note that from 1939 until Whittlesey
purchased her in 2002-a period of
63
years
there
were no significant dor
mant periods in the airplane's life .
It
spent little or
no
time tied down, col
lecting bird droppings . In fact, for
the
majority of its life
S N
1277 has been a
working airplane. This might be some
kind of record.
When
Whittlesey was sitting
at
his
computer in sunny Southern Califor
nia negotiating the purchase, it was the
dead of winter everywhere else in the
country. Especially in New Hampshire,
where the airplane was based. This
caused a problem Whittlesey hadn t re-
ally conSidered,
as
it would be
one
of
the worst winters in years.
Pa
rt of the deal was to have the air
plane receive
an
annual.
When
we ce
mented the deal,
i t
started snowing in
New Hampshire and did not stop until
spring. There was
so
much snow
on
top
of the hangar, the roof sagged and the
door would
not open.
You could
not
get the airplane out to complete an an
nual, and so there she sat until the fol-
lowing spring.
"I could not go out and get her, so a
family friend, 'Captain
Kirk'
Mcquown,
a good stick (he soloed 14 planes on his
16
th
birthday), and my dad flew back
to pick her up. When they were flying
the airplane home,
they
began to get
an inkling of how tired the old girl was,
and when
we
started poking into her in
One
unique
aspect
of
the
retractable
landing
gear
is the factory addition of
a pair of
mud
guards installed on the
gear.
In the interest of
maintainabil·
ity
Whittlesey installed
Twin Beech
tires wheels
and
brakes to replace the
nearly
impossible
to find air wheels
and
original
brakes.
working with an aluminum airframe
that is more than six decades old,
an
interesting process takes place. First,
you think that most of the aluminum
is
still flyable, so you'll replace only the
panels that have corrosion
or
are re
ally beat up. So, you replace one. In
stantly the perfection of the new panel
brings out previously unnoticed im
perfections in
the
surrounding panels.
Although Whittlesey didn't say so in so
many words, the fact that he wanted to
The
nose features
a
forward baggage
compartment
but you ll need a ladder
to access it.
again if left on the bench .
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Aug 2007
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were being sawed through by
the cables."
A sticking poin t for Lock
(Left
to right
Neil Whittlesey
(Les'
father ,
Jim Heinemann,
project
manager;
··Captain
Kirk
Me
Quown,
flight Instnldor and -
heed 12A owners is
the
main
gear
tires; they
aren t
easily
available, if at all. The originals
were
smooth
doughnut
types
and are no longer available.
I
didn't want to modify any
thing,
but the
tires and brakes
just weren t going
to
work on
a long-term basis. While I love
the look, the old-style tires and
brakes are impossible
to
come
by, and
the last
thing
r
wanted
to worry
about
were odd tires
and ancient brakes. So, we just
bit the bullet and went with
Twin Beech tires, wheels, and
brakes. They aren't original, but
r can service them
and don t
have to worry about them."
Totally
remanufacturing
(not restoring) an airplane like a Lock
heed 12A isn't something you take on
solo, and Whittlesey recognized that.
As
much as he would have liked to be able
median; Lindy
Whittlesey,
14); Les; his
wife
Susan;
Steve
Dotson,
aircraft Allie
Whittlesey
(12); and Dave w.anr.an_
craft restorer.
delivered over a 100 airplanes for Mc
Donnell Douglas and Boeing, so he had
plenty of experience in managing com
plex airplanes. We started this in
03
In the
decades prior
to World War II,
the Sportsman
Pilots
Association
cre-
ated
crests for use
by the members
on
their aircraft. Whittlesey
decided
that
in
the same
spirit, he'd create one for
his
family. The W
is seN·explanatory,
and the LS stand for Les and Susan,
his wife. The LA
stands
for their
daughters,
Lindy and
Allison.
Lindy
is
named for Charles
Lindbergh,
and Al-
lison for
the
great World
War II
fighter
engine of
the
same
name.
li he cowlings on the airplane were
perfectly usable, but when you're look
ing at a round motored airplane, what's
the first thing that catches your eye? The
motors, right?
So
the cowlings had to be
redone, which opened an entire can of
worms because you don't just go to your
local scrap yard
and
come up with a set
of Lockheed 12A cowlings. They were a
very specific shape, and the only way we
were going to get them was by building
http:///reader/full/w.anr.anhttp:///reader/full/w.anr.an
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overstuffed, limousine
feel
to them, and
to do the Lockheed's interior any other
wa
y would be cheating
on
the experi
ence of flying in the airplane.
The original floor boards were ply
wood sandwiches with balsa cores,
which, of course,
don t
carry
much
of
a fire rating,
so we
opted to go
to
alu
minum skins
on
a balsa core
in
those
areas for safety reasons. But
for
the up
holstery and headliner
we
went strictly
1930s. We used original factory photos
for the location of changes in materials.
The headliner
is
the old mohair style,
while the sidewalls have a wooden belt
strip, like wainscoting, running around
the
interior
under the
windows
with
leather
up
to
that.
All
the
fabric was
purchased from
an
antique auto inte
rior company,
and then we
had it
fire
proofed. Yanks
had
a complete set of
plans, and we used those to rebuild all
the seats, which are all different at each
location, so
not one is the
same. The
plans were invaluable,
as we
even cop
ied where
the
welt cords went on
the
seats. We even put the hat netting back
in, as everyone wore hats back then.
Being a mini-airliner, the
12A
had a
toilet, and that's a story of its own.
Considering how old the airplane
is
and how many owners had worked it,
it
was
pretty amazing to find it still had
the original toilet. While
on
the surface
it
was
a little primitive, it was pretty ad
vanced, with spring-loaded doors and
a vent attached to the back to suck
out
any fumes . The bathroom even had
an
ashtray, which I found amazing, since
the airplanes
had
the option to have
two 50-gallon fuel tanks installed be
When Whittlesey did the
instru
ment
panel on his family liner, he had
another
of those how original do
I
go? decisions to make. He wanted to
fly
this airplane as if
i t
were a modern
twin, which meant including items that
didn't exist in 1938.
We really wanted to keep to the orig
inality of the time period of the aircraft
while also including avionics that were
provided for greater utility
and
safety.
One of the team, Dave Waterman, took
out
the entire control console
and
in
strument panel and completely rebuilt
them. We reinstalled all the old instru
ments, even down to the clock. To make
things as original
as
possible, Dave even
made a cover from the old 1939 autopi
lot that we could place over the modern
radios when
we
went to air shows. This
way we could have a functional panel
and keep it looking original.
It is amazing how small today's avi
onics are
compared to
the
old
ones.
Where the original
autopilot
was, we
were able to fit a Garmin GPS 480, an
MX-20 with satellite weather, a Mode S
transponder, a SL-40 second radio, and
the audio panel with marker beacon.
As the restoration progressed, Whittle
sey began to think about re-registering it
because it carried a personalized N num
ber applied
by
a former owner, Hilton.
The airplane came
out of the
fac
tory December 27, 1939, registered as
NC18900. A quick search showed that
number
was
now on
a Ryan SCW
and
the
owner
wasn t
going
to
give it up.
I
didn t want the
personalized license
plate look, so I searched the FAA web
site for available N numbers
and
came
Steve Dotson
and
Lefty McGluck
ian, two very good sheet metal men at
Chino, worked
on
those wingtips right
up to the
first flight. I
think the paint
on
the bottom of the wingtip was even
still tacky when they were put on. That
is
one thing
we
don't want to ever have
to do again, and I think the guys would
agree with me.
The Whittlesey family
is
now enjoy
ing their aerial limo. The trip back from
Oshkosh was the first trip
the
family
had made in the plane, as she had only
seven hours
on
her when she left Chino
for her first air show
at
Oshkosh. The
whole family participated
on
the return
trip back, with Susan, his wife, and his
girls, Lindy (14)
and
Allison
(12)-yes,
they were named after Charles Lind
bergh
and the
Allison engine helping
from the copilot seat in flying her back.
In fact, all
of
the kids' stick time has
been in either the Wacos or the Lock
heed. Since then, SN/1277 has won the
prestigious Paul E. Garber Trophy at the
National Aviation Heritage Invitational
at the Reno Air
Races.
Still, as perfect as
the
airplane ap
pears,
is
there anything that Whittlesey
still feels
isn't complete?
I'm still looking
for
an original lens
that
the red warning light on the nose
used, he says. I had to make one out
of acrylic
and
it looks right,
but
it isn't
right. I have the Lockheed part number
for the lens, which is cast glass, but still
haven't come up with one.
Also,
the air
plane originally came with hat clips
for
the interior, like
on
the back of chairs at
old diners.
We
would love to get some
of
those. And lastly,
an
original sales
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The
Golden
West
EAA
Fly-In
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Dan
Schurph
of Placerville, California,
has owned
his Aeronca
Sedan
since
the early 1970s.
Equipped
with a
seaplane
door
on
the left
side and
supplemental type
certificated
metal
fuel tanks, he's hoping it will go to a family interested
in
a classic airplane, as
he
has it up
for sale. It won the
Champion
Classic trophy.
The best of the bunch
in
the
antique
category is Jerry Impellezzeri's
masterful restoration of a Travel Air
E-4000. We'll have
an
article
on
this
outstanding restoration
in
a future
issue of Vintage Airplane
It
was
the
winner of
the Antique
Grand
Champion of the Golden West EAA
Regional
Fly-In.
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The
newest
of the EAA regional
fly-ins has moved around abit in
the Central Valley
of
California, an
area
known
as
one
of
the
most
fertile vegetable- and fruit-
growing regions of the
United
States. The
weather
and
hos
pitality is
conducive to the
growth of Fly-Ins,
too,
if the
Golden
West
fly-in is any in
dication. The event seems
to
have found agreat home in
Marysville,
a
small
city
near
the
state
capital of Sacra
mento. Insulated from
the
Pacific maritime climate
by
the mountains
to
the west, the valley
seems
to
have perpetual V R weather. As
I m
a
confirmed
northern
Midwesterner,
the dry
summer
weather is
a
bit
of
cui
ture
shock
for
me,
but it s easy
to
get
used to. I always enjoy a
trip
out west
to
visit
with
members and
friends who
I
don t
see
nearly enough, and
to
mar
vel at
their fantastic restorations.
Our
thanks
to members Rand Siegfried,
Kent
and Sandy Blankenburg, Paul Price, and
Golden West
President John
Gibson for
their
hospitality and
help during our
all
too-brief
visit to
the Golden West.
The
11th Golden West EAA Regional Fly-In is
scheduled for June 6-8, 2008.
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These four family
members
were just a
few
of the thou
The
older Aeronca-styIe
oleo
landing gear is a
clue
that this is
an early
sands of people who passed through the
gates
of the Champion
Citabria_ It was
flown to the
Golden West
Fly-In by Don Johnston
Golden West
Fly-In_
of Davis, California and took home the
Contemporary
Champion award.
The
Reserve Grand
Champion
Clas
sic of the Golden West was Brett
Scheidel s
Cessna
195.
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Ben Mueck and
his
family gather
next
to Ben s
re-
cently
completed restoration of this rare
Curtiss-
Wright Travel Air Speedwing. Ben s had the project
for
more
than 35 years. Hwas originally owned by
Casey Lambert in
St.
Louis. Last
year
at
the Reno
National Championship
Air
Races,
EAA
Founder
Paul Poberezny
presented
Ben with a photo of the
plane
taken
when
Lambert
owned it.
Lambert
and
Poberezny became friends when Lambert retired to
the
north woods of
Wisconsin,
and
Lambert
buiH a
Baby Ace
on
flo ts that now resides in the
EAA
Air-
Venture Museum.
The photo
helped
Mueck finalize
his
restoration s details.
The
Mueck family s CoW
Speedwing
won
the
Antique
Reserve
Grand
Cham-
pion
trophy.
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MISSOURI CHAMPION
This
Champion 7FC
(L-16 replica) was one
of the
last
greenhouse models built by
Champion
in 1963. Don
Miles did a
complete restoration with new
wood, glass,
and Poly-Fiber fabric. t was finished in AN yellow as an
L-16. This aircraft was an instrument trainer
and
has a
full gyro panel. Dave says it now has a zero-time Con-
tinental
C90-12F and a new Sensenich propeller and
Airtex interior. Don extends his
thanks to
G J Aircraft
in
Boonville, Missouri, for
providing rebuilding
advice
and inspections.
Donald Miles, EAA 161653
Columbia, Missouri
BRAZIL
LUSCOMBE
Here's
what Joao
Moura
of
Santa Catarina, Brazil, wrote con
cerning his Luscombe:
I bought
my
project in
March 2003. After hours and
hours of pleasure working
in the
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NEW
HAMPSHIRE
PIPER
TRI-PACER
Complete with a functional Piper autoflight system, this
is
David Adams' Piper Tri-Pacer, which he restored with the
help of
EAA
Chapter 51, with additional help from Steve
Grant
for
the
re-cover
and
Gene Rebielo for
the
engine
overhaul and certification.
This shot was taken after the first flight
on
May 5, 2006.
The restoration was
done
in a garage
in Dighton
Massa
chusetts. Dave has owned this airplane for 35 years and
wouldn 't recommend taking that
long
to restore an air
plane.
It
took so long because of all those wonderful inter
ruptions in life: kids, family, work,
and
flying
and
keeping
another aircraft. He's certainly happy he stuck with
it
David Adams
EM 230967
West Ossipee, New Hampshire
KENTUCKY CUB
According
to
the
note sent in
by Steve Trutschel, this
Cub was ready for
the
scrap yard. Seven years
went into
bringing this 1940 Cub back to life.
As
you can see in this
shot,
the
short field performance with just 90
hp
is unbe
lievable,
with
a takeoff
run
shorter
than
200 feet.
When
you add Super Cub controls, trim system, baggage com
partment, 26-inch tundra tires, balanced elevators, PA-ll
front
seat,
wing
tanks,
and the
vortex generators, you
have
the
original recipe for
the
yellow smiley face.
Steve thanks Susan Bell, who helped push him through
the tough times and who would dig right into the nastiest
jobs.
He
also expresses many thanks to Cub Stewart of Red
Stewart Airfield (40I) for the use of his time, buildings, tools,
and knowledge of the little Piper Cubs. Also thanks to Cathy
Stewart for the extremely nice fabric work
on
this Cub. Steve
says, Without the help of these very close friends, I would
never have finished this delightful little airplane.
Steve Trutschel
EAA
0387707
Alexandria, Kentucky
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The winner of the 1929 Dole race
ARTICLE
AND PHOTOS Y ED
PHILLIPS
5
~ l f t ; ~ e c ~
his
pipe and
•thought
about
all
that
money. Relaxing in his office at
the
Travel Air fac
tory, he had heavy responsibilities on his shoulders. He had
Now Dole
had
offered another tidy sum of
money
for
someone to make the Pacific crossing to Hawaii. Beech really
couldn' t see how the company could afford to interrupt cur
rent production to construct special racing ships for the Dole
contest. But it was very tempting, indeed.
If
a Travel Air won, there would be terrific publiCity. But if a
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Lead:
The
new o
laroc
as
it
appeared in Nove
mbe
r
19
28,
ready to
assault the transcontinental
speed record.
The cock
-
p t
was in
center fuselage, making visibility nearly impossible.
A
Pratt Whitney radial of 400
hp
is installed, and
fuel
tanks
totaling 600 gallons capacity inhabit folWard fuselage.
in the West Douglas plant ,
but
the new factory would greatly
reduce problems associated with normal production.
Fifty men labored long hours to build Travel Air airplanes,
and Beech knew
that
few could be spared for any special proj
ects.
He
consulted with factory manager Bill Snook. From
Snook's viewpoint, it would be possible to build two ships for
the race, but they would have to be built in the new factory.
By June everything was settled. The four NAT monoplanes
would be finished in
the downtown facility, the Dole rac
ers would be built
out
at
the
East Central location. Men and
equipment began the move in June, and the production line
was hardly interrupted in the process.
By
June 30 the new
fac-
tory was
humming
with activity.
Walter Beech, Bill Snook, Horace Weihmiller,
and
the
board of directors perused the Dole race situation. The only
type of airplane suitable for the modifications necessary for
the race was the Model 5000 monoplane.
This design was originally drawn
up
for competition
and
a production contract at the request of NAT in October 1926.
Clyde Cessna
had
designed, financed,
and
built his
own
monoplane, completely free of Travel
Air
control, in March
1926. Walter Beech liked it. Lloyd Stearman and Cessna rede
signed it to meet NAT requirements in the
fall
of 1926.
By December NAT had flown
the prototype and
issued
a production contract to Travel Air for eight ships
on
Janu
ary 7, 1927. Seats for four passengers in a heated cabin with
wicker chairs was
not
too bad for those days Even the large
cabin windows could be slid
open and closed for environ
mental comfort.
But the cabin would
not
house seats and windows for the
Dole racers. Instead, large fuel tanks would inhabit
the
area,
with a navigator's station provided farther aft i f necessary.
Travel Air engineers handled
the
changes
required to make
the
Model 5000 into a long
distance flyer. Weihmiller was chief engineer,
assisted but Herb Rawdon, Walter Burnham,
and C B Bennett.
Finally, on une 18, 1927, Travel Air con
tracted for
the first of two Dole race airplanes.
A tall,
handsome young man by the name
of Art Goebel signed his
name on the
order
and
discussed modification with Beech
and
the engineers. Goebel had been flying mostly
in California, where he worked for National
Pictures, Inc. He was well-liked and respected
as
both
a pilot and a bUSinessman, and these
two points were well-taken by the board of
directors of Travel
Air
They interviewed and
Travel Air s first product was the Model A, an example shown here being
questioned Mr Goebel for five days before
flown
by
Walter
Beech
in
the
summer of
1925.
This
mod
el fir
ml
y
estab
-
deciding
to
let
him
sign. Goebel
had
flown
lished Travel Air s reputati
on
as
a builder of high-quality,
dependable
com
other ships in California but came to Wichita
mercial
airplanes.
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because he wanted a Travel Air. A $5,000 deposit was placed
on
the airplane and work began immediately.
Hot
on
Goebel
s
heels were
Al
Henley and Benny Griffin,
Wright J-5CA of 200 hp powered the Woolaroc across
the
Pacific
to
Hawaii.
The engine
shown
here
is
the original
powerplant.
Note
the
pressure grease fittings
on
the rocker
box assemblies. These were special
fittin
gs
that,
once
grease
was injected into the box
cavity
, would keep pres-
sure feeding
the lubricant
to
the
valve mechanism. These
units were considered standard equipment
for
any
long-di
s-
tance
flight.
Lindbergh
also
had them
on
his
Wright radial .
The sunken exhaust ring shown here was developed by
Travel Air engineers and was used only on the Woolaroc
Magnetos are hidden behind
bumps
forward of cylinders
.
who ordered their ship on June 28 after surviving the same
scrutiny from
the
board of directors. Their $5,000 deposit
was
placed and the factory began work
on
Dole racer #2.
Soon after these orders were placed, the original Travel
Air
Model 5000, sold
to
Pacific
Air
Transport in 1927, was
about to
take off for Hawaii piloted
by
its new owner, Ear-
nest Smith.
Walter Beech was aware of this attempt and wrote a letter
to Smith recommending he allow Travel Air to suitably mod
ify the ship for such a flight,
but
Smith refused. Smith and
his navigator Carter had to turn back not long after they took
off from Oakland's new airport because of a broken wind de
flector. A second attempt was successful
on
July 14-15, 1927.
Smith had a new navigator named Emery Bronte, and they
were the first commercial pilots flying a commercial airplane
to reach Hawaii. The Army had beaten them, though. Mait
land and Hegenberger
flew
their Atlantic C-2 from Oakland
to Wheeler Field
on
June 28-29 to become the first airmen to
fly that route.
As July drenched Wichita in typical Kansas heat, Frank
Phillips of the Phillips Petroleum Company entered the Dole
race picture. He decided to sponsor both Goebel and Henley
in the race, partly because of promotion for a gasoline named
Nu-Aviation.
But Frank Phillips also cared about aviation. His cash en
abled Art Goebel and Griffin to enter the race as their finan
cial backers did
not
have all the necessary funds. Because of
Phillips' help, Goebel named his ship the Woolaroc a word
meaning woods, lakes
and
rocks,
the
topographical features
of the Phillips ranch in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
The Woolaroc was ready for test flight by August 2. Clar
ence Clark, Travel Air s chief test pilot, made the uneventful
hop. Weighing in at 2,200 pounds empty, the Woolaroc was
well-dressed for the rave in her colors of Travel
Air
blue fu-
selage and orange wings. Wingspan was 52 feet and power
came from a Wright Whirlwind of 200 hp. Wing and fuselage
tanks carried 425 gallons of fuel,
the
fuselage units being spe
cially made for this purpose.
Travel Air workers rushed to get the Woolaroc completed
as
the date of the race, August 17, was not far away. Goebel
accepted the airplane, paid the balance of the $18,000 price
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code position reports to passing ships.
By
midnight Goebel
had climbed
the
Woolaroc to 6,000 feet atop a stratus layer
of clouds. They held to course
and
waited anxiously for the
dawn to greet them. Only
then
could they check their drift
from the night wind.
When
sufficient
daylight
existed,
Davis and Goebel
dropped smoke bombs to check drift. As
an
aid, Travel Air
workers
had painted
angular drift lines on the Woolaroc s
horizontal stabilizer. Calculations showed a groundspeed of
nearly 100 mph ,
with the
predicted northeast winds aloft
helping them out.
A course change was made to 230 degrees for
the
final
hours into Wheeler Field. The wind was shifting to the east
and southeast, so Goebel held the new course despite his dis
agreement with Davis over the heading change.
Hours went by. The Wright
droned
on perfectly. Both
With
mannequin
removed
more
can
seen.
men were getting tired
but
felt good. Then Goebel noticed
the stabilizer trim wheel on left cockpit sidewall
mounted
what
seemed to be a cloud on
the
distant horizon. But it
at left
of pilot
seat
. uel
l n s from tank to selector assem
-
didn t
move as they got closer. Mauil thought Goebel. It
bly pulleys fo
r
control surfaces are
also
visible
.
was MauL
Soon the Woolaroc flew past Diamond Head, met there
were experts at both, so the idea was a wise one.
by a Boeing
PW-9
pursuit ship from Wheeler Field.
As
Goebel
D. W. Tomlinson, a lieutenant in the
Navy,
knew someone and Davis watched, the Boeing pilot nestled in tight forma
Goebel could depend on for his navigator: Lieutenant Wil tion with the Woolaroc. He held up one finger and was grin
liam
V Davis. Goebel and Davis already knew each other, so ning from ear to
ear
They were
first
the team was formed and the race date closed in. Goebel flew inland
and
landed at Wheeler Field 26 hours,
Brice Goldsborough
and]. D.
Peace
of
the
Pioneer In-
strument Company
were on hand
to
check
equipment.
The
Woolaroc
compasses were calibrated
and the
earth in
ductor
unit
checked. Accuracy of these components across
2,500 miles
of
open
ocean was well appreciated by all
15
entrants, and Goldsborough and
Peace were busy men
prior to take-off day.
On August
8,
all pilots drew take-off slots. Goebel ended
up number 7. Benny Griffin was
number one in the
kla-
homa.
On race
day,
August
16,
1927, both the
Woolaroc
and
klahoma took off safely
and
were
on
their way. The kla-
homa returned to Oakland after only one hour en route
and
was
out of the race due to an overheating engine.
Now Travel
Air
and Phillips Petroleum were down to one
airplane and two airmen, winging their way toward Hawaii.
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Close-up
view of throttle quadrant on left cockpit sidewall.
Three
levers
a
re
throttle
top)
spark
advance/retard cen
ter), and mixture
bottom)
.
Right fuselage
view,
looking forward.
Notice
that entry door
no longer has large window as
original
door did.
when
Goebel ordered his airplane in June, he
didn t
even
specify any colors Goebel had put everything in the care of
Travel Air
From August to October, the
Woolaroc
flew
more than 10,000
miles attending tour stops in celebration of the Dole win.
When she returned to Travel Air in October, it was time for
a complete re-cover and overhaul. And it was time for a sec-
ond chance at glory.
Art
Goebel had a plan for the endurance
record, using the Woolaroc He instructed Travel Air to install
525-gallon fuel tanks, strip all excess weight from the Dole
race configuration, and beef
up
the landing gear to handle
the
higher gross weight.
But Goebel had company. Griffin brought the
klahoma
back to Travel
Air
for the same modification for the same pur
pose. He and Goebel discussed making a two-airplane endur
ance attempt, but the idea was scuttled later.
Goebel intended to use Wichita for the attempted flight .
The grass runway at Travel Air Fie ld was not long enough at
2,500 feet to safely take off with all that fuel, so preparations
were made to use
the
California section south of
the
Travel
Air
factory.
A one-mile-long runway was prepared, but after t
he
modi
fications were
done to both
airplanes, both pilots began to
have second thoughts about basing the attempts at Wichita.
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planned to
fly
the ship to Los Angeles, where it would be on
display while Goebel would be winging his way across the
U.S. in a Lockheed
Vega
,
attempting to
set a cross-country
speed record. It was a nice bit of publicity work indeed.
Pete Hill and Goebel flew to Arkansas City
but
couldn't get
the Wright started. The magnetos were dead. Another set was
installed and the Woolaroe was soon off for Los Angeles.
On
August 20, Goebel set a record from Los Angeles to
New York in 18 hours, 58 minutes . He averaged 150 mph .
Goebel began serious consideration of an east-west trip in the
upcoming months. But there was no
Vega
for such a flight .. .
the only ship readily available was the Woolaroc
Phillips wanted more publicity
out
of
the
Travel
Air,
and
he discussed the idea of using the Woolaroe for the east-west
speed dash. Goebel knew it wasn't designed for pure speed,
but maybe Beech and Travel Air could do something about
that.
Beech listened along with Herb Rawdon, Walter Burnham,
and other workmen who would be involved in modifications
to the airplane. They didn't like what they heard. Goebel pro
posed removing
the
cupola, gutting
the
front cockpit,
and
fairing it over for
less
drag. The pilot would sit in the aft com
partment, where side vision out of two windows would suffice
for flight viSibility. The engineers immediately discounted that
idea. They told Goebel the airplane would be so "blind" with
that 52-foot wing obstructing nearly all forward vision that it
would be unsafe to fly. But Goebel insisted, after some heated
But Goebel wasn't worried. He got in, fired up the radial,
and performed some preflight checks. The stacks of the Pratt
& Whitney engine were barking loudly
as
it idled and then
ran up, whipping the chilly Kansas air.
Ready for takeoff, Goebel lined up, fed in the throttle, and
experienced a rapid acceleration
as
the Woolaroe gathered speed.
But
he couldn't see He
was
making the takeoff without raising
the seat, relying only on the side windows
for
visibility. Goebel
just looked outside
as
best
as
he could and kept on going
Once airborne everything was normal. But visibility was
very poor at best from his aft perch in the Travel Air. Beech took
off in a J-5 Model 4000 biplane and tried to catch up with the
Woolaroe
He
just couldn't keep
up
with Goebel. A full-throttle
speed check disclosed
an
indicated airspeed of 160 mph! Not
bad, but not good enough for a cross-country attempt, and
Goebel
was
discouraged.
He
needed to average more than 160
mph to better the existing record, but the Woolaroe wouldn't
be able to make that kind of speed and he knew it.
Throttl ing back to cruise rpm of 1,900 yielded a paltry 135
mph . There was
no
use continuing the flight. Performance
was just
not
good enough. Art Goebel
hadn't
bargained for
what happened next. As he approached for landing, he could
barely see the runway area. Judging the flare was tough, and
the ship hit hard, bounced, and Goebel had to feed in bursts
of power to keep her flying. Then the ship hi t again, bounced,
hit, bounced, and finally came to a controlled stop.
Goebel got out of the airplane and started looking for
discussion with Travel Air personnel, that he could handle the r r = = = = i = = ~ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ; -
airplane just fine and he wanted the change made.
Beech agreed to all the modifications and the
Woolaroe
dis
appeared inside the Travel Air factory. Deadline for all work
was November 20, the night Goebel wanted to make the
flight west, using the full moon as an aid to navigation.
The front cockpit was dismantled and the area faired over.
Additional fuel tanks were installed there, bringing the total
fuel capacity to 600 gallons. A new instrument panel was in
stalled in
the
aft compartment, where Davis
had
sat during
the Dole race.
All
new flight instrumentation was included,
with full capability for "blind" flying in use at the time.
A special seat arrangement had to be worked out for Goe
bel.
He
would be able to raise or lower his seat
as
required to
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Some
things are better left the
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the 40's and 50's, these tires were perfectly
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tune
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the exciting
times in
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these tires set your vintage plane apart
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8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Aug 2007
26/44
The NAT airplanes were
larger
than Model
5000
prototype, and most were
powered with newer Wright
J-5 series
engines of
225-230
hp
.
Cabin was
heated and
featured sliding
side
windows
for
inflight
ventilation. Avomit
tube was standard equipment
...
visible under fuselage.
he came in for landing
without
the ben-
efit of landing lights. The Woolaroc touched
down
safely but then
hit
an
unseen ditch
that caused
the ship
to lurch to a stop, her
main
landing gear damaged, her pilot a lit-
tle upset.
Goebel
decided to
repair the
airplane
and return
to Wichita. Even
he now
agreed
it was just
too
unsafe for flight . After a few
days making repairs,
he took
off for Travel
Air.
But
the Woolaroc had one
more scare in
store for her pilot.
Flying
in
a foggy mist, seeing
ahead
was
impossible.
Nearing the west side of
St.
Louis a tall
water tower
flashed by the side
window,
barely clearing the
wing
. Goebel
just kept flying,
thinking
how
close
that
one was and
wondering
why he modified a docile
machine
into one that almost
killed him
The
Woolaroc
landed at Travel
Air
Field
on December
1,
and Goebel
told Walter Beech
and
Frank Phillips
he
could
not
safely fly
the ship and
i t should be retired permanently.
Beech
and Phillips agreed com-
pletely with Goebel.
Located on the Phillips ranch, the
museum
would be a
permanent
leg-
acy to Travel Air and the feats of the
Woolaroc Art Goebel
and
William Da-
vis as well as the
many
men
who
de-
signed
and
built the ship.
The Woolaroc
was the
Model
5000
built,
and
posed here are some of the
men who
I t
was decided
to
return the
designed,
built, and
flew her to victol}'. (L-R) Howard Baccus,
Walter
Burnham,
Herbert
Woolaroc to its original configu-
Rawdon
William
Hauselman, Pinky Gromes, Ted Cochran
Art Goebel,
Ralph
Morton
ration
of
the
Dole race,
and
this
Harold
Brooks
Horace Weihmiller, and
Clarence Clark.
Photo
taken prior
to
Dole
race.
work
was
carried
out under the
Note
wind drift
eye-cup and sight wires on cockpit
door,
Pioneer magnetic compass di
able workmanship of Carl and Guy
rectly behind
windscreen.
Walter Beech. He told Beech that the windows needed to be
Winstead, two of Wichita's
early
aviation
personalities. I t was re-
painted Travel Air blue and
orange
and flown
on
a 15-
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Getting our A&P Rating
Part
II
- Long-in-the-tooth
A&P
students
Vincennes
University Avi
ation
Technology
Center
(A&P school) in
Indianapo
lis
is
the home
of a
number
of
senior
A P students.
A
state law allows Indiana
re
tirees
60
and
older to attend
this
state-supported school
tuition-free. Yes,
that's
right,
FREE.
This
is
made
possible
through the
Indiana Senior
Scholarship
Program.
This is the tale of four seniors'
wish-a longtime goal for some,
a more recent one for others-to
earn
an
A&P certificate. All four
are pilots
and
EAA
and/or
VAA
mem
bers
who
wanted to know more about
the planes
they
fly.
As a kid, I think I
built
almost
every kind of model airplane
in the
known world. But Mr. Piper's Cub was
the first real plane I ever flew, back in
1958. Forty fun-filled hours later
in
the
Cub, I
had my
Single-engine
land
pilot's certificate.
In 1969, I bought a 1946 Aeronca
Chief (NC-9726E) for $1,450.
I t
was
even in flying condition In about 1971,
Y
D VE CL RK
cover of the magazine
in
December
1985.
In 1985 I was
"recruited"
by Dale
(Gus)
Gustafson
to help judge
an
tique aircraft at Oshkosh
and
I have
been judging every year since
then.
My
family
and
I
attended the EAA
fly-in two
times
in Rockford
and
since
then
I have missed only two
of
the
events
at
Oshkosh,
both
times for
business reasons.
1995 brought a tornado to our lit
tle Indiana airport
that
the weather
bureau called "straight-line winds."
Gehrich, the department
head,
said
that
I
could,
but
it was
not given until
the
next semester. He then
handed me
a brochure
which
contained all of the
classes offered
in the A&P
school
and
asked if there
were
any other classes
that might
be of
inter
est.
I
picked the sheet metal
class,
and
I was
hooked!
The classroom work and
the labs were
excellent
and made me want more
I got along famously with
all of my "much younger" classmates
and
seemed
to
fit right in.
The FAR class was put out of
the
way next.
By
the time the fall classes
started, I
had signed
up for all
of
the airframe
classes
and
I thought I
would
get the airframe
certification
and leave it at that.
After th
A" was
in my back
pocket,
I
missed
the
classes
and the
interaction with
professors
and
stu
dents, so
I
enrolled
for
the
second
year. Now
it
was
time to
take all
of
the
powerplant
classes. Two semes
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Aug 2007
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right aileron of the Chief was de
stroyed and I decided to "make one"
with this shiny new A&P certificate.
It is under construction at the time of
this writing and
is
looking good
The Chief's fuselage welding repairs
were done by A&P/IA Mike Girdley.
During the past two years, I over
hauled the Continental A-65-8, the
two magnetos, the carburetor, and
many other pieces and parts. The in
struments were sent out to Keystone
Instruments in
Lock
Haven, Pennsyl
vania, and they look fantastic. The
wood-grain instrument
panel
was
hand-painted by
Hot
Brush in Bird
City, Kansas, and looks beautiful. Tail
feathers are covered with
Ceconite
102 through
nitrate with
Randolph
Dope to follow. The rest of the cover
ing
is
waiting for better weather.
Before I
started
the
A&P
classes,
and having worked on several of
my other planes, I thought I knew a
fair amount about small airplanes,
E members
all,
in the back
row
we
have
Joe
Kokes,
A P·IA,
Tim
LeBaron,
A P·IA
and Gary
Zeller,
A P·IA.
The
students in
front are
Dave
Clark and Paul
Vogel
quote a famous tiger, "It's grrreat."
Dave Clark EAA 71411 VAA
9581)
is a retired pharmacist,
professional speaker, and associ-
ation
management
executive. He
is also a member
of
EAA Chapter
1311. Dave uses
his
new expertise
to teach new A P
students,
and
to
work on his
Aeronca
Chief.
A few of Dave's fellow A&P stu
dents weigh in
on
the benefits of
earning
an
airframe
&
powerplant
mechanic's certificate:
John
C. Broyles
My
retirement from Delta Air Lines
as
a
customer
service
agent
became
official in November 2000. Today I
work
part-time as
a handyman and
attend Vincennes University Aviation
Technology Center pursuing and
A&P
certificate.
At
the age of 13, I got
my
first ride
in an airplane when my dad's cousin
diana Community College Network
website, I read about
the
Indiana
Se
nior Scholarship Program. Since Vin
cennes University's A&P school was
only 15
minutes
from our home,
bells went off in my head I debated.
Should I go back to flying and rent an
airplane once or twice a
month, or
should I earn
an
A&P certificate and
put
off flying for a while? I decided
to earn the A&P certificate and I am
really glad I did I am having a great
time learning
the
vast array of skills
necessary to graduate from the uni
versity and earn an A&P certificate.
By
the
time you read this, I will
have earned my A&P. I never realized
it
would be so enjoyable to go back
to school Being
around
the
much
younger folks makes you actually feel
younger yourself. The professors at
Vin
cennes University are terrific and have
been very helpful and patient. I would
recommend going back to college and
earning an A&P to anyone,
but
espe
cially to any retired person who has an
interest in airplanes. Go do it
John
C. Br
oyles, EAA 135502, is
an
A P
a nd a
gr
a
duate
of Vin-
cennes
University in
Indianapo-
lis and a
member of
EAA Chap
ter
1311.
Eastwood
Herin
As most
of you know, achiev
ing your dream in aviation can mean
many different things, and
we
are
for
tunate to have choices.
However,
when
the dream eventually becomes the
ca
reer, the career seems
to
take us away
from the basics that led us to the dream
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John Broyles and Eastwood Herin,
now A P mechanics,
in the
small engine overhaul class at Vincennes
University
Paul
Vogel, with over
14,500
hours
of
flying, earned his
in
Indianapolis
.
ways linger in
my
Technicolor brain.
However, since acquiring one
in fly-
ing
condition
is
not
possible
on
the
average aviator's paycheck, I
began
what
is
called
delusion planning.
That's when
the
average Indiana trac
tor mechanic thinks
he has enough
smarts to
put
together
an
antique air
plane from a basket of parts.
Smarts
and
parts are
the only
two
items flying
in formation with
that
planning
program. It takes e-d-j-i-k
a-s-h-u-n Speaking with experienced
Stearman rebuilders, I met
many who
started
out
with enthusiasm
but
soon
tired of the time and expense of track
ing down parts all over the country
side to
fill the
voids in their "basket."
Most of
the
success stories came from
individuals who started with at least
a complete carcass and,
most
nota
bly, these were the smart ones who
took the time, at some point in their
A&P after
retirement.
ages senior retirees over
the
age of 60
to
return
for vocational and degree
oriented retraining with a substantial
assistance incent ive of fully paid tu
ition. I have found that this program
is offered
in some other
states, so
i f
you
are thinking about expanding
your ability to maintain your own or
someone else's aircraft, check
out the
continuing education departments in
your state.
One major regret is that more
good
might
have
come
from obtain
ing
the
license
at
a younger age. Once
you
are
actively
employed
in
avia
tion, there is virtually no way to at
tend the FAA-approved curriculum,
and the only way to do it
then
is to
gain
the
actual experience working
with a A&P/IA, logging 30 months
of apprentice experience in order to
qualify for the written and practical
exam. (See Kathie Ernst's article in
and an A P s tudent t
Vin-
cennes
University.
Paul
Vogel, A&P
After more than 50 years and more
than 14,
500 hours of
flight time , I
could
not
separate myself from the
ex-
citing field of aviation. Having spent
lots of hours listening to
the
hum of
engines, I was always
amazed
that
they performed so faithfully during all
kinds of weather and at altitudes where
the
temperatures were more than 80
degrees colder than
the
ground below.
I would watch
the
glow of
the
turbo
chargers under
the
cowling
hour
after
hour during night flights and marvel
at how dependable
they
were. With
most of
the
passengers asleep
and
all
the gauges, dials, needles, lights, and
instruments telling me that all was
well, it was very relaXing, though a bit
boring at times. Still, it was the way
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cleo
Improvements never cease.
After
my
days of flying for
oth-
ers, I wanted
to
know more about
these
flying
machines
that
never
stop evolving
into
ever-more-excit
ing means of travel.
I had attended many factory train
ing
seminars and
classes for flight
crews
to
familiarize them
with
the
latest and best aircraft
we
were flying.
t was,
however, a cursory, quick cov
erage of the systems that would be at
my disposal
to
make
the
flight safe
and enjoyable. There
was
still a sense
that I wanted to know more of
what
was
going on under the hood.
When
I discovered
that the
Vin
cennes University
A&P
program was
in my own backyard, and
was
shown
all of
the
planes I would be able
to
work on, I
couldn t
resist giving it a
try. With
both
recip
and
turbine en
gines there to be taken apart, put back
together, and finally taken to the test
cell for the moment of truth, you can
see that it doesn't get much more ex
citing
than
that. Although you never
leave Mother Earth, there are a lot of
anxious moments before
that
engine
bursts into life. Thankfully, the all
knowing instructors were always close
at hand with a lot of patience for the
neophyte would-be mechanics.
Being a
senior citizen
among a
bunch
of college-age young folks may
seem a bit awkward
at
first. But that
only lasts until
the
first lab assign
ment;
then everyone
is in
the same
boat, checking
ADs,
verifying compli
ance with type certificate data sheets,
searching through maintenance
manuals, microfiche, computers, ad
visory circulars, etc. Working closely
with
the next
generation
has
been
a rewarding experience
and
it gives
me a feeling of
encouragement
for
the future of aviation. On occasion I
couldn t
help
but
tell a few hangar
stories
that most
seemed
to
enjoy,
and
some said
they benefited
from
my experience. Just like way back in
my
college days,
there
were
those
brainy few who
had
all the answers
and
were always
helpful
to
me
on
some of
the
fuzzy parts. Overall, it
was
a great experience.
Now
that
I
have completed
my
training for the
A&P
certificate,
and
passing the oral and practical exams,
I'm going to have to find something
else to do in the field of aviation.
After shopping the market for the
right kit, and making arrangements to
clean out the garage to have a place to
work on a project, I have begun build
ing a Son ex. Now I feel a bit
more
comfortable in doing it
"A&P"
right.
f
you have ever considered taking such
training, I would highly recommend
you take a look
at what
Vincennes
University has to
offer. f
you're
not
in
Indiana, check out your state techni
calor vocational schools. I hope you
will enjoy it
as
much
as
I
did
Paul
Vogel EAA
412992
is
a
retired
Indiana State Police
chief
pilot and was a professional
cor
porate
and charter pilot He has
owned
several
small GA aircraft
and
has
attended
Vintage work
parties as
weU
as
many EAA ir -
Venture
Oshkosh
fly-ins. He s a
member
ofEAA
Chapter
1311.
Since this article was written, Tom
Chapman, also an
EAA
and Chapter
131 member, has also earned an A &
P
thought the
seniors program. Tom
is
a retired physics teacher
and
now
teaches physics at Vincennes Univer
sity A & P school.
Vincennes University website:
http://www vinu edu
r A i L W ~ e e L
http://www.vinu/http://www.vinu/http://www.vinu/
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BY
BUCK H
IL ERT
hange
in
the
air
A few issues back I
had written
a
bit about flying becoming too compli
cated. This article has fostered ques
tions from some of the membership .
Questions
like,
You
flew a
restored
open-cockpit Varney Airlines Swallow
(Varney later merged into United Air-
lines); what was it like? How does it
compare with the later airliners like the
DC 3 through the transition to jets?
Good questions. And it gave me
food for thought .
The open-cockpit Swallow was
the
typical biplane of the late '20s. Not
too
stable, four ailerons that gener
ated a lot of adverse yaw,
and
it just
wouldn't fly hands-off.
It
would wan
der all over the sky,
and
it kept you
on the
edge of
the
seat all
the
time. It
was work even
though
it was exhila
rating
and
sometimes fun .
I didn t get to
fly the
de Havilland
DH-4 or the Curtiss Carrier Pigeon,
with
the
400-horse Liberty
engines
,
but
the
sheer size of them probably
their schedules better than 90 percent
of the time.
I did get a chance
to
fly the later
twin-engine airplanes, like the Lock
heed
10
and the
Boeing 247. I found
them
to be just great for stability and
handling. They do require attention
in
ground handling. That rudder be
comes an important factor in keeping
it going straight down the runway
The
DC
·
had
about reached the
end of its
big
airline
career
wh
en
I began
flying
it
. . .
The experience flying
the
military
Twin Beech AT-
lIs,
C-45s,
and
B-17s
pressurized for passenger comfort.
I did like the DC-3. I t was stable,
good for short-field operations, reli
able, and actually almost indestruc
tible.
It
was somewhat limited, being
unpressurized. Most of our flying was
done at
minimum en
route altitudes,
in
visual flight rules, and never above
10,000 feet. We became intimately ac
quainted with the terrain and towns
along
the routes, avoided thunder
storms, if
at
all possible,
and made
many
radio range
and automatic
direction
finder approaches when
we had to. There were
times when
we
sometimes
traversed the same
weather front three times
in
one day.
We earned our pay.
Passenger
comfort
was always a
problem. Very little heat in
the win
tertime, sweltering
in the
summer,
along with plenty of noise, vibration,
and sometimes turbulence made
the
trip
very interesting. Flying was still
an adventure, and people really
had
a
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Aug 2007
33/44
Plus they
had
air conditioning. It was
a great improvement
as
far
as
passen
ger comfort was concerned.
The simplicity of the DC-3 was
all
but
forgotten.
The systems
that
provided
the
convenience and com
fort were becoming
complicated;
airline flying was becoming a
bit
more professional.
I almost left out
another
Douglas
product. The
DC-4. Also
unpressur
ized, heavy on the controls, and ex
tremely reliable, it was the airplane
that, now looking back, was the be
transportation. The "red eye" era had
arrived. The systems and flying were
much like the DC-3, except now we
had two more engines
and
carried a
much heavier load of people and/or
cargo.
It
had
a
much
longer
range;
the passengers still
sweltered
and
froze, and since it wasn't pressurized,
most of the flying was done below
10,000 feet.
The DC-4s did yeoman duty as mil
itary and civilian airliners and freight
haulers. They were the saviors
in
the
Berlin Airlift saga
and
proved
them
selves again
and
again even
through
the Korean War days hauling cargo
and troops all over the world.
Enter
the
DC-6. The first
to
"dis
cover"
the
DC-6
and
its
almost
im
mediate follower,
the
DC-6B was
the
entertainer
Bob Hope. Even before
the
airline
introduced them into
daily schedules, Hope used
the
early
models right off the Douglas assem
bly lines for his usa tours.
Now we had all
the
systems
the
the capsule
and
asked
him how it
went, it's
been
reported
that
he said,
Another
500 feet and I'd have been
on top "
The DC-6 and especially
the
DC
B model were my favorite. I firmly
believe they were the turning poi