Vintage Airplane - Jan 2000

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jan 2000

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by

ESPIE

BUTCH

JOYCE

PRESIDENT VINTAGE AIRCRAFT

ASSOCIATION

Welcome to the year 2000 We're all being inundated by

all the various media about the highlights of the past thou

sand years and what we might expect to happen during the

next century. While looking back and recalling the past, it

became clear to me

that

the good friendships, relationships,

activities, and adventures I've enjoyed have totally drowned

out the not-so-pleasant memories. It always seems that be

cause of the good people I have known, whatever bad times I

have had were short-lived because of their help. I have had

relationships go sour, but the new relationships are much

stronger because I had learned what I did wrong

in

the past.

I'll bet you've had the same experience.

I have had some very good friends

go

west," but I still en

joy their friendship. All I have to do

is

recall the times I spent

with them whenever I want, and feel their friendship still

with me. It's also great that as time goes on, I continue to

meet and gain new friends

both

in

and

outside

of

aviation.

You

can never have too many friends

There are activities I have enjoyed that will, for whatever

reason, never be repeated,

but

there will be new adventures

better suited for today's environment, all of them waiting for

us in the new century. Now, the adventure part

is

not so easy

to put your finger on. This

is

the stuff that

is

purely an indi

vidual sport; there are really no rules

that

I have ever found.

The adventure

is

the thing

that

keeps you young, and puts

that

gleam in your eye. It gives you

that

smirky smile when

your friends ask

and

you

can t

tell

them

about the deed. It's

the stuff that keeps you enthusiastic, and I will wager you

that when you see some

of

the older pilots walking the air

plane rows at a fly-in, they have some adventures

that

they

can not tell you about, but would really like to do so.

I look forward to all of these things in this new century,

especially the adventure parts. Everyone loves Indiana Jones,

right? The secret is when you climb out on

that

limb, just

don't be too far above the ground

On

page four of this issue of Vintage Airplane, please take

a moment and read about the passing

of

Bob Lickteig. Bob

will be greatly missed by the Vintage Aircraft Association and

the EAA; he was a driving force

as

a director

and

was able to

make ideas become reality. I personally will miss his friend

ship and guidance,

as

we talked to each other once or twice a

week for many years. I always valued his opinion. Bob was

the president of the then Antique/Classic Division prior to

my election in 1988, and he passed along a healthy, growing

organization when he handed the baton my way. I'll always

be grateful.

As

to

the

state of

the

EAA Vintage Aircraft Association,

Inc. I m pleased to report we are

doing

well. Our bank ac

count is

in

the black; membership is holding steady, and

your publication Vintage Airplane continues to improve un

der the guidance of H.G. Frautschy, your editor.

All

of that said, it doesn't mean we're going to sit

on

our

empennages and enjoy the view We can all add to our con

tinued success. Vintage Airplane is a member-supported

magazine. Sure, it's great that we have the

EAA

Headquarters

staff to lean

on

for certain things, but

they can t

do it all.

Since this is a members-for-members association, I'd really

like to see more member input into the magazine, particu

larly when it comes to technical articles. Send them to H.G.

and he'll get in contact with you to get your ideas in print.

We'd also like to see the membership ranks cont inue to

grow as more and more

folks see

how enjoyable vintage avia

tion can be. Some time in the next 12 months, please talk

one person and invite them to join the Vintage Airplane

As-

sociation as a member. All of us need to do this so

the

Association can continue to be strong and growing.

I ll

keep you up to date on how the membership

as

a group

is doing by publishing a short report each quarter. The first

one will be in the April issue of Vintage Airplane. Asking each

of us to bring new member into the fold

is

a very simple ap

proach and will not require a great deal of effort by anyone.

Flip over your VAA membership card.

All

of the information

you'll need to tell someone how to join up is

on

the backside

of

that

card.

Don t

have a card like that yet? Then call

EAA

Membership Services at 800-843-3612 in Oshkosh, WI.

They'll be sure and get one in the mail to you

i f

you're a cur

rent member or are renewing your membership.

Winter's in full swing now. I know it's cold

out

there, but

please take

moment

to check your hangar's structure. Each

year we have a

number

of planes damaged by an old struc

ture giving away and falling on a beautiful airplane. Can you

imagine how that would break your heart? Don't let it hap

pen to you

I've been talking about putting a new instrument panel in

the Luscombe, but the weather has been too good for flying

here. Not any more - even here in the South the weather can

be pretty poor in the winter. It's time to get the drill out and

start working. I guess a new windshield and interior would be

a good idea, along with the panel. Hmm, how about the side

windows

and

the

??

Well, you know how it goes I've start

ing to work

on

the airplane and I can't stop Sound familiar?

We're just starting

on

a new Century. Let's all pull in the

same direction for the good of aviation. Remember we are

better together. Join us and have it

all

. . . . .

VINT GE IRPL NE


4/36

( f i l l inti ., i l l l

:i

r

\ \

l

Gene has often been involved in the building of a number of EAA aircraft. Here he's work-

ing of the aileron of EAA s Travel Air E-4000, which

is

now

one of the airplanes flown at

EAA s Pioneer Airport. Gene worked on the Travel Air

with

a number of other EAA staff

members and volunteers, including

his

good friend, the late Jim Barton.

For

fifteen years Gene gave introductory

flights to students at EAA s Air Academy.


5/36

1AWMSA

a

WSU

pWMA

A

a1

}0eU

-eNM

aSWAOA

'WOA


6/36

N WS ighter group,

and

his 2-1/2 year

"

compiled by H.G. Frautschy

ROBERT LICKTEIG

Vintage

Aircraft

Association Director

Robert j Dobby

Lickteig

of Albert

Lea,

Minnesota

passed away De

cember

13, 1999

after a brief illness.

Dobby was a native of Minnesota,

and

had

his first airplane ride

at

the

age

of

13

in

a Velie Monocoupe. He

soloed in a J-2 Cub

at the

age of 16

while working at the local airport for

flying time, and had been flying ever

since then. After completing college

in

Minnesota, he entered Air Force

pilot training and graduated in Class

42]. He was assigned

to

a

new

P-47

TH OV RS

FRONT COVER Piper's savior air

planewhen it w

as

on the v

erge

of

going

u

nder

a

fte

r

the person

al a

ir

pl

ane

market

coll apsed

in

194 7, the PA-15/17

Vagabond was no frills , but it continues

to bea avorite Short Wing

Pipe

r.

Ga

le

Perk

i

ns

br

ough

t

home the Reserve

Grand Champ i

on

Cass ic award from

EAA AirVentu

re

99

with

th

is example .

EM photo by Mark

Schaible

, shot with a

Canon EOS n

equipped

with an 80-220

mm

lens

on

1

OOASA

Fu

ji Provia slide

film. EM Cessna 210 photo plane flown

by

Br

uce Moore.

BACK

COVER

German

Air

Ser-

vice is the title

of

this watercolor by

EAA Master

Artist Bill

Marsalko , 3717

Addington Ct. ,

Fairview Park

, Ohio

44126. Bill has a pair of li

mited

edition

prints

for

sale

, done

in

the same

style.

The fi

rst depicts

Eddie Rickenbacker's

Spad

in

action

,

and

the

other shows

a

Siemens Schukert 111

in combat. Sized

at 16x20, they are

priced

at $25, $50

if

y

ou

w

ish

to

have Bill sign and

number

the pr int. Bill also offers his originals

f

or sale

at prices ranging from

$500

to

$3

,

500

.

For

information

on

the

various

deta

i

ls in

German

Air Service , please

see

the

key

on

the

oppOSite page.

combat

tour of duty

during

WW-JI

was spent

in the

European Theater

of

Operations. Dobby owned a varied

co

ll

ection of aircraft, including

a

Stinson V77, Stearman, L-2M, Aztec,

Citabria,

BT-13A

and AT-6G. In 1985

he

completed the restoration of a KR

21

Kinner-powered biplane and

donated

it to the

EAA Aviation Mu

seum .

I t

can currently be seen

on

display at the Heritage Halls museum

in

Owatonna, Minnesota

where

it

currently on loan. His airplanes were

frequent visitors to all upper Midwest

fly-ins.

He had

been

active in

EAA

An

tique/Classic and Warbird activities

since the EAA Convention was

moved

to

Oshkosh. Dobby served

the membership

as Vice-President of

the Division in 1984 and then Presi

dent from 1984 until mid-1988. He

also served

on

the

Board

of

Directors

from 1990 until his death.

V

AA

Directors

and

advisors

come

from all walks of life. A few are pro

fessional pilots, but most are from the

broad spectrum of everyday life. Man

ufacturing, engineering, computer

programming,

and businessmen

all

are

represented, linked

by

the

com

mon bond

of

aviation. Dobby

brought

a successful businessman's

acumen to our table, and

shared

his

expertise and enthusiasm unselfishly.

We'll certainly miss him

EAA

AD

ULT AIR ACADEMY

Time's

running out

to register for

t h e

first

session

of

t h e r ight

School

of

Building

and

Re

s

tora

tion . Six separate sessions, two each

in

t h e

winter, spring and fa

ll, will

present

an

overview of necessary

building and restoration

techniques

or emphasize

the construction

of a

specific model of aircraft. Winter ses

sions are Feb. 7-11 (bas ic ski lls

of

aircraft buildi

ng

and restoration)

and

Feb. 14-18 (bu ilding the RV series air

craft). Spring sessions are May 8-12

(basic sk ills) and May 15-19 k it air

craft to be determined). Fa ll sessions

are Nov. 6-10 (basic skills)

and

Nov.

13-17 (to be deter

mined

ki

t aircraft).

Rates vary according to the pro

gram.

Accommodations

for all Air

Academy programs

are available

in

the new Air Academy Lodge, a spe

cia lly built facility

that

provides

Air

Academy groups the opportunity to

share time together in an aviation at

mosphere

on

the EAA

grounds.

For

more

information

or

registra

tion

materials for the Foundation's

education programs, call toll free

888-EAA-EAA9 (888-322-3229) or

920-426-6815. or

contact EAA's

World Wide Web site at www eaa arg

You may also e-mail

the

Education

Office directly at educatian@

eaa

arg

Don't delay

SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

O

FHC

IALLY JOIN

THE

EAAFAMILY

EAA has added another tool

to

its

sources

of information and hands

on education for homebuilders

SportAir Workshops. EAA has

co

sponsored

the

Alexander SportAir

sessions

that

have been held around

the nation since

1993,

and it

offi

cially brought them under the EAA

banner in January.

Popular

with

EAA

members

and

other aviation

enthusiasts, at one

and two-day weekend sessions experi

enced instructors teach homebuilding

skills to people building or restoring

their

own

aircraft, or planning to do

so. Topics taught

include Introduc

tion to Aircraft Building; Basic Fabric

Covering; Composite

Construction;

Basic Sheet Metal Construction; and

Electrical Wiring

and

Avionics .

All

sessions

include extensive

hands

on

experiences

that enhance

an

individual's confidence to

begin or

complete their pro ject.

EAA SportAir Workshops also in

clude

th

ree-day kit-specific sessions

for

several of t he most freq uently

built mode

l

s,

and a one-day Intro

ductory Aircr

af

t Building

Workshop

and an Owner's Maintenance course.

The latter course offers aircraft own

ers of all types-homebuilt or

production mode ls-training on basic

maintenance procedures

that

aircraft

owners can perform themselves. The

4 JANUARY 2000


7/36

hands-on

session

includes

safety

wiring,

maintenance

items such as

spark plugs, filters

and

tires, as well

as

proper pre-flight techniques.

Participants

in

this year's sessions

will see a

lot

of

continuity

with

the

well-respected Workshops. SportAir

creator Ron Alexander will continue

his leadership in

the

Workshops.

He

will oversee course development

and

instructor selection

and

training. In

addition,

Poly-Fiber Aircraft Coat

ings

and

Aircraft Spruce Specialty

Company

will continue their sup

port of EAA's educational mission.

In

all,

24

EAA

SportAir Workshops

are

scheduled at locations

around

the nation during 2000, starting with

session

in

Oshkosh on

January

22

23. Other

locations scheduled

for

this year include Arlington, Wash

ington;

Corona, California;

Greensboro, North

Carolina;

Shawnee,

Oklahoma; Columbus,

Ohio; Lansing, Michigan; Griffin,

Georgia; and Lakeland, Florida.

The

EAA

SportAir Workshops will

continue

to

use

existing

facilities

around the nation, including

Alexander's

new

facility

in

Griffin,

Georgia. In

addition, the

weekend

series will complement the improve

ments planned for Workshops at

EAA

AirVenture Oshkosh, the Sun

In

Fun

EAA

Fly-in,

and

the

Northwest

Regional Fly-in

at

Arlington, Wash

ington. Alexander will administrate

the

sessions for 2000. For more in

formation or to register for

any

EAA

SportAir

Workshop,

call

800/967

5746 or visit

the

SportAir website at

www.sportair.com.

TYPE CLUB

WE

SITES

f

it's January, it must be time for

our

annual

Type Club

List

Starting

on

page 21, you'll find all just about

every type of airplane has a special

group

who want to

Keep

'em

Fly

ing. As

the

age

of

the

computer

continues to reach us

in

all sorts of

ways, we've added listings for E-mail

and

Web Site addresses.

As

of

the

end of 1999, about a thi rd of all

the

Type Clubs have some form of elec

tronic

information

available, and

the number

is

increasing each

month.

We're doing it too, at www vin-

tageaircraft org

Drop

in

and

read

about

Type Clubs,

and

peruse

the

same list you see here, updated

on

a regular basis all year long.

While you're there, you'll notice

that our

Type

Club

list contains

Hyperlinks to each of

the Type

Clubs who have web sites, making

it

easy for

you to find out more

about

your favorite airplane .

Check it out at

www vintageair-

craft.org

or start your

EAA

web site

visit by exploring at

www.eaa.org.

MINNESOT VINT GE

IRCR FT REGISTR TION

The recurring annual cost and

paperwork of registering collector

aircraft

in Minnesota

will disap

pear for many owners under a new

Law

passed by

the

Legislature

and

becomes effective August I, 1999.

The

new

law replaces

the

Pio

neer classification which was

only

for aircraft

manufactured

through

December

31,1939

with two new

categories: Antique

and

Classic .

Antique

covers aircraft

manufac

tured

prior to December 31,1945

and Classic applies to aircraft manu

factured after December

31, 1945

and

are

at

least 50 years old

at the

time of registration. f registered un

der either of these categories and the

owner operates

the

aircraft

as

a col

lector's item, the owner only need to

complete an application and pay the

one time

fee

of $25.00.

According

to the Department

of

Transportation this will be effective

only for aircraft after August

I,

1999.

The Department is also

beginning

the

design

and

procurement of spe

cial decals for these new categories.

This expanded

recognition of

collector

aircraft

was

initiated

by

Ken Hengler

of Hanover and Tom

Render of Eden Prairie,

both

collec

tors of

antique

aircraft

and

guided

through the Legislature by

State

Senator Gen. Olson

(R

Minnestria).

B CK

COVER

P INTING KEY

1. Albatros

flown

by Werner

Voss

of

Jagdstaffel

5

2 Jasta 18 flown

by StaffelfOhrer Raden ,

GuntherVon

Buren and Ltn

.

KOstner

3

Obit. Kurt

Student-JagstaffeI9.

4

Manfred Von Richthofen .

5 Medal: Knight

1st

class

with swords

of the

Albert

order.

6 The Knights cross

of

the

military

Max

Joseph order.

7. lVG CV. reconnaissance aircraft.

8 Pfalz DXII-Jasta 35b.

WIN

ME LUSCOMBE

Our congratulations

to the

1999

Win Me Luscombe winner, Keith

Smith of Minnesota. Sponsored by

the

Luscombe Foundation as a

fundraiser

to support the

Founda

tion's

non-profit

programs,

including the development of a

Lus

combe museum and preservation of

Luscombe

historical

information,

the

annual airplane

raffle has be

come quite popular.

All

of the 2,800

tickets available were sold, and Keith

bought only three of them to

win

his airplane, which was awarded at

the Copperstate

EAA

Regional Fly-In

held in Chandler, Arizona.

You

can lend your support to the

Luscombe

Foundation

by purchas

ing a

chance to

win a Luscombe in

2000. Tickets for the Millennium

Luscombe drawing are now available

by

calling

480/917-0969.

Again,

only

2,800 tickets will be sold, $40

each or

three

for $100.

Donations

are tax

deductible.

Visit

their

web

site

at www.luscombe.organd E

Mail at: [email protected]

VINTAGE

AIRPLANE

5
http:///reader/full/www.sportair.comhttp:///reader/full/tageaircraft.orghttp://www.vintageair/http:///reader/full/craft.orghttp:///reader/full/www.eaa.orghttp:///reader/full/www.luscombe.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.sportair.comhttp:///reader/full/tageaircraft.orghttp://www.vintageair/http:///reader/full/craft.orghttp:///reader/full/www.eaa.orghttp:///reader/full/www.luscombe.orgmailto:[email protected]


8/36

TV rIve rears

Flying Fingerlings nd Aerial

Lumber Yards

I

n subsequent years, Cranberry

Lake

in

the upper Adirondacks

became

our

spring

and

fall base

of operations,

continuing till the

late season iced over

ponds would

force us

to

quit. While at Cranberry

we operated from

behind Given s

Grocery Store

at

Cranberry Village,

tying up alongside a long, quite of

ten awash, low floating dock used by

lakeside camp owners

who

came by

small boats from

down

the lake to

the village for supplies.

Many a fall

morning,

Barb

and

I

would come down from our room

ing house

quarters

to the airplane

only to find it covered with several

inches of new

wet

snow

. To make

her

flyable ,

one

of us would

perch

on the upper wing center section

throwing buckets of warmer lake wa-

ter onto the wings to slosh the snow

off. And sometimes

on

a cold morn

ing, the start air storage

tank

would

be depleted while try

ing to

get

the

Continental

running

.

When

this

happened, we d have to paddle her

to a nearby sandy, snowy beach,

nose her in, and then swing the pro

peller by

hand

, while standing with

rubber boots in several inches of

chilly water.

Following a cold

morning

liftoff

in

quick

freezing spray, only by

greatly exaggerated actuation of the

stick

and

rudder could the freedom

of vital flight

controls

and

water

rudders be assured, with the plane s

resultant aimless gyrations remind

ful of a wounded duck

flopping

through the sky .

During the fall season while work

ing at Cranberry, we contracted with

the

State

of

New York

to

plant

fin

gerling trout in several backwoods

ponds.

We

rendezvoused

with

an

aerated state tank truck at the settle

ment

of Stillwater

on

Beaver River

Flow where the baby fish were trans

ferred into

ten-gallon milk pails

which were lashed

to

wooden racks

bolted to

the

Waco s float

support

struts. s the day wore on, the loads

were

gradually increased

and by

mid-afternoon

we

were carrying four

ten-gallon cans on each of the float

racks, and two in the front cockpit.

When she was pushed off the beach

and

taxied

out

in the lake for take

off, the back third of the floats would

be awash by several inches. Yes , she

was overloaded, but the Waco s per

formance appeared

to

suffer little .

However,

during

approach, unless

considerable power

was

used to

maintain an acceptable sink,

she

didn t glide in for landing at our des-

tination pond, she kind of

fell

in.

I

flew

these planting flights alone,

stopping the engine after landing so

I could get down to the floats to un

cover, then

dump

the cans

one

at a

time. t was late afternoon when the

last load had been

flown

and

I re

turned for Barb . Now lightly loaded,

we

took off and banked low and

headed north

acro

ss the

hills

for

Cranberry. Low

clouds

had been

forming since

noontime

, gradually

obscuring

the November sky, and

they

were

now

gray

and

cold and

y Holland Dutch Redfield

6 J NU RY 2


9/36

spitting light snow. The route home

would have

to

be from lake to lake

using the large-scale topographical

charts and I steered without the ben

efit of familiar streambeds like those

I knew so well in

the

lower Adiron

dacks. The fall light was fading fast

and the heavying snowfall was fast

reducing visibility to little better

than

straight down. In

the

drafty

cockpits we were cold and shivering

in our wet clothes and wet boots.

We passed low over Witchopple

Lake where I had planted some fish

earlier

and

as it slid

beneath,

I saw

friendly smoke

drifting

from

the

stone chimney of the

hunting

lodge

located there. I quickly banked

and

circled back, and hunters in red plaid

shirts waved to us through the dusk

and now

steadily

falling

snow. t

didn t take long to make a decision

as the wings were brought level

and

the end of the long, narrow lake we

had just passed over could barely be

seen ahead through

the

snow.

A

short glide and we were down.

We tied the seaplane to a tiny ca

noe dock, covered

the

engine

and

the cockpits, then trudged up a short

trail through the woods to the lodge

where

hot

coffee

and

a crackling fire

soon warmed us. We

were

now

warm

and

secure and the seaplane

was in a safe

protected

spot. Some

while later when the hearth fire was

getting low, Barb and I were shown

to

a

bunk

shack situated near the

main building.

Heavy, warm blankets covered

our

assigned bunks . Barb

first

crawled into his and fully clothed he

quickly covered up

with chattering

teeth.

I

too, then

kicked

off my

boots and made a running dive over

the

end of my bunk where to my

great surprise I landed with a crash.

Barb,

although

snug, hadn t in -

formed me that there were no

mattresses and that the

blanketed

boards were only there to keep a

person in a sleeping bag off the

cold floor.

The

next day

was

nice

and

we

flew home to Cranberry in

the

sun

shine, but with me nursing a bruised

shoulder.

ome day perhaps

will

understand why

nurses and

aviators

are

attracted

to

each

other.

An

awful

lot

of

them

are.

Deep

in the Adirondacks

near

Cranberry a hillbilly

named

Rudy

had

camped

for many years. Every

few weeks

he

would visit the village

for supplies, rowing his leaking boat

six miles up the lake from where the

trail ended

on

the

far

south shore.

The Waco was

tied alongside

Given's dock one

day

as Rudy was

getting

out

of his tippy

boat

along

side the half sunken, slippery dock.

He hobbled over to our seaplane, his

long whiskers dripping tobacco juice

on his boots

and

pants,

and

a large

chaw bulged his cheek

beneath

his

matted, stringy hair and small round

metal framed spectacles.

Despite the beard and exterior ap

pearance, Rudy seemed an educated

man

and he

spoke well. Perhaps

he

hibernated

in

the

solitude

of the

woods

to

get away from it all. Rudy

asked me if we might be able to help

him. He explained that his tent

badly needed

some

new flooring,

and

because the woods were so wet

and

soggy from recent rains, he had

been unable to

get

to

his campsite

with a team and

wagon.

Rudy

in-

quired i f we could possibly deliver

some

lumber to

him with

the

sea

plane,

leaving

it

on the shore of a

nearby pond.

I leaned

into

the cockpit and

pulled out the large-scale topograph

ical chart that showed the Cranberry

area of the Adirondacks in the small

est detail. Careful measurement

showed

the pond

to be too small

and

I believed the matter dismissed,

but Rudy bit off a new chaw

and

asked, Well,

why

don t you

drop

the

boards in to me? Initial con-

templation showed this to be a

somewhat ridiculous suggestion, un

til

at

Barb's suggestion he and I put

our

heads

together to

talk

things

over. t was Barb's proposal

that we

could easily make up some bundles

of about a dozen boards each, to be

held

together

with

bailing

wire.

With a bundle lashed to the deck of

each float, we

could complete

the

job with only a

couple

of flights

down

over Rudy's camp, dropping

two on each trip. Arrangements were

made to complete the task a few

days hence.

Rudy's tent

was deep in the woods

among

dense

and

high trees.

So

we

could

locate his

campsite, it had

been previously agreed

that

he was

to climb a nearby tree and tie a white

flag to the top.

With two of Rudy s

bundles

lashed to the floats, we took off flew

south,

and

after

much

searching fi-

nally located our prearranged target.

As

we circled to keep the tiny white

marker

in

Sight, Barb eased himself

out of the forward cockpit

and

out

onto

the

lower wing walk. He

then

very carefully lowered himself over

the lower wing leading edge, an inch

at

a time, until

he

was standing on

the

deck of

the

left float. In

the

meantime, I had begun a long, slow

approach

toward Rudy's campsite.

As

we got closer,

and

lower, Barb

loosened the lashings, then

upon

a

prearranged signal the boards were

released and Barb pushed the bundle

free

with

his

foot. The

first load

plunged toward the forest

far

below,

tumbling over and over. As I gently

banked

the

Waco for

another

pass,

Barb clambered back up to the lower

VINT GE IRPL NE


10/36

wing, into the cockpit, and now fu

ll

of confidence, out the other side and

down onto

the deck of

the other

float

where

our lumber dropp

i

ng

procedure was repeated. Another trip

back to Cranberry for a second load

and

we

were done.

On

our way

home, there was much shouting and

laughing between cockpits.

I must say now

that

during this

process there were plenty of things

for Barb to hang

onto

: struts, wing

and float brace wires, etc., and once

down there, the floats did provide a

wide, stable platform upon which to

stand,

even in the strong propeller

stream.

But

would I do it?

"NO "

On Rudy's next journey to

Cran

berry

Village, we

were paid

with

soggy bills

and

also complimented

on our bombing accuracy.

t

was ex

plained

that

even though each of the

bundles

had burst

on

impact, and

one

had landed butt end first on a

large stump, only one of the boards

was unusable , and for this he was

most

pleased. But

he

also told us ,

when he had first seen us circling, in

order for him to be certain where the

tumbling boards

were

landing, he

had positioned himself very close to

the targeted tree, but then

soon

found

h imself

dashing about

t h e

woods in all directions as he franti

cally en

deavored

to stay

out

fro m

under

th

e plummeting lumberyard.

Thus far in this narration no

thin

g

h

as

been sa id about any possible ro

mance, bu t one began to bl ossom

abo

ut th

e

tim

e we

brou

g

ht

th e

Waco

F-2

bac

k f

rom

Bu

ffa lo. My

love was Peggy Barkley, a stu dent

nurse in

tr

aining a t

th

e U

ni

versity

of Sy racuse.

O

njul

y

2

1937, we eloped a

nd

we re m a rr ied . At

thi

s w

ritin

g

44

yea rs later, we

hav

e

tw

o son s, a

wo

nd

erful daug

hter-in-l

aw a

nd

a

beautiful granddaughter to show for

a great marriage.

t

mu st be

sa

id, howeve

r that

al

th

ough

th

e

ju

stice of

th

e Peace, Guy

Pickering, across

the

state line in

Gr

ea

t

Bend

, Pe

nns

y

lvani

a, pro

nounced us

man and

wife on

the

8 JANUARY 2

second of

july

-it really wasn 't until

two

days later on

july

4th, when I

was busy

hopping

passengers at

Owasco

Lake,

that it

all

suddenly

sank in.

The seaplane, with me at the con

trols, was

on

a right descending turn

toward the lake and passing low over

the

roller-coaster

at an amusement

park near where

we

were

flying ,

when

my mind suddenly

ceased

working

as

a total realization of my

very recent marriage dawned

on

me

"My God, what have I done?"

As

I contemplated the enormity of

it all,

the

Waco

continued

its de

scent, its pilot now an

unseeing

zombie , and we

hit

the water,

and

bounced

in a cloud of spray,

and

bounced again.

Finally,

we

were

down and I had done nothing to as

sist. The seaplane dropped

off

the

steps and for several

minutes

wan

dered aimless ly over

the

lake s

surface as

the

prop slowly

ticked

over

and

over,

and

Barb on shore

wondered what was going on. Then

suddenly I

came

to,

shook

myself,

smiled

at my

puzzled

passengers,

swung her

around

and taxied for

shore.

Some day, perhaps, I will

under

stand wh y nurses and

aviators

are

attracted to each other.

An

awful lot

of them ar

e.

Mu ch as I l

oved fl

y

in

g

in

t h e

Ad iro

nd

acks, our bu sin ess in t hi s

lovely ar

ea

, even during

th

e s

umm

er

season , was ju st t

oo

s

lim

. Besides

th is, in order for us to do any busi

n ess,

it

was n ecessar y to d o

considerable non-reve

nu

e fly ing be

tween mountain lakes looking for it.

What I looked

fo

r was a new base

of operations wh ere people would

co me to m

e

a base wh ere the air

plane would only be flown

wh

en

it

was producing revenue. The colorful

village

of Al

exandr ia

Ba

y, situated

amidst the magnificent Thousand Is

land

s on th e St. Lawr enc e Rive r,

seemed

an

ideal spot. We

op

erated

ju

st the

F-2

there during the s

umm

er

of 1937, giving up our operations in

th

e Adirondacks exce

pt

for th e still

lucrative fall hunting season. But fly

ing a seaplane from the

St.

Lawrence

quickly revealed itself

as far

more dif

ficult than I had anticipated. Dozens

and dozens of large 100-passenger

tour boats cruising between the 1900

closely

packed islands, plus

th

e

countless

boats

of

the island

resi

dents themselves ,

and

large

ocean-going tankers

and

freighte

rs

resulted in heavy and very congested

conditions,

as

well

as

a troublesome,

seldom-abating

surface dead swell

which caused me many delays, air

frame

punishing

takeoffs

and

landings,

and

severe problems from

the boat swells when lying dockside.

The business potential proved ex

cellent, but I was very discouraged

and frustrated with the conditions

under which I was forced to operate.

Gradually, however, I became more

and more familiar with, and able to

recognize from the

air,

the many

tour boats

operating

from Alexan

dria

Bay

as well as

the

boats of the

Islanders,

where on

the riverfront

they were normally apt to go, and

where they were most apt to

be

com

ing from . I memorized the tour boat

schedules, and those that threw large

wakes and those that did not.

Most of the landing approaches to

the river on busy days were from a

270 degree

descending pattern

started from directly overhead my

planned, but ever changing, touch

down area, th

is

permitting a view of

th e river th roughout the approach .

From above,

it

seemed a

turm

o

il

of

cri ssc rossi ng boa t s a

nd

co n fused

crisscrossing wa kes but by studying

the boats and

th

eir wave pa

tt

ern

s r

was a

lm

ost always able a t

th

e l

ast

minute to pre-se lect a comparative ly

smoo

th

spot for touchdown and st

ill

close to our dock. As we n

ea

red th e

surface, I would loosen my seat belt

and stand on the rudder pedals

wi th

h ead a

nd

shoulders high above th e

sma

ll

winds

hi

eld,

th i

s so

in th

e l

as

t

few seconds of

th

e approach I could

see ove r

th

e airplane s lo ng nose .

Hundreds of touchdowns

we

re made

in this manner.

When

it

was necessary to bash

through big waves th e so ftest pen

e

tration would result with

th

e float


11/36

bows high, just before going

onto,

or

just after coming off the planing

steps. And

the retreating sides of

wakes undulating across the river's

surface in the same direction

as a

takeoff or landing

run

would pro-

duce

a

softer impact

than crashing

into

a wake's

advancing

edges. Prob

ably

the

softest

ride of

all

would

result when

taking off

or

landing

parallel

to the

swells. But

on

takeoff

the rhythmic

wing

rocking that

re

sulted

greatly interfered with

essential

smooth

air flows

over the

lifting

airfoils which was

certain

to

produce

a

much longer

takeoff

run.

In

the

case

of landings,

however,

it

made

little difference as

the

quicker

lift was lost,

the

better.

The

summer tourist was the prin

cipal source of income

for

the

natives

of

Alexandria

Bay.

The

ex

cursion

boat

tours

in this

magnificent area were,

and continue

to

be, a

big

business,

and there

was

considerable

local concern

that my

scenic

seaplane

flights over the

Is

lands might

cut

into

the

business of

the

tour boats.

This

was made clear

to me

in various ways

on

several oc

casions.

But I

tried to

be a good

neighbor,

and

as

it

turned

out

we

were

not

hurting

anyone s

business

at all. On the contrary,

it

was soon

agreed we

were

probably actually

helping

everyone s business

in the

form of

another

village attraction.

Over the ensuing years,

I

made

many good and lasting friends at the

1000 Islands. The

tour boat

captains,

as

they

became

aware

of my

operat-

ing

problems,

did much

to help me

by keeping

an

eye

out

and

not

cut-

ting in

front

of

me,

turning

so as

to

parallel my runs for

better

wave pat

terns, and

not

objecting when

I

landed

close alongSide.

Often

I

would receive a friendly horn blast,

when

under tight conditions

it

would

be

necessary to make a low

flat skidding

turn,

plunking

down

right in front of

their

bow.

In

the late

fall

the

F-2

was rein-

stalled

on

her

landing gear. We

hauled

her

out

of

the

water

along-

side a tiny grass field

bordering the

west shore of Onondaga

Lake

and

then hoisted

her

up

on

a

chain

fall

rigged

between two

trees.

The

bolts

were knocked in place

and soon

she

was

sitting on her

landing gear

and

tail wheel.

A

very short

run across

the

postage stamp field and she was

airborne with her

still

spinning

wheels

skimming

the

lake,

then

an-

other

few

minutes and

she was back

under

a

hangar

roof for

the

first time

in many

months.

The tour bo t captains

as they bec me w re

of

my

operating

problems did

much

to

help

me by keeping an

eye out nd

not cuffing

n front of me.

During the

ensuing winter I did

some heavy thinking about the

1,000 Islands

operation.

Very

often

on busy

days we lost an awful lot

of

business

because

I was able

to

carry

but

two

passengers at

a

time, and

prospective Sightseers, facing a

long

wait for

a

flight, would just walk

away. Also,

the

seaplane

operating

season

was

only, at best, about

six

months

long;

the

rest of

the

year

the

airplane was

not

very productive. f I

had

a seaplane

that

could

carry four

passengers,

and an airplane

that

could

also be

operated in

the

south

over the winter months,

a far

better

operation would

certainly result.

But, besides this, I

now

had the up

coming

responsibilities

of

a

father-to-be.

The only

four-place

airplane that

even came

close

to my

performance

and

capacity requirements was the

Waco

cabin

biplane. I was

fortunate

to

find

one,

a

Standard

Model,

YKS-

7 t

was

only

a

year

old and it was

mine

for 3,000. I was able

to

locate

a set of used floats for 1,100.

But

now, the

F-2

had to

be

sold

and

on

a cold

blue skied February

day I flew her

south

across the snow

covered

hills,

delivering her

to

her

new owner in Philadelphia.

Al

though very proud of

the new

Waco

cabin, and

full

of hope

for

the

suc

cess

of

a

new

type of

operation,

I

was also

torn and hated myself

for

now turning my

back

on

this lovely,

lovely airplane

that

I loved so much

and that had

served

me

so well.

As

the

hills

and

valleys passed below, I

was tempted several

times

to turn

back

with her and

I winced. Tears

of

frustration came,

and

I was angry

at

the way

I was

coping with

a

situa-

tion

of

my own

doing.

The air was

smooth and

stable

and the Continental s

song was crisp

and

sweet

in

the cold winter

air. I

wouldn t let myself toss

her around

and play with her

a

bit

because

she

knew where to

nip

me

and

tease for

more . So I let her

doze

and

hoped

she wouldn t

realize

where

I

was

taking her.

This beautiful thing.

With

my

lap belt tight,

I

was

joined

to

her and

I was part of her.

With the

gentle pressures

of

her con

trols she allowed

me to

feel her,

and

feel her element, the sky. And

when

I

responded to her pressures with

guiding

pressures for

her

to

feel, we

were

one, and totally dependent

upon

each other.

She was

vibrant and quick to

sense my

moods,

perhaps reflected

back

to me

in joyful, frivolous flight,

or,

at

times

there

were

worrisome

,

distracted flight where her plaCid na

ture

would

do most of

the work

for

me,

times when I

had

many

other

things on my mind.

Sometimes

she

was

kittenish and without

much

teasing

could

be coaxed to

stand on

her tail, or do

a back flip, or

even

roll over.

When

I left

her at Philadelphia

I

believe she thought I d be

back.

I

didn t

go

back to pat her.

Maybe

someday I'll find

her

again

and

I

am

certain we'll

know

each other.

Continued Next Month in in-

tage Airplane

VINT GE IRPL NE


12/36

Curtiss Oriole

by H.G.

Fr

autschy

Pete Bowers Collection

Many of

you

wrote in to iden-

tify

the October

Mystery Plane.

Pete Bowers, Seattle,

W

sent in a

nice collection of photos and this

response:

The

October Mystery Plane is the

1919 Curtiss

Oriole an

optimistic

effort by the giant Curtiss Aeroplane

Motor Co. to provide a new post

WW-J

design

for the

commercial

mar

ket. Unfortunately, it faced an

unpleasant fact of life. Competition

from

cheap war-surplus models like

Curtiss' own IN-4D Jenny and the

Standard

J-1,

many

of

which

Cur

tiss had bought

from the

government

for refurbishment and res

ale

.

Structurally, the Oriole was a

step ahead of the Jenny in that it

was a three-seater

with

a

lami

nated wood

semi monocoque

fuselage. The wing wa s essentially

shortened Jenny, and the engine

was

the same 90

hp

Curtiss OX-5,

a

water-cooled

V-

o

The Oriole was

initially

priced

at

$9,S50 but with

refurbi

sh

ed Jennies

being sold by Curtiss for $2,000, the

price of the Oriole was slashed to

$3,000. A further blow came when

the government began selling war

surplus

directly

to

the public instead

of

to

manufacturers for refurbish

ment and

resa

le.

C

urtiss then aimed

for

a higher

market.

t

put the new 160

hp

Cur

tiss

C-6 engine, an

in-line

six, into

a

larger and heavier Oriole with a

four-foot greater

wingspan.

The longer

wings

and canted inboard struts were

normally a recognition feature of the

C-6 Oriole, but some Short Wing Ori

oles were retrofitted with the

C-6

engine.

The improved perfornwnce didn 't

help

sales,

and

Curtiss soon ended Ori

ole production. Undelivered airplanes

were

dismantled and stor

ed.

Supris

ing ly, some of these

were so

ld

to

other

anuary Mystery Plane, .

Pete Bowers sent in this month's Mystery Plane, a handsome

biplane

from the 1920s. We've

not

touched

the

photograph, so any markings are

still visible.

Send

your answers to:

EAA

Vintage Airplane, PO

Box

3086 Oshkosh, WI

54903 -3086. Your answers need to be in no later than February 25,2000 for

inclusion in the April issue

of

Vintage Airplane.

You can also send your response via e-mail. Send your answer to vin

[email protected]

Be

sure to include both your name and address in the body of your not e,

and put (Month) Mystery Plane in the subject line.

manufacturers and

1924

and 1925,

one of

whom

used

the wings

on

a

new

steel

tube fuselage while another fitt

ed

new wings to the

Oriole

fuselage.

Larry Beidleman of Granada Hills,

California wrote:

As you commented, the

Oriole

fuselage was constructed of molded

plywood providing a very strong,

s

treamlined

sh

ape.

While today

we

imagine racing

10 JANUA Y2000
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


13/36

TOP) The improved Oriole with longer wings and 160 hp

Curt iss C-6 engine. Note the canted inboard struts, rounded

wingtips, and larger rudder.

RIGHn A close-up of the 160 hp Curtiss C-6 engine installa

tion

in an Oriole,

the

1918 150 hp

K-6

model. Note

the

unique vertical radiator used by

oth

the

OX-5 and

C-6

ver

sions

of the

Oriole.

planes

as

sleek low wing monoplanes,

th

e Curtiss Orioles

were

popular in their

day

as racers. One

Oriole

fitted with a set

o wings

with the lower span shorter than

the top and braced with struts instead

o

wires

set several speed records in the

1920s.

CURTISS ORIOLE SPECIFIC TIONS

Retired American Airlines pilotJohn

Kidd

of Garden

Grove alifornia re-

called a personal encounter

with an

Oriole:

In the early 1920s a barnstormer

brought

a

Curtiss

Oriole in my home town,

Bristow, Oklahoma. I

was

10 years old

and

lived

a

coup

le o

blocks

from

the

cot-

ton field where many

barnstormers

found

profits.

l

was

lu cky to be so close; I was the

conitnued

on

p ge 26

Wing

Span

Length

Wing Area

Empty Weight

Gross Weight

High

Speed

Cru ise Speed

SHORT

WING

LONG

WING

36 ft.

40ft

25 ft.

26 ft 1

In

326 sq. ft.

399

sq.

ft.

1 4281bs

1 732 Ibs

2 0361bs

2 5451bs

86.3

mph

97

mph

69 mph

72.6 mph

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

11


14/36

EAA #21

VAA

#5

PASS T TO BUCK

H.G.,

your

friendly editor, came

down last weekend to immerse him

self

in

airplanes. One of

the

"BIG"

disadvantages he has as your editor

is that he is so far into Vintage Air

plane, he's

out

of

it

Now that may seem like a foolish

statement, but in reality, he very sel

dom gets a chance to just

fly

for fun.

Once in

a

while this

leads to

his

showing

up

at my hangar door

for

an

afternoon

of revitalization . This

was one of those times.

H.G.

is

going for his Commercial,

Instrument, and maybe his Instruc

tor's ratings. I have

the

airplanes,

and an old simulator, so

he's

gravi

tated

to

the Funny

Farm"

strip

to

sharpen up for the flight test .

Preflighting the Cessna,

he

found

my spoiler installation of sufficient

interest to ask me to do an

article on

them, so here it

is.

Here at the "Funny Farm Airfield"

we

have

some pretty strong south-

westerly winds. I was watching the

airplanes bucking their tiedowns one

afternoon in 30 plus gusts ,

and

I de

cided

there must

be

a

way to

minimize this, so out to the Aero

Shop and here

are

the results in

words and pictures:

I found two eight-foot lengths of

1

x 3" furring strips, whacked

them

in

half

and made a "T." Next came

attachments

of one-

inch aluminum

bar stock formed in the shape of the

leading edge. I screwed them to the

"T, " and padded

them

with some hi

density foam, and

put

some padding

on

the bottom of the "T" as well.

On the backside of the "T" I made

a couple of loops to hook on

some

2 JANUARY 2

by E.E. Buck Hilbert

P.O. Box 424 Union, IL 60180

cheapie bungee cords.

Now to prove my theory, I went

out and

installed

them on

the

air

plane.

I

slipped

them

over the leading

edge,

pulled the bungees back

to the trailing edge, stood

back and 10 and behold,

they

WORKED The

bucking all but stopped.

They

are

now standard

equipment

on

several

of

the airplanes parked out

side

here at the Funny

Farm Airfield."

Take a look at the pic

tures and if you want to

reprod

uce t h

em,

got to

it. The

who

le shebang

came

to

about $20, an

d

that sure is

minima

l

when

you

're protecting

an airplane

investment.

Oh yeah, I painted them

with

leftovers

that

were

just laying around.

Another neat litt le

field

expedient: for a

pilot cover, a plastic film

cartridge can worked out

just fine .

So

well, in fact,

that it 's now standard

equipment in the

tiedown kit.

You

may

want to add a length of

red ribbon to it (just put

the tail in the bottle and

then snap the top down)

as a

Remove

Before

Flight" reminder.

Over to you,

q ~ t c k


15/36


16/36

V

agabond

Out

side of aviation,

the name

conjures up images of a free

spirit who spends his life moving

from one happy experience

to

an

other without

a care in

the

world.

Say the word within aviation circles,

however,

and

th

e

image

is

of

a

stubby-cute little airplane that today

is seldom

thought

of as floating

across the landscape like

thistle

in

the wind. Today, it's thought of as a

long-ago airplane ideally suited for

hamburger runs and local hops.

And

then

there is Gale

Perkins'

Vagabond. Now we're

back

to the

original definition of the word. And

how do we know that? Because a

quick review of Perkin's long shelf of

awards will show a preponderance of

"longest distance" plaques and tro

phies.

This

particular Vagabond

actually

is

a free

spirit

that enjoys

the open

road and doesn't consider

distance to be an obstacle.

Gale,

who

calls Richwood, Ohio

home, can walk down his trophy

row and proudly point out his Clyde

Smith Award earned

at

Sentimental

Journey in Lock Haven, Pennsylva

nia.

That's

not

too

far

from his

Longest Distance awards from places

like south Texas and Colorado.

Flight planning

a meager 90

mph, Gale is flying for

the

right reason. He's flying be

cause he enjoys being in

the

air. So, the longer the trip, the

better. As a true

vagabond

knows, the joy is in the jour

ney,

not

in the arrival.

It's obvious the

little

PA

15/17

series, both called

Vagabond, has

outgrown

its

original image as an econo

plane to

become a well liked

little classic. The original de

sign was Piper's

desperate

attempt to survive the crash of

the much heralded, and to

tally non-existent, aviation

boom

market of 1946.

At a

time when it looked as if few

manufacturers were going to

survive, the

money man

William Shriver came through

Piper

and

laid down one law: Gale Perkins and

his EAA

AirVenture 99

build

the

cheapest airplane

Reserve Grand Champion Classic trophy.

you can build and use as much

in-stock, already paid for ma

terial as you can. That meant using

the cheapest motor (Lycoming 65

hp

in

the

PA-15 because freight was

cheaper

than

for Continentals), with

as few luxuries and use as

few

mate-

Gale loves to fly his Vagabond long distances, and prefers to

use

this thumb

on

the

map

and a good stopwatch. He s added a

few more

items to the instrument panel,

including an a-day

clock,

turn and

bank,

directional gyro and cylinder head temp

erature gauge.

rials as possible. This automatically

meant the

airplane had to be small.

And

the

wings could be

shorter,

if

the

airplane was lighter. This

meant

fewer ribs, less spar material, shorter

struts, etc., etc.. In

the

original PA

ISs, the gear was simplified by the

removal

of

any shock absorbing

system. After all,

they

rationalized,

that 's what

tires

were

for.

The

panel featured the absolute mini

mum of instruments and military

surplus mag switches were used.

Simplify, simplify.

A year later the design was subtly

modified into the

PA-17,

still called

Vagabond, with the most important

changes being the installation of a

bungee landing gear and an A-65

Continental engine.

At

some point

in its early history before he bought

it, Gale's

airplane

received several

additional modifications that made

it

even better. Chief among the

changes were a C-85 Continental, a

wing tank , the side D windows

which eliminated a

serious

blind

spot, and a normal sized tail whee

Gale came into aviation as a farm

4 JANUARY 2


17/36

kid who wanted wings.

In

fact, the

family farm on

which

he now has

his house, has been in the family for

three generations.

However, Gale

had no taste for farming, choosing

instead to go into education while

his brother ran

the

family farm. For

30 years, he was

an

occupational

teacher who " helped kids continue

their education who might other

wise drop out."

He

would tutor them

in English, History and Government

for half a day and they would then

get on-the-job training for hands-on

occupations for the rest of the day.

He learned to fly while he was

still in college

as

part of Ohio State's

well-known

aviation

program.

He

laughs when he talks about getting

his

PPL

in a Cessna 140 for the grand

sum

of

eight bucks an

hour, wet.

Oh, for the old days

Gale moved

onto

the farm in 1965

and bought a J-3 shortly there after

to utilize

the

grass strip he

and

his

brother

had carved out of a pasture.

The Vagabond came to live with him

in 1973 and it was love at first flight.

I

don t

know why,

I just love

the

way it handles and the way it looks,"

he says.

At

one point, he thought he

might like a clipped

Cub,

so

he

sold

the

Vagabond to

a

neighbor. Then, he

felt so bad seeing

the airplane sit out

side and missed

flying it so

much,

he talked the neigh

bor in to selling it

back to him.

He

had

been

thinking

about

restoring

the air

plane

for a long

time when

Ma Na

ture

made the

The aileron horns should look familiar

to

anyone who's

lown

a

Cub

and dinged his scalp on a turnbuckle

decision

for him.

As

he puts it, "I

called home from

the

Rocky Moun

tain

Fly-In in 1991 to tell my wife I

had

good news and I had bad news.

The good news was I won a trophy.

The bad news was, just after the air

plane

was judged,

it got

hailed on

and was full of holes."

The

hail was bad

enough

that it

punched over 60 nice clean holes in

his airplane. I got out the duct tape

and

sealed

each one of them

up.

Then

I flew home being very careful

to keep my speed down. I was a little

nervous, although I probably didn t

need to be."

The airplane had been rebuilt in

1971 by a previous owner, so the cot

ton cover was 20 years old and ready

for

replacement anyway.

Gale didn t feel as if he could do

an adequate job of restoring the air

plane to his own satisfaction so he

talked to a friend who lived over in

Chatfield, Ohio, Tom Schulze. Gale

had seen a PA-22/20 Tom had done

and 1 knew he

could

do exactly

the kind of job I wanted."

Gale credits Tom,

who

has a full

time job

as

an auto mechanic, with

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5


18/36

f the Vagabond were judged

as art

(and many of us

might

be tempted )

it

would

have to classified

as

"Minimalist,"

since

the airframe includes just a litt le more than

is absolutely needed for flight.

doing

the lion

s share of

the

work,

although

Gale was

right there on

weekends helping out.

The airplane was dismantled in

cluding taking the wings completely

apart. The aluminum

spars were

cleaned and Scotchbrited and any

rib

that

wasn't perfect were replaced

with a new-old-stock part. Then the

parts were epoxy primed, new lead

ing edges fabricated

and the

wings

reassembled.

The fuselage was stripped and sand

blasted and, we were lucky in that

we could find very little rust any

where. Only one small piece around

the doors needed some work.

Although the old expander tube

brakes have gotten ridiculously ex

pensive

to overhaul,

Gale decided

to

stick

with the originals

rather

than going for a Cleveland conver

sion. Besides, as many who have

made the conversion

have

found

out, Clevelands are often

too much

brake for such little airplanes.

From the

door forward,

the

Vagabond's sheet metal was typical

of

the

breed: t had nearly a half

century's worth of small dents

and

dings.

There was nothing major

wrong;

it

just had enough minor

no doubt about where the vent is for the fuse-

e mounted fuel tank. Gale runs his Continental C 85

as

the

EAA

Auto

Fuel STC

sticker attests.

imperfections that

it

would

drive

anyone

restoring an airplane

nuts.

The

cure? Replace

all the sheet metal. This

part of the project

started

with

locating

a

new, old-stock

nose

bowl, which a California

Piper dealer still had on

his shelves. Fortunately,

PA-17 s and

PA-ll s

share the

same nose

bowl

and Gale

lucked

onto one. Then they,

...spent a huge amount

of

time getting a

really

good

fit.

Even

the

fac

tory sheet metal had

little

puckers and we

worked

to make

sure

ours fit tight.

The entire airplane, including the

metal,

was

shot with Randolph dope,

rather than using enamel

on

the

metal. This guaranteed a perfect color

match. Gale says, We attended some

Randolph workshops that showed

us

how to shoot dope on metal, but

we

still wound up redoing some cowling

pieces several times. The only enamel

is

on the struts.

The airplane

was

covered with Ce-

conite with the two of them dividing

the labor. Tom did the outside and

Gale did

the

interior. To guarantee

that the

envelopes

fit , they

had

a

woman come to the airport with her

sewing

machine and stitch them

right on site.

While he was doing

the

interior,

Gale

put

sound deadening material

in the walls in an effort to cut down

noise

and

keep

heat

in.

He

says,

I

really wouldn t recommend doing

the same thing

to

anyone as I can

hardly tell the difference.

They decided to do the engine

themselves with Tom doing the as-

sembly work and farming out

the

machine

work. The hardest

part

of

the project was finding a good crank

for

the

engine. Then

a

new

Sensenich 72/44

prop

was fitted

which Gale says, .falls somewhere

between a climb and cruise prop.

Gale doesn't believe in fancy any

thing and his airplane shows it. The

only electricity in the airplane

is

in

the ELT battery and there isn't even

a telltale

mark where a GPS clamp

might have been placed. When Gale

goes somewhere, it

is

with chart in

hand

and

his eye

on

the lubber line.

He doesn't know for sure how many

miles he's traveled in

the

airplane,

but everyone of them has been by

pure pilotage.

So, now that he

has

the

Reserve

Grand Champion-Classic trophy to

add

to his collection, was the six

year effort worth it? Absolutely,

he says, but not because of the tro

phy. It's just nice to do

something

right without cutting

corners

and

be satisfied with the result.

Apparently the judges were satis

fied too.

16 JANUARY

2000


19/36

by H G

frautschy

y

recreational aviation

renaissance

is

in

great

evidence all over the

country. A great place to see it

in

action is a wonderful small

airport

on

the western out

skirts of st. Louis, Missouri.

Dauster Field in Creve Coeur

is a wonderful mix of regular

general aviation activity and

good old fashioned fun. At

any given

moment

you might

see a Stearman

in

the pattern

with a Cessna Conquest, or if

youre really lucky and pick

the right

day,

you might even

get to hear, smell nd taste the

castor oil in the air as a Le

Rhone rotary engine powered

Sopwith Pup is flown, or per

haps a OX-S powered Jenny.

It s quite a place, and later this

year we ll tell you more about

the airport and it s amazing

collection of airplanes nd

people. But this time, we ll

concentrate

on

one activity

the hosting of the National

Monocoupe Fly-In by

Al

Stix,

proprietor of Dauster Field,

and the Monocoupe Club.

The weekend event drew

Monocoupes from all over the

United States, including the

110 Special flown from Vir

ginia by Bob Coolbaugh,

Monocoupe Club president,

and Andrew King,

who com

pleted the restoration of the

airplane with

Bob.

Let s take a look at what

went on:

Andrew King and Bob Coolbaugh tend

to the

needs

of the 11

hp Warner engine. Still a

bit tight

fter its overhaul,

it

was still deposit ing quite a bit

of

oil on the fuselage

of

the

110 Special.

Bud Dake s Mull icoupe got plenty of

use over the weekend, as the master

builder himself demonstrated

the

exceptional abilities

of

the R-985

powered speedster

to

many first

timers. Bud s masterful touch

extends

to

his flying

as

well -

the

Mullicoupe

is flown

by very smooth,

capable hands.


20/36

These are the bare bones of the very first Monosport,

built by Mono Aircraft of Moline, IL. This Monosport 1

S N 200 was registered when first built

as

NC-89S7 . A

souped-up airplane for its day, the Monosport was

powered by a 110 hp Warner, and coupled with

smaller

wing area than the Monocoupe

113

it had plenty of

speed, often w inning closed-course racing events. Glen

Peck

is

working on the Monosport for the Historic ircraft

restoration Museum, based there at Creve Coeur.

Jim Harvey

is

one of the local Monocoupe afi

cionados who loves

to

fly at Creve Coeur, and

Snappy , his Monocoupe 90AL is no hangar

queen. Jim is out flying it as often as he

can.

18

JANUARY 2000

Curtis Whitehead of Sanborn,

NY

owns this Lambert-pow

ered 90A Monocoupe.


21/36

Jim Harvey put these history boards together so we could all learn more

about

the

history of Mono Aircraft and its successors . The Monocoupe's

mystique and performance potential have kept

it

in pilot's minds for over six

decades.

Monocoupe Club president Bob Coolbaugh grins

as

he adds throttle to the Warner on his 110 Special as

we climb out

after

a high speed pass

down the

grass

runway at Dauster Field.

~ '- _. _

LEFT) Bill Symmes zipped up to St . Louis from his Miami, FL

base

in his

~ ~ ~ / ~ : ~ ~ ~ \ f ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ a ~ O ~ I ~ o o t h running 185 Warner mounted inside

(ABOVE) Also

from

Miami, John McCulloch's Warner 185 powered 110

Special was first built in 1938, and rebuilt

as

a Clipwing by the Kimballs

in Zellwood, Florida. It made its Clipwing debut at Sun 'n Fun '92 .

VINTAGE

AIRPLANE

19


22/36

(LEFT)Monocoupe color schemes are among the most rec-

ognized from the Golden Age of Aviation. From Minot,

NO this is Warren Pietsch's 110 Monocoupe.

(BELOW)Master builders Bud Oake and Jim Younkin pause

for a moment under the wing of Jim's Mullicoupe. Bud was

busy during the weekend flying his 90AL. Jim, as usual, is

also busy on a number of fronts. One of his many current

projects is a new

autopilot

for homebuilts that promises to

be quite an advanced system for a reasonable cost.

The

highlight

of the weekend was the surprise roast of soon

to-be EAA retirees Jack and Golda Cox

seen

here

with

Bob

Coolbaugh. Jack and Golda were honored for their work at

EAA and

their

years of dedication to Monocoupes. Indeed,

some have accused the Monocoupe Club of hiring them as

Monocoupe

Operatives" within the walls

of

EAA While

not

exactly true, between John Underwood, Jack Cox and

Jim

Zazas a major portion of Monocoupe history over the years

has been documented in print.

Ted Oilse of Scranton, NO flies by in his Monocoupe,

which

is

the

prototype

90A, and was featured in

the

center spread of the May 1996 issue of Vintage

Airplane. This airplane was once flown by Charles

Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart, among other notable

pilots of the

1930s. It is SIN 662

20 JANUARY 2000


23/36

2000 Vintage Aircraft Assoication

TYPE CLUB LIST

This list of Type Clubs should be

the most accurate compilation we've

ever

published . For th e past

four

years,

we

have

se

nt each Type Club a

postage

paid postcard

confirm ing

their listing.

f

yo u have

changes

related to

your Type Club list,

drop

a

note

in

the

mail detailing

with

your listing

exactly

as

it will appear in the maga

zine (use the format you

see on

these

pages). Send

your

note

to:

An

tique/Classic Type Clubs, P.O. Box

3086, Oshkosh,

WI

54903-3086, or

E-mail

it to vintage@ eaa.org.

The Type Club list

is

also ava

il

able

in

the

Division's web page at VAA s

Web site, which you can find

at:

http:// www.vintageaircraft.org

Aeronca Aviators Club

Julie and Joe Dickey

55

Oakey

Ave.

Lawrenceburg, IN

47025-1538

Phone/Fax:

812

.

537.9354

E-mail:

jdickeY@sei

da ta .com

Newsletter: 4 issues per subscription

Dues: None

16

subscription

International Aeronca Association

Aeronca Lover's Club

Buzz

Wagner

Box

3, 401 1st St.

EAS

T

Clark, SD

57225

605.532.3862 Fax

605.532

.1305

Newsletter: Quarterly

Dues

:

20

per year

National

Aeronca Association

Jim Thompson, President

806

Lockport

Road

P. O .

Box 2219

Terre Haute,

IN 47802-0219

812

.

232

.1491

Magazine: 4 per year

Dues:

25

U.S. ,

35

Canada,

45

Foreign

World Beechcraft Society

Alden

C.

Barrios, President

1436 Muirlands

Dr.

La

Jolla,

CA

92037

619

.

459

.5901

E-mail: [email protected]

Magazine

Dues

:

25

per year

American Bonanza Society

Nancy Johnson,

Exec

.

Dir

.

P. O .

Box 12888

Wichita, KS

67277

316.945

-

1700

Fax 316 .

945.1710

E-mail: bonanza [email protected]

Magazine : Monthly

Dues:

45

per

year

Web

Site: www.bonanza.org

Twin Beech 18 Society

c/o

Staggerwing Museum Foundation ,

Inc.

P.

O.

Box 550

Tullahoma,

TN 37388

931.455

.

1974

Newsletter: 4 per year

Dues: 40 per year

Staggerwing Club

(Beechcraft )

Jim Gorman, President

P. O .

Box 2599

Mansfield, OH 44906

4 1

9.529

.

3822 (HI,

755

.1011

(W)


Dues :

20

per year

Twin Bonanza Association

Richard

I Ward

, Director

19684

Lakeshore Drive

Three Rivers ,

MI 49093

Phone/Fax

616

.

279.2540

E-mail: forward@net-li nk.net


Dues:

30

per year U.

S.

and Cana

d

a, 40

Fo

reign

Web

Page: http://www.twinbonanza.com

Bellanca-Champion Club

Robert Szego - President

P.O.

Box 100

Coxsackie, NY

12051-0100

518/731-6800

E-mail : szegorbellanca-championclub.com


B-C

Contact

Dues:

33

per year; (2

yrs./ 59L

Foreign $41 (2

yrs./ 68

US Funds)

Website: www.bellanca-championclub.com

Bird

Airplane

Club

Jeannie

Hill

P. O .

Box 328

Harvard, L 60033-0328

815.943

-7205

Newsletter

Dues : Postage Donation

Bucker Club

Chris G. Arvanites

16204

Rosemarie Ln.

Lockport,

L

60441

815

.

436

.1011

Fa

x

815.436

.1011

Newsletter: 6 per year

Dues:

22

per year U.

S. Canada, 27

Foreign

Natonal

Bucker Jungmiester Club

&

American Tiger Club, Inc.

Mrs . Frank Price, President

Rt

. 1,

Box419

Moody,

TX 76557

817 .

853.2008

International Bird Dog Association

(Cessna L-19/0-1 ) Mitch Leland - President

406

N. Av. R

Clifton, TX

76634

-1252

Newsletter: Quarterly Observer

Dues:

25

per year

Website: www.L-19BowWow.com

Cessna T-SO

Bamboo

Bomber

Jim Anderson, Secretary/Treasurer

Box 269

Sunwood

Marine on

St.

Croix, MN

55047

612.433

.

3024

Fax

612

.

433

.5691

E-Mail: jja@Wrmed .com


Dues: Contact Club for Info

Web

Site: www.cessnat50 .org

Cessna Owner Organization

P.O . Box

5000

lola, W I 54945

715

.

445.5000

or

800.331.0038

Fax:

715.445

.

4053

E-Mail: [email protected]

Magazine : Monthly

Dues:

39/year

Web

Site:

www.cessnaowner.org

Cessna Pilots Association

John Frank, Executive Director

P.O.

Box5817

Santa Maria, CA

93456

805

.

922.2580

Magazine : Monthly

Dues:

45

annually

Web

Site: www.cessna .org

International essna 120/ 140

Association

Stacey Greenhill

3 13 Partridge Lane

Wheeling, IL60090

847.541 .

7793

Newsletter: Monthly

Dues

:

15

U.S. per year

West

Coast essna 120/140 Club

c/o Don and Linda Brand

9087

Madrone

Way

Redding ,

CA 96002

530

.221 .

3732

Newsletter: Bimonthly

Dues: $20 per y ea r

e

ssna

5

1 52

Club

Skip Carden, Executive Director

P.

O.

Box

15388

Durham, NC

27704

919

.471 .

9492

Fax

919

.

477

.

2194

E-Mail: [email protected]

Newsletter: Monthly Dues:

25

per year

Web

Site:www.cessna150-152c1ub.com

VINTAGE

AIRPLANE

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Documents

Vintage Airplane - Jan 2000