Vintage Airplane - Jan 1995

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jan 1995

1/36

,

,

,

,

:

,

, .

. ,

s

s

::


2/36

EDITORIALSTAFFPublisher

Tom Poberezny

Januar y 1995 Vol. 23 , No.1

CONTENTS1 Stra igh t & Leve l/

Espie " Butch " Joyce

2 lC News/Compiled byH.G. Frautschy

3 V in tage Literat ur e/Dennis Parks

8 Me m bers Projects /Norm Petersen

11 lC Tidbits /H .G. Frautschy

13 25th Anniversary KZ Fly-In /Norm Pe te rs e n

17 One of Each, Please-Greg Herrick's PT-23 /H .G . Frautschy

21 Stan Gomoll's1928 Heath Super Parasol /Norm P e te rs e n Page 17

25 Mystery Airplane /G e o rge H a rdi e

27 Pass it to Buck!E.E. " Buck " Hilb e rt

29 Welcome New Members

29 Calendar

30 Vintage Trader Page 21

Page 13

Vice-President,Marketing and Communications

Dick MattEditor-in-Chief

Jack CoxEditor

Henry G. FrautschyManaging Editor

Golda CoxArt DirectorMike Drucks

Computer Graphic SpecialistsSara Hansen

Olivia L Phillip Jennifer LarsenAdvertisingMary Jones

Associate EditorNorm PetersenFeature Writers

George Hardie, Jr. Dennis ParksStaff Photographers

Jim Koepnick Mike SteinekeCarl Schuppel Donna Bushman

Editorial AssistantIsabelle Wiske

EAAANTIQUE/ CLASSICDIVISION, INC.OFFICERS

President Vice-PresidentEspie "Butch " Joyce Arthur MorQan

P.O. Box 1001 W211 N11863 Hilltop Dr.Madison. NC 27025 Germantown. WI 53022

910/573-3843 414/628-2724

Secrefary TreasurerSteve Nesse E.E. ' Buck' Hilbert

2009 Highland Ave. P.O. Box 424Albert Lea. MN 56007 Union.IL 6D18D

507/373-1674 815/923-4591

DIRECTORSJohn Berendt Robert C. "Bob " Brouer

7645 Echo Point Rd. 9345 S HoyneCannon Falls. MN 55009

507/263-2414 C h J w ~ ~ 9 ~ m 2 0

Gene Chose John S. Copeland2159 Carlton Rd. 28-3 Williamsburg Ct .

Oshkosh. WI 54904 Shrewsbury. MA 01545414/231-5002 508/842-7867Phil Coulson George Daubner

28415 Springbrook Dr. 2448 Lough LaneLawton. MI 49065 Harf1ord, WI 53027

616/624-6490 414/673-5885

Charles Harris StonGomoll7215 East 46th St. 1042 90th Lane. NETulsa. OK 74145 Minneapolis. MN 55434

918/622-8400 612/784-1172Dale A. Gustafson Jeonnie Hill7724 Shady Hill Dr. p.o. Box 328

Indianapolis, IN 46278 Harvard. IL60033317/293-4430 815/943-7205

Robert Lickteig Robert D . "Bob " Lumley1708 Bay Oaks Dr. 1265 South 124th St.

Alberf Lea. MN 56007 Brookfeld WI 53005

FRONT COVER. . Joe and Mark Denest of West Chester. PA restored this 1943Fairchild PT-23 -SL for owner Greg Herrick of Minneapolis. MN. It was picked bythe EM OSHKOSH '94 judges to b e the WW II Military Tra iner/Liaison Aircraftrunner -up in the Antique category. EAA photo by Jim Koepnick. shot with aCanon EOS - l equ ipped with an 80 -200mm /f2 .8 lens. 1/500 sec. a t f 6.3 onKodak Ektachrome Lumiere 100 film . Cessna 210 photo plane flown by BruceMoore.
http:///reader/full/Union.ILhttp:///reader/full/Union.IL


3/36

I hope everyone had a good, safeholiday season. This past year hasbeen a good year for theAntique/Classic movement. Rebuildsof antique aircraft continue to add toour fleet and the quality of these re -builds continues to get better and better. As an example, there are fiveclipped wing Monocoupes flying , eachbeing a grand champion in its own

right.One of the contributing reasonsfor this growth is tha t there are anumber of very good res tora t ionshops around the country turning outtop notch aircraft. Credit also needsto be given to the Type Clubs . Theclubs with good leadership and astrong newslet ter really stand out.These clubs give support to their typeof aircraft with technical informationand parts suppliers. I receive callsweekly from individuals requiring information relating to their aircraft orother aviat ion interests . f i t s anitem that I cannot answer, I generallyrefer the person to a Type Club, an

STRAIGHT LEVEL

by Espie Butch Joyce

be inter e sted in starting an Antique/Classic Chapter in your area . Contactthe EAA Chapter office at 414/4264876 for more information.

This past Christmas EAA Chapter8 had its annual Christmas covereddish lunch on a Saturday at myhangar. This has become an annualevent with each member making aspecial effort to attend. It is very interesting to sit back and listen to theconversations conducted at this meet-ing. Everyone is good friends; thetalk ranges from aircraft to healthmatters, to family concerns. Out ofthis comes offers of support and helpfor all of the above matters. t just

makes you feel good about aviationand aviation people.I see the same from members of

the Antique/Classic Division whenthey gather each year at Oshkosh andother fly-ins around the country. tmakes you feel good to belong. Tryit.

Speaking of Oshkosh, the Conven-t ion for 1995 has and is being dis-cussed a great deal by your Officersand Directors. t is our top concernthat your visit during the 1995 Con-

vention be a pleasant one . Some-times certain items may slip by us, soplease do not mind bringing a matterto our attention.

The membership of the Antique/Classic Division now stands at ap -proximately 9 ,500 members. Ourgrowth has been very strong. I feeltha t your publication, VINTAGEAIRPLANE, has improved greatlyover this past year. Your Edi tor,Henry G. Frautschy, deserves a lot ofcredit for this. You can look at themasthead inside the front cover todiscover some of the other peoplewho help in this regard.

Now that the winter months are

here i t s time to take care of thosemaintenance matters that need to bedone. T would like to remind every-one to also check the structure of thebuilding that you have your pride andjoy s tored in. Each year we havesome member have their aircraft damaged from a falling hangar - let s see ifwe can av o id having that happen thisseason.

Ask a friend to join us. Remem-ber, we are better together. Join usand have it a ll.


4/36

OWNER PRODUCED PARTS

An Aviation Rulemaking AdvisoryCommittee (ARAC) working group hasdrafted a new advisory circular concerning this subject. EAA s Washington

representative Charlie Schuck participated in the process with the workinggroup, and during the drafting of theAC, EAA was instrumental in maintaining an aircraft owner's ability to makeparts for his own aircraft. This part ofthe FAR's is unique to the Uni tedStates , and comes under fire often.EAA is committed to maintaining thisright.

The working group's task was to develop an interim plan for evaluating theacceptability of aircraft parts that existwithin the present civil inventories thatlack acceptable documentation. Thegroup will also develop a plan to ensurethat in the future, aircraft parts are properly documented .

During the development of this newAdvisory Circular , EAA ensured that theproblems associated with out of production aircraft and owner/operator-produced parts were specifically addressed.An owner or operator of a product is considered a producer of a part if the owneror operator participated in controlling thedesign , manufacture or quality of thepart.

NEW AlC CHAPTER

Congratulations to the newest Antique/Classic Chapter to be organized,A/C Chapter 27 in Delaware, OH. RogerBrown is the Chapter 's first president ,and we look forward to news of their ac

compil e d by H .G . Frautschy

Saturday night accommodations fortwo at a local motel, a special insiderstour of the EAA Air Adventure Museumand the Weeks Flight Research Center ,and the "piece de resistance" is a series offlights that is sure to be remembered for a

long timeto come

-participants

willbe

able to share flights (weather permitting,of course) with a spouse or a friend infour unique and different aircraft : anopen cockpit biplane, a cabin class antique monoplane, a classic Bell helicopterand the queen of the Pioneer Airportfleet, the magnificent 1929 Ford Tri-Motor. Best of all, your flight in the Fordalso includes time in the co-pilot's seat

These packages are proving to be verypopular, and are already selling at a quickpace. The cost is only $295 per person, or$495 per couple. Weekend packages arelimited, and are assigned on a first come,first serve basis, so don't delay - call theEAA Flight Center at 414/426-4886 tobook your Air Adventure Weekend ."

CLIFF ROBERTSONWORK EXPERIENCE '95

The Cliff Robertson Work Experienceprogram provides opportunities for totalimmersion in the activities of EAA andthe EAA Aviation Foundation inOshkosh , WI. Two participants, age 16or 17 and one youthful mentor/CFl willbe selected to participate in the 1995 pro

gram. Applications must be completedand returned by April 1, 1995.A package of information and applica

tion materials can be sent to you by contacting the EAA Aviation FoundationEducat ion Office, P . O. Box 3065,Oshkosh, WI 54903-3065 or by calling

LU SCOMB E WI NNE R

The Don Luscombe Aviation Historical Foundation's drawing for a newly restored Luscombe 8E was held during theCopperstate Fly-In at Mesa , AZ, November 12, 1994. The winner of the 8E wasWalter IIIston of Jefferson City, MO.

Second place, a Garmin GPS, was wonby Ivory White of Mesa, AZ . All proceeds from the ticket sales go to the purchase of the Luscombe 8 series type certificates and engineering data.

If you missed out on this past year 'sdrawing , don't fret - a drawing will beheld again during 1995 , and once more ,

only 2,400 tickets will be sold at $40 each3 for $100). Much bet ter odds than playing the lottery The 1995 tickets are onsale now, and you can purchase them bycontacting the DLAHF at 1-800/678-9900- tone 4522 - 602/917-0969 for more information.

LUSCOMBE AD

AD94-16-02 is applicable to all model8 series airplanes that have round-tippedvertical stabilizer installations . Replacement o f the forward vertical stabilizer attach fitting within the next 100 hours isrequired by the AD.

AEROMATIC T SOLD

Jeff Brown of Imperial, MO has recently purchased the Type Certificate andtooling for the Aeromatic prop. At thispoint in time , Jeff is unable to supplyparts until he is able to finalize leasearrangements for manufacturing and storage space. You can contact him at 1702Hilltop Lane, Imperial, MO 63052, phone314/464-6927. The rights to the BeechRoby and also Flottorp props were also

included in the transaction .

A LITTLE HELP PLEASE .

We all know how frustrat ing it can beto come up with one or two seemingly insignificant items to finish off a restoration


5/36

V I ~ T A 3 ~L I T ~ I 2 A T U I 2 ~b y )ennis Va.-ks!!

Lib.-a.-y /A..-chives ()i.-ect().

From the ollection o George Noville

Photographs from the George Noville Collection include some very interesting and rare photos of aircraft fromthe 1915-1916 period. These aircraft could have been used as mystery planes , but as they are from the same collection

and represent a particular period, some are presented here.

George O. Noville was an aeronautical engineer born in Cleveland Ohioin 1891. Noville was a naval aviator ,

war-flyer, trans-Atlantic flyer and arctic expedition flyer, gaining fame flyingwith Admiral Byrd. At the age of fifteen he enlisted in the U.S. Navy andcontinued in the service until 1914when he transferred to aviation andqualified as a naval aviator.

During the World War he servedwith the Esquadri l le Candiana , anaval air combat unit operating on theAustrian Front . He resigned from theUS Naval Air Service , with the gradeof Lieutenant Commander.

His resignation from the naval service was due to his appointment to thePost Office Department as Superintendent of the Eastern Division of theU.S. Air Mail , a position he held during the winter of 1919-20 . He then

took a posting with the French company Mesagerie Aerienne where heworked on developing the London toParis air mail service. He then heldpositions with several major oil compa

nies until 1927 after which he became aconsulting engineer.

Noville gained recognition for his

work with Admiral Byrd on the exploratory flight to the Arctic and theAtlantic crossing. In 1926, Noville became executive off icer of the ByrdArctic Expedition to the North Pole.In 1927 , he served as relief pilot andsecond in command for Admiral Byrdon the Trans-Atlantic flight of theFokker America for the New Yorkto Paris flight.

BERCKMANS: SPEED SCOUTBIPLANE -1917

During 1918, a few obscure American designers were able to obtain orders from the Army for aircraft of theirown design. One of the few men ableto obtain such a contract was Maurice

Berckmans , wh o 's previous experienceseems to have been limited to his design and construct ion of the SpeedScout of 1917 which he had flownaround the country for some time .

BERCKMANS SPEE SCOUT


6/36

Above - BERCKMANS: SPEED SCOUT BIPLANE - 1917 - Note the lower wing suspended below the fuselage . The test pilots were Bert Acosta

and Edward Holterman.

. . ~ ~ ~\

_____I

~ t

r t .. 1

Maurice learned to fly at the Curtissflying school on North Island at SanDiego in 1915 . His Speed Scout wasbuilt on Long Island in a hangar adjacent to the L.W.F. factory. The biplane was unusual and advanced inhaving a three-ply monocoque fuselag e and a lower wing suspended below the fuselage. Bert Acosta mademost of the test flights of the plane . Inthe spring of 1918 the Scout waspainted with Liberty Bond slogans andflown in a local war bond drive .

CURTISS-COX: TEXASWILDCAT RACER

In the summer of 1919, the AeroClub of Texas discovered that up tothat time no plans had been made tohave an American entry in the GordonBennett Race to be held in France inSeptember 1920.

Lacking funds with which to financel b


7/36

H .E. Coffin , the two Cox racers werebuilt at Garden City on Long Island.The fuselage was of laminated woodmonocoque construction , while thewings and tail surfaces were of woodribs and spars with fabric covering.The two racers were named TEXASWILDCAT and the CACTUS KITTEN by Mrs . Cox, a pilot herself whoowned a Curtiss Oriole.

The TEXAS WILDCAT tested inJuly of 1920 with a thick conventionalairfoil was able to reach a speed of 183mph. For the race a symmetrical airfoil wing was produced . Unfortunately , the racer was damaged in

France prior to the race. Later theCACTUS KITTEN was rebuilt as atriplane and finished second in the

92 Pulitzer Trophy race.

CURTISS : HS-2L FLYING BOAT

When the United States entered theWorld War in 1917 the U.S. Navy hadonly six flying boats in service. By thetime the Armistice was signed in 1918 ,the number had increased to over1 ,000 . The largest number of thesewere the single-engined Curtiss HS-2flying boats .

The HS-l (Hydroplane, Single Engine , which was first flown in October1917, combined the hull design fromthe Curtiss AMERICA with the wings

of the R-Type seaplane. The first aircraft had the Curtiss 200 hp V-X-3eight-cylinder engine. When the first360 hp Liberty 12 became available ,that engine became the standard forproduction aircraft.

CURTISS-COX: TEXAS WILDCAT RACER - This photo may h ave been taken at the airpl anesded ication. The per s on by the pito t tube appear s to be r . Cox who sponsored the project forth e Gordon Bennett Race s of 1920

Navy demand for the HS series wasso great that other firms constructedthe craft including LW F , Standard ,Gallaudet, Boeing and Lockheed.Many of the flying boats were sold toprivate operators after the war andthe US Navy still had 40 in service in1925.

JU N KE R S-LA R SEN:JL

SE A P LANE

In 1919 Junkers developed an allmetal four seat transport aircraft designated the F .13 . This would turn out

to be a very popular aircraft with over300 produced. Early in 1920, John M.Larsen, a Danish born American citizen traveled to Europe with consultant Charles B. Kirkham, a notedaeronautical engineer. Larsen was interested in advanced German technology and hoped to make money by exploiting it.

After visiting the Junkers works atDessau, Larsen purchased the American patent rights to the F.13. Heplanned to import several , then manufacture them in the United States under the JL-6 designation. Eight of the


8/36

JUNKERS-LARSEN: JL -6 One of t he routes that the= i l i i ~ _ ~ = ; ; i ; ~ = ; =; : JL-6 was u s ed on was theChicago to Omaha run

aircraft were sold to the US A ir Mai lServ ice a nd and six to t he Army andthe Navy.

W ill iam B. Stout had rec o m me nd edto the head of the Ma l Service t hat heinvest igate the Ju n kers F.13 t h en at

Mineola Field on Lo n g Is land. The

F.13 feat ur ed a se m i-e nclose d coc kpita nd an e nclose d ca b in th at co uld seatfo ur passe ngers. Powere d b y a 6 cy linder BMW 185 hp engine, i t c rui se d ata s p ee d of 87 mph a n d h a d a m aximum speed of 110 mp h . For the price

of 200,000, the Air Mai l Service p ur-

ORENCO: TYPE A TRAINER - Poweredby a four-cylinder Dussenberg, thiswas the first ai rcraft produced by theOrdinance Engineering Company. TheArmy only purchased two.

c h ased ei g h t JL-6s a long wi t h fourspare en g ines a nd spare parts.

T he be g inni ngs of Air Mai l servicewith t he J L-6 in A ugust 1920 was ina u spicio us wit h nine forced lan dings,four beca use of ra d iator leaks, t h ree

d ue to fue l leaks, a nd two beca use ofclogged f uel stra in e rs . T hings becameworse in Sep te mb er with three in-flightfires and two fatal crashes which resulted in t he grounding of JL-6s . Theaircraft were p u t back into service after modification of the fuel system butanother fata l crash put them o u t ofbusiness. Despite the su ccess of themachines in other parts of the world,their use by the U.S. Air Mail Serviceproved a fai lure.

OR N O TY P E A T R A I N R

Orenco, originally Ordinance Engineering Company, was formed in 1916


9/36

companies that tried to find a market for aconverted, faster Jenny.

SPERRY: CURTISS MONOPLANE CONVERSION

OF A CANUCK - Sperry was among the

STOUT: BATWING LIMOUSINE - Thiswas the second of Stout s flying wingdesigns and the first passenger ship.

SPERRY CURTISS CANUCKMONOPLANE

The Lawrence Sperry Aircraf tCompany of Famingdale, Long Island, in 1921 produced a thick can

tilever monoplane wing which wasspecially designed for use on CurtissIN-4 and Canadian Curtiss Canuckbiplanes. Owing to the high efficiencyof the wing and to a reduction in parasitic drag, the performance wasmuch improved over the amply strutted and cross-braced biplane wings ofthe originals . The top speed on the

conversion was listed as 95 mph compared to that of the original. Sikorsky was another concern offeringsuch a conversion but the Sikorskyused strut bracing .

STOUT: BATWING 1920

In 1918-19 William B. Stout designed and buil t the si ng l e seatBatwing Monoplane . This cantilevermonoplane was constructed of woodand covered with a thin veneer. Powered by a 150 hp Hisso it was flown in1920.

Based on the success of theBatwing Stout formed the Stout Engineering Labora tor ies and developed, for commercial purposes, theBatwing Limousine powere d by a 200hp Packard engine. Also constructed

of wood with a veneer covering thecraft weighed 1 940 pounds empty . I thad a maximum speed of close to 120mph and landed at 40 mph. This design led to Stout s contract with theNavy to build a cantilever all-metaltorpedo plane which merged the design features of the Batwing designswith the new duraluminum metal.


10/36

est Custom Class B Award Winner

by Norm Petersen

Quietly lined up in the Antique/Classicsection on the north side of Red BarnRoad at EAA Oshkosh ' 9 was a prettycream and maroon Luscombe 8E, N71645 ,SIN 3072, that seemed to attract morethan its share of interested parties. Sure ,the paint scheme looked liked it had justcome off the showroom floor and the propeller even had the identical colors, butthe overall impression of the airp lane wasone of owner fastidiousness .

glass was installed, new skylights, newwingtips and a new headliner - speciallymodified for John's long torso so his headwouldn't hit the roof All new hardwarewas used on reassembly and a pair of DaveEby's moulded fiberglass wheelpants werecarefully installed to give it t he look."

The horizontal stabilizer was reskinnedand final painting and touch ups were furiously completed on Saturday and Sundaywith John and Kathy leaving for Oshkoshon Monday - the paint being allowed to

(Continued on page 10)


11/36

WHAT OUR MEMBERS RE RESTORINGb y N o r r n P e t e r s e n

it is quite readily recognized at the various fly-ins according to Harry .

The second photo (below) is brotherJack Fox ' s 1966 "Helton Lark 95, G-LARK (I love those registration let-ters ), again the only example of itskind in Great Britain . t is a much laterversion of the Culver line of aircraftand features a Continental C90-16 engine and a fixed tricycle landing gear.The sliding canopy makes for a bit eas

ier entrance to the cockpit and two people can enjoy a rather nice tour withsuch a machine. Note the EAA stickerjust below the windshield.

Two fromJolly Olde England

The photos of these two kinfolk airplanes were sent in by Harry Fox(EAA 275119) of Bucks , England. Thefirst is his Culver LCA Cadet , ex.NC29261, S N 129 (above) built in 1940in Columbus, Ohio. Previous ownersinclude Jim Rezich (1986), Rockfordand Winnebago, IL, Henry Barrows

(1974) , Winchester, OH, and Stan Croxford (1964) of Speonk , NY. The littleretractable geared speedster is the onlyexample of its kind in Great Britain , yet

area since being acquired by the U . S. Forest Serviceback in 1950.

Photographed in front of a hangar at Sky HarborAirport in Duluth , MN , is Wayne Preston's (EAA227761) Champion Challenger (below) N9950Y, S N7GCB-156. A bit rare with only 57 remaining on theFAA register, this Challenger, just like the Stinsonabove , began serving with the Nebraska Dept. ofGame , Forest Station and Parks after emergingfrom the factory in Osceola , WI. For many years ,h Ch ll d b b H h i D


12/36

MEM ERS Cont.

Two North Carolina Pipers

This extremely original Piper J-3Cub (below) N7034H, SIN 20278, is thepride and joy of Cathy Joan Norris ofMooresville, NC, which has been in herfamily since the 1960's. Her fathertaught her to fly in the Cub and she hasreceived additional instruction from agood friend by the name of Duan eCole!

Crusing along above the North Car

olina tr e es is Piper Super Cub (right)N1471C, SIN 18 -2673, flown by CathyNorris ' father, Amos Norris ofStatesville, NC. A 1953 mo d el, the Su

per Cub has und e rgon e some very effective res to r a tion work which makes ita dandy lookin g a irplane . Dual n avcoms, ta i l -mounted rotating beacon ,3200 Scott t ai lw h ee l and Clevelandwheel s a nd brak es a re so me of theamenities a dd ed to this jewel.

Working on a project of your ownSend your photos along with ashort story on your airplane to

Attn: Norm PetersenEAA Headquarters

P.O. Box 3086Oshkosh,VVlS4903-3086

LUSCOMBE8EContinued from page 8

dry on th e way! (Sound familiar?) Withthe Cont in enta l 0-200 singing a m errytune , the Luscombe cruised at 95 knots a llthe way to Oshkosh where the pretty twoseater ra n off with the Best Custom ClassB A w a rd 81 to 150 hp) .

Kath y a nd J o hn we re a lm o s t over

ling a bit crowded!)P e rhaps the n eatest s urpri se ca m e

when John and K athy discover e d theirLuscombe was the prototype "Model 8E "at the factory in 1946! Thi s was confirmedby photos and comments in The Lus

comb e Story written by John C. Swick .Old N71645 has quite a hi st o ry behindh er, howeve r , with John and Kathy McMurray doting over their new offspring ," Boomer " ha s even more excit ing hi storyahead. Stay tun ed.


13/36

l e

TidbiTsby H.G. FrautschyBRACE WIRE WAIT A DRAG?

f waiting for a set of drag/anti-dragbrace wires has got you in a blue funk,then you may wish to contact the SteenAero Lab, Inc. They are now th e U.S.and Canadian representatives for Bruntons of Scotland , and are able to supplymade-to-order wires . Contact them at1210 Airport Rd., Marion, NC 28752, orcall them at 704/652-7382.

AUTO FUEL

If you are an auto fuel user, rememberthat your STC specifically exclud es anyauto fuel containing alcohol. Back in 1992,the We s t Coast Cessna 120/140 Clubnewsletter published an easy method forcheckingfor possible alcohol content in yourauto fuel , written by Jim Jula. He also hadsome pertinent comments to make regardingauto fuel use. Here s what he wrote:

STC's for auto gas explicitly mentionto NOT USE Gasohol (auto gas with analcohol content of about 10%) in anyaircraft. Another important warning isthat auto gas does not store as well asA vgas. Evaporation is more of a problem. Buy gas from a busy station to besure to get fresh gas that is properly formulated for the season . DO NOT storeauto gas - you could end up using summer mix in cold weather or worse , winter mix in summer. Old gas or the wrongformulation will cause hard starting orworse yet, possible vapor lock.

Also be sure you have a metal float inyour carbo The composite floats are ap

tl ff t d th t b l h l i

hol in your fuel. - HGF)First, get a sample of the fuel with

which you intend to fuel your aircraft.For this explanation I'll assume we'reusing a TCP dispenser. Using the greenscale (or blue if you wish , but only drawin the suggested amounts) in to the TCPhypo. Draw in the gas to the 9 gal.marker (this is now known as 9 parts).Then draw in 1 more part of WATER.Now, vigorously shake the container andthen hold it still for about 60 seconds.Because alcohol will absorb water , youwill observe one of the following:

For GOOD gas:9 parts of gas and 1 part of water set

tled out. This shows alcohol free gasand is OK to use. (But be sure to get ridof all test fluid in your container. Don'tput it back in your tank )

For BAD (alcohol containing) gas :8 parts of gas and 2 parts mixed alco

hol/water. Observing anything morethan 1 part of water means you probablystill have a lesser blend (5%?) of alcohol. f more than 1 part of water addedshows up , the fuel contains alcohol. DONOT use it in an aircraft.

Test all gas every time you fuel, especially if you buy off-brand gas. You will

W INTER HEAT

From Rowland HaU, of Northfield,IL is this description of the winter baffles he made up to help keep thetemps up on his Bellanca 7 A C AChamp. Here's his note:

Here are the winter baffles I madeup and have used for the last five y ears

be amazed how often these off-brandscontain alcohol without advertising thefact.

With the oxygenated fuels that mustbe sold as of January 1 1995, in certain ar-eas of the country, some of you may find ithard to get unaltered auto fuel. EAA iscontinuing the research into alternate oxy-genates for fuel, and we will report on theoutcome o that research as soon as it be-comes available . Until then, stick to themajor brand names, and don't use any fuelwith alcohol.

TACH CHECK

Speaking of checks you can do onyour airplane , here is an old trick thathas been around as long as alternatingcurrent and vapor lights have been lighting up streets and yards.

f you're suspicious of your tachomete r , you can do a quick check beforedragging yourself down to the FBO for areplacement, or picking up the aircraft

supply catalog.You ' ll need a sodium or mecury va

por light, and a piece of white or reflective tape. Don't try this with any other

takes less than a minute per side. Thebaff le on the r ight goes in the lef t


14/36

type of light - it simply won t work .Think back to the old movies where, asthe image flashes across the screen, apropeller or wheel appears to bestopped or turning slowly in the wrong

direction. That undesirable effect is dueto an interaction of the propellers or

wheel spokes turning at a specific frequency, and the film being exposed at aset rate. The same thing happens with asodi um or mercury vapor light. The vapor inside the lamp is excited by AC current at a set frequency, and if we look at

the prop in just the right light, it will appear to stop at 600, 1200 and 1800 rpm.

Here 's how to check your tach.You can often find sodi um (a copper

colored light used often for street lightsnowadays) or mercury (a blue/white light)vapor lamps used for illumination inhangars and on airport ramps . Find anarea illuminated by that type of light. Youcan also buy sodium vapor lights for use assecurity lights for home or farm use.

Apply the tape to the backside of oneblade on your prop. Then , at night, with

the light coming from behind yo u , runthe engine up and check your tach at therpm when the prop seems to stop.(Again, it should appear to stop at 600,1200 and 1800 rpms for a 4-or 6-cylinderengine) If your tach and the prop

stops don 't agree, you ' ll need to check

your tach further or, if the discrepancy isnot too severe and is repeatable, youmay wish to make a correction chart foruse in the cockpit. Either way, you 'vebeen able to check your tach withouthaving to spend a bundle in shop time.

2 7 0 7

2 6 8 0

ASI 6 0 8 3 0 2 2

4 REO

Vernon Lawrence o Hamilton , OHwrote an interesting note concerning his

findings during the inspection o anAeronca Champ. Here s what he found:t has come to my attention that an

area of the fuselage of Aeronca 7ACairframes may have been inadvertentlyneglected during recovering and/orrestoration procedures. This area is the

L1R

AERONCA CORROSION

7AC, N84866. After removing the doorframe for inspection in that area deterio

ration of tube 70 was found in almost thesame station. Also, a worse condition existed in tubes 2 and 42 where they meetjust above tube 20 (right side under doorframe). In this instance, tubes 2 and 42had completely deteriorated almost 50percent around and the remaining tube's

THESE TWO AREASWERE FOUND COR-

RODED ON TWO

CHAMPS SEE TEXTFOR DETAILS

ASI 6 8 0 1 6

tively short period of time at any timeunder abnormal conditions, such as

during a hard landing. There is at thistime no service bulletins or A.D.s outon this subject, but there is no doubtthat a dangerous condition exists and itis my opinion that all 7 AC owners andmaintenance personnel involved willseriously consider this and act in a safe,


15/36

Few people in this world enjoy air One of the first arrivals was this outplanes more than the Danes in the standing 1949 Be anca 14-13-3, HB-

DUN, flown in by Willy Bernhard, Freiensmall country of Denmark . The his will Switzerland.tory of aviation in this country of justover 5 million people is rich in tradition, beginning with J. C. H E lleham- gines. With full leading edge slats, larg eme r , who first flew his aeroplane in flaps and drooped ailerons , the KZ III1906. Although much of aviation in was one of the original STOL airplanes.Denmark was military oriented in the In 1947 , the pair of d esig ners dev e l-1920's and 1930 's, the civilian s ide of oped the KZ VII , a four-place versionDanish aviat ion received a much of the KZ III, powered with a Continenne e ded boost in 1937 when two Danes tal 25 45 hp engine and 56 of thisdecided to go into the airplane manu- model wer e built in spite of a devastatfacturing busines s. ing factory fire on February 17, 1947 ,

Viggo Kramm e and Karl Zeuthen that destroyed some 17 aircraft underconstructed a small , low-wing , s ingle construction . From the ashes , a smallseat airplane called a KZ I (for Kramme production resumed in some Luftwaffe

Zeuthen Model One) which was pow- hangars at Copenhagen ' s Kastrup Aird by a two li d ABC S i t b t th worldwide collapse in th


16/36

HlIljmark, plus many other dedicatedairp lane people, the KZ Club has grownfrom its initial fly-in in 1969 at the smallSpjald airstrip to one of the most re -spected fly-ins in all of Europe .

The fly-in has been held for manyyears at the Stauning Airport locatednear the Ringklllbing Fjord on Den-mark s west coast a nd attracts a lo yalfollowing of airp lanes and d edicatedpeople from all over Europe. Naturally,the various models of the Danish KZ

airplanes are featured, however, an -tique, classic and home built a ir craftfrom many countries make the pilgrimage each year to join in the fun . Thefour day fly-in is held in the middle of

June and from 250 to 500 aircraft are onhand. The KZ club has over 800 m embers worldwide and publishes a verynice magazine each quarter written inthe Danish lan guage (this a uthor s native tongue) with an English synopsisfor those un ab le to read Danish . n

1979, the club incorporated as EAAChapter 655, so the membership benefits are twofold , including both antiqueand amate ur-b uilt aircraft.

y wife, Loretta, and I attended the1986 KZ Veteran fly Rally atStauning and were completely over-whelmed with the tremendous hospitality of the aviation-minded Danes. Themany KZ types of aircraft on the flightline along with numerous classic and antique airplanes from England, Norway,


17/36

Left - Jorgen Skov Nielsen, Sunds, Denmark, with his three children,pause for a picture by his recently completed J-3 Cub with a C85-12 engine. He was awarded the KZ Cup for Best Restoration at the Rally. Thisauthor flew with Jorgen in a Learje t 35 back in 1977 from Denmark to England and he remembered me from 17 years ago Note the registration:JSN - his initials

Above - George Rotter discovered his KZ III, OY-DVO, in this 1946 factoryphoto hanging on the museum wall.

Right - Lady Helena Hamilton, Chesterfield, England, receives her 25year award for exemplifying the ''flying spirit" from Dr. Magnus Pedersen.

Sw e de n , Finland , Germany and even from a Danish friend (and KZ member)Switzerland gave this author the feeling that two KZ III aircraft were for sa le inof being a " blind dog in a meat market" Denmark. In just a short time, George- not knowing which way to go first Rotter (EAA 54992, A C 9276) of

And the beautiful people that arrived Oshkosh , WI, agreed to buy one if I

in the airplanes were fascinating folks to bought the other. Both aircraft werevisit with - each one with a different carefully placed in a 40-foot containerstory of overcoming great odds ju s t to and shipped from Denmark to Oshko sh,participate in the KZ Rally. I t was heart arriving December 26, 1991. These arewarming beyond all expectation and the the very first KZ aircraft to arrive in thenew friendships are for a lifetime . U.S. and are undergoing total restora

In the fall of 1991, I received a call tion as this is being written. Georg e s

KZ III is S N 76 and was previously registered OY-DVO in Denmark. Beforetearing the KZ III down for rebuild,George managed to get his Cirrus MarkII engine running in his back yard - the

neighbors rushing out to learn thesource of all the noise t was April 7,1993 and his was the fir st KZ to everrun in the U.S.

My KZ III is S N 6 and was fomerlyOY-ABA in Denmark and prior to thatit was registered LN-FAT in Norway


18/36

One interior wall of the new KZ all w ith its excellent lighting . F rom the right , KZ VIIIaerobatic single p la ce , KZ VII four place , KZ II open co c kpit trainer and KZ IV ambu-la nce plane .

from 1946 to 1959. Our new U.S. registrations are N63KZ and N76KZ, a combination of the serial numbers and thedesigner's initials.

With a special invitation to attendthe KZ Rally on June 16-19 , 1994,George Rotter, his wife, Janet, my wife,Loretta, and I spent the first week ofJune running loose in Germany andSwitzerland before arriving in Copenhagen , Denmark, for three busy dayswith Knud Thaarup (EAA 280077) andhis lovely wife , Jytte. (We even helpedthe Danish Queen Margarethe's husband, Prince Henrik , celebrate his 60thbirthday with a hundred horse paradeincluding the "Royal Coach" )

After spending a couple of beautifuldays as guests of Johannes and RuthBach (EAA 126941) at Ejstrupholm,Denmark, we drove to the west coast ofDenmark to visit Bent and Tina Esbensen (EAA 340077) at Esbjerg before

The sparkle in the eyes of these distinguished people was a special treat forthe visitors from foreign lands. Theylove aviation with a passion.

During the fly-in, George Rot terhad his first flight in Dr. Magnus Pedersen's KZ III, OY-DGV, flown by hisson, Mogens Pedersen. George madeseveral takoffs and landings with thesmooth-running KZ III and was totallysold on the STOL performance of thesilver and blue airplane.(The Daneshave a nickname for OY-DGV. Theycall it "Doctorens Gamle Vogn "[DGVj which translates as "Doctor'sOld Wagon" )

I was lucky to spend some time flyingOY -DME, an award-winning KZ IIIowned by Mogens Jepsen of Haderslev ,Denmark. The airplane would jump offthe runway in just a few plane lengthsand climb out smartly, the Cirrus Minor100 hp engine sounding like a sewing

E ve n th o u gh th e co o l w ind s of Frid ay turn e d t o ra in o n S a tu rd ay, seve nm o d e ls of K Z a irpl a n es we re w h ee le do ut of th e mu se um a nd r ea d ie d for th ea nn u a l fl y b y. I w as a llowe d to fly copil o t o n th e twi n-eng in e d K Z IV am bula nce pl a ne th at h a d ju st fi ni she d a 13

year r es t or a ti o n. P o w ere d w it h t woG ip sy Ma jo r e ngin es of 145 hp, the a llwoo d K Z IV , OY -DI Z, was b u i lt in194 4 a nd serve d fo r years i n the D anishA mbul a n ce Serv ice. Like a ll K Z aircraft, th e IV was very qu ick off t he runway a nd so o n fe ll i n b e hind t h e sixot her a irp la nes in a loose circle formatio n. W e were " ta il-e nd C h ar lie" as wema d e t h ree fo r m atio n circ ui ts of thepa tt e rn a nd th en landed, t he IV co mingin at Cub la n ding speed What a delight ful airplane

T he Sa t urday evening Awards Banq u et was a fitting climax to the 25thAnniversary of the KZ & VeteranflyK l ubben. Over 400 members andgues ts were seated and we were at thehead table with Dr. Magnus Pedersen,

his bea u t ifu l wife, Gudrun, Mr. andMrs. Jens Toft, and Dr. Helena Hamilton of Chesterfield, England . (Dr.Hamilton is a ret ired physician whoflies her own DeHavi l land DH87BHornet Moth at the tender age of "fourscore." In a game of aviation enthusiasm, this dedicated lady would win allcontests - hands down )

Accepting well deserved 25-year

participation awards from the KZ Clubwere Jens Toft (Toft Air Force) , whohas impor ted over 200 antique andclassic airplanes into Denmark, andLady Helena H amilton, who has instilled more "flying spir i t" into themembership during the past 25 yearsthan any other person. I had the pleasure of awarding the EAA Plaque forthe best antique airplane to MichaelSchultz (EAA 442543) of Wakendorf,Germany, for his immaculate BeechD-17 Staggerwing, N69H, and theEAA Plaque for the best homebuilta i rp lane to Per Christensen, Frederikssund, Denmark , for his beautiful

b H G F h


19/36

62.

new low wing trainer.

by H.G. Frautschy

Y 1938 , Sherman Fairchild hadbeen enjoying a moderate amountof success with the Fa irchild F-24

series of cabin airplanes, and the 6cylinder Ranger e ngine that poweredthe final variant s wa s proving to be areliable inline pow erplant. Sensing thatthe time might be right for a new military trainer , Fairchild direct ed his chiefengineer, Armand J. Thiebolt, to d es ign a monoplan e train e r that woulduse the Rang e r e ngin e. The low wingwas dec id e d upon u sin g th e reaso nin g

that if th e new pilots we re ex p ec te d tofly low and mid-win g fighters, theyshould fl y a low wing tr a iner. Thatsa me configuration would also allowthe use of a wid e (112 ) track landin ggear, making tho se first la ndings a biteasier to complete succe ssf ully.

Work was sta rt e d without the s upport of a gove rnm e nt contract, and thecivilian mod e l was des ignated as the M

Dr aw in g upon the experie n cega in e d from th e production of themo d e l 24 a nd the prototyping of themod e l 46 , the M-62 was designed andbuilt. The m o d el 46 was a s leek lowwing cab in job built with an inn ovativem et hod called Duramold, a processthat use d plywood and an early plasticto mold the flight surf aces and fuselage

into a smooth, a lm ost seamless appearance . The M-62 wing constructionwould benefit from this process , as thewing skins wo uld be pre-molded for the

Extensive work was done during thedesign and testing phase of the newtrainer to make certain that the airplane would behave predictably andwould hold up to the abuse sur e to beheaped upon it by novice pilots. (It had


20/36

a strength factor of 10 ) When first designed, the airplane had an enclosedcockpit and perforated flaps, a hi Douglas SBD. After its first flight on May15 1939 , NX 18689, the prototype M-62 ,was modified with a redesigned cockpit,

ment September 22,1939 as a primarytrainer to be used to train new pilots.The initial order awarded that day wasfor 270 airplanes.

PT-26, PT-23 , Fairchild Model 62-C,PT-19 - by whatever designation, the ba

military was to designate the Rangerpowered M-62, got underway, it was decided that more airplanes were neededthan Fairchild could produce. The St.Louis Airplane company , Howard Aircraft in Chicago, Fleet Aircraft in


21/36

Unit. Delivered to Clarksdale School ofAviation, Clarksdale Airport , Mississippi, the airplane w as based at FletcherField, eight miles up the road fromClarksville .

At Clarksville this particular PT was

tions - Joe Denest, of West Chester, PA.Before he met Joe, Greg did some

thing quite impetuous - he bought a PT23 , the aforementioned S N 129 , sightunseen. Then he called Joe and askedhim to go get it for him Greg went to

ight - The wide track (112") landin ggear of the T series allowed neophytepilots to learn the basics of landing without too much trouble, provided they paidattention to the instructor in the othercockpit

Below - The front cockpit of the T -23,including a pair of mint Fairchild "Pegasus" rudder pedals and a stack of modernradios centered between the pedal wells.

he aft cockpit, is a little simpler, and theinhabitant of the back seat gets the battery for company. Everything possible

was done to keep the cockpits authentic,right down to the olive drab cotton canvas partition between the two cockpits.

the PT , Joe also enlisted the help of another PT expert, Harland A vezzie ofWestfield, MA who rebuilt the wing center section to like new condition.

Jo e ' s also a pilot, and for the last 20years PT's are pretty much all he has


22/36

overall, with black marking . Joe alsopoints out that as far as PT-23's go, onlyone airplane was ever finished in theblue and yellow color scheme seen onmany PT-19s - the Fairchild factory prototype. Every ot her one made by thevarious sub-manufacturers was silver.

Prior to June 1942, all U.S. ArmyPT s sported the blue and yellow colorscheme, complete with red and whit ebars with a blue vertical stripe on therudder. After May 30, 1942, all PT swere to be painted silver, with no coloradded to the rudder.

t was also easy to figure out what theline number of the airplane was . Duringthe war, mechanics at the airfields wouldmark the inside of each of the remov-

able panels on theairplane with theline number , so thatthe same panels al

ways went back onto thesame airplane . Each of the

panels on SIN 129 had the num

ber 139 painted or written on them.The PT bug must

have bitten Greg Her-rick awfully hard, for he

came to decide he wantedone of each of the PT vari

ants - a PT-19 I?T 23 and PT-26 will all


23/36

tan Gomoll's

928 Heath up r Parasol

w y back in the early 1930's, ayoung man in the Chicago area dili

gently saved enough pennies to buy akit for building a Heath Parasol whichwas powered with a Heath /Hend e rsonconverted motorcycle engine. In thoseday s, the price for the entire kit was$199. Included in the price was a testflight of the completed airplane by a

Text and photosby Norm Petersen

IL , to purchase a Church Midwing project from McClure. (The Church Mid

wing today hangs in the racing sectionof the EAA Museum). Invited to flythe Heath , Gene enjoyed the chance tofly the little parasol and promptly entered the flight in his logbook.

Marion McClure was unable to gethis substantial frame into th e tiny Heath


24/36

in order to begin the rebuild of thetiny Heath. He had located additionalHeath parts in Holland, M and boughtfuselage pieces and a set of wire wheelsfrom Gene Chase in Oshkosh. n addition, I put Stan in contact with the lateKeith Wolle (EAA 336486) ofLewisville, MN, who had salvaged aconsiderable collection of Heath partsfrom a barn on the farm of the late Raymond Peets near Truman, MN .

U i i l itt b h d

tube) and used in the parallel positionwith X " wire-bracing bet ween, exactlyas a Super Parasol of 1928. Stan registered the airplane NX2864A, SIN 19283, and certificated it in the Experimental Amateur-built category.

The single 4-1/2 gal. fuel tank for theHenderson engine was augmented witha second 4-112 gallon tank required forthe Continental A-40 engine. The gascaps are from a Model T Ford radiator.Th l di l i h

temperature and pressure gauges .However , to keep in harmony with theFAA Inspector , Stan added an altimeter, compass and Johnson Airspeed Indicator on the wing strut. The throttleis unique in that it sits in the center ofthe panel and goes up and down. Thelower part is inscribed start and theupper part says run. Stan thinks theidea was for the neophyte to lift it up tofly and to bring it down to come down.

A ll d i t ll d


25/36

insta ll ed. Stan feels t he reason the A40 was on ly good for 400 ho u rs TBOwas th e unfi l tered air to t h e carb withits low mo un ti ng position close to thegro u nd and the low-tec h oi ls avai lab lein the early days. An orig inal F lottorpwooden prope ll er was insta ll ed and itturns up 2100 rpm static (the m a nualsays 2100 to 2150 static). t will turn2550 in level flight which is redline onthe engine.

B th i f 1994 th H h h d

Above Right - Instrument panel as restored by Stan Gomoll Mag switch is in centerof panel with unique vertical moving throttle in lower center. Note pristine workman-ship which caught the judge 's eye.

Above - With the EAA Headquarters in the background , the Heath Super Parasoltakes on the look of an original in the homebuilt field. The Johnson Airspeed Indi-cato r is visible on the left wing strut

Below - A covey of Heaths at Pioneer Airport Stan Gomoll ' s in the center , MarkLokken 's on the left and Bill Schlapman ' s o n the right


26/36

Above Roger Gomoll pulls the Heath backward by the tailskid as his father walksby the wingtip getting ready for another fly-by at Pioneer.

Right Carefully j u s ~ . : .he shoulder harness Roger Gomoll gets ready for another flight in the Heath Super Parasol. You know he is ready to go because the fuelpetcocks are in the open position.

warm-up, Gene was satisfied the singlemagneto was doing its job. H e slowlyfed in power and the totall y restoredHeath climbed into the cool morningair after a short run of about 300 feet.

This was exactly 27 years and one daysi nce Gene had flown the same airplanein Bloomington , IL , in 1967.

Three flights were made by Genethat morning before everyone had to goto work, so the a irplane was towed backto the hangar The Heath had clocked

Early on Friday morning, July 1,1994, Dave Anderson took off fromAnoka County Airport , picked up awelcome tailwind and headed forOshkosh. Roger Gomoll flew the sec

ond leg, Dave th e third leg a nd Rogerma d e the fourth leg into Brennand ' sAirport at Neenah , WI. Meanwhile ,Stan Gomoll drov e his pickup with fuel,oil and ladder aboard to refuel theHeath at the grass (only) runways . Thegroundspeed was between 74 and 78


27/36


28/36

B ee -Lin e Sp e cial ,BR-l

tive/y . But the advanced clean designcombined with the efforts of highly skilledpilots were to no avail Due to mechanica lprob lems nei the r racer was a successfu lcon tender

Th e Bee- Lin e des ig n was by form erCu rti ss eng inee rs Booth and Thurston.The aircraft w ere con struct ed by the Aer-

ial Engineering Corporation Hammondspor t New York.

Ot h e r an swe rs w e re re ce iv e d fromJim Bord e n Me nah ga MN ; Arno l Sell-ars Tul sa OK ; Jo se ph Tarafas B e thl e-he m PA ; Michael Heffran Verona P A; Ed Tric e Bedford TX ; Rowland

H a ll Nor th fie ld IL; Les ter Evere tt J r.C r a wfordsvill e IN ; W a yn e V a nValk e nburgh Jasp e r CA ; J . F. M ea deJr. Hammondsport NY ; J ames Fr eeseUkiah CAl; Lind s le y Dunn Hammondsport NY ; Pet e r Bower s Seattl e W A; Lynn Town s Brooklyn MI;Lennart Johnsson Swed e n.

These three photos of the Bee-LineSpecial Br-1 were sent in by member

J.F. Meade, Jr., chairman of the board ofMercury Aircraft in Hammondsport NY

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . C ~ r : ~ - - jJ. r/u > ~ . ) D ear Buck ,


29/36

jJ. )( .. c.r.. . ~P S S

~

B U C Kby Buck Hilbert EAA #21 Ale #5 P.O. Box 424 Union, IL 60180First off, last month we mention ed Key-

stone In struments . For those of you whomay have a need of their services - they re-build instruments, including those from ourClassics and Antiques, here's their addressand phone number:

Key stone Instrum ent sLockhaven AirportLockhaven, PA 177407171748-7083

Give Glen Barnhart a ca ll and check tosee if they n cover your needs.

' Nuf of that stuff, on to the letters . ..

D ear Buck ,

I rec ently purcha se d a 1946 Co mmonwea lth Skyr a nger , Model 185, Serial#173 7. I wo uld lik e to re build th i s airplane and certify it on floats.

I kn ow Edo Corporation ha s nevercertified this aircraft on th e ir float s butthey hav e certified severa l R ea rwin aircraft mo d e ls, including th e R ea rwin6000M , 7000 , 8125 and 9000.

I beli eve my Sk yra nge r was m a nuf ac-

Floridians don't ha ve the weather and thelike to get you in the mood like we do uphere.

I'v e put my airplanes away for thewinter. Still ha ve the Champ and theSedan where I ca n ge t at th em if I can' tsta nd it , but for all practical purposes theseason is over.

In rega rds to your 185, I'm in a bit of aquandary. I don ' t ha ve th e spec s hee tshandy so I can't ver ify that it was nevercer tified for floats , but I can tell you frompast experience that it would not make a

very good float plane.t was built f or th e s port pilot so he

could outrun th e Cubs, T-Crafts andAeroncas in s traight and level flight. Itdid not have a surplu s of lift capab ility. Inother words, its shor t field capabi lity isso mewhat lackin g. If you have luptn erATC book, Volume 8, page 212 , it'll tellyou right out that its payload wi th full fuelwas only 21 pounds. That ain ' t much

Back about 194 8 I had a chance to buyone. At that time I was a flight instru ctorworking eve ry day with Champs, C120/140s, Swifts, Tandem and BC TCarts, etc. My personal airplane was aChief. I was intrigu ed with the C-185 be-

I r ea d yo ur column every issu e andthe o ne d at e d M ay 1994 confused me abi t . M y hu sband Jon a nd I flew our 170out to th e Reno Air Rac es and whilether e I checked with a few o ld fri e nd s

abo ut whatI

thou ght I knew .In 1972, while on vacation in H awaii ,Jim Lockridge, an old friend from theRichard Bach days , escorted me aroundand introduced me to several peop leam o ng them a gray-haired Mrs. Woodswho ran an FBO at the main airport inHonolulu; I don' t re m ember her firstnam e . We sa t around and talked abouther hi story a nd d e piction in the film

Tora, Tora, Tora. She had clippingsa nd photographs , remarking that s h eh ad n 't flown a Stearman as the m ov ieshowed. As I reca ll , she was eit her flyinga Great L a kes or a Meyers, but the restof th e depiction in the movi e was correct.I was impr esse d at th e tim e.

L at e r that da y Art Da eg lin g, the direc tor of a ll the aerial sequences for themovie

, took m eup

in hisPitts. I t was

paint e d w ith seagu lls a nd le tt e red veryni ce ly on the tail with Jonathan Livingston Seagull. H e thought it wa s nea tto be flying someo ne connect e d so closelywith th e s to r y and the author. H e alsogave m y da u g ht e r a rid e. Art had noquestion in his mind about the a uth en t ic-ity of Mr s. Wood s an d her hi sto ry , and Irememb e r him b e ing di smayed at th e

producer 's use of the incorr ec t a irpl ane.Unfortunately , both of these fine pi

lo t s are dead now , but both live d at leasta noth e r 15 years afte r I met them. JimLockridg e flies for Hawaiian Airline s andlives in Reno. H e does some movie andte levis ion work in the islands using his biplane and has lots of co nn ec tions. P eterForman, a TWA pilot who used to fly forHawaiian a nd i s writi ng a history of thata irplan e, confirmed the same sto ry. Thatis why yo ur story about Mis s Fort is confusing. U pon Mr s. Wood s' death, h erFBO was taken over by th e yo ung femaleFirst Officer involv e d in th e Aloha Airlin es s kin-peelin g incident " a numb er of

Dear Buck,


30/36

Pearl Harbor lightplane story. We, H.G.Frautschy, VINTAGE AIRPLANE editor

and1

have been up and down on this one adozen times . We have tried to be objectiveand publish facts as they come to light.Trouble is, more and more keep surfacingjust when we think we have it pat

As we have done more and more researchon this, we find all the stories intermingleresulting in controversial agreement to dis-agree. We know Tora, Tora, Tora wastechnically in error . We know there wereabout a dozen airplanes in the air that morn-ing-Cubs, Aeroncas--and there was even aclaim of a Fleet.

If you listen to them all, they were allshot at They all escaped The airplanessurvived only to be lost at sea or wereshipped stateside and are hidden away, orthey flew there in the Islands until they sim-ply disappeared . The names of the principalsare history. Corroboration is difficult. Themystery lingers on.

I'm going to turn this one over to H.G.and let him fill you in if he can on what thelatest is.

Meanwhile, it's great to hear from you.Don't write us off; we enjoy your letters.

(Tommy) Tomerlin and Jimmy Duncan-were on a cross-country in NC33838

when they found themselves in the midstof a wave of J ap attackers. They werenear Koneohi naval base on the oppositeside of Hawaii. Apparently they did getwinged by a couple of random bursts, butgot back to John Rogers without furtherincident. Unfortunately, by that timeJRA had been strafed, resulting in thedeath of Bob Tice who was trying to startanother 65TC so he could taxi it to safety,but nobody was shot down.

There may have been as many as halfa dozen other light aircraft flying at thetime, mostly Aeroncas. Certainly therewere no Stearmans. One was a gent withhis little boy. Another was CorneliaFort, a flight instructor who I think wasworking for Margo Gambo, but Gamboherself was not flying. However, she didachieve the distinction of being the onlycivilian authorized to continue operations after 7 December 1941. She airlifted medics and supplies to the lepercolony on Molokai using a Fairchild 24,NC28504 , and a Cub Coupe.

As you perhaps know, MGW died sev

Per enclosed picture, I hope you canshed some light on these engine parts .Several of the locals say Menasco. Theseparts came from the Patterson, Louisianaarea. The lady I acquired them from is 8

years old and soloed in 1935. She hasscrapbooks full of clippings about JimmyWedell. She said these parts possiblycame from the Wedell-Williams FlyingService. She wasn't positive as they belonged to husband who has passed away.The Golden Age of Air Racing, " page279, shows a picture of Joe Will, Jr. I feelsure you have this book, and if you canlook at the valve spring and rocker armat the front of the engine , it sure lookslike the parts I have. All parts as you yousee them in the picture are as I acquiredthem. The cylinders had very light surface rust but clean up real easy. Themarkings are as follows:

Con Rods has 5019 Lynite) raised markingThe oil fitting housing) numbers appear tobe U3265 D and have a weird filler inside.

The gear has 570 17 and what appears tobeADS Co -4.The pistons are 4 5/16 diameter roughmeasure.

As you see there are several small fittings, arms, valves, etc. Everything appears usable, the pistons, piston pins, androd bolts are really in nice condition.

Buck, if these are in fact earlyMenasco parts, do you know anyone whomight be interested in them? I would liketo get them into the hands of someonewho can use them.

I 'd appreciate any information youmay provide.

Regards,Chuck Jones

(EAA 54333, A C 12784)

Charles,

The Cirrus engine specs are enclosed. Asper our telephone conversation, this is about


31/36


32/36

EAASCHOLARSHIPSAERONAUTICALENGINEERING

MOVINGIS THERE A NEW LOCATION

IN YOUR IMMEDIATE FUTURE?Be sure that your membership . and

Vintage Airp lane follows you. Let us knowat least two months in advance of your move.

Send your change of address (include membership number)to: VINTAGE AIRPLANE

P.O. Box 3086OSHKOSH, WI 54903-3086

or call1-S00-S43-3612

PILOTAND MECHANICEAA

An: CHUCK LARSENEAAAVIATIONCENTER

PO BOX 3086OSHKOSH, WI 54903-3086

414/426-4800

35 per word, 5,00 minimu m charge Send yo ur ad toThe Vintage Trader, EAA Av iation Cen ter, P O Box 3086, Oa hko ah , WI 54903-3086

Payment muat accompany ad VISAIM . aterCard accep ted

MISCELLANEOUS:S UPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES New manufacture, STC-PMAd, 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout, also complete fuselage repair. ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC. (J. E Soares, Pres.), 7093Dry Creek Rd., Belgrade, Montana 59714.406-388-6069. FAX 406/

CURTISS J ENNY MEMORAB ILIA You can no w own mem ora

bilia from the famous "J ENNY" which has starred in T REAS URE SFROM THE P AST, as well as the EAA videos, YOUNG EAGLES a ndITS GOTTA BE A JE NNY. We have posters, post card, pins, T-s hirts,airmail cachets, etc. We also have RIC documentation exclusive tothis historic aircraft. Sales of these items suppor t operating expensesto keep this "JENNY" flyin :; for the avia tion public. We appreciateyour help. SASE for your free price list. Ken Hyde, 7099 Glenn CurtissL W A 22186 (12 2)


33/36

Fly high with aquality Classic interiorComplete interior assemblies for do-it-yourself installation.

Custom quality at economical prices . Cushion upholstery sets

Wall panel sets

Headliners Carpet sets Baggage compartment sets

Firewall covers Seat slings Recover envelopes and dopes

Free catalog of complete product line .

Fabric Selection Guide showing actual sample colors andstyles of materials: $3.00.

Q i r ~ R O D U T SINC.259 Lower Morrisville Rd ., Dept. VAFallsington, PA 19054 215) 295-4115

I I

:Ie

LEXANDER_ _ EROPLANECOMPANY INC.

"Our Main Product is Service"

Hardware Airframe Parts Interiors & Covering Materials Presewn Fabric Envelopes

Call 1-800-831-2949

DrucingUpfheGoose

en it goes on display again , the Spruce Goosewill be sporting tough new fabric control surfaces byPoly-Fiber . The AirVenture Museum people wantthem to last... and Poly-Fiber will . On the Goose,and on your airplane , too. Watch for announcementsof future Poly-Rber builder workshops. Find out howeasy it really is to do it yourself.

The Benchmark o fAi c ah Fabric Covering Systems

Customer Service:800-361-3490

Other Stuff: 909 684 4280Post Office Box 3129

Riverside, California 92519 i r c r a f t C o a t i n g s-EAAVideos in PAL European Format

15%Discount tMOSHKOSf(lto ALL

EAAMembers

Enjoyall the si g hts and soun

dso f EAA Oshkosh '94, with theannual Fly in Convention video


34/36


35/36

PHI COUlSON

M lietime Member

Antique &ClassicDivision Director

AOPAMe mber since 1966

Ka la mazoo A via tionMu se um Lfetime

Membe

r

American Wa co ClubInc Pre si dent

AUAis

approved

o become an

AAAntique

" I'm a pilot and an aircraft restorer.My pl a n s are my pride and joy and

Aviation Unlimited gency offers me

the option to repair my own aircraft .

Ruthie and I own tw o other vintage

aircraft , so the fleet discounts and no

hand -propping exclusion are also very

important . I'm confident with my

aircraft coverage and it gives m

peace of mind that U is supporting

AUA s Exclusive E

Antique Classic DivisionInsurance Program

Lower liabilit y and hull premiums

Medical payments included

Fleet discounts f o r multiple aircraft

carry ing a ll risk coverages

N o hand -propping e xc lu si on

N o age penalty

N o c omponent parts end ors ements


36/36

Documents

Vintage Airplane - Jan 1995