Vintage Airplane - Jun 1976

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jun 1976

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THE RESTORER S ORNER

Once again it is time for all of us to begin making our plans for participation in the annual pilgrimage to the world's largest aviation event, the 24thAnnual EAA Convention and Fly-In at Wittman Field, Oshkosh, Wisconsin,from Saturday, July 31st, through Sunday, August 8th, 1976. This is thelongest EAA convention in history, nine days beginning and ending witha full weekend.

Your Antique/Classic Division has already organized a full schedule ofactivities ,for antique and classic aircraft and their owners including judgingof the exhibit aircraft and the awarding of trophies in a multitude of classifications, recognition of well known old-timers in aviation as well as outstanding restorers at either the Intervi ew Circle during the day or the PavilionEvening Program, historical sequence air pageants, and forums on thevarious types of antique and classic aircraft. As in the past, these forumsgenerally will include information on maintenance problems, parts availability and substitution, modifications, specific restoration techniques,flight characteristics, aircraft availability, etc., plus additional forums ontechniques and procedures of restoration which are applicable to all aircraft. They will usually be scheduled for a 1% hour period and will be heldin a large meeting tent located next to the Antique/Classic Division Headquarters Barn. The tent will be complete with blackboards, rostrum, publicaddress system, electricity for projection equipment, and adequate seating.

We are again this year inviting all type clubs to make the EAA Convention one of their annual fly-in activities. Due to limited parking spaceavailable in the Display Aircraft Parking Area and even more limited manpower, we do not plan to provide special parking rows for each type aircraft as we have done in the past. However, we do have the aircraft typesigns available, ' so if any type clubs do want their own row(s) we shall behappy to supply the signs, but it will be necessary for them to make arrangements directly with the Antique/Classic Parking Chairman, M C KellyViets, RR 1, Box 151, Stilwell, Kansas 66085, before July first and to policetheir own rows with their own members starting on Wednesday, July 28th,and continuing through the entire convention period .

While on the subject of the Display Aircraft Parking Area we would liketo emphasize that the EAA Convention is somewhat different from theaverage fly-in which most of us usually attend . The basic theme of the EAAConvention is EDUCA n O N , and the Antique /Classic Division tries toencourage this theme in both its forum programs and its Display Aircraft

by J R. NIELANDER , JR .

Parking Areas. We would like to ask your cooperation in using the DisplayAircraft Parking Area only for parking those aircraft of which you can bejustifiably proud of your work or efforts spent in its restoration, reconstruction, or continued Tender Loving Care brand of maintenance. Thisis the area for showing off that which we consider to be excellence in ourfield and that from which others can learn by close inspection, by example,and by conversing with the owners and restoers. This is the area where hewho is planning to restore an antique or classic aircraft can look to see whathe can expect to achieve and can thereby be fired with enthusiasm. This isthe area where photographers can photograph the finest collection of therestorers' art. This is the area where he who comes just to admire historicbeauty on wings can savour the excellence of workmanship.

For those who are presently using their airplanes for transportationonly and are not planning to restore them until next year or the year afteror maybe never, we have a very large Member and Guest Parking Areaalong the E-W runway which is more conveniently located to the actionthan are many parts of the Display Aircraft Parking Area. t would be a bighelp to your overworked and undermanned Parking Committee if aircraftwhich fall into this latter category were parked in this Member and GuestParking Area.

Well, it had to happen sooner or later . Your officers and directors havemade

it asmuch

later asthey

possibly could,but that

old devil, inflation,finally caught up with us . After watching your Division expenses exceed. your Division income for some months, your officers and directors had to

face the unpleasant task of increasing the membership dues. The fact thatthis was the first dues increase since the Division was founded didn't makethem feel any better about it.

At the Board of Directors meeting on April 24, 1976, they noted a duesincrease and restructuring to become effective June 1, 1976. Effective thatdate Division dues will be $14.00 per year for EAA members and $20.00per year for non-EAA members. The latter will receive the additional benefit of non-subscription mem bership in EAA. This is a full membership inEAA with all of its rights and privileges, but minus the subscription toSPORT V TlO magazine. The officers and directors hope that their

action meets with the approval of the majority of you members and thatyou will understand the need for this increase.


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EDITORIALST FF

Pub lisher EditorPaul H . Poberezny AI Kelch

ANTIQUE AND CLASSIC DIVISION OFFICERS

PRESIDENT

J . R. NIELANDER . JR.P. O. BOX 2464FT. LAUDERDALE. FL 33303

SECRETARYRIC HAR D WAG NE R

P . O . BOX 181LYONS. WI S3148

Te rm ex p ires Au g u st '77

Claude l G ray. Jr .9635 Sylvia Avenue

Northridge . California 91324

James B. Horne3840 Coronal ion Road

Eagan , Minnesota 55 122

George E. StubbsBox 113

Brownsb ur g , Indiana 46112

Willia m J . EhlenRoute 8 . Box 506

Tampa. Florida 336 18

VICE-PRESIDENT

MORTON LEST ERP. O. BOX 3747MARTINSVILLE, VA 24112

TREASURERE. E. " BUCK" HILBERT

8102 LEEC H RD .UN ION . IL 601 80

DirectorsTerm ex p ires Au g u st ' 76

AI Kelc h7018 W. Bonniwell Road

Mequon , Wisconsin 53092

Evander M. BrittBox 1525

Lumberton , North Carolina 28358

M. C. " Kelly" VietsRR 1. Box 151

S t ilwe ll . KS 66085

Ass istant Ed itorLo is Kelch

Centributi n g EditorsH. N. " Dusty " Rhodes

Evande r B rittJim Barto n

Clau d e G rayEd Esca llonRod S pa ni e r

Dale G ustafsonHenry WheelerMorton Lester

Kelly VietsBob Elliot

Jack LanningBill Th umma

ADVISORS

W. Brade Thomas. J r .301 Dodson Mill Road

P ilot Mountain , North CAro lin a 2704 1

Robe rt A. White1 207 Falcon Drive

Orlando . Florida 32803

Jack C . Winthr op3536 Whitehall DriveDallas. Texas 75229

THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE is owned exclusively by Antique Classic Aircraft , Inc. and is publi shed monthlyat Hal es Co rn e rs. Wisconsin 53130. Second c la ss Postage paid at Hales Corners Post O ffice , Hales Co r-ners, Wisconsin 53 130 a nd Rand o m L ake Post Office . Random Lake, Wisconsin 53075 . Membership ratesfor Antique Classic airc raft. In c . at $ 10 .00 per 12 month period of which $7 .00 is for the publication toTHE VINTAGE AIRP .ANE . Me mbe rship is open to all who.are interested in aviat ion .

Postmaste, : Send Form 3579 to An t ique Classic Aircraft , Inc. , Box 229 ,Hales Corners , Wisconsin 53130

OFFICIAL MAGAZI NE

ANTIQUE CL SSICIVISION

ofTHE EXPERIMENT L IRCR FT SSOCI TION

JUNE 1976 VOLUME 4 NUMBER 6

The Res torer's Corner . . . .. , . . . . . . .. 1From "Sticks To Airpl anes" , . . . ,. . . . . . .. .. 3Early Bird Vignette . . . , , .. . . . . . .. .. . . 6 Powder Puff Derby . _. . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . 8

Vintage Album . .. . . 10The Uptown Swa ll ow .. . . . .. .. . . . .. . . . . .. 11Whistling In The Rigging . _ . . . , . 16Calendar Of Events . .. . _. . .. . .. .. 17I Remember When .. . . .. . . . . .. . .. .. . . . . 17Yaller's My Color . . .. . . . .. . . . . 17The U.S. Mail . . . . . . .. . . .. .. . . .. .. . . . 18

JUDGING CORRECTIONException ru le B are aircraft manufac tu red between years 1950-55,

but ei th er model or make are no longer in prod uction . These are eligib lefor judging.

1. Models no longer in production but, manufac tors still in business,su c h as 190-195, 170 Cessnas, early Bellanca, etc.

2 . Out of production manufactors su ch as SWift, Stinson, etc.

ON THE COVER PICTURE BO XA tribute to Women in viation

See Vintage lbum .Flying Returns to the North

see page 17).

Copyright 0 1976 Antiqu e Classic Aircraft , Inc. All Right s Rese rv ed . 2


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A long time before I was ev e n a gleam in my father'seye, my oldest brother was buildin g the reputation ofbein g one of the "y o ungest of the pione er aviators."

As a very yo un g boy, Orin Welch wanted to be aradio operator on a s hip at sea until he saw o ne of thefir s t airplanes in th e sky. H e im m ediatel y wanted notonly to fly them , but to build th e m . Hamm e r a nd nailsin hand, along with a few board s, marked th e b eg inningof hi s aviation career. He built hi s "aero-p lan e" a ndh a d so me of hi s friend s pu s h him off th e s h ed 's roof

while h e was at th e "c o nt rols". A very s uc cess fulflight indeed Th e year was probabl y 191 6, at Orin'sage o f ten. Nevertheless, h e did not los e hi s int eres tin av ia tion.

The last tim e I r e member see in g m y brother Orin,h e was on hi s way to fly th e Hump . I didn't know th e n ,a t my age of 15 a nd h e a t 36, he was n ever to return tou s . H opefull y, h e found hi s s ha ngr i-la in th e Himalaya n Mountains.

Between 191 6 and 1943, I believe Orin co ntributedmuch to aviatio n . I recall ma n y fam ily discussions a boutOrin's love of fl yi ng. He had been fly in g since h e was12 years old, but hi s sc ra pb ooks revea l from a newspa p er article that h e so loed on Novem ber 27, 1923, ju s ts ~ o r t yafter he turned 17. In th e same article it reads," h e is also quit e a s tunt fly er "

In the early 20 's, Orin train ed m a n y pilot s fr o m all

Left The Welch Airplane Company in 1928

over the world and did a lot of b a rnstorming in so uthernOh i o and West Virginia . He and the famil y had seve rala irport s and put on many air shows, but thi s did notsa tisf y Orin 's appetite for aviation.

In the summer of 1927, Orin and the fam i ly wereto move from Charleston, W es t Vir g inia to ac quir e th eairport in Ander so n, Indiana . For being a s mall baby,I was a big problem durin g thi s move Th e s ta t e ofWest Virginia h ad imposed a polio quar an tin e a ndn o babies were to leave th e a rea. Who would think

a bout fly in g a baby o ut ? Orin did, naturall y "M o m ,"h e s a id , "y o u and th e ba b y ge t in the airplane and we'lly h e r out." Thus, I've always claimed th e fame of

bein g s mu g g led over the bord er'The Welch family took over th e Anderson Airport,

th e n ow ned by Fred Parker, who I believe designedand manufa c tu r ed the A nd erso n Biplane. Th e fami lysoo n had to relocate th e airport, but still in A nd e rso n .May of 1929 saw dedication of th e "Welch Fie ld".This was a th r ee-day air eve nt which br o ug ht manyaviat ion giants to our a irport , such as: Amelia Ear h art,Ma jor Reed Landis, Edd ie Rick enbacker, Mike M urph y,Oswa ld Ryan, C lyde Shockley, Harry White, WillieGoetc h , Weir Cook, Charles E. Wilson, Antho n y

Fokker, Freddie Lund, and m a n y o th e rs.The excitement and gaiety of the month s to follow

were s hort liv ed, h ow e ve r. The th e n fam o u s " W elch

Field" - the ha n gar and ma n y a irplane s - went upin flam es in November, 1929 . By thi s tim e, Orin hadd es ig n e d and built hi s own a irplan es . They includ edth e Welch OW l , OW2, OW 3, and OW4. Then ca meth e littl e Welch OW5 a nd several others, ofte n mi staken for th e Aeronca C3.

Eventually, we found ourselves in South Bend,Indi an a . With a lo t of experimenting, testin g, swea t,a nd no doubt tears, th e family began " m ass" production of th e Welch airplane during th e middl e 30's.

I h ave many un f o rge tta ble , impr essive memories as asm a ll g irl watching the airplane on th e asse mbl y lin e.They s tart ed from littl e mo r e than plain "s ti cks" a ndshee ts of wood, tubing, cloth, bars of aluminum, a ndsh eets of rubber. Soo n , th ese materials would begintaki ng s ha p e. The wood was g lu ed, the tubin g we ld ed,the cloth sewn, brushed, and s pr ayed with dope, thebars of aluminum melted, molded, and th e n made intoe ngi n es, th e s heets of rubber c ut , "stuck together",and baked into tir es . The e ntir e pr oce du r e was phenominal' Finally, from what began as a "stick", theWelch a irpl a n e wo uld r o ll out of th e factory ready fora test h o p

Orin's contribution to design is worth no tin g here.

The "Welch Cushion Wheel " was a tubele ss tir e thatOrin h a d patt e nt ed in th e 30's . The tire was made

Below : This picture was taken in 1940 Four of the last few Welchairolanes that were manufactured

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around an aluminum hub a nd then baked. Many ni g ht s

I would s tay up lat e watching th e tires being baked.The crucial moment would arrive when the moldcooled and was re mov ed from the new ly baked tir e, forif th ere were any blisters or air bubble s, the tir e wouldbe u se les s . Many days , we had mo r e failures thans uc cesses

The W elch 02 e n g ine was a 45 hor se power, twocylind er e ngine . I do n ' t know how many of these w eremade, but I certainly would like to see even a part ofthe Welc h e n g ine I know of two Welc h a irplanes y in gtod ay. Another is bei ng rebuilt a nd th e re is a fourthone lice ns ed , but I am not certain it' s flyin g .

The company had to s hut down production withthe onset of World War II With Orin 's experience a nd

knowledge, he was need ed elsewhere for hi s country.

March 13, 1943, Orin W elch was officially " lost " whileflying cargo over th e Hump. t was, of cour se, atragic l oss for all of us.

For m a n y yea rs , I wouldn't go n ea r a n airport or a ir-plane. Rece ntl y, I found out that not o nl y were hi s a ir-plan es s till flying, but that Orin is remembered b ytho se wonderful people that are s till livin g, th o sewond e rful people th a t ga ve us thi s grea t pioneer a via-tion herit age.

My childhood lov e ha s brou g ht m e back into th eworld of av iation again and I ho p e, in the yea rs tocome, I can be a part of " Kee pi n g th e Antiques Flyingand Sport Aviation alive.

Orin lch is st ndi n g by the prop o f the irpl neth t he used to solo in 1923

IT IS A TRIBUTE TO ORIN

WELCH THAT H IS AIRPLANES

DRAW A CROWD WHERE EVER THEY

ARE. SEVERAL HAVE BEEN

ACTIVE AT OUR MEETS

Editor s Note

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Souther California was one of thehubs of prime flying activities in the late20s and one fledgling at that time was

Vera Dawn Walker. She learned to flywith Standard Flying School at LosAngeles in an OX-5 Eaglerock in the

fall of 1928, and was Dept. of Commercelicensed No. 5265 January 1, 1929; herF.A.I. license No. 7169 was issued July24, 1929. She praises the Eaglerock asone of the best training planes of thatera; her instructor was Lee Flanagin.

Between her work as an extra in themovies and real estate sales, Veramanaged to acquire enough flying timeto qualify for and enter the First Women'sAir Derby, flown Aug. 18-26, 1929 fromSanta Monica to Cleveland. She flewa Challenger powered Curtiss Robin,christened "Miss Los Angeles", racing

No. 113 and was one of the more fortunate contestants to finish the gruelingrace. Earlier in the year, she had copiloted the Bach tri-motor, 8-passenger"Air Yacht" on its maiden flight fromSan Francisco to San Diego, then later ondown into Mexico.

A charter member of the Ninety-Nines,when Vera Dawn flew her TransportPilot's test, Dec. 15, 1929, she was theeleventh woman in the country to beso licensed. She subsequently workedin the sales field demonstrating andrepresenting different aviation com

panies and agencies in Los Angeles,Denver and Kansas City.

Known as the "pint-sized test pilot"because of her small stature - an inchshort of five feet tall and tipping thescales at 9 pounds, Vera flight testedthe Panther McClatchie powerplant. twas renowned for having far less movingparts in comparison with the conventional engines of that day, and with itVera set off for a tour of the (then) fortyeight state capitals. She says she becamethe unofficia I forced -la nding-cham pionof the world but did get in lots of extraflying time. Carl Lienesch, one of theearly-day air race directors, who nowlives at Carson City, Nevada, recentlywrote, "Vera Dawn always struck me asa sweet, little, trusting girl who couldget herself into the dangest tangles (with

an airplane, I mean) but could alwaysextricate herself before the bomb wentoff " Vera Dawn wrote of Lienesch,"Lenny was the managing flight directorof the 29 Derby and in full command offlying instructions and he knew of allthe troubles some of those gals got themselves into. He watched and worried overthem like an old mother hen. Wiley Postwas pilot of the manager s plane, a Lockheed Vega."

In the summer of 1930, Miss Walkerentered the 1,575 mile Dixie Derby fromWashington, D.C. , with a swing through

Amelia Earhart and Vera Dawn Walker at Denver. Spring of1931 during AE s trans-continental, round-trip Pitcairn autogirodemonstration flight.

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Vera Dawn Walker and the Curtiss Robin in which she wasan entrant in the First National Women s Air Derby 1929.

Dixie, to Chicago and the National Air draw at Birimingham and after l car the other finished a scant three secondsRaces. Flying an Inland Sport, she en buretor overhaul, she flew directly to behind May Haizlip; both flying identicalcountered engine trouble the second day Chicago. There she entered two of the planes - Warner powered Inland Superout, while flying a close second to 25-mile 5 lap) pylon races for 500 cu. in. , Sports.Phoebe Omlie. It was necessary to with- open s hi p s. She won one race and in

Nov. 4-18, 1929 brought Vera Dawnwhat she considers the highli gh t of herflying career - the First Annual California Goodwill Air Derbv in whichtwenty-five fliers were e n t ~ r e dAbouthalf of th e entrants dropped out, however Vera Dawn finished th e course andduring the tour she learned to fly formation with Major Mike Doolin in the lead.This Derby was flown up the Coast ,across the north end of the State and

back down the other side of the State.She flew a Whirlwind J-5 Swallow, whichhad been flown by Ruth Elder in the '29Women's Air Derby and was sponsoredby James Granger, West Coast SwallowDistributor at Clover Field, Santa Monica.Vera recalls, I do remember big crowdsmeeting the caravan at most of the landin g sites, and the tour was under thea uspices of the All-Western AircraftShow . A subsequent flight took herx-c up into Canada.

The spring of 1931, she went to Denver to fly one of three planes , a P&Wpowered Stinson, to Guatemala for aprivate y ing service there . A big undertaking for that da y , all misgivings turnedto delight after the flight was underwayover varied terrain - desert , water,uncharted jungle gorges and ravinesand a flight over an active volcano. Oneforced landing on a canyon lake beachrequired a week to retrieve the plane.Although she was able to fly enough tovalidate her license another year, it wasfour years before she regained her healthand the flying desire had begun to waneafter the Central America episode.

In reminiscing of past history, Verarepor t s , You know the years playstrange tricks on us and quotes LouiseThaden, '46 years is a heck of a long time 'Vera Dawn admi t s to h aving set nospecial records during her flying daysbut flew for the sheer lov e of flight andthe desire to do something different, justas so many others did during thoseformative years. Today, she ejoys theArizona sunshine in the Phoenix areaand takes an occasional holiday Southof the Border " .

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ADDENDUM

Durin g a v is it wi th Carl Li e n esch a n d hi sw ife, Ros e m a ry, a t Ca rso n C it y, Apr il 17, 1976,h e in f o rm ed m e h e fl ew th e Uni o n O il Co m

p a n y J- 5 Trave l Air over th e 29 De rby raceco ur se, a n d W il ev Pos t flew some of t h e o th errace o ffi cia ls. Ca rl h eaded up th e U n io n O ilAv ia tio n D ept. a n d as p asse n ge rs, d urin g th erace, h e carried hi s sis ter, Ruth , a n d Pa tt yWilli s, Los A nge les fli e r, w h o doubl ed as hi sse c re ta rv.

A n o th e r i nteres tin g n ote - Nev a P ar is, o n eof th e race rs in th e San Be rn a rd ino pi c tur e,was o n e o f fo u r perso ns w h o s ig n ed th e ca llto -t h e - co lo r s le tt er p ri o r t o th e time th eN inet y - N in es o rga ni zed. Th e o th ers were FayG illi s (W e lls) , Fra nc es H a rr e ll (Mar sa li s) a n dM arge ry Br ow n .

. ..

{ u; : POWDER PUFF DERBY. JULY 9 12 1976..............

Left : Eight of th e 19 2 9 Women s Air Derby contestantswith ground escorts at San Bernardino , the fi rst stopin the historic air race : Front L to R Vera DawnWalker , Louise Thaden , Maude Chubby ) Miller , RuthElder and Edith Foltz. (Rear L to R ) Thea Ra s che ,Margaret Perry and Neva Paris.

Below: A 1930 National Air Race photo taken shortlyafter Vera Dawn Walker had won a 25-mile closedcourse race . (L to R ) Hoot Gibson and Sally Eilers ,Hollywood personalities of the era , Clema M . Granger ,James E . Granger and Vera Dawn Walker .

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) , ~ N I N AV I A T I ( ) N

Women

Who Sel l

Cur t i s s - W rigI. t

new responsibilities, a husband, apilot's license and a job as a Dallas, Texas. base

Curtiss-Wright saleswoman

at their Alameda. Calif.,base

Lorraine Defren is the Boston base's sales Helen Cox, newest woman transport pilot,

lady, as well as president and or- is stationed at the home base airport

ganizer of the Women's Wing at Valley Stream, L. 1., toand Prop Club of New demonstrate and sell Curtiss-

England Wright products

Frances Harrell, transport pilot , formerlydemonstrated ships for "Brownie" at

Valley Stream. L.1

Now she isselling the flying qualities of

Curtiss-Wright ships all over thecountry by the sure way in

which she manipulates them

with the Curtiss-WrightExhibition Company

@-

int g ~~ - M e n a nd T. .

~ : : : ~/ . . . . . . v- - ? ~ ~

- -. Taken From The urT he up-to-date Curtiss-Wright version of last year'smaxim "Sell the woman, sell the plane" is "Let thewoman s ell the plane ." And so she has and is rightbriskly at several of the Flying ervice bases.

At least a dozen women are employed in varioussales capacities by Curtiss-Wright. They sell not onlyships but flying courses and accessories to men as wellas to women , and by their presence in the industrythey undoubtedly h ve considerable influence in sellingthe idea of flying to landlubbing members of both sexes.

It is quite important in making a sale if she who sellsthe plane can demonstrate its talking points in person tohim or her who buys. Most of the women who sellCurtiss-Wright planes h ve pilot's licenses. Those whohaven't are well on their way to getting them. Two ofthe women h ve transport licenses, two h ve limitedcommercial licenses and the others are private pilots.

Women h ve sold stocks and bonds, real estaeand life insurance, and automobiles , as well as subscriptions to magazines and ribbons and hosiery overthe counter. Now they are selling airplanes, yinglessons and accessories. They are particularly successfulin the sale of flying courses. Eight of the dozen CurtissWright saleswomen learned to fly at Curtiss-WrightFlying Service bases. And who other than a graduateof a school is better equipped to tell a prospect about

EDITOR S NOTE: A tribute to the many w(


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W ( ) , I : ~I ~ 4 . V I 4 . T I( ) ~

lbumVinta ge achines ~

:.

~ - - ' . ..~ ~ , , ~ - ~ / ~ ~ : 7

. . . . . . . . . . . - . ~ - ~ , . . . . . . . . . . . , ~

Wright eview 1930

the merits of his flying alma mater? Another point atwhich women are invaluable is to talk flying togs toprospective women students.

It is interesting to note what the former professionsof some of these twelve women were before they becameflying salesladies. One of them was credit manager ofa furniture store, another taught mathematics and geo

graphy, and still another taught in a high school. Afourth is a recent high school graduate. One left theUniversity of California to take up flying and stillanother failed to turn up on registration day at MichiganState College for the same reason. Secretarial work wasdone by some, and one of them was an advertisingwoman. Another of the Curtiss-Wright saleswomenturned her back cold on a training school for kindergarten teachers, and one of them taught physical training in a fashionable girls' finishing school.

It s a far cry from anyone of these professions tosky stuff, yet they are all doing it, and obtaining excellentresults. If you have ever been carrying on a nicegossipy chat with one of them and seen the glint in her

eyes as shebroke

off suddenly with, "Solong

, herecomes my Moth prospect," you know how bussinesslikeand how resolute they can be in the matter of making asale.

Madeleine B. Kelly sells for CurtissWright Flying Service at the

Alameda base in California

J ane W . Willis was a physical traInIngteacher at Denver, Colo . Then she

became the star pupil at the Curti ssWr ight base there: and now she is

Wom.en

Who Sel l

Cur t i ss -Wright

Betty Russell is just eighteen, enough tobe a limited commercial pilot . She is

011 the Alameda, Calif., sales staff

Mildred Harrington is using her experience as an advertising woman to

sell Curt iss -Wri ght equipment andcourses particularly to the women

of Bridgeport, C onn .

Dorothy Pressler, operations clerk at theOkl ahoma City base, is a licensed

pilot and does her share ofCu rtiss- Wright sales-talking

n who help make EAA such a success.

Air ~ c h t
http:///reader/full/4.VI4.TIhttp:///reader/full/4.VI4.TI


12/20

T k t U ~ w a U ~May 1974 issue of Vintage irplane has the story of the Swallow's

discovery in the uptown section of Chicago.See March 1975 issue of Vintage irplane for the story where they

decided to re-enact the Cuddeback flight that initiated air mail 50 yearsago.

The January 1976 issue of Vintage irplane carries the story of theoriginal flight by Cuddeback.

This issue carries the GRAND FINALE a successful completion ofthe re-enactment by Buck Hilbert.

y Edward D Williams (EAA 51010)713 Eastman Drive

Mt . Prospect, Illinois 60056


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T h e Swallow that Toffinett e, Hilbert and Schroederunearthed in a garage in uptown Ch icago, hasclimaxed its s hort two year career.

The restor e d Swallow biplane on April 6 1976 , ree nacted one of the significant flights of aviation history , but not without a lot of luck in completing the 'res toration of th e plane in time, and not without cons iderable flying skill and coura ge by the pilot in theflig ht it self. Th e flight was made from Pa sco, Washin g ton to Boise , Idaho by E. E. Buck Hilbert, of

Union , Illin ois, a United Airlines DC-8 captai n .t

was made exactly 50 years after a flight from Pascoto Boise to Elko, Nevada, in a Swallow by Leon D.Cuddeback, chi ef pilot for Varney Air Lines. Cuddeback's fli g ht marked the be g inning of p e rm a nentsc hed ul ed airline se rvic e in th e United States.

Having purchased th e Swallow two ye ars befor eUnited's 50th birthday, ther e see med to be a lot oftime to compl e te ly restor e th e Swallow, but, as itturn ed out, th e deadline was ju s t barel y m e t. The Hilbert-Toffenetti-Schroeder biplane is a Swallow Commercial ju s t about identical to th e Swallow Mailplaneflown by Cuddeback. Edward E. McConnell , a Fe dera l Aviation Administration certified in s pector and

an a ircraft r es to re r, specializing mostl y in Piper TriPacers, wa s assigned the res to ration job. With McConnell doin g mos t of th e res toration work by himse lf while Hilb e rt sco ured th e country for p ar ts, thewo rk went very s lowl y. Hilb e rt went to Oakland, California to visit Cuddeback a nd discu ss details o f thefuture re-enactm e nt , and Cuddeback strongly recommended that Hilbert install at leas t a Wright J-4 or notev e n attempt th e re-enactment. The original K-6 engi ne was completely out of th e question , Cuddebacksa id , even if one could be found .

Hilbert , in California , located one of th e few rem a inin g J-4 s in ex istence and traded his OXX-6 forit. He then had th e J-4 sent to Memphis, Tennessee ,

for a complete overhaul and se nt to South Bend to getwhat mi g ht be the only existing J-4 engine carburetorin th e world . H e also went to Iowa to get the propeller and to the s tate s of Vermont, Washington , Kansa sand New York to ge t miscellan eo u s but vital parts .

The instrum e nt s posed le ss of a problem beca useth e few instrument s available to pilots in 1926 didn ' tfill up much of a n instrument panel. A much neededre placement was a reliable compass for the one in theSwallow, which Hilbert sa id probabl y told the pilotonly if he were in the Northern Hemisphere .

t looked for a while like Hilbert would not be f1y-

ing th e Swallow a t all on April 6, 1976, becau se restoration work hit se ve ra l s nags as tim e sped by. Hilbertex plained that ea rl y biplan es like the Swallow werenot mass p roduced as mod e rn planes in which everypart for one plan e is id entical to the sa me part onanot h e r plan e. They wer e a ll pr e tt y much cus to mmade, he said. So a part th a t co uld b e u sed on oneSwa llow did n o t necessarilv fit an o ther Swallow.

Fee lin g th e pressure f th e d ea dline , Hilb e rt bega n s pendin g almo s t a ll hi s free tim e a t Seneca, work

in g with McConnell. H e a lso pressed in t o serv ice alo n gtime friend , Michael X. Drabik, of Chicago, anEAA memb e r a nd a retired United Airlines mechanic.The a lmost im p ossi ble ta sk of loca ting vital parts longs inc e o ut of any a ircraft firm 's inv e ntor y put th e workmore behind sc hed ule .

Hilbert ap p ea le d for h e lp to United , which ass igned two more of Hilb ert's a ntique-e xp e rt friendsfulltime to th e work at Seneca. They were RichardMoen of Dund ee, illinois , a United pilot a lso flyingo ut of O'Har e, and Michael Branand of Riv e r Forest,Illinoi s, a furl o ug hed United pilot who was workingas a mechani c a t United 's San Francisco MaintenanceCenter while waiting reca ll to flying status. McCon

ne ll, Drabik , Moen and Bran a nd all hold current FAAairframe and po w er plant mech a nic s license s.

Hilbert had originally planned to complete therestoration at Seneca in tim e to tes t fly th e Swallowa nd th e n fly it to O'Hare for shipment b y United DC8F Cargoliner to Boi se. But the s ilver and blu e planewas rolled out of McConn e ll 's hangar on March 22,too late for any test flying . On that day the Swallowwa s di sasse mbled and trucked up to Chicago, about80 miles to the northea s t. On March 23, the 90 mile-anhour biplane was loaded into the Cargoliner and flownto Boise at a spe ed of .8 the s peed of sound.

The United Cargoliner normally flies daily fromChicago nonstop to Seattle , Wa s hington , but it wasflown March 23 with very little other cargo, with as p ec ial s top at Boise, to accommodate the Swallow.

Th e 32-foot lon g wings and the tail as se mbl y wereload e d easily in the Cargolin e r 's 106 foot lon g cargocompartment. But the 24-foot-long fus e la ge, on itsown landing gea r, barely clea re d the top of the 85by 140 main cargo door opening. Inside , the topcylinder of the J 4 engine came within two inches oftouching the ceiling of the cargo compartment , evenafter the Swallow's tires were partially deflat e d .

Although the DC-8F could have carried 80,000pounds of car go, the Swallow - with an empty weight

of on ly 1,570 pounds - and some miscellaneous boxesa nd cra te s we r e the o nl y car go .

Pr ev iou s to th e comp le tion of the Swa llo w at Seneca,Hilb e rt made a pr e limin ary trip to Bosie to det e rminewhat facilitie s mi g ht be available for th e Swallow si nc eth ere was s till so m e work to be done befor e it co uldbe flight tested. t a lso needed ha n ga r space .

A t Boise, Hilb e rt met with Dean Wilson , head ofth e Bradley Air Tra ns port a tion Museum owned byJosep h L Terteling , Idah o indu s tri a lis t. In a moves tagge rin g for it s ge ne r osi ty, Wilson told Hilb er tth a t Terteling o ffered th e u se of a flat bed truck totransport th e Swallow from th e Boise airport on arrival in th e Cargoliner and th e n the u se o f h a ngars pace in his mu se um northwest of Boise for reassemblya nd o ther work neede d for the plane for as lo ng asneede d . Without th e se faciliti es, th e Swallow projectwo uld not ha ve been completed in time for th e April6 flig ht.

As it wa s, th e United crew o f Hilbert, Mo e n, Branand a nd Drabik worked lon g h o ur s every day to getth e o ld plane read y. Finally, s ix days after it s arrivalby Ca rgo lin e r, th e Swallow was tes t flown b y Hilberto n March 29 . The J-4 operated perfectly , and after a

15 minute fli g ht , Hilbert foll ow e d with another for30 minutes.The next da y, o n one of the te s t flight s from Ter

te lin g's private s trip , Hilb e rt was forced to land theSwallow at an abandoned dirt s trip nearby becau se offuel s tarvation . After so me rea dju s tments , th e Swallow was flown aga in the n ex t da y, and what appearedto b e a final blow developed.

The J-4 was eating itself up and develop ed conside rable rou g hn ess in flight, forcing Hilbert to se tit down as quickl y as po ss ible on Terteling' s strip .Close insp ec tion s howed that there were metal particl es inside the e ngine , indicating that completefailure would probably occur s hortly if the Swallow

w ere flown again with the J-4.But luck was with the Swallow project , and againTerteling's people came to the rescue. Dean Wilsonpointed out that the museum 's L-13A had a 220 horsepower Continental engine built in 1942 that weighedabout the same as the J-4 and co uld easily be interchanged with it. Wilson put hi s crew of 10 museumemployees working on the project, and th e Unitedcrew, which had bee n joined by McConnell a few da ysearlier , worked throu g h the ni g ht. The J-4 h ad failed ,and so me authenticity was sacrificed, but at least Hilbert now had a more powerful and more reliable eng in e for the flight.

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STURDY SKELETON Waiting to be covered is the fuselage ofthe Uptown Swallow . E E Buck Hilbert kneels on the frontseat while Edward E McConnell, who is restoring the old planehands him the instrument panel .

The J-4 engine was something of ahi s torical item in its own right. t wasone of three that powered th e Fokkertri-motor monoplane flown by Adm.Richard E. Byrd and Fl oy d Bennett May9, 1926, when th ey b ecame the fir s tm e n t o reach th e No rth Pol e by a ir. Hilb er t said hi s research on th e se rial number of th e J 4 e n gine s h owed it to bedelivered to Byrd for in s tall a ti o n on th eFokker airplane, th e Jo se p hi n e Ford ,for th e hi s toric Polar fli g ht.

A lth o u g h th ere is no record of whatfinally happ e n ed to th e Jos e phin eFord , th e en g in e turn ed up with a priva te a ntiqu e a ir craft owner in Ca lifornia , from whom it was ob ta in ed byHilbert.

Hilb ert h ad locate d o nl y th r ee J-4sth a t were o p erab le, and two o f th e mwere in th e Smithsonian In s tituti o n .He said th e J-4 was ori g in a ll y manufactured fo r th e U.S. Navy and thaton ly 199 were built . t also w as th e forerunn e r o f th e e n g ine th a t C harl es A .Lindbe rg h used to fl y so lo across theA tl a nti c.

Hilbert h ad sa id a t th a t time that heco n s id e r ed him se lf ex tr em e ly fortunateas h e was n o t aware of a n y o th e r yabl e J-4 e n gin e in ex iste n ce . Acknowledgin g the hi s tor ical value o f th e J-4 , th eSm ith so nian loaned the e ng in e restorer

FIFTY YEARS APAR T Two pilots stand beside their planes illustrating the Similarity between a historic flight made in 1926

and a re-enactment flight made April6

with the Swallow biplane .

This photo at Seneca shows United pilot E E. Buck Hilbertwith a restored Swallow that made the Pasco-Boise re-enact

ment Flight April6

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a parts manual and a manufacturer's brochure on theJ-4 from its files.

Appreciat ing all that Terteling and Wilson haddone for the Swallow project and reali z ing the historical significance of his J-4 Hilbert donated it tothe museum after it was tak e n off the Swallow. However, a fter its use in the re-enactment flight, the Continental 220 was due to be return ed to the mu s e um orbe put back on the L-13A.

The important thing was that the Swallow wasable to be test flown immediately with the new engine, a nd the re-enactment was only two days away.On Sunday, April 4 , Hilbert ferried the Swallow toPasco for positioning , and he reported that all wentwell.

Although Cuddeback on April 6, 1926, had flownfrom Pasco to Boise and on to Elko, the schedule calledfor Hilbert to fly only the Pasco to Boise leg on April 6a nd the Boi se to Elko leg on April 7 bec a u se of civiccelebrations planned on tho se days by the communities involved.

Matching as closel y as po ss ible the details of Cuddeback's flight , Hilbert carried 9,285 piece s of mail insix sacks in the front compartment, which also canbe used as a second cockpit. However, the weathers ituation was reversed. On Cuddeback's flight, hehad good weather between Pasco and Boise but raninto thunderstorms between Boise and Elko.

For Hilbert , the weather on April 6 between Pascoand Boise was terrible but between Boise and Elko

Hundreds of persons greeted E E. Buck Hilbert on his wet arrival . The most in-terested of the spectators was Leon D. Cuddeback (being escorted under an um -brella . One can only speculate that he is recalling his flight of 50 years before.

The warmth of Cuddeback's greeting to Hil-bert at Boise showed one pilot's appreciationof another .

the next day was good.Hilbert got up at 4 :15 A.M. on April 6 and went

right to the airport without any breakfast . Althoughhundreds of persons showed up later to watch histake-off at 6:23 A .M., Hilbert found himself alone atthe airport at first. The weather was menacing .

I called flight service to get a weather briefingand the FSS man told me , ' I wish I could tell you thatthe weather will be better than it is' , Hilbert recalled.

He said the weather was so bad over the Blue Mountains in Oregon that he didn ' t think 1 would get throughthe pas s.

y 5:45 A.M., special ceremonies with United andPasco officials got underway , and Hilbert fired up theSwallow at 6:10 A .M. Rich Moen , who propped theplane, sa id later he gave it five primes, just like thebook says , and one more for luck, and she poppedright off .

At 6:23 A.M., the sa me time of Cuddeback's takeoff, Hilbert was off the ground. He s wung around andmade a low pass in front of the crowd, waved , andheaded the 244 miles to Boise.

A fleet of photo planes and antique aircraft, including Dick McWhorter and Ed Skeeter Carlson,both in Stearman C-3Bs, took off to escort hi m , butmost of them dropped off soo n after as the weatherworsened rapidly . Within minutes, he reached theBlue Mountains, which were smothered with lowhanging, thick clouds .

Three planes, all with extensive instrumentation , were still with me, Hilbert recalled. Therewas Dan Toeppen in his Ce ss na 182 , Clay Lacy in hisFairchild Turbo-Porter and Jack Loeffler in his Cessna180. All three are United pilots .

Seeing them still with me, said to myself, 'Whatthe heck am I trying to navigate for'? Hilbert said.

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Al t hough the early history of Hilbert s Swallow is not known, theoriginal factory plate showing its company serial number was stillattached to the old biplane before the restoration work began .

So I call ed To e ppen on my port a bl e I thou g ht to m yse lf that ' I b e tt e r bringra dio a nd to ld him to lead and I w o uld thi s thin g in so o n ' o r I wo uld b e infollow. Th e n I ju s t sat ther e a nd e n tr o ubl e, so I w e nt in a nd la nd e d.jo yed m yse lf. Hundred s of p e rso n s w e re o n h a nd

Simple as Hilbert mak es th a t sound , to g ree t Hilbert , just as they did w ithhi s co ur a ge in fl y in g a bipl a n e 1,00 0 C ud d e b ac k , a nd th ey ru s h e d t ow a rdfee t abov e th e te rr a in with wall s of th e Sw a llow a s Hilb e rt ta xie d in. I wasm o un t a in s and thick w hite cl o ud s all rea lly wo rri e d ab o ut th a t, h e sa id.ar o und him g ot him throu g h . Hilb e rt quickl y st o pp ed th e e n g in e,

On ce w e go t pa s t th e m o untain s w ith it ra inin g ca t s a n d dogs , a ndand into Trea s ure Va ll ey, it s ta rt ed t o th e fir s t on e to g ree t him w as Cudd era in , a nd th e ra in ran down from th e top bac k . H e ca m e up to m e w ith t ea rs ino f th e wi n g ri g ht in t o the co ckpit, hi s eyes an d s ai d, By da n g it , yo u m ad eHilb e rt said . T h e n , fo r th e fir st time , i (1I got co ld . Hilb e rt pl ayed d o wn hi s o wn e mo -

Hilb e rt sa id th e re m a ind e r o f th e tw o ti o n s but sa id th a t T h e te n s io n o n th eh o ur a nd 3 1 minut e fli g ht w as n o g ro und mu s t h av e b ee n g rea t b eca u ses w eat as h e fo llo w ed a f o ur-l a n e hi g h th ey co uldn ' t see m y pl a n e until I wa sw ay to Boi se . I found th a t I wa s go in g ve ry cl ose in . Bv that ti m e, offi cial sto a rri ve ea rl y, s o I circl ed a whil e to h a d r ec e ive d wo ;d that m os t o f th ekill tim e a di s ta nc e fr o m th e a irport , but ch ase a nd esco rt pl a n es h a d t o la n d b eth e w e at h e r b eg an d e te riorating , w ith ca u se o f th e ba d we at h e r a nd we r ea fo g bank movin g in tow a rd th e a irport. sca tt e re d a t va ri o u s airp o rt s b e twe e n

The Swallow being loaded into the DC-8F at O Hare Interna-tional Airport on March 23 , 1976.

Pas co and Bo ise.Hilb e rt la nd e d abo ut 14 minut es ea rl y

a s hi s a rri va l w as sc h e du l e d for 1 0:10A .M. , Boi se tim e, a n h o ur la te r thanP as co tim e . But h e h a d m a de it , and inth e pr ocess h ad fa ll e n in l ove w ith th eSw a llo w.

Th a t plan e is a bea ut y , h e sa id . Itis o n e o f th e ni ces t o ld biplan es I h a veeve r fl ow n . It is s m oo th a nd res p o n s ivebut h as on e h abit - it wo n ' t s ta ll. Wh enyo u ge t d ow n in t o g round e ff ec t , i tju s t w o n ' t s it d o wn.

Hil be rt a nd C ud d e b ac k we r e ce nte r s of a tt r a cti o n at mor e ce re m o nie sa t Bo ise, a nd Unit e d A irlin es a ft e rHilb e rt ' s a rriv a l chri s te n e d a Boe in g72 7 in C ud d e ba ck's n a m e .

Earl y th e n ex t m o rnin g, Hilbert wa so ff aga in , thi s tim e o n th e 200 mil e fli g htto E lk o . Th e we a th e r w as b e tt e r, bu tth e hi g h m o un t a ins o n thilt ro u te w e rewo rth n o tin g w e ll. I h ad to ge t up to

10 ,5 00 f ee t to get o ve r a 9,30 0 foot r a n ge,Hilb e rt sa id . Eve n th o u g h he m a d e a nun sc h e dul ed b a thro o m s top a t P e ta nRa n ch a irs trip , h e arri ve d ea rl y a t Elk o.

That particul a r leg , how ever , prov e dto m e th a t th e m e n lik e Cudd ebac k w h opi o n ee re d thos e rout es w e re g ia nt s,Hilb e rt sa id . t was th e to u g h es t I h aveev e r fl o wn . It w as mil e s and mil e s a ndmil es of n o thin g, a nd I n eve r h a d s u cha fee lin g of in sec urit y in m y life .

Hilb e rt a ga in was g ree ted b y c rowd s,a ba nd and civic official s, an d hi s to ryfo r a bri e f t wo d ays was re li ve d . ButHilb e rt 's Sw a llow fl y ing d ays a re s tillfa r from o v e r . Aft e r a tour o f citi es th a twill brin g him bac k t o th e Mid west a ndth en o n to Eas te rn citi es e ndin g in Ju n e,th e S wa llow will b e o n ex hibit a t th eD ay ton A ir Fair 76, Jul y 24 a nd 25 , a nd ,th e n , o n to O s hk os h fo r th e EAA F lyIn , Jul y 31 - A u g u s t 8 th.

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WHISTLIN IN TH RI INby

om Poberezny

How do you rate yourself as a pilot? Ask yourselfthe following questions:

- How do you rate your pilot ability?

- What is your knowledge of your airplane's flying characteristics?- What is your knowledge of aircraft regulations?- Do you exercise common sense during pre-flight

and while in the air?- Do you respect weather?- Are you the pilot-in-command or do you depend

heavily on air traffic control?There are numerous questions I could add to this

list, but the main purpose is to get you to take a goodlook at yourself in your role as a licensed pilot.

The answers to these questions are going to dependa great deal on the number of hours per year you fly,whether you own your own airplane and whether or

not you are a professional pilot. But, I am sure thatafter a review of your flying activities, you probablywill rate yourself too low. Pilots, in many cases , arenot giving themselves enough credit.

A strong case in point is your Annual Conventionin Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Throughout the day you willsee a mixture of aircraft in the traffic pattern varyingfrom small business jets and light twins to Bearcats,Mustangs , Taylorcrafts, J-3 Cubs and a host of singleengine airplanes. The traffic is handled safely and professionally. Common sense by controllers and pilotsalike allows Wittman Field to be the world's busiestairport for one week each year - Without mishap . I

am s ur e there is yet to be a visitor to Oshkosh who hasnot been completely amazed with th e magnitude oftraffic and the efficiency with which it flows.

Yes , credit sh o uld go to the FAA Controllers (Wittman Tower a nd Gypsy Controllers) who work longh ours. They rank with the best in the business, exem p lifi ed by the professional, efficient and courteousmanner in which they handle the air traffic. Instructions are concise and to the point.

But what about that pilot up there in that busytraffic pattern? He or she must react quickly to constantlychanging conditions a nd insure proper spacing withother aircraft of widely varying flight characteristicsand speed ranges. The pilot must monitor other trafficand be prepared to extend or shorten his pattern ata moment 's notice. And most important, the pilot mustbe constantly exercis in g good judgment as to any unsafesituations that may arise.

Pilots give yourself enough credit. Many ofyou are better than you think you are. For the few whomay think they are better than they really are . becareful. In all cases, exercise good common sense.Remember , yo u are the captain of the ship. Good , safeflying technique rests solely on your shoulders. Don ' tever forget that.

Speaking of pilots, what is being done today toencourage people to learn to fly or remain in aviation?Aircraft rental costs are becoming prohibitive for thenon-aircraft owner

tolearn or remain

proficient.What

enticement is there for aircraft ownership, consideringall the regulations, taxes, landing fees, and radio requirements which have driven aircraft costs and pricessky high. This is not to mention the inconveniencesmany aircraft owners face trying to get to their aircraftbecause of overzealous and costly airport security. Whatincentive is there for the Flight Instructor , A PMechanic of Fixed Base Operator? Hours are long andpay is short. I am sure you have not heard of too manyA P's or CFI's retiring at age 60 with a full benefitprogram.

It's getting harder and harder to build new airports

because of e nvir onmental rules. Deve lopment ofexis tin g airports must compete with highways, education and so forth . hence, in many areas little is doneto the local airport. Much of it depends on the personalenerg ies of the FBO /Airport Manager.

I am proud of th e work th a t is being accomplishedby EAA members and chapters, deSignees, the Antique lClassic Division, International Aerobatic Club andWarbirds. You are providing a reason to fly utilization of the airp lan e. T hrou gh yo ur efforts the publicis becoming more aware of aviation. Local chaptermeetings, fly-ins and your enthusiasm has rekindleda strong interest in aviation. As I have said before, thereis hardly an aviation event today where you don't seean EAA cap in the crowd.

Much has been accomplished, but we've onlyscratched the surface. Your Headquarters staff is continually re-evaluating programs and looking for waysto promote a healthy aviation picture. Let's continuewhat is being done right and take action on what iswrong or not being done at all.

To the Federal Aviation Administration, I ask: Whatare you doing to foster and promote aviation in theUnited States? I am asking this in a sincere, nonsarcastic manner. Take a good look at your policies andregulations and then look at the problems and conditionof the aviation industry tod ay.

Enough said.It's hard to believe that the Annual EAA Convention

in Oshkosh is only 6 days away. Though much hasbeen done there still is a great deal of preparationfacing all of us for this year's event. We need volunteersto help prepare the site. f you can donate an hour, aday or a weekend, contact Convention site Foreman,Vern Lichtenberg at 414 /233 1460.

For those of you who will be flying non-radio aircraft to the Convention, plea se keep in mind that nonon-radio arrivals will be permitted after 4:00 p. m. Thereason for this is the air show and the heavy trafficthat results after its completion . Please plan your flightaccordingly.

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YALLER S MY COLOR


18/20

alendar

of ventsJune 16-20 - 1976 Staggerwingrrravel

Air International Convention , s po n so red byStaggerwing Mu se um Foundation andStaggerwing Club , Tullah o ma , Tenn. ContactJohn Pari s h, o Staggerwing MuseumFoundation, P.O. Box 550, Tull a homa , Tenn.37388. Phone: 615 -455-0691 (business) or615-455-2190 (ho me).

June 18-20 - Pauls Valley OklahomaGreater Okla homa City AntiqueAirplane Assn. Fly-In. Contact Alan Brakefield ,Rt. 3, Box 301A , Okla. City, OK 73127.

June 23-27 - Hammondsport, New YorkFlight of the June Bug, a replica ofthe 1908 aircraft bu ilt and flown by Glenn H.Curtis s, in conjunction with BicentennialCelebration. Contact Bill Fox, Pleasant Va lleyWine Co ., Hammondsport , New York14840. Phone: 607-569-2121.

June 26-27 - Wisc o nsin Chapter AAAGrass Roots Fly-In, Clearwater Resort ,Clearwater, WI.

June 26-27 - Wellsville Aviation C lu b,Inc ., Great Wellsville Air Show Poker Rally AirRace. Spot Landing Contests, FlourBombing , Best in Class Aircraft prizes andtrophies . Wellsville Municipal Airport,Wellsville , NY. (Raindate Jul y 10).

July 3-4 - Gainesville, Georgia - 9th AnnualCracker Fly-In . Sponsored by NorthGeorg ia Chapter of AAA , Antiques, Classics,Homebuilts and Warbirds welcome.Co ntact Bill Davis, 2202 Willive e Place ,Decatur , GA 30033.

July 10-11 - Ann ual EAA Chapter 62 Fl y-In ,Hollister, CA. Con tact D. Borg , 6948Burning Tree, San Jo se, CA 95119 .

July 10-11 - 17th Ann ual AAA Fl y- In, DuPageCounty Airpo rt , West Chicago, Illinois.

Phone 312-763-7114.July 31 - August 8 - Oshkosh, Wisconsin

24th Annual EAA International Fly-InConvention. Start making yo ur plan s NOW

August 29-September 6 - Blakesburg , Iowa6th Annual Invit ational AAA-APM Fly-In .

August 30 - September 3 - Fond d u Lac,Wisconsin - 11 th Annual EAAIIACIntern ational Aerobatic Champions hip s. Sponsored by International Aerobatic Club .

September 17-19 - Georgetown, SouthCarolina - Second Annual Spirit of 76 Fly-In atGeorge town County Airport, South Carolina.Sponsored by Chap ter 543 Antique lClassic s, Warbirds and Homebuilt s. For information contact Herb Bailey , P.O . Box619, Georgetown, SC 29440 . (803) 546-2525days; (803) 546-3357 nights and weekends.

I REMEMBER WHENIt was a warm spring day , just like today. The temper

a tur e climbing up to seventy. The first warm clear greatday when nature comes a liv e all around you. I remembercrossing the open fields toward the corner s tor e near therailroad tracks. Seeing signs of new life beginning in allvarieties of wild flowers . Dandelions , pussy willows, andearly flight of the bumblebees. What a great part of theyear this is in the north after the cold days we have allcome through during the past winter.

Suddenly, an awful roar fills the air. Glancing overhead my eyes fix toward the sound and out of the skycomes an airpl a ne; twisting, and turning all the timestraight down The engine sounds like it quit but hecontinues to turn around seven, eight times. I notice as hecomes closer and closer to the gro und during each revolution the plane has two wings and it is a brick red color.Then, just as it seems it would crash, the pilot gets controlof it and flies along the tracks twisting th e airplane in a rollas he flies further away.

At first I thought h e must be crazy to make an airplanedo that; but as he appeared again over and over duringthe summer months , he always began his routine overthe neighborhood with the roar of the engine and the

descending spin. Through the year we a ll began to learnhis repertoire of spins, loops, slow rolls and the like; asthis young bird exercised hi s new wings in flight.

The year as best I can remember was 1937 and theaircraft must have been an American Eagle which wasleased at the local airport called "York Tip" , short forYork Township Airport, which was operated by the Miller brothers just so uth of Lombard, Illinois. The pilot wasJack Brissey, and the neighborhood was an area ca lledBelmont Station, which is just west of Downers Grove ,Illinois .

Jack became a captain forT .W.A . and regrettably diedof a heart attack while on approach to Los Angeles Airport at the height of his ascending career.

I talked to Jack many time s after I learned he lived nearmy home, and still attribute my flying fever to his efforts.I still ha v e a partial set of an early aeronautic magazinecourse which he said was, "All the important parts oflearning how to fly." To me the air above has never beenthe same since Jack first made that sp in into my life manyspring days ago. Alfred F . Campbell

913 Riedy RoadLisle, Illinois 60532Antique/Classic Division 109(Restoring 1946 Ercoupe)

P.S. f you do n ' t use the story, it won't make me feel anydifferent about spring.

YALLER S MY COLOR

Springtime and dandelions are as synonymous asapple pie and coffee, bacon and eggs. Some people hatedandelions. How could anyone hate a (Cub yellow)flower like that? As soon as the green fields are dottedwith dandelions dream of the days when the sky wasfull of yellow Cubs. Come spring, I walk my grass stripdaily, testing for firm eno u gh ground to ge t the Cub outand literally wallow around in that blue sky full of Springair. Every ye llow dotted pa s ture just beckons for a touchand go (careful now, don't crush the dandelions) fullthrottle and back you go into that ocean of blue floatingon spring green landscape. Yep, there ain't nothin ' like itnowhere no how

A Cub is just the most flying fun wrapped in a prettyyaller package Some call it an old man's airp lan e. Car e fulthere sonny boy - if it gets to feeling playful it mightthrow you. Guess they forgot to tell you young fellowsyou fly it , don't drive it. A gentle touch and it will doanything. Stand on its tail for instance , do somersaults,fly sideways.

With a Spring zepher (one of those solid breezes that's 'lik e something shot out of a hose) you can fly backwards.Just don' t get the idea yo u are going anywher e, for that itwon't (very fast that is). Yet for those old enoug h to havelearn ed patience , it is contentment. A slow sigh tseeingtrip is sheer ecstacy. A panorama of interesting sightsawaits you: A farmer working in the field, his wife hanging out clothes; a constant stream of cars passing (forwardthat is) to watch; a bread truck passes making a delivery atthe next town and passes again. You just sm i le and wavefrom your 500 foot perch. Looking back , the farmer's wifeis already taking down the wash (dry that is) . Better startlooking for a field - the plane'S tank is as short as mine.No airstrip in sigh t Tha t farmer down there has a tractorand that must be gas in those cans on the wagon. Nice ofhim to leave a long str ip unplowed. (Downwind you saysonny?) Whatszat? Tractor gas you say sonny? That'sdynamite compared to the 70 octane thi s thing wasweaned on. Now you see we can just turn around andtake off - upwind that is. Don't ever ge t any id eas oftrying this on your tricycle - they just ain't pastureairplanes. Now if you want to go from point A to point Bin a hurry, just sweat it o ut on your tricycle. f you wouldrather go from point A to point G, there is a slice of goldenage waiting for you on any little grass patch that has apretty ye llow Cub s itting among those pretty ye ll owdandelions .

When I get too o ld to fly, I'll just turn my Cub out topasture to graze among the dandelion s.

Percy Bricker (EAA 15612)Saxton, Io w a 54110

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Mr . AI Kelch :

Enclosed check for Antique/Classicmembership , I enjoy your magazine.I don ' t think many of the tricycle pilots

really realize the debt of gratitude they owe the oldpioneer pilots that flew new air routes , andthe risks they went through to perfectthe equipment and aircraft they nowtake for granted.

I'd like to see a monthly article like the"50th anniversary of Commerical Transportation " as per Jan . 76 issue.

There were many distance or enduranceflights in the 20s & 30s. I believe some articlesof those flights would be of interest to somewho were too young to remember orflight records they never heard of .

You have a good magazine and I enjoy it .Oran Barber , 66833P .O. Box 244Safety Harbor , FL 33572

March 3 , 1976Gentlemen :

I received the Jan . 1976 issue ofThe Vintage irplane and note that it wa ssent to my bUSiness address. Please sendall future issues to my home address .

Incidentally , I was a bit dismayed with thenew " oblong " format of the Jan . 1976issue . You are probably not aware of this , butmany of we Antique /Classic members haveour issues of The Vintage irplane hardboundfor easier reference and long term

preservation , and " 10 & behold" you havedealt us a low blow . Seriously , I do hope thatyou return to the old standard magazinetype format . I do hope that youtake this good natured but serious critiqueto heart and either return to the oldformat , or retain the present format for quitesome time to come . (Hopefully , return tothe old format) .

Regards,Carmen D. Perrotti Jr ., No . 2238 Mt . Hood TerraceMelrose, Mass . 02176

Editor 's Note : I have mine bound too .We will probably keep this format for some time.Info on binding will be forthcoming .

January 5, 1976Dear Buck:

I never did find any original wheel parts for myJ-3 , so I am going to get a pair of plasticones and try to pound out some from aluminumwhich I hope will turn out well. I didsome of this sort of thing when I was at theBoeing School in Oakland back in the 1930 's .

You said in your last note that youwished you were retired. Well, I will have beenaway from the airline 4 years nextmonth . The first couple of years I just didn ' tseem to like it and wished I was backat work . Gradually I got use to it , and now I do likeit and enjoy it . I have two planes , the J-3with a 90 hp Continental and a goodCessna 170-B with a 145 hp Continental in it .This makes it every nice as the enginesare alike in so many parts. I keepspare cylinders, pistons, valves, etc ., and Ican use them in either plane . I have my A and Plicense and do some of the work myself .

I enjoy getting SPORT VI TIONand The Vintage irplane magazines , alsothe ones from the AAA. In some ways Ithink the AAA is more on the righttrack than the EAA, especially in not tryingto have a field day for everyone. I suppose thereare many pro 's and con 's.

I am also very strong in my opinion that

the antique ought to be flown straightand level not wrung out. It seemsto me this should be a constant theme songI feel so badly when I read now andthen, about the failure of someantique that was being asked to do somethingthat it probably wasn 't designed forin the first place, and that many yea rs ago .

I also think Wag Aero is on the righttrack in making the plans available for theCUBy . Now wouldn ' t it be something ifwe had plans to say nothing aboutkits , for the Wacos , Travelairs and soforth? That , to me , is somethingthat would really keep the antique movementalive and bring in the younger builders ,who are what we must have eventu a lly in both theEAA and the AAA. Seems to me there

must be some way to get these plans andspecifications. I'd sure like to build a newBellanca or Fairchild.

Personally , I enjoy each issue ofThe Vintage irplane very much . I think thestories are good, and I think it iswell worth the money . In fact , I think it is sogood that it seems to me it could be soldfor a higher price . I really like whatTony Bingelis writes in SPORT VI TION .Seems to me if we had somethinglike that in The Vintage irplane it would help .If we had the plans on how to home-build

aWaco

UPFor some other

verygood

plane, and ran it as plans in serial form ,it would be a way to get EAA membersto want the antique magazine enough to jointhe division . There are probably better answersthan I can think of , but there are answers.

Well Buck , I've rambled on and notsaid much , but in closing I want tothank you again for trying to help me findthose original pants for my J-3.

Yours truly ,Howard C. HolmanWayne , Maine 04284

Dear SirsThank you very much for your letter

dated Feb . 28 , 1976 . We would like to tell youthat our work on the VilMA-plane is going

rapidly forward . As far as we know , we aren 'tshort of a single piece to that aeroplane andit is being put together now . We lookforward to have it test-flown beforemidsummer '76 .

We can also tell you that we have takenphotos every now and then during the work.Unfortunately they all are color . Weunderstood that you wanted to have black andwhite photos, or do you have any use ofcolor ones.

The opportunit y to write an article to yourmagazine is wonderful and we are more thanpleased to be able to send you thatstor y of our VilMA . We hope that you can wa itto the end of summer, because after thatwe will have some experience and somethingto write a bout. Then we will send youall the facts , history and other things concerningthi s type , - and probably some photo s takenwhen the VilMA is in the air!

We enclose with this letter a card showingyou what ki nd of aeropl ane it is and howit was painted earlier . VilMA is as atype copied from the famous Focke-WulfStieglitz . The motor is the same one , SiemensHal sk e Bramo SH 14 A 4 . There are , accordingto my knowledge , three Stieglitz 's flyingaround in Finland . We look forward to compairthe se two types sometime .

Wis hing you all the very best and ahappy Spring ,

Yo ur' sMr . K. Mu s tonenand

Mr . J . Ahlstrom

Dear Sirs:I'd like to order your Vintage Airplane

magazine for 1976. If it is possible I'd like tohave also the first numbers of 76.

You can send the bill and the magazine to :Mr . John AhlstromBergmansgatan 5 A 800140 Helsingfors 14FINLAND, EUROPE

Very many thanks in advance ,Johan AhlstrOm

In regard to " Breath of Life" in Feb . 1976

issue of Vintage irplane .Mr . Richard Connoley of Ridgefield ,Connecticut , kept NC 11 Y at Danbury , Connecticutduring 1940-1941 . He flew it regularlyon business . Its big fuel tanks were a readysource from which to " borrow " gaswhen the Cub trainers went dry and Texaco waslate with deliveries. We washed her downwith " gunk " 'til the aluminum glistened andnursed sore muscles from pushing in andout of the hangar . For details write :Cliff Sadler, Manager , Danbury Airport, Danbury,Conn . 06810 .

Have photo taken at Danbu ry ifyou want.

Charles Steffens , Jr.37 Coleman RoadGlastonbury, CT 06033

WANTED : 1941 Stinson 10-A. Mu:" u ferriable.Prefer one with 90 hp Franklin , but will considerany , including the 1939 model , HW-75 . WayneAlsworth , Sr ., Port Alsworth, Alaska 99653 .FOR SALE: Waco S.R .E . Basket Case. Cabinbiplane with 450 hp , P&W engine . Blue printsavailable , $27 .00 . Ted Voorhees, 6778 SkylineDrive, Delray Beach , FL 33446 .WANTED: Antique wood propeller for my den .W. N. Schultz , Jr ., P .O . Box 386 , Madison, NC27025. 9 9 / 548 9648 days ; 548-2496, nights.

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Documents

Vintage Airplane - Jun 1976