Vintage Airplane - Jul 1998

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jul 1998

1/36


2/36

Jul

y 1998

Vol

26,

No.7

ONTENTS

1 Straight & LevellEspie "Butch" Joyce

lC News

3 Ae romail

4 From The EAAlWorthington

Collection/John Underwood

8 Cessna 140 Fuel Caps/Neal Wright

11 Mystery PlanelH.G. Frautschy

12 David Gay s PT-17 Stearm an!

H.G. Frautschy

17 Flight of an Angel/Pat Quinn

21 A Handy Welding Table/

H G Frautschy

23 What Our Members

Are Restoring/H.G. Frautschy

26 Pass it to Buck/Buck Hilbert

28 Calendar

29 Welcome New Members

30

Membership Information/

Classified Ads

r ~ ~

Page 23

FRONT

COVER The

Grand Champion An

t ique of

the 1998 Sun

'n

Fun

EAA

Fly-In

was

David

Gay's

1943

Boeing

Stearman A75

Nl,

a PT-17

finished

in the

bright

colors

of the

U.S.

Army Air Co rps. EM

photo

by

Jim Koepnick, shot

with a

Conan EOS-l n equipped with an

80-200mm

lens. l tJJ sec. @ f20 on Fuji Sensia

100 ASA slide film. EM Cessna 210 plane fiown by

Bruce

Moore.

BACK COVER During the last half

of

the '30s, the aviation magazine

Popular

Aviation

featured

a series

of

full-color plates

depicting squadron

markings,

in

signia and civilian color schemes

on

their

back

cover.

This

p ate, from

the

Feb

ruary

1937 issue of

the magazine,

shows the

rhyme

and reason

behind

those

colorful

markings on Navy shipboard aircraft. The closely tr immed edges of the

pla

te

are

as

the magazine was

pr

oduced.

Copyright 1998 by the

EM

Antique/Classic Division Inc. A

ll

rights reserved.

VINTAGE

AIRPLANE

(ISSN

00916943)

is

published and owned

exclusively

by the

EM Antique/Classic

Dvision, Inc. of the E

xperimental

Aircraft

Assoc

iation and is published monthly at EM Aviation Center. 3000 Poberezny Rd

P.O. Box

3086, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 549033086.

Periodicals Postage paid

at

Oshkosh

,WISConsin 54901

and

at additional mailing offices . The membership

rate

for

EM

Antique/Classic Dvision,

tnc. is $27.00 for current

EM

members for 12 month period of which $18.00 is for the publication of VINTAGE AIRPLANE Membership is

open

to

all

who are interested in aviation.

POSTMASTER

: Send address

changes to EM Antique/Classic

Dvision,

Inc., P O. Box

3086, Oshkosh, W

549033086. FOR

E

GN AN

DAPO

ADDR

E

SS

ES- Please allow at

least two

months

for

delivery of

VINTAGE

AIRPLANE

to

foreign

and

APO addresses via surface

mail.

ADVERTISING - Antique/Classic Division does not

guaran

tee or endorse any product offered through the advertising.

We

invite

constructive

criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken.

EDITORiAl

POLICY:

Readers are encouraged to submit stories

and

photographs. Policy opinions

expressed

in articles are

solely

those of the

authors. Responsibility for accuracy

in

reporting rests entirely with the contributor.

No

renumeration

is

made.

Material should be sent to: Editor,

VINTAGE

AIRPLANE, P.O.

Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903

-

3086. Phone 920/4264800.

The

words

EAA,

ULTRALIGHT

, FLY WITH THE FIRST

TEAM

, SPORT AVIATION , FOR THE LOVE OF

FLYING

and

the logos of

EAA, EAA

tNTERNATIONAL

CONVENTION

,

EAA

ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION,

INTERNATIONAl

AEROBATIC CLUB, WARBIRDS OF AMERICA

are

registered trademarks. THE

EAA

SKY SHOPPE

and

logos of the EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION , EAA ULTRALIGHT CONVENTION and

EAA

Air

Venture

are

trademarks

of

the above associations and their use by

any

person other than he above association is

strictly

prohibited.

EDITORIAL STAFF

Publisher

To m

Poberezny

Editor-in-Chief

Jack Cox

Editor

Henry G.

Fraut

sc

hy

Managing

Editor

Golda Co x

Computer

Graphic

Specialists

Nancy

Ha n

son

Olivia L.

Phillip

Pie

rr

e

Katze

Staff Photographers

Jim

Koepnic k LeeAnn Abrams

Ke n Lic htenbe rg

Advertising/Editorial

ASSistant

Isabelle W

ske

EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION, INC.

OFFICERS

President

Vice-President

Espie

"Butch' Joyce

George Daubner

P.O

.

Box 35584

2448

Lough Lone

Greensboro, NC 27425 Hartford.

WI

53027

910/393-0344

414/673-5885

Secretary

Treasurer

Steve

Nesse

Charles

Harris

2009

Highland Ave.

7215 East

46th St.

Albert Lea, MN

56007

Tulso

.

OK 74145

flJ7/373-1674

9 1 8 6 2 2 ~

DIRECTORS

John BerencU Gene Marris

7645

Echo Point

Rd. 5936

Steve Court

Connon Falls, MN

55009

Roanoke, TX 76262

flJ7/263-2 41 4 817/491-9110

Phil Coulson

Robert

C. Bob' Brauer

28415

Springbrook

Dr

.

9345

S. Hoyne

Lawton.

MI

49065

Chica,W,

IL60620

616/624-6490

312 79-2105

Joe Dickey

John

S. Copeland

55

Ookey

Av

.

1A Deocan Street

Lawrenceburg, IN 47025

Northborout, MA

01532

812/537-9354

fIJ8/3

3-4775

Dale A. Gustafson

Stan Gomoll

7724 Shady Hill

Dr

.

1042 90th Lone, NE

Indianapolis,

IN

46278

M i n n e o ~ l i s

MN

55434

317/2934430

61

/784-1172

Jeannie

Hill

1708 Bay Oaks r.

P.O.

Box 328

Albert Lea. MN

56007

HOIVOld, IL60033

flJ7/3732922

815/9437205

Dean Richardson Robert D. "Bob ' Lumley

6701 Colony

Dr.

1265 South 124th St

.

Madison,

WI

53717 Brookfield, WI 53005

tJJ8/833-

1291 414/7822633

Robert

l i c k t e l ~

S.H. 'Wes" Schmid Geoff Robison

2359 Lefeber

Avenue

1521

E.

MacGregor

Dr.

Wauwatosa,

WI

53213 New Haven, IN 46774

414/771-1545 219/493-4724

George

York

181 Sloboda Av.

Mansfield,

OH 44906

419/5294378

DIRECTORS

EMERITUS

Gene Chase EE "Buck" Hilbert

2159 Carlton Rd. P.O. Box 424

Oshkosh.

WI

54904

Union, IL60

180

920/231-5002 815/923-4591

ADVISORS

Steve Krog Roger Gomoll

1002

Heather Ln. 321-1/2 S.

Broadway

Hartford, WI

53027

Apt. 3

414/96&7627

Rochester, MN

55904

507288-2810

Alan Shackleton

David Bennett

P.O.

Box 656 403 Tonner Ct

.

SugOl

Grove, IL60554.Q656

Roseville

. CA

9567

8

630-466-4931

916-7827025


3/36

STRAIGHT

LEVEL

by ESPIE BUTCH JOYCE

This is the last Vintage Airplane

of you who are making the trip to

year will read until after

return home in August.

When I listed the Judging Chairmen

the June issue, there were a couple

of

would like to correct these

now as I got several

phone

calls

this error. You know the

- wipes out a thou

." Our

members

do read

cover to cover, and we get

good and bad comments on a regu

basis. The correct I

isting

of the

Chailmen

is

as follows .

Antique A wards:

Dale Gustafson , Chairman

317/293-4430

Classic Awards:

Dean Richardson, Chairman

608/257-880 I

Contemporary A wards:

Richard Knutson, Chairman

608/592-3712

While writing about the Judging

I would like

pass along some information about

of

Spencer, Virginia.

Pete

was Co-Chairman of the

An

many

years until his

him not to be able to at

Oshkosh any

more.

t

had

been

since

late' 50s. t was in the mid-sixties

he began to show

his

talent for

aircraft. At

that

time I was

a Pitts

SIC

and Pete was build

an EAA Biplane. We helped each

in looking for parts and other

- at that time homebuilts

Also

,

what

we

now call

Classics

modern aircraft, and I had not

used

a radio , since

the

red and

lights

worked

fine.

One of

the

projects I remember

Pete doing is a

Clipwing Monocoupe

110

Special

that belonged to Morton

Lester. Pete and Morton were cousins

and resided in the same area, and these

two people evolved into a team that was

unmatched. Pete's craftsmanship com

bined with Morton's ability to find and

finance projects brought back many air

craft from a premature grave for all to

enjoy seeing again.

After being ill for some time, Pete

passed away during the second week

of

June. His talent, craftsmanship, and ad

vice will be missed by many people

in

the future.

During the 1998 edition

of

EAA Air

Venture, because of the joint display of

aircraft

with the

NBAA , we will

not

have a Parade of Flight this year. We

will , however, have a number

of

activi

ties you can take part in to add to your

enjoyment.

The Red Barn, located at the North

end of the Antique/Classic area, is the fo-

cal point to check out when an activity

will take place and how you might

be

part of the fun. On the porch or inside

the

Mini-Museum

is our

information

booth, where you can get just about every

one of your questions answered. rf the

people there do not know the answer ,

they'll be able to direct you to a person

who will be able to help with your con

cern.

If

you would just like to sit on the

tour tram and be carried throughout the

showplanes with someone who can de

scribe what you are seeing, we have that

available for you from morning until the

airshow begins.

On Sunday night, August 2, we will

have our annual Antique/Classic Picnic.

Tickets for this scrumptious dinner can

be purchased at the Red Bam. This

is

a

good time for all , but there are a limited

number of seats . Since the tickets sell

very

good

, don't wait too long to pur

chase yours.

Once again this year

we

have the

Antique

/

Classic Fly-Out

to

Shawano

,

Wisconsin. As a pilot , you will be

hosted to a free breakfast sponsored by

the people

of Shawano . You

will

be

back at Oshkosh

in

time to be returned

to your parking spot before the air show

begins. This Fly-Out will be conducted

on Monday, August

3

A first for us this year

is

the addition

of

a metal

working demonstration

,

hosted by a number of metal

shaping

experts. One

of

our expanded efforts to

educate our membership, it will take

place in the workshop tent located next

to the Red Barn. They'll be demonstrat

ing their skills , and at the same time

explaining how you might be able to do

the same yourself.

We will again be running transporta

tion from the first Antique/Classic row

to the last one, row 140 or so. Last year

we had almost 1,200 show aircraft in

the Antique/Classic area alone

All of the showplane camping area

and most

of

the Antique/Classic

area's

layout will remain unchanged this year.

There are a great many

of

changes to the

other areas

of

the Convention site, so

r

would advise you to take time to look at

a site map (it' s included

in

the Conven

tion program which is available from the

Telephone Pioneers of America volun

teers). Check the map before walking a

mile or so , only to find that your que st

has been moved in a different direction

When your day at Oshkosh needs

some relaxation time,

come

join

us at

the Red

Barn

and relax on

the porch

.

Once you have rested, it's a good time

to shop in the merchandise section of

the Red Bam.

Anytime you have any concerns or

need some help with a problem, please

do not hesitate to ask for help at the Red

Barn and

we will do

our best to

help

you. All of your Division Officers, Di

rectors, Advisors, volunteers and myself

want your

stay with us to be a reward

ing experience

. You can

lend

your

support to the membership during the

rest

of

the

year

by

asking your

fellow

pilots to

join

up with us .

Let's

all be

safe out there - we want you to be able

to

continue

to be a

member

for a long

time. Let's all pull in the same direc

tion for the good of aviation.

Remember we are better together. Join

us

and have it all

VINTAGE AIRPLANE


4/36

A/C NEWS

compiled

by

H G Frautschy

PETERSEN MOVES!

Norm

Petersen, who's

been

an Associate

Editor of

EAA

publications for 17 years, has

moved

within

EAA to work full time with the

EAA Information Services staff

headed by Ben

Owen.

As

anybody who

has called

or written

Norm over the

years

can

attest, he's long been

a fountain of

knowledge

on the widely varying

aspects

of

sport

aviation,

from

homebuilding

(he

built

his

Starduster

II N7NP

back

in

the

1970's)

to float flying (when the next person

on the staff

gets

their float

rating,

that'll make

two float pilots

on EAA's

staffi).

That doesn't mean that

he's

not

going to ap

pear in print any more

(who

else

could write

"Vintage Seaplanes"?), but

it

does mean that he

will get to do one of the things he

does

best-

interact on

a daily basis

with EAA members

from across

the

world, helping them solve the

questions that come up for each as they enter

the world of sport aviation.

We

certainly

wish Norm the best

in

his new

endeavor, and

we

thank him

for

the

thousands

of words he's written to further the cause of

vintage

aviation

.

Great

job so far,

Norm!

If you're looking for an elusive

bit

of

info,

or just

need some help

getting started

on

a

restoration

or

homebuilt project,

as

an

EAA

and Antique /Classic member you

can

get the

information

you

need from EAA's Informa

tion Services. Want

to

know

how

you

can

have

2" high

registration

numbers on your vin

tage airplane? They'll cite

you

the FAR and

head you in the right direction. It's just one of

the

many ways

EAA stands ready

to help

you

- give them a call,

at

1-920-426-4821, or

-6761

(Fax), or E-mail them

at

infoserv

.eaa.org. You

can even send them a letter via

regular

mail (!)

at

Information Services, EAA

,

P.O.

Box 3086,

Oshkosh

,

Wl 54903-3086.

2 ULY 1998

ELECT ION R

EMINDER

Don't forget

to mail

in

your ballot for the

election of officers and Directors of the

EAA

Antique

/

Classic Division. Included in

the June

issue, just tear it out, fill in

the

appropriate

blanks

and

send it

on

its way with

a stamp

on

it. To be

counted,

it must

be

received

no

later

than

July

27, 1998.

PARKlNG AT OSHKOSH?

We'd all like to make a volunteer's job a

lit

tle easier as they stand in an orange vest directing

a line of

airplanes to the right spot

for

parking.

You can

do

your part by making

up

a legible

sign to

hold

up

to the Flight Line Operations

volunteers after you clear

the

runway at EAA

AirVenture

Oshkosh '98. If you're flying an

Antique

(built

on or prior to August 3 ,

1945)

,

Classic

1145

through 12-55)

or

Contemporary

(1955 through 1960) into the

Convention,

make

up a

sign that

you

can read

from 50

feet away

(filling

up an 8-112 x

II

sheet of

paper

would

work

well)

with

the

letters "ACC" printed

on

it. Got

a seaplane? SP .

How

about your

buddy flying in with his

Cherokee?

GAC

(General

Aviation

Camping)

or

GAP

Gen

eral Aviation

Parking). Even the

warbirds

can

do

it

-

WB

- as can the homebuilts -

HR .

NEED EAA AIRVENTURE INFO?

If you're planning

to attend

EAA

AirVen

ture by

flying

in

, you'll

need to obtain

a copy of

the NOT AM issued by the FAA. The easiest

way

is to

sinlply pull

it

out of the

June

issue of

Sport

Aviation

-

it is located between pages

80

and 81.

You can

also

access

it via EAA's "Fax

On

Demand" service. Call 732-885-6711

and

e

ready

to enter the

Fax

number you

wish

to

have

a copy of

the Fax-On-Demand Directory sent

to. Follow the

voice

prompts for your instruc

tions. The NOT

AM is also available on EAA

AirVenture's website

at http

//www.flyin.org

[fyou're

planning on flying in no-radio,

it

is required you

follow

the

NORDO proce

dures exactly at this

late

date,

you should get

your copy

as

soon

as

possible.

We

strongly

recommend

you

obtain your

copy of the NOT AM as early as

you can

and

familiarize

yourself

with the

instructions. It's

not hard

to fly

in, and many

pilots consider it

a

lot of

fun, but

there are a

lot

of aircraft

in

bound

to Oshkosh, and

it

helps knowing what

you're

supposed to

be

doing without having to

rustle through the papers

in the

cockpit trying

to find the

NOT

AM.

Keep your eyes outside

and follow

the

controller's directions, and

we'll

see you at EAA AirVenture

Oshkosh!

TYPE CLUB ADDITION

Howard Aircraft

Foundation

P.O. Box 252,

Volga, WV

26238

D

ues: $15.00 per year

Newsletter: 4 issues per year

E-Mail: [email protected] or

[email protected]

We

b p

age

:

http://members.aol.com/HowardClub

Submitted by:

Dav

id B.Schober, CPE

Instructor,

Aviation Maintenance

Fairmont

State College

National Aerospace Education Center

Rt. 3

Box

13, Bridgeport, WV 26330-9503

(304)

842-8300

BARRY

GOL

D

WATE

R

One of America's most ardent support of

military

and

civilian aviation has passed

away

at

the

age of89. Barry

Goldwater

is

known to

most

of the nation as the founder ofmodem

day

conservatism, an

influence

that continues

after

his

death, but to

EAAer's

around

the

world,

he

is remembered for his

love of

aviation, and his

willingness to put his enthusiasm

into

action

.

When asked, he enthusiastically added

his

efforts

to

EAA's "Wings

On

Dreams"

cam

paign, serving

as the

chairman of that

fund

raising

drive that would result in the realiza

tion and

construction of

the

EAA Aviation

Center in Oshkosh.

Long

respected

for his

views

on aviation

matters, he

also served on

EAA's President's Council. For EAA, his

legacy lives

on in

the

Goldwater Conference

Center, which

is

decorated

with

plaques which

feature half-shell model airplanes of many of

the

over 160 different aircraft, both civilian

and military, he flew

during

his lifetime

as a

civilian aviator

and

in

the

military ,

where

he

eventually rose to the

rank

of Major General in

the

Air

Force Reserve.

GEO RGE GRUNDY

The

name George Gundy may

not leap to

one's mind when pioneer aviation is talked

about, but

it

may from now on, for

George

was

the very last

of

his kind

- he

was the sole

re

maining Early Bird, having soloed prior to

December 17,1916. George, the

son of

wealt

hy

New York family whose fortune

was

sufficient to allow the young Grundy the

chance to dabble in just about anything his

heart desired, took

up

flying

as a

sport while

a

teenager. He soloed

a

Benoist biplane on Sep

tember 17, 1916, a short time after his 18th

birthday. Last

year, both

he

and

fellow Early

Bird Walter 1. Addems

were

presented

with

Early Bird pins which had

been

flown on the

space shuttle Atlantis in the summer of 1997.

Addems passed away this past November,

making Grundy

the

last

man in

their last

man's club." Grundy, who was 99

years

old

at

the time of his passing, had managed to

survive

the turbulent

early

days of

aviation

even

though

he

had done some airshow wing walking

, as

well

as instructing

at

his father

's

"Staten Island

School ofAviation" (his dad never showed any

interest in

aviation,

preferring

to run

various

businesses rather than

run

an engine). Aviation

was a youthful avocation

for

Grundy, who

moved

on

to other things, remaining a busi

nessman

until

his retirement to Florida.

....
http:///reader/full/infoserv.eaa.orghttp:///reader/full/infoserv.eaa.orghttp:///reader/full/infoserv.eaa.orghttp:///reader/full/http//www.flyin.orghttp:///reader/full/http//www.flyin.orghttp:///reader/full/http//www.flyin.orgmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://members.aol.com/HowardClubhttp:///reader/full/infoserv.eaa.orghttp:///reader/full/http//www.flyin.orgmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://members.aol.com/HowardClub


5/36

FRANCE AFTER THE

GREAT

WAR

This is a rather belated answer to Re

Clark s letter and photo of an

ne factory in France during

1

See page 4, March issue) .

The building containing all the air

is

not a factory.

t

is part

of

the

iant U.S. Army Air Service Production

at Romorantin, France. The

was taken after the war, when hun

of

French and German warplanes

ssembled and stored for ship

to

the U.

S.

With the exception

of

Fokker D.V

II s,

over 100 SPAD

, 204 S.E.5 s and SA s,

43

Nieu

24 s

and 20

Nieuport

28

s, relatively

of

these got to the U.S., much less

up and flown here .

The photo is one

of

quite a few offi

taken

of

the interior

of

the

reduced to post

size and could be bought in the Post

of

these have

up in various photo collections as

ly albums. I have a few , and

ab

le

to

borrow others

to

copy .

Enclosed are three different views that

interest Vintage Airplane readers.

To comment on

Ms

. Clark

s

photo

right front, the airplanes

built British Sopwith 1-1 /2

The French unloaded just over

of

these obsolescent two-seaters on

A.E.F. Nearly 70 got shipped to the

The fourth plane, judging from its

is a French

14 . Those farther down the line

to be

Nieuports.

Sincerely,

Peter M. Bowers

EAA 977, AlC

758

Seattle, WA

Continued

on page -

This

view shows most of the factory-new

that were shipped to the U.S.

dozen

were

used

at McCook Field for test

new

engines

up to

300

hp.

Others went

Army

flying schools in

Texas

while

some

were

Squadrons as

backup for the

XIII s and S.E.S s wi th which they were

served as

squadron hacks.

VINTAGE

AeroMail

(Right) This could be a

view across

the

aisle

from Ms. Clarks photo.

The plane front

left

is

another 1-1/ 2 Strutter,

and i ts

rudder

, with

French stripes and let

tering, is

on

the ground

under its

nose

.

The

next

four are

Nieuport 24s.

Three

of

their rudders

have

stripes

in

the American

order, with the blue

at

the trailing

edge . The

rudder on the fourth

Nieuport has the stripes

in the French order; red

at the trailing edge. Father down the line, under an unidentiflable model, is a rudder with stripes

in

the

erroneous and little-used American stripe order of red

at

the trailing edge blue, and white at the front.

VINTAGE

AIRPLANE

3


6/36

e orthin

by

JOHN UNDERWOOD

EAA

1989 C

1653)

In 1976

the

EAA Aviation

Foundation was given a collec-

tion ofglass

plate

negatives by

W L Worthington EAA 100415)

of Inglewood, CA. The photog-

rapher is unknown but we do

know he worked

for

the promi-

nent

Packard

dealer, in

Los

Angeles, Earle C. Anthony. An-

thony was a pioneering motorist,

who built

his

own car as a

teenager, circa 1900. It is said

he was involved in the first auto-

mobile accident in Los Angeles

He later owned radio and televi-

sion stations. The photographer

was tasked with showing

off

the

Pa

cka rds in the best light, and

that often meant combining avi-

ation and the autos.

Noted

aviation writer John

Underwood has lived

in th

e Los

Angeles area

for

many

years

and has had an

interest

in

the

aviation

history Southern

California, long a hotbed ofavi-

ation activity. We asked him to

look over the collection and fill

in

details he may have regarding

the peo

pl

e or airplanes shown in

the photos. Thanks for your help,

John

HG F

(Left)

Cactus

Kate's Kid , a Packard Eight

painted rather loudly, shows

up

in a few of the

photos taken at Burbank. On the right is

John

Macready, one of the Shell 11 pilots under Jimmy

Doolittle.

The

Lockheed Vega, NC926Y, ended

up in the Lithuanian Air Force following

its

hitch

as Shell

No.4.

(Lower left) The Lockheed assembly hangar at

Burbank, CA. That's not a Russian 6-wheeler with

the red star, but a

Ford

Model A

2 Ton

truck. The

same vehicle was built in Russia from 1929

onward Into

WW

-II.

(Below) Lockheed Vega SIN 24, NC194E, after

being repossessed from Brock & Schlee, who

operated

an

airline out of Detroit (on floats). It

crashed

soon

after this picture was taken, with

fatal results.

4

JULY

1998


7/36

Pictures on this page This Vega 5,

C744

was

another rock

and

The automobile is a

ackard Sport Roadster.

The

photo

ust

have been

taken

in

929

ecause the Vega was

written off early

that

year. There are no license

on

the Packard, and the two

remain

unknown

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5


8/36

(Above and right)

We ve published these photos in the past,

but they certainly deserve another look.

Everybody

loved

Marvel Crosson.

She helped

her

brother

Joe run

a garage in

San

Diego so

he

could take time off to learn to fly.

Then

Joe taught Marvel in 1923-1924. She

held

a

Commercial

Pilot

s

license

and

flew

in

Alaska before entering the

first

Womens

Transcontinental Air Derby becoming a fatali

ty on the

second

leg,

probably

due to carbon

monoxide poisoning.

The

Viking Sedan auto

mobile

was

close kin to the Olds and

LaSalle

but only lasted the 1929-30 seasons.

The

Travel

Air must

be one

of the

San Diego

Air

Service s W 40005. This was a very rare

model and

the SDAS

had

a fleet of them.

Joe

later became a

Pan

American executive.

(Right and below) Herb Lippiatt, (in helmet,

gog-

gles

and

lace-up flying boots) with his first Travel

Air 4000,

powered

with a Wright 14

Lipp

became

the Los Angeles area distributor for Travel Air

before switching to

Waco. He was

outstandingly

successful in aircraft sales and

had

the

Cessna

line in 1947

when he

died suddenly. Most likely

these photos were taken at the old Clover Field

in Santa Monica.

6 JULY1998


9/36

(Photos on this page) Center stage

In this series of shots Is Ryan B-5

Brougham NC73 M . This airplane

belonged

to

Ted

Glldred, Sr., of

San

Diego, C and

It

's the one he flew

to

Ecuador with Dean Farran in March

April 1931. A similar 8-5, painted in

the same markings, is on display In

the San Diego Aerospace museum in

Balboa Park. The original airplane

was named Ecuador. The Glldreds

had

business Interests in South

America, Including the Culver Cadet

agency in

Peru

.

VINTAGE

IRPL NE

7


10/36

"JUSTLITTLE TRIP

AR

OUND

THE

PATCH"

by

NEAL

F. WRIGHT,

Cessna 120/140

Club

THE G S

C P

STORY

One

of

our Cessna 12 14 club members and an associ

ate had the exciting and traditional

moment of

terror" n his

Cessna 140. The plane, fully fueled and going for its first

flight after an electronics addition at a remote foothill air

port, was being flown off a field which had a

cliff

at the end,

with the town below some several hundreds

of

feet. Just off

the end

of

the runway, near the edge of the cliff, the engine

quit. After the pilot did all the recommended things, the en

gine caught just above the power poles along the streets. A

climb

and

a safe

landing from

a very

high downwind

was made.

Knowing that stopped engines often mean fuel starvation,

the FBO removed the gas caps in turn and when the brand

new half-vented gas cap on

the right tank

was removed,

a

moaning sigh was apparent to all the bystanders- the tank

apparently had not been

vented

during the

exciting

half

of

the flight. A vacuum developed as the fuel

was

used until

vacuum and the hydraulic head of fue l were equal, meaning

no more flow. Fortunately, there was only one of the new

half-vented gas caps on the plane and the emergency switch

over to the norn1ally-vented tank allowed fu ll fuel flow and

recovery before the lower elevation landing that seemed so

imminent only lifetime-long moments before.

Upon

inspec

tion

of

the new cap, t was noted that the red silicone "valve"

of

the new-style gas cap had adhered to its seat and had not

allowed any air to flow into the tank.

The

red silicone valve

of

the gas cap should not have sealed to its seat, but it had

and could on others.

The new half-vented cap had been a mandated addition at

the recent annual, supposedly to comply with the Airworthi

ness Directive 79-10-14 rl (referred to as the AD from here

on)

. The big town

prominent and well-paid FBO

A I

had

been

adamant

... buy the new gas cap and install it or we

won't sign off the plane What the "expert" missed was that

the cap should only be used on l40A and subsequent Cessnas,

not on the older 120s and 140s. There was no admonishment

n the AD nor was there any literature from the gas cap man

ufacturer about the risk

of

using the caps on

other

types

of

planes. These participants

weren't

the first or the last to be

misled since the half-vented cap continues to be misused to

this day,

and

there

are

120s

and

140s

out

there

at

serious

risk right now.

Every time this event of loss

of

power and the quick de

scent is discussed ,

someone

mentions that

if

the plane had

landed

or

crashed in the street, it would have been

another

accident totted up to pilot

error

because, by the time the

FAAINTSB fellows did their thing, the tank with the stuck

valve would have been bent-vented by a

power

pole in the

street. Since planes built during the same as the 12 14 period

shared common

small parts

like

gas caps,

it

seems

likely

that other types

of

planes may now have the same potential

for stoppages

if

the owners have purchased the half-vented

caps without knowing their hidden dangers. And yes, even

the Cessna dealers will sell you the wrong caps because they

know that all those little planes are the same". The half

vented" cap looks like this:

Air Inlet Port 3)

Allen Head Screw

Gasket

i I I I I I ' _ i i i l l l _ i i i i i l l l l l . ~

Retainer Cap Body

Polyethylene

Lugs (2)

Spring Washer

Silicone

Valve Holder

8 JULY 998


11/36

This

text refers to a half-vented

gas cap

though that term will

not be found

elsewhere;

I

use that

name

because that

is

what

it

does

and no other name so descriptive has appeared in

the research.

It is

half-vented

in that

it

is supposed

to

allow air inflow

to

the

tank,

but prevents

any

outflow

of

air or fumes or even

fuel if

the

fuel

ex

pands from

heat.

It is a nicely designed unit , looks good,

and the

culprit

model appears about

like

the

illustration

above suggests.

Why was the

gas cap designed to be half-vented? The

140A

and later Cessnas have three features which our older planes

lacked: I) a forward-facing tank vent

on

top o

the wing,

2)

a

juncture ofthis common vent

to

a tub e running between tanks

to

allow sharing

the

common vent, plu s

3)

non-ve nted gas caps

on

both tanks. Vent blockages occurred

on

the newer planes, fuel

stoppages occurred, and

th

at

led

to

the AD for the

Cessna planes

starting with

the 140A.

Properly

used

on the designated planes,

the

cure mandated by

the

AD

would

provide an alternate

path for inflow

of

air as

fuel

is

used even

if

the

common external vent has a blockage. Mandating

only one new cap instead

of

two was

based on

the

premise

that,

i

one

blockage

was

possible

but

unlikely, then

two

vents (the

new

half-vent cap and

the

original common vent) would surely

make

a

blockage statistica

ll

y

imposs

ible. The problem outlined here

is

not a complaint of

poor design

,

but

rather of

the

misapplication of

the

half-vented caps. They sho uld not be us

ed on

airplanes suc h

as our Cessna 1201140 s which depend on full-vented caps.

The

Airworthiness directive 79-10-14 rI states (paraphrased)

...To

provide an alternate source o fuel tank venting in case

of.. .vent obstruction

by

foreign material. This can

be

accom

plished by the

new half-vented

(my word) fuel caps

.

There

is no diagram in

the

AD

show

ing the

vent

systems, either

before or

after

the modification. In hindsight

,

based on

the

misuse

ofthe half-venting

caps, it

is unfortunate that

the AD did

not note

the half-vent

feature,

it

did

not show a system , and it contained

no

admonishments about not using the gas cap for a type

o

sys

tem

which was

not

made for

it

and

could be vent-strangled

by

it.

Do you see

the

trap? It is made up o three things: a) the

new

mandated

gas

caps were

half-vented,

which means

that

they will

let air in

,

given that the valve in them is

faultless,

but they will not

let air or fumes or expandingfilel out, one of those little things

the fails t mention; b)

the

gas caps are supposed

to

be used

only on the 140As

of

our group, plus all

other Cessnas

that have

a

common fuel vent, but that

was not

made crystal clear either by

the

AD

or

the

manufacturer of

the

cap

or

the

STC for the caps

or

the

distributors and dealers; and c)

Cessna

owners

are

unaware of

the

hazard so they blithely assume the new caps must be better

than the old ones, and , if they are good for the 140As, they must

therefore be okay

for the 120s and the 140

s'

When

misapplied,

with or without having a stuck silicone

valve

, pilots

and tanks are

at risk.

Here 's what the vented and non

vented cap looks

like

The original cap

(top)

for the

Cessna 120s

and

140s look

some

thing like this, with the two vent holes

providing air inflow or fume outflow

without restriction.

They are

both

way vents since fumes can

exit

and

air can enter without any valve inter

fering. The non-vented cap (bottom)

looks identical,

but without the vent

holes, only weld bumps which secure

the inner cap to the outer cap.

The half-vented cap sectioned, indicating the free flow of

fumes or air i f the silicone valve is removed.

The important part of the

cap showing

the

silicone

valve is shown as

though it

has two

wings, but

really

is round.

The same view, but with the silicone valve in the closed po

Sition, as

it

would be

if

the pressure on the tank side is the

same or greater than the pressure outside the tank. The air

flow,

of

course, is shown halted. Not only fumes can t get

out, but fuel

can't get

out

if it happens to ex

pand from being heated

by the sun.

If the 120/140

takes off on the left tank,

and if the right tank has

the half-vent cap, then

there

is

a hazard

if

the

pressure

builds up

as

the alti tude increases

This greatly expanded view shows what the silicone valve

looks like.

The material and

shape of the valve ensure

the valve is pliable so as to open easily. The valve is 5/8

in diameter.

VINTAGE

AIRPLANE

9


12/36

These

half-vented

caps

should never be used on

a

plane

that was

designed to be dependent upon the

through-hole , two-way venting, individual gas caps A

hot sun, a full tank, a long wait between flights, and some

of

the new fue l

which

sme lls so odd and gums so we ll can

cause grief.

If

the tanks on our 120s and 140s can ' t get air in

when they need it to replace the fuel volume depleted when

flying because the silicone valve sticks to its seat, then that

is one hazard, and another hazard exists when the plane

with the new cap is heated by the sun . With a half-vented

cap installed, the effect

of

the force

of

the expansion

of

the

fuel, and the fumes within, should be quite a sight to behold

when the fumes or fuel can t get out, as would also be the

case simply from altitude-induced pressure differentials .

The

tanks and the wings and the fuel system

downstream

can suffer extreme trauma from the pressure Remember

These half-vented caps are designed to only let air in, and

nothing out. The greater the pressure from the inside, the

tighter a seal the silicone va lve will make. (Since this was

written, I have heard from 12 11 40 owners who now under

stood why their sealed tanks bulged and/or leaked with the

half-vented caps )

Systems

The AD had no diagrams, as though written by someone

who did not really understand what he was describing, or

maybe there were too many variations to cover properly;

here, note the "normal" 1201140 early and late versions and

the "normal" 140A fuel systems and then take a look at the

expected action

of

the half-vented gas caps. To make the

systems simpler, items such as drain cocks and gas gauges

are not depicted.

The

early Cessna

120 140

version of the fuel system. Note

that

if

one tank cap inlet vent is blocked, as happened with

the 140 mentioned in the beginning

of

this article, there is no

other source of inlet air to replace the volume of fuel used.

Note,

too

that

if

a tank vent is

outflow

blocked, there is no

way for internal tank pressure from solar heating to escape

so the tank will have to bulge; the half-vented caps are that

style. They prevent any outflow of air, fumes or fuel and are

meant

to allow only inflow, and that only if the silicone valve

doesn t stick

The later 120/140s had a tank- to-tank vent tube added as

this sketch indicates. In the event one gas cap was blocked ,

both tanks could still vent in both directions.

The as-designed Cessna 140A fuel system, again simplified

and stylized

to

show only that there

is

a tank vent and no-vent

caps. If the single vent is blocked by a hornet's nest or ice,

there is no way to get fuel out of either tank after a vacuum de

velops from fuel outflow. Venting was totally dependent on the

single, top of the wing common vent.

The Cessna 140A tank system with the AID mandated re

dundant half-vented gas cap installed. The new cap allows

air inflow as the fuel is used in the event the central vent is

blocked.

Otherwise,

the tanks

breathe

just

as in

the

older

120/140s. Note that if the central vent is blocked, there is

danger of tank pressurization for a plane

on

the ground.

Continued

on p ge

-

10 ULY 1998


13/36

ulyMystery Plane

I

pril

Mystery

Plane

t seems a lot

of

you remembered this

good looking cabinjob from before WW-II.

Supplied by James Rezich, Winnebago, IL,

it

is ... well, I'll let Charley Hayes

tell

you ...

Hi

H.G.,

Something supernatural says

surely

the April Mystery Plane is the

one ofa-

kind Wendt.

Charley Hayes

New Lenox, IL

Here' s what Ralph Nortell, Spokane,

WA

wrote:

The Mystery Plane for April is the

Wendt

W-1 , Series 400 monoplane. Introduced in

Aero Digestfor Feb. 1938, the Wendt W-1

was described as a two-place, dual-con

trol monoplane ofconventional design

and structure. Power was a 90 hp Warner

Scarab Jr . , and

performance

figures

listed were: high speed, 140 mph, cruise,

125, landing speed, 30; and a range of

600 miles. The trim proportions included a

span of29'9 , and a length of19'9 .

Western Flying

Annual

Directory of

April,

1939

lists the Wendt as the Fal

coner

W-2

Series 400.

The

only apparent

significant change was a new wing o

NACA airfoil section,

in

place

of

the orig

inal Clark Y

Aero Digest Annual Directory ofMarch,

1940 lists the Wendt as the Swift W-2 , now

powered by a Ken Royce/LeBlond 5-F

of

90

hp.

No other significant changes were

indicated.

As

there are no later listings,

the Wendt apparently faded out with other

promising aircraft o the

period

with

ATC Pending.

The Wendt W was designed and built

by

the Wendt Aircraft

Corp

., North

Tonawanda, NY. President and Treasurer

was George W. Wendt; Sales Manager,

George Contant; V.P .l

Secretary

Kopf;

General Manager, Robert Klimas.

Unfortunately, we didn't receive word

as to its final disposition, but it did prove

From Brian Baker comes

this month's Mystery Plane

which does look a bit like

our

answer

plane this

time - but it is different

Your answer

needs

to

be

in

to

EAA HQ no

later

than

August 25

1998

for inclu-

sion

in

the October

issue of

Vintage Airplane.

by

H G

Frautschy

to be one-of-a-kind. We hope to dig up

more

on the

Wendt,

and

when

we do,

we ll

do an article on the airplane else

where in the magazine, where more space

will allow a more in depth feature.

Correct answers were received from:

Robert Nelson, Bismark, ND and David

M. Albright, Cincinnati, OH, who both

sent in a copy

of

the factory brochure;

Marty Eisenmann, Alta Lorna, CA; Larry

Beidleman, Granada Hills, CA;

Peter

Havriluk, Granby, CT;

Archie

Block,

Cozad, NE; Charles Trask, York Haven,

PA; Ted Giltner, Tamaqua, PA; William

Knox, Woodstock, GA; James B. Hays,

Brownwood, TX; Doug Rounds, Zebu

lon, GA; Ken Muxlow, Minneapolis, MN

WendtW-l

and Russ Brown, Lyndhurst, OH.

Earl Leverentz, Jackson, TN also sent

in

a response, and a big surprise-he has

most

of

the drawings for a Wendt W-2

Swift, and is nearly complete with its con

struction! We'll have more on the Wendt

and

this

project in a

future issue

of

Vintage Airplane.

Send

your Mystery Plane correspon

dence to:

Vintage Mystery Plane

EAA

P.O. Box 3086

Oshkosh,

WI

54903-3086

. . .

VINT GE AIRPLANE


14/36


15/36

aving

an

eye

for

esthetically pleas

ing lines has long been a part

of

the life of David Gay (EAA

397118

AlC

20291), Orlando, FL. One

of

the

principles of Gay and Morrissey Archi

tectural Group

in

Winter Park,

he

and his

partner

are

one

of

the featured architects

in

Disney's planned community, Celebration.

The flowing lines

of

an airplane have

also been a strong part

of

his life since

he

was a youngster. His photo album for

the

Stearman

starts

off

with

a

shot of

Dave as a proud fifth grader, holding his

new Carl Goldberg

2A

Skylane. Al

ways busy with his hands ,

David s

late

father Jerry, bought him and his brother

Jerry a table saw when Dave was seven

years old. He was given plans for

an

8

ft

.

long rowboat and the plywood to build

it

for his eighth birthday. Dave gives a lot

of

credit

to

his dad for taking the time to

carefully show the boys how to use the

tools correctly and work with a wide va

riety of materials.

Dave built surfboards during his col

lege years to earn money, and he and

his

brother Jerry

restored an

Aeronca

Jim Koepnick

7EC Champ when they were teenagers.

He s

also built a few houses along the

way as well.

Amazingly , this is only his second

aircraft restoration. He s owned a Super

Cub and

a

Husky since restoring the

Champ, and 7 years ago he went for a

ride in a Stearman at Bob White Field.

When

he

got

in

the cockpit, the pilot said

to him, "This is probably going to be an

expensive ride for you." He was right

In October of

1993

Dave bought

a

project from Mike Danforth, who had re

cently purchased a basketcase to get a

few

parts

he

needed

for repairs.

Mike

had been involved in a mid-air collision,

which fortunately didn't result

in

serious

injury . But his Stearman needed repair

ing , and the

rest of

it

was

available.

David spent the next couple of months

simply sorting out the parts and pieces

of

seven wings (all rotten,

but

with good

hardware) a very good fuselage (it had

been cut for the duster modification, but

was hung up

in

'47 and never completed)

and all sorts

of

other miscellaneous parts.

Dave took the fuselage to Jim Kimball's

shop

in

Zellwood, FL, where Jim did the

welding to return the fuselage back to its

original configuration. After sandblast

ing, a coat

of

epoxy primer, followed by

a topcoat

of

urethane paint

in

the appro

priate

shade

of green

to

duplicate

the

look

of

zinc chromate.

Dave s philosophy on tackling the

project was similar to any large project

that can be intimidating. Break

it

up into

a series

of smaller

projects, finishing

each one and then moving on to the next.

Each one became a two-week project, or

whatever it called for. The landing gear

seemed like a good place to start, so he

had

it taken apart by Joe Wright

in

Hamilton, OH, who had the fixture and

hydraulic press needed to disassemble the

struts. The parts then went back

to

David,

who reworked the oleo struts and put

in

a

new set

of

chevron

seals. The

brakes

were next, with a used set

of

Hayes brakes

getting replacement pads, and the slave

cylinders

getting

replaced

with over-

hauled units. The brake master cylinder

is

one

of

the "new-restored" made by Gid

Air, with the original housing used in

VINTAGE IRPL NE 3


16/36 4 ULY 998


17/36

Far

left)

The

moming after the awards ceremo-

ny, David

Gay

is all smiles

as

he

proudly holds

the 1998

Sun

'n Fun Antique

Grand

Champion.

Above) With

the

side panels

lifted the

Stearman

is

a great example of

an

early military

airplane designed for easier maintainability) the

cockpit controls and firewall forward equipment

can be seen.

All of the green paint

is

a urethane

enamel, carefully matched in color to the dark

zinc

chromate

used on

the original.

Upper right) As

an

expedient method to inspect

the fittings, the Stearman features these trans-

parent inspection panels

at

critical brace and

control locations on the wings and tail.

(Below)

The

cockpit of the Stearman is

as

close

as

one

can get to the original from the days of

WW-II, right down to the wide lap belts. He even

has the original instrument panel facia covers, a

rare item these days.

conjunction with a new sleeve. Starting

his

project also

put

him

in touch with

one

of

the world's leading suppliers

of

Stearman parts

n

Chickasha, OK.

I

purchased a new gas tank from

Dusters

Sprayer

Supply, along with

about a jillion other parts from them,"

said David. " I basically took the whole

airplane down to its very smallest com-

ponent and rebuilt

t

from the ground up .

I've replaced all

of

the bearings and put

n new control cables, old wear surfaces

and tried my best to keep everything in

an authentic stock condition, other than

fabric and the finish."

Covered in aircraft quality Dacron ,

with the final finish is a urethane paint

that

s

no longer available. He opted for

the 1942 yellow wings and blue fuse-

lage scheme, with the red and white

striped tail.

The

wings, as

mentioned before,

were a real mess, and their rebuilt took

almost a year and a half

of

effort. A set

of wing ribs of outstanding workman-

ship were built by Jeff Morgan, and they

comprised the core

of

the wing restora-

tion. Having a complete set

of

blueprint

microfiche of all the Stearman drawings,

and a full set

of

assembly drawings also

made putting the parts back together a

lot

easier

,

but

you still have to do the

work It was also a

big

help that there

are eight other Stearmans based on Bob

White Field n North Orlando, so he has

plenty

of

support.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15


18/36

"Bob White Field is just a real friendly

place for tail draggers and there's a lot

of

local Steannan knowledge," says David.

He also wanted to point out the support

and encouragement, not to mention ex

pertise, he was given by Jim and Kevin

Kimball, along with Jim s brother, AI,

who helped with the reconstruction of the

ailerons. Plenty

of

other folks helped as

well. Tim Preston is a flight instructor in

Steannans at Bob White Field, and Steve

Fletcher, who used to own this particular

airplane,

is

a duster in Immokalee, FL.

Dave's wife, Ann had been very tolerant

and encouraging, allowing various parts

of

the airplane to be stored

in

and around

the house during the restoration. The

Gay s home, a traditional Florida design

with a tin roof, has a large porch pro

tected with a beautiful overhang. At the

beginning of the restoration, the 220 hp

Continental was stored on the front porch,

and in the best tradition of having fun

with a restoration, they decorated

it

with

Christmas decorations when they held a

holiday party Later, the engine would go

out to Claude Holland of Holland Aircraft

Engines - it would prove to be one of the

last engines overhauled by Claude.

Along

with Ann, his other two

biggest supporters are Rachel and

Lorena

, the Gay s daughters.

Lorena

has really taken to flying, and enjoys it

very much. Flipping through the restora

tion book, we can watch the girls grow,

as they were 8 and II years of age when

the Stearman project was started, and

are now 3 and

6

now.

Other helpers include Jim, Connie,

Bryan and Joel Smith who are the Gay's

next door neighbors, and Gary Osoling,

a friend of David's. Michael Morrissey

is his

business

partner,

who

was also

taken with the project. Special thanks

also go to Roger Painter, who allowed

him access to his Stearman, including

about 50 hours of flight time as Dave

got ready to fly his

biplane. Finally

,

Dave ' s brother Jerry, who also helped

rebuild the Champ, also helped on the

Steannan. Jerry put

in

lots of hours dur

ing the restoration, and continually gave

encoragement.

First flown on March 16, a small

gathering of

family

and

friends

wit-

nessed the PT -17 roar down the runway

at Bob White and reclaim the sky. The

next month,

David brought the Stear

man over to Lakeland-Linder Regional

Fly-In for the 1998 edition

of

the Sun ' n

Fun EAA Fly-In, where it was awarded

the Grand Champion Antique trophy. ....

6 ULY 998


19/36

I

was

Sunday,

March 16, the day

be

fore

St. Patrick's Day. My

day.

After

consulting

with

noted

air racer

Klaus

Savier

EAA

258013), master builder

Joe

Krybus (EAA 140019) had finished the

adjustments

to

the Ellison Throttle Body

injector.

His

work

was done.

The owner,

Bruce Kemper (EAA 22106) and I pre

pared

it for

flight.

Bruce's

friend

,

Kathym

Mora, carefully recorded the events

by

photograph, video camera and tape

recorder, transcribing

all

that

was

said

and

done. t

was

rolled out

of Joe's hangar

and

was now

ready

for flight.

Bruce tumed to

me and

said,

Are

you ready

to go? I

was

a

little

overwhelmed,

but

yes,

I

was

ready.

t was my tum

to fly

the

Jungmeister.

Bruce

Kemper has been an antique

air

plane

pilot since

the mid

1950's, owning

several Stearmans, a Waco UPF-7

and

a

PT

-22. He

flew into Santa Paula Airport

by

PAT

QUINN

EAA 261

781

A / C 10079

one day following some aerobatic dual

with the great Lindsay Parsons. Lindsay

introduced Bruce

to

the legendary Mira

Slovak, who

offered Bruce an opportunity

to fly his 180 hp Lycoming powered

Bucker Jungmann

of

his

own.

In

the 1960s the Swiss Air Force re

leased

to

private ownership its fleet

of

Bucker Jungmeister Bu-133 aircraft that

had

been manufactured under license

by

Domier prior

to WW-JI.

Bruce traveled to

Switzerland

and

purchased

as

many Jung

meisters

as he

could get. Bruce met and

became friends with Albert Ruesch , the

late, great Swiss Bucker pilot and many

time European aerobatic champion. For

nearly 30 years, Albert ran

an

aerobatic

school

at

Porrentruy, Switzerland utilizing

Jungmanns and Jungmeisters .

So

well

thought

of

was Ruesch that the Swiss

government made it mandatory for all

Swissair and Swiss Air Force pilots

to

graduate from

his

aerobatic course.

Bruce retumed

home from his

buying

spree with

six

Jungmeisters

for his friends

and himself. A couple of years later he re

ceived a phone call from Albert Ruesch

suggesting that

he

purchase a

very

special

Jungmeister that

he had found for sale

,

U

n

This was

in

Ruesch's opinion , the

sweetest flying Jungmeister around .

t

was built by Dornier

in

1940 as serial

number

19

and had been registered as

HB-MKK

on the

Swiss civil registry.

Bruce bought

and

shipped this beauty

home to Santa Monica, CA. Knee deep

in

Buckers

and

going through a personal

crisis , he placed it in the back

of

his

hangar unassembled where

it

languished

in

storage.

Eventually, it became the sample air

frame for a planned modernizing using a

VINTAGE IRPL NE 7


20/36

U-72

and Joe

Krybus in flight over one of the

many

fertile valleys

in

southern California with

the Barksdale church just below the left wheel

in

this

photograph_

The

cockp it of Bucker Jungmeister U-72 com

plete with the offset control

sti k

and modern

Instruments. The

fold down

sides allow the cock

pit to neatly surround the pilot without restrict

ing their view.

180

Lycoming firewall forward conver

sion kit for Ruesch's Jungmeister fleet.

Unfortunately, the kit

builder

Hank

Kennedy of Santa Paula, CA

was

killed

in

an unrelated flying accident and that pro

gram died with him .

U-72 sat around another fifteen years

18 JULY 1998

while Bruce flew his Seimens-powered

Jungmeister, U-88 , and a newly com

pleted Jungmann with a 180 hp Lycoming

powerplant owned by Bruce and Ken

Williams. But that old What if? seed

had been planted, so Bruce asked Joe

Krybus, one

of

the most knowledgeable

Bucker experts in the country, if not the

world, to plug U-72 into his

Bucker

restoration shop

at

Santa Paula on a part

time basis. Recently, with some shop

time available, the project was attacked

in earnest. The plan was to restore the

plane using modern materials where

needed for practical flying but keeping it

as original appearing as possible.

And

, oh

yes

, install that 180 hp Lycoming that Al-

bert Ruesch had dreamed about. The

result was breathtaking.

Finally, on March 9,1997, it was ready

for the first flight. That honor went to

Bruce, followed by Joe Krybus. Another

flight was taken

by

Joe a few days later.

The fourth flight was mine.

r strapped

in

started, then taxied

to

the

runup area. All systems checked and it

was ready to roll. To compare accelera

tion differences between the stock

160

hp

Seimens-powered Jungmeister and this


21/36

lightweight Lycoming

version, I decided to

come

on with the

power quickly. Just as

quickly, torque began

to lift the right wing

Right stick was added

along with some back

pressure and it virtu

ally leaped into the air

and

climbed out at a

deck angle that would

impress any

Pitts

driver. WOW

After the obligatory

clearing turns and

some stalls, it was

time

to

see

what this

goldenrod

baby

could do. Loops great. Snap rolls impec

cable. Four-point rolls super crisp. Slow

rolls, oh boy

What

perfect slow rolls .

Now, every pilot knows when they botch

something. Others may not recognize it,

but the pilot knows. In the Jungmeister,

it lets you know but it also makes it so

easy to do it right. The controls are so

light, so well

balanced and

so harmo-

nized. Words cannot accurately describe

it without a comparison. I suppose a real

U 72 rests on the

ground

at Santa Paula Airport northwest o Los Angeles CA

good concert violinist could playa de

cent tune on a one hundred dollar fiddle

and great music on a quality violin, but

an average violinist

on

a Stradivarius

could sound like Itzhak Perlman. So

it is

with the Jungmeister - even an average

pilot looks good.

I completed my

aerobatic sequence

with one final slow roll then left the aero

batic box and headed back towards Santa

Paula. A mechanical gremlin has bitten

the

airspeed indicator, so I had to fly

strictly by feel. I approached runway 22

into a strong and roily wind . The touch

down on the long oleo main landing gear

was

a

squeaker.

What a great feeling

Landing completed, I taxied back to the

ramp, rolling up to the waiting Bruce

Kemper, who saw my huge grin and sim

ply asked, "Well?"

To which I replied, "Bruce,

if

die and

go to Heaven,

I'm

going to ask God for a

Jungmeister like this one, because angel

wings couldn't possibly be any berter."

VINTAGE

AIRPLANE

19


22/36

About Albert

Ruesch

and Bruce Kemper

When

Bruce arrived at Porrentruy,

about

50 miles north

of Bern, Switzer

land, it was a warm, late spring

Saturday in

1968.

The setting was

like

something out of a television

travel log

.

t

was a beautiful green valley set in

rolling hills between two distant moun

tain ranges with the upper spires

tipped

in

a virgin white snow. The airport was

a grassy meadow set

in

this emerald

valley. Alongside were

the

administra

tive buildings and an indoor/outdoor

restaurant with patrons

eating, drinking

and watching the airport activities. A

class of about twenty-five aerobatic stu

dents were undergoing a rigorous ground

school while

waiting

their

tum to fly. This

was

in

an

effort

to

earn

the Vol

de

Vwtu

osite, the state approved permit

to do

aerobatics. The instructor was the young

and overbearing ChiefPilot.

Albert Ruesch had promised Bruce his

first flight

in

one of his school's lung

meisters while

in

Porrentruy. Bruce

was

there

to

meet this legend in person and

to

see

if

the promise would be fulfilled.

They conversed in

some

small talk,

which

was difficult because Albert spoke very

little English and Bruce spoke even less

of

the

native French. Soon

it

was

time to

fly the lungmeister , so Albert turned

Bruce over

to the

English speaking Chief

Pilot for instruction. The superior acting

Chief Pilot treated Bruce as

if

he

were a

novice dummy student. With the entire

class

of

students looking on, he con

ducted a

very

long preflight and cockpit

check. Then came

his

flight instructions,

punctuated with lots of you will and

you must. t

was

implied that aerobat

ics were prohibited. The final instructions

were to stay within sight

of

the airfield

and

to

overfly

it

when finished, where

upon the Chief Pilot would indicate

by

hand signals whether it was okay for

Bruce to land.

Well

the Seimens engine was running

strong and the warmth

of

the beautiful

day, along with the intoxicating smell

of

the fresh grass rising into the air simply

overtook Bruce's better judgment,

so he

proceeded to put on a half-hour display of

the finest aerobatics

he

had ever flown.

Cuban eights, inverted spins, hammer

heads and every other maneuver in his

aerobatic repertoire.

He

capped this with a

grass rubbing blast

down

the

runway

with

a chandelle around the wind sock

to

the

downwind.

When

the Chief Pilot did not

show himself, Bruce did a steep

180

de

gree slip

to

the touchdown point marked

by red flags. Kicking it straight

at

the

last

moment,

he

completed a perfect touch

down and ultra short ground roll.

Taxiing back

to

the tie

down

area, the

gentle ticking

of

the Seimens radial

was

drowned out

by

the wild cheering

of

the

twenty-five aerobatic students

and the

ap

plause of the restaurant patrons.

After shutdown, the jubilant students

escorted Bruce into the airport Pub for a

mandatory celebration.

As

they

passed the

arrogant

Chief

Pilot, he refused

to

ac

knowledge

Bruce s

presence. Albert

Ruesch came

up

to Bruce, threw an arm

around his shoulder and said

in

the best

English he could muster, Aerobatics

okay. Thus started a friendshipand mu

tual admiration that lasted until Albert's

passing

in 1989.

In

a bit

of

irony, Ruesch's young son,

Markus, would make

his first lungmeis

ter flight in Bruce s U-88 during the

Bucker fly-in at

Santa

Paula ,

CA in 1993.

A

favor

returned. . . .

Porrenbuy, Switzerland , 1972. In this beautIfUl country obatIc school used both the

two-place

.Jungmann and serving area of the airport restaurant 8 well 8

setting

n

a

Swiss VIIIey, Bruce

Kemper was given

his sIngIe-pIace JqneIster

for

aerobatIc 1natruc:tIon On PlIatua Porter, often used

8

gilder tug or

ump plane

to . . . he JungmeIster. Albeit Rueacha

the

far right

you

can the tables for the outdoor

for

paracllutlata,

8 well 8 many

other

utility Olea.


23/36

Handy Welding

Table

If you' re into restoration,

welding

table is

pretty

for fabricating small

medium sized parts. Dur

the EAA Air Academy,

welders work on a

dozen tables designed

built

by Bill Roerig,

e volunteer welding

Now there's

special about a weld

table, except that

it

must

your fire bricks, and

at a comfortable height

your to work upon.

I ' ll give you the dimen

for the

EAA

Air

Table you see here,

t I'd caution you to start by

supply of fire

start trim

- layout your

on the floor, pushed

each side ofthe cube

you've laid out,

trim your top angle

allow the

brick to

while laying

The

Air Academy students use the tables throughout the week while they leam the fine points

of

welding with a oxy

acetylene torch

The

sturdy nature

of

the tables means the welder does not have

to

worry about his work being compro-

sheet metal bottom

mised while he tries

to

juggle the torch and the piece

to be

welded

the working surface.

Also, one more caution: DON

'T

USE

BRICK AS

WORK SURF ACE

generated by a weld

explode as steam, sending particles

of

the ordinary brick flying

arms or face.

Having your fire bricks on hand will

on which

you

weld

your

table if you

choose

to

it out ofwood

As you can imagine, there is no re

it- also included in this arti

are a coup

le

of shots of irAcademy

Tom Seversen'

s

portable

complete

with

baby buggy

Indeed, the only component

buy was the fire brick. A

by

H.G.

FRAUTSCHY

check with the local material supply

yard here in Oshkosh says the

cost

of

each 9 x 4-112 x 2-112 fire brick is .90

each. With the scrap lumber you proba

bly already have, you could easily get

buy with a 20

dollar

bill, even if you

had to go to the local thrift store to buy

an old buggy for the wheels Probably

your only caution would be to avoid the

edges

of

your wooden table, since you

don't

want

to set your table on fire. It

wouldn't be

a

good

idea to

throw

a

bucket

of water on a burning

table

loaded with hot fire brick- the steam

explosion could be dangerous.

EAA's welding table is 35" tall, ex

cluding the bricks.

15

bricks are used,

with a couple more purchased to act as

fixtures to hold various pieces while

welding.For our particular bricks and

layout, the inside dimensions of the top

of

the table were 27-1 /

4 x

22-3/4". The

top and middle braces are made of

2-1/2" angle iron, and the legs are 1-5/8

O.D. pipe, with one end threaded to ac

cept a screw-on pipe cap. (They give the

table a finished look and besides, you

can use the caps to level the table on

concrete floors )

The

top of the

table

has a

piece

of

sheet steel inserted and welded in place

to contain the bricks. It's better to com

pletely support the bricks, rather than

use a few cross braces underneath

the bricks occasionally crack, and it

would be inconvenient for the brick to

fall on the floor or your toe while your

were welding.

The

call outs on the

photos should

help fill in the details so you can build

you

own to su it your purposes . Let's

melt some metal

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

2


24/36

fire brick

Welding rod

holder

1-5/8 Pipe

Heavy

sheet

metal

bottom

Table is 35 t ll excluding fire

brick

1-5/8 Pipe

(Above) The standard EAA Air Academy welding table_

On

a welded tab on

the corner of the table is a length of square tubing used

to

hold spare weld

ing rod in a convenient location_

Extra fire brick to hold

parts to be welded

9 4-1/2 2-1/2

This one varies slightly from the one in the lead

photo, In that the welding rod holder Is made

up

of a pair of round tubing sections, the bottom one

with a small

round

plate welded

to

the bottom_

(Lower left and below) Here's Tom Seversen 's welding table, built

up

from

scrap lumber and made portable by adding buggy wheels and a extending the

sides on one end, which serve as handles_ A new set of fire bricks on the

tops gives Tom a great surface

to

do his welding work_

(Above) Adult Air Academy partic ipant Lanny

Guyton, Honolulu,

HI,

practices his technique

on

one of the welding tables built

up by

Bill Roerig_

You can see how the fire brick is laid out tightly

to one another,

and

extra bricks are used to hold

parts to be

welded_

22

JULY 1998


25/36

OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

by H G

Frautschy

M

any members will remem

ber

the beautiful

Caproni

CA 100 I-ABOU restored by Gero

lamo Gavazzi EAA 360771, A C

15849)

of

Milan, Italy. We published

a story of

the

airplane in the

July

1995 issue

of Vintage Airplane.

Well,

it

seems

he has

hard

at it

again, this time restoring a land

plane version

of the CA 100,

I-AMBT.

Built n 1933 as a float plane for training n the Italian Air

Force (above, left), t was sold

n

39 to a private individual,

and spent the war years

n

the same hangar as I-ABOU. Af

ter the war, t was sold to a company n Milan who used t to

tow banners, launching the banners

n

mid-air via a pair

of

bomb-bay type doors (left).

The airplane continued to be used for aerial advertising

with both banners and smoke writing until 1962, when it

was left to rot

n

a hangar

n

Milan. The photos showing the

airplane after t had been n prolonged storage (below) were

taken

n

1986.

After protracted negotiations, Gerolamo was able to buy

the airplane and

s

now in the process of making his dream

of seeing both I-ABOU and I-AMBT in the air together

come true. We look forward to seeing reports

of

his progress

on the airframe and the Columbo S63 motor.

VINTAGE

IRPL NE

3


26/36

This is Floyd Schorsch (EAA

510948), Bismarck, ND,

who's

tickled

to be standing with hi s newly restored

Aeronca 7 AC .

t was

finished on

May I, 1998 after he had to overcome

a few challenges to hi s hea lth . Floyd

would like to thank Gary Gylten and

Gary Stagl for their help - he says it

couldn't have been done without them.

Powered with a Continental A -65 it

cruises at 85 mph.

24 ULY 998

Looking so pretty sitting in the water

off the shoreline filled with pine woods

is

Republic Seabee N87493,

SIN 44.

It's owned and flown by Odell (EAA

262957 AIC

26561) and Diane (EAA

513115) Matthis Havelock, NC. Diane,

proudly wearing her 99's tee shirt,

stands ready at the handy bow door

of

their amphibian.

One

of

492 Seabees

still on the reg ister, t is powered by a

Continental GO-480 of295

hp

.


27/36


28/36

by

E.E. "Buck" ilbert

EM 21 N 5

P.O.

Box 424 Union

IL

60180

M

ore

years ago

than

I care

to

talk about,

Dorr

Car

penter handed

me a

little

brass plaque

that

reads One Mid

Air Collision Can Ruin Your Whole

Day." We laughed about that, and

I

tucked

it

away

in one of my

many drawers.

Then

one day in a

United DC-7

just

about right over downtown De

troit we had a very near miss

with

an F-84 at 25,000 ft. I had been idly

staring out the front windshield and

it happened so quickly all I had time

to do was crank the wheel hard over

as the

fighter went

under

the left

two engines. My Captain never even

saw the

other

airplane and I

got

a

very dirty look and a chewing out

for grabbing the controls away from

the

autopilot

and

doing

the

hard

over. He didn't believe me when I

told him what happened.

I've

had three near misses in my

airline

career. All

three

were

in

controlled airspace,

and would

you believe that two were with the

same Captain?

The second was with this guy go

ing into New York's JFK in a DC-8 .

Normal approach procedure was

off

Colt's neck VOR in those days, and

descent was out over the bay as the

vectors put us in the string of pearls

6 JULY

998

PaSSitto

Buel{

for

landing on the northwest run

ways or

maybe

the southwest,

whatever the pattern

of

the day.

We were

descending through

10,000 when

the

RAPCON

con

troller advised us

of

fast moving

traffic

coming

from our left side.

We were in the clouds in solid IFR

so I asked the

controller

to

keep

an eye on

it. He

asked if we

wanted to take evasive action. My

Captain (yep, the same one from the

DC-7 ) refused.

Bases of the clouds were reported

to be about 10,500 by previous traf

fic. The

controller was giving us a

second-by-second update as we be

gan to break out. I was looking past

the Captain out the left side window

and *&"'%$ there he went I went,

because I had a head on view of him

and his F-94 as he pushed down and

went

under us

and could make out

his head and snot catcher (02 mask)

ashe

threw back his head and came

out under my side window. Thank

goodness the DC-8 had such a long

nose, or he would have had us right

in the Nos. I and 2 engines

When I got my breath back I told

the controller

what

had

happened.

He

asked if we wanted to

file

a

near miss report and the captain

adamantly refused Again, the cap

tain

had not

even seen the

other

airplane

and

again I caught some

flack for overstepping my boundary

as a First Officer. I was advised that

he was the Captain, and

darn

it, he

would make the

decisions.

I shut

up, but I

vowed

this would never

happen to ME.

Shortly after that, maybe within a

year or so, I got promoted to Cap

tain. I began carrying the little brass

plaque with me and I would prop it

up

on the instrument

panel glare

shield to remind me,

and

my duly

briefed crew, that someone would

be looking out the window(s) at all

times. If

there

was any disturbing

influence on the flight deck, instead

of all three crew

Documents

Vintage Airplane - Jul 1998