Vintage Airplane - May 2005

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - May 2005

1/36


2/36

N E

VOL 33, No. 4 2005

ONTENTS

1 Straightand Level

2 VAA

News

4 Reminiscingwith BigNick

FishHassellAviation Pioneer

byNickRezich

7 TheVintageInstructor

Patterns,Part III

byDougStewart

9

Al

MenascoAviationPioneer.

PartII

by

Chet

Wellman

13

TheUltimateHoward

AchildhoodfascinationbecomesrealityforJimYounkin

byJackCox

18

Livingston Clipwing

Monocoupe

FliesAgain

Famousraceplanebackinthe

sKies

byJackCox

20

Howto Fly

AVintage

member

earnshistailwheelwings

byDeanKronwall

23 Passit toBuck

SelectedsectionsfromOctoberof 1989

byBuckHilbert

25 MysteryPlane

byH.G.Frautschy

26

MysteryPlane

Ex

tra

byHalSwanson

29

ClassifiedAds

31 Calendar

OVERS

FRONT

COVER:

The Howard

DGA

9 was a childhood favorite

of master restorer Jim Younkin, and when the opportunity

came to finally

own

one, he lovingly restored the airplane to

its original streamlined shape. See Jack Cox's story begin-

ning

on

page

_ . EM

photo

by

Jim Koepnick, using Canon

professional digital photographic equipment.

EAA

photo

plane flown

my

Bruce Moore.

BACK

COVER:

Aviation pioneer

AI

Menasco strikes a jaunty

pose early in his career. Chet Wellman's biographical

article continues from last month, starting

on

page 9.

ST FF

Publisher

Tom Poberezny

Editor-in-Chief

Scott

Spangler

Executive

Director/Editor

H.G.

Frautschy

AdministrativeAssistant Theresa Books

Managing Editor Kathleen Witman

News Editor Ric Reynolds

Photography Jim

Koepnick

Bonnie Bartel

Production

Manager

Julie Russo

Classified Ad Manager

Isabelle

Wiske

Copy Editor Colleen

Walsh

Director of Advertising Katrina Bradshaw

Display Advertising Representatives

:

Northeast:

Allen

Murray

Phone609-265-1666, FAX 609-265-1661

e-mail:

[email protected]

Southeast: Chester Baumgartner

Phone

727-573-0586,

FAX 727-556-0177

e-mail;

cballmlll@mindspring com

Central:Todd

Reese

Phone800-444-9932,

F X

816-741-6458

e-mail: todd@;pc

mag.com

Mountain

&

Pacific:

Keith

Knowlton

& Associates

Phone

770-516-2743, FAX 770-516-9743 e-mail: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:///reader/full/todd@;pc-mag.comhttp:///reader/full/todd@;pc-mag.comhttp:///reader/full/todd@;pc-mag.commailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:///reader/full/todd@;pc-mag.commailto:[email protected]


3/36

GEOFF RO ISON

PRESIDENT VINTA

GE

AI R

R

A

FT

ASSOC IATION

Eager

Spring Flying

Did someone say spring? I

think

I

that

word a

few

columns

,

and that

was

in

anticipation of

. With my

spring

to sum

. I just

spent

a week

Oshkosh,

and they

were experi

It

truly was a long winter for

and

we are very

thankful to

and

better flying weather.

the annual

on

the

Cessna 120

and

the C-170 com

closer to getting fully

epared for the spring ritual of prac

on my

taildragger skills so

around

to

all

the

local

and

those Saturday

morning

cannot

remember

last

time

I was so eager

to

see

. I just peeked

and

was shocked to

to the

realization

that

it has

three months since I last

So

it's prob

so

the insur

is

kept happy and I can con

e affordable rates that

VAA

insurance plan provides.

Are

you planning

your

trip to

AirVenture Oshkosh 200S?

You

get

started i f you haven t.

I

think

that

this year's event

shaping

up to

be

the

most

excit

What a phenomenal line-up. The

event

has

led

EAA to reinforce to the

that there

absolutely

I distinctly recall the excitement

th

e

year that

Dick

Rutan

and

Yeager flew

th

e Voyager to

Oshkosh. I clearly recall

watching

the

hundreds if

not thousands of

people crowding around

the

aircraft

shortly

after its arrival. The excite

ment

of

that

event

is

truly memo

rable,

but the

significance of it really

pales a bit

when

you consider

how

popular that event was

to the

mem

bership, and

that

was before

they

actually flew it

unrefueled

around

the

world. Now consider

the

accom

plishments

of

Burt

Rutan

and

his

team

at

Scaled Composites

with

re

gards

to

the

SpaceShipOne event.

Again,

this

is

a

uniquely phenom

enal

and

historical accomplishment

that

received worldwide media cov

erage.

When the

actual

event

was

taking

place, Mike Melvill had us

all

on

the

edge

of our

seats, practi

cally gushing with excitement. Mis

sion accomplished,

and

now, in July

White

Knight

with

SpaceShipOne

tucked

up to her underbelly

unre

fueled will arrive

in the pattern

at

EAA

AirVenture 2005 for a weeklong

visit at Oshkosh

on

its way to its pro

per

place in history at the Smithsonian.

Now

then,

let's double

our

view

ing pleasure

with a

similarly

sig

nificant arrival

of the

GlobalFlyer,

flown in by Steve Fossett,

to

AirVen

ture. With its 67-hour flight mission

of

an

around-the-world,

19,880

nautical-mile solo, nonrefueled

flight also completed, it will surely

round out our

week

at

AirVenture

as unprecedented .

With Oshkosh

widely

known

as aviation's Mecca,

this year's event

is

truly shaping

up

to be

nothing

short of miraculous.

Tom Poberezny said it best

when

he

recently remarked, It's difficult

to describe

the magnitude and

ex

citement

of

the

event, except to say

you've got

to

be there this year./I

Be

sure to join us for what is

shaping up

to

be

an

incredibly stel

lar line-up for

the

S3rd

annual

avia

tion

gathering set for July 25-31.

While

on

the

topic

of EAA

Air

Venture, I should remark here that

the

Vintage area also has been busy

working on our

own

show-stop

pers. This year's

event

promises

to

attract an unprecedented number

of

Tri-Motors

and

early Tri-Motor

type passenger transports.

I f

you have

a weak

spot in your

heart

for

these early transports

like I do,

get

your camera

loaded

because this could prove to

be

a

unique once-in-a-lifetime photo

opportunity.

Will

GlobalFlyer

or

White Knight

fit

under

the

wing

of an

AT-S

Tri-Motor? Talk

about

a

photo

op.

Hmmmmmm.

You better

also

plan to

set aside

some time to roam around

the

type

club parking area this year as well.

This area

is

now being managed by

VAA s

own

Tim Fox. Tim made

the

mistake of doing a really fine job of

bringing a large

number

of Stinsons

to this area

at

last year's event. This

of

course

earned

him

the new

re

sponsibility of bringing even more

success to

the

type club parking area

again this year.

Keep

in

mind

that we

ar

e al

ways seeking out new volunteers for

the

Vintage area. Drop us a line at

vintageaircra{t@eaa org if

you re

in

terested in

enhancing

your

EAA Air

Venture experience.

We

pledge

our

best effort to show you a good time.

Let's all

pull in the same

direc

tion for

the good of aviation

.

Re

member, we are all bette r together.

Join us and have

i t ~

VIN T GE

I R P L N E

mailto:vintageaircra%[email protected]:vintageaircra%[email protected]:vintageaircra%[email protected]:vintageaircra%[email protected]


4/36

Biplane Fly-In Special

Guest

VAA

Treasurer Charlie Harris also

serves as the

chairman of

the Na

tional

Biplane Association (NBA),

and

he has just

announced that

famed

test

pilot

Scott

Crossfield

has accepted

their invitation to

be

the honored guest at the 9

th

Annual

Biplane Expo

at

Bartlesville, Okla

homa, June 2-4, 2005. Crossfield

will be recognized

during

a Thurs

day,

June

2, evening reception

at

the

Hillcrest

Country

Club in Tulsa

and

will be further

honored

at

a tribute

on his

behalf on Friday,

June

3,

at

Frank Phillips Airfield

in

Bartlesville. For more

information,

contact

Charles

W. Harris at 918

622-8400,

e-mail [email protected].

or visit

the

NBA website at www.

biplaneexpo.com.

No Reservation Required

Like a bottomless cup of cof

fee, there's always room at Camp

Scholler for EAA members,

their

family

and

friends before

and

dur

ing EAA AirVenture

Oshkosh.

Lo

cated on convention

grounds,

RV

and tent campers

have

access to

shower facilities, portable toilets,

an

RV pumping station, and por

table pumping services. Early birds

can set up camp on

June

24. Visit

www airventure org and click on the

Where to Stay link below

the

Plan

for It link for a map of Camp Schol

ler and guidelines.

Also,

don't forget that

we al

ways have room for showplanes

at EAA AirVenture. While

the

airport

may have to close to

transient campers and modern

airplanes that must park in the

North 40, i f your

airplane

fits in

one of the V Ns

judging

catego

ries (see the categories at www.

vintageaircraft.org , we'll

find

a

place to park

you

during EAA

AirVenture 2005.

There

is

no

advance registration

for show

plane parking;

i t

is

first come,

first served.

MAY

2 5

o Many Forums o

Little

Time

Where else can you learn about air

craft design, gas-welding aluminum,

1/2

VW

engine conversions, and im

proving your

VFR

skills,

and

all

in

one place, all on the same day? At the

hundreds of forums presented during

EAA AirVenture.

To

plan this year's

adventure

in

learning,

tap into

the

forums database at www.airventure.

org

and

search by date, presenter, or

interest area. You can also

print the

Forums Map

to

see where

your

fo

rum meets, so there will be

no

delays

when you arrive in Oshkosh.

E AirVenture Air Show

More of

the

world's

top

perform

ers have confirmed

their volunteer

appearances at EAA AirVenture's

daily 3 p.m. air shows. (Times and

performance dates are not yet fi

nalized.)

Check

the

website

at

www airventure org

for

information.

One new

act

in particular

caught

our

attention,

and I'm sure you'll

want to see it:

• Kent Pietsch will

fly

a 1942 In

terstate Cadet. In three different acts,

he'll

land

on a recreational vehicle,

fly a comedy routine, and perform a

dead-stick aerobatic routine.

EAA Ohio Members Help Revise

Aircraft Tax Legislation

EAA worked with several members

in Ohio to re-introduce legislation in

February that would roll back aircraft

taxes from a flat 100 per aircraft to

15 per seat. Now before the Finance

and Appropriations Committee,

House Bill 66 would repeal the large

increase that

was

established in 2003

and became effective last year.

EAAers leading the fight included

Board Member Emeritus Jim Gor

man, Donald Peters, Brian Matz

(of

the

Fearless Aeronca Aviators),

Frank Castronovo, and many Chap

ter presidents

and

VAA

members.

Matz informed EAA

that

the floor

vote would likely occur sometime in

continued on p ge

8

Notice

of

Annual

EAA Business Meeting

In

accordance with

the Fifth

Re

stated Bylaws of Experimental Aircraft

Association Inc., notice is hereby given

that the annual business meeting

of

the members will be held at the The

ater in the Woods

on

Saturday, July

30

2005 at 10

a.m.

at the 53rd

annual

convention of Experimental Aircraft As-

sociation Inc., Wittman Regional Air

port, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Notice is further given that the elec

tion will be held as the first item on the

agenda

at the

business meeting. Fif

teen Class I directors three-year terms)

will be elected. In

accordance with the

Fifth Restated Bylaws of Experimental

Aircraft Association Inc., the Nominat

ing

Committee

has submitted

the

fol

lowing candidates:

Class I

Richard W. Beebe,

II

John A

Beetham incumbent)

James

W

Brown

William

F

Chana

Michael H Dale

Rich Davidson

Norm DeWitt

Curt Drumm

James C Dukeman

Malvern

J

Gross incumbent)

Richard

W

Hansen

William

E

Harrison

Jr

.

David C Lau

Daniel

A

Majka

John L

Parish

Sr

David R

Pasahow

Paul Poberezny incumbent)

Kevin

Rebman

Alan

J. Ritchie incumbent)

Dan

Schwinn

Frederick

W

Telling

Edward T Waldorf

Jim Weir

Joe

B

Wyatt

Such candidates include proposed

successors to those current Class I di

rectors whose terms expire during 2005,

along with

an

additional number of Class

I directors as necessary

to

cause the

Class I directors to collectively compose

at least

51

percent of the board. Among

the

newly

elected Class I directors, terms

will be assigned so

as

to effectuate the

staggering of term expiration dates.

The

current Class I directors whose terms do

not expire

in

2005

will continue to serve

until their stated term expiration date.

Alan Shackleton

Secretary,

EAA

Board

of

Directors

2

mailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/biplaneexpo.comhttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp:///reader/full/vintageaircraft.orghttp://www.airventure/http:///reader/full/www.airventure.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/biplaneexpo.comhttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp:///reader/full/vintageaircraft.orghttp://www.airventure/http:///reader/full/www.airventure.org


5/36

200S Friends

of the Red

Barn Campaign

Many services are provided to vintage aircraft en

at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. From parking

to feeding people at

th

e Tall Pines Cafe and

Barn, more than 400 volunteers do it all. Some

y ask, If volunteers are providing

the

services,

is

the

expense?

Glad you asked. The scooters for th e flightline crew

and batteries, and the Red Barn needs

new windowsills,

updated

wiring, and other

to

care for our volunteers

special recognition caps and a pizza party.

The

really could go on and

on

but no matter how

expenses we

can

pOint out, the need remains

. The Friends of the Red Barn

fund help

s

pay

the

VAA

expenses

at

EAA AirVenture,

and is

a cru

the Vintage Aircraft Association budget.

Please

help

the

VAA

and

our

400-plus dedicated

an unforgettable experience for

many EAA AirVenture guests. We've

made

it even

to

give this year, with

more

giving levels

to

and

more

interesting activi

for

donors to

be a part of.

Your contribution now really does make a differ

ence. There are six levels of gifts and gift recognition.

Thank you for whatever you can do.

Here are some of

the many

activities the Friends of

the

Red Barn

fund

underwrites:

• Red Barn

Information

Desk Supplies

• Participant Plaques

and

Supplies

• Toni s Red Carpet Express Repairs and Radios

• Caps for

VAA

Volunteers

• Pizza Party for

VAA

Volunteers

• Flightline Parking Scooters

and

Supplies

• Breakfast for Past Grand Champions

• Volunteer Booth Administrat ive Supplies

• Membership Booth Administrative Supplies

• Signs Throughout

the

Vintage Area

• Red Barn and Other Buildings Maintenance

.AndMore

Thank-You Items

by Level

Name

Listed:

Vintage, Web

&

Sign

at

Red

Barn

Donor

Appreciation

Certificate

Access to

Volunteer

Center

Special

FORB

Badge

Two Passes

to VAA

Volunteer

Party

Special

FORB

Cap

Breakfast

at

Tall Pines

Cafe

Tri -Motor

Ride

Certificate

Two Tickets

to V

Picnic

Close Auto

Parking

Diamond,

$1

,

000

X

X

X X X X

2 People/Full

Wk

2 Tickets

X

Full Week

Platinum,

$750

X X X X X X

2 People/Full

Wk

2 Tickets

X

2 Days

Gold,

$500 X X X X X X

1 Person/Full

Wk

1 Ticket

Silver,

$250

X

X X X X X

Bronze 100

X

X X X

Loyal Supporter,

$99

& Under

X X

V

Friends of

the

Red Barn

_______________________________________________________ EAA

________ VAA ______

__

City/

______________________________________________________________________________

_

________________________________________ E-Mail

___________________________________

_

choose your level of participation:

__ Diamond Level Gift - $1,000.00

Silver Level Gift - $250.00

__ Platinum

Level

Gift - $750.00

Bronze

Level

Gift - $100.00

Gold Level Gift - $500.00

Loyal Supporter Gift - ($99 .00 or under)

Your

Support $

Payment Enclosed (Make checks payable to Vintage Aircraft Assoc.)

Mail your contribution to:

Please Charge my credit card (below)

EAA

VINTAGEAIRCRA

FT ASSOC.

Card Number Expiration Date

__

PO Box 3086

_

OSHKOSH

WI

54903·3086

a matching gift company? If so, this gift may qualify for

matching donation. Please ask your Human Resources department for

the

appropriate form.

o m p a n y ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Aircraft Association is a non-profit educational organization ll d

er

IRS SOIc3 rules. Under Federal Law, the deduction from Federal Income tax for

tributions is limited to the amount by which any money and the value

ofany

property other than money) contributed exceeds the value

of

the goods or

provided in exchange for the contribution. n appropriate receipt acknowledging your gift will be sent to you for IRS gift reporting reasons.

VINTAGE

A I RPL NE 3


6/36

REMINISCING WITH

IG

NICK

FISH

HASSELL

AVIATION PIONEER

Reprinted from intage irplane October 974

T

his past September 16 a

group

of Rockford, Il

linois, OX-Sers and QBs

flew over the gravesite of

Bert R. J. Fish Hassell

and dipped their wings in a final

salute to one of America's aviation

pioneers and a friend of EAA.

Earlier in the year, July to be exact,

another group of EAAers OX-Sers,

and QBs flew the same mission over

Cedar Falls, Iowa, in recognition of

another

great aviation pioneer

and

friend of

EAA John

H. Livingston.

My most prized possessions are

the memories

I have

of knowing

these two great aviators.

Johnny

and Fish were

beacons of

light

in

the embryonic

age

of flight.

Be

cause

of their pioneering

efforts,

we today enjoy

the

speed, comfort,

and

safety of our flying machines.

Johnny

was a

man

of speed; Fish

M Y 2 5

Nick Rezich

All Photos Courtesy

the

Nick Rezich Collection

was a long-distance explorer. John

ny and Fish

both

were mechani

cally inclined, which contributed

greatly to their success in aviation.

Johnny went from motorcycles to

airplanes, and Fish from the Cole

Automobile Company to the Glenn

H. Curtiss School of Aviation.

Fish was sent to Hammondsport,

New York, to repair

the

Cole car

belonging

to Glenn

Curtiss. When

Fish

finished

the

repairs

on

the

auto,

he and

Curtiss

went

for a test

spin,

whereupon

Curtiss persuaded

Fish to turn his talents to airplanes.

At age 20, Fish

began his

fly

ing

lessons and

on June

IS, 1914,

he

soloed. Later with

pilot

license

number

20 in

hand, he went on to

become a fancier of

seaplanes-and

to

acquiring his nickname. He was

a man

of spirit and challenge. In

1915 he was flying a Curtiss flying

boat

from Chicago to Lake For

est amid choppy Lake Michigan

waves when he decided to show his

friends

at

the hangar some preci

sion flying.

In Fish's own words: As I passed

them, a huge wave broke under me,

kissed my tail section, and forced

my

nose

into the

lake. The next

thing

I saw was more

Lake

Michigan

herring

than

the local fishermen

at

Waukegan ever knew

there

was

in

the

lake " That incident

and

numer

ous others

that

ended

up

with

both

him and

his flying boats

in

the drink

gave

him

the nickname "Fish."

Fish was

best known,

however,

for his pioneering of the Great Cir

cle Route. He

had

visions of today's

air routes

long

before

they

became

the standard

lanes for commercial

aircraft. In 1926 he wrote, "Flying

the

Atlantic

is still a stunt. Fish


7/36

the

U.S. to look at

both the

and military

advan

s of using the Circle Route over

north to Europe.

The

small network of airlines

existed

at that time and the

not

ready

to

exploit

and

route . . . so

the

pio

to

Fish himself.

The scheme eventually decided

was a flight from Rockford, Illi

to

Stockholm, Sweden. Fish mus

ered a group of Rockford businessmen

He then went

him

to build a ship that

crew

of two and 700

gal-

of fuel

(4,200

pounds ).

The

airplane Stinson built was

SM-l Detroiter,

which

was

the "Greater Rockford." For

and

navigator, Fish chose

"Shorty" Cramer.

The

date

as set for July 26, 1928.

Machesney, the owner and op

the

airport north of Rock

the fence posts at the ends

runway

so

it would be

long

The following

is

Burt Hassell's own

the

successful take-off

in

the

trans-Atlantic air

With my co-pilot, Shorty Cra

, we took off from Rockford and

our nose

due north

to find

in the

daylight hours,

at night our attention

was

only

r instruments , which made the

seem

much

longer

.

As

day

we found ourselves over

y familiar area-Burrwell, near

ley. With daylight and a defi

location,

we

started

the

Davis Strait.

We

rode for

after hour-between cloud lay

for the Greenland shore

-5 purred along,

was

music to our ears.

"Suddenly, the weather started

break

and

we could see a faint

and the

sun shining

on

ice

cap.

We

were

stiff and tired (in the air for

when we began

to

look

shortly before

their

takeoff

fo

r tockholm

for

the

fjord which would lead us

to

our refueling base." But high winds

slowed them so "it seemed like

we were

standing

still. " Th e fuel

supply was running dangerously

low.

"A

careful

ch

eck

by Cramer

and

myself showed we

had

fu el for

less than an hour."

Hassell reasoned

that

he did not

have

enough

power to go looking

for a small landing strip

on

the side

of a

mountain, and

so we stuck our

nose due east, away from those hid

eous ice crevasses

to

where it would

be

only

a matter of minutes before

it would give up its long struggle

to get two pilots to

our

Greenland

base.

With

power

on

and off, we

were ready to land.

"To our great surprise, we landed

safely

on centuries-old ice

with

about 2 inches of hoarfrost

on

it .

We

had

reeled

up the

lead radio an

tenna and

sat there like

two tired

old

barnstormers

and rested. We

had been in the air 24 hours and 12

minutes .

and

that's a long time

sitting, even in a chair

at

home.

"We tied our lead antenna

to

an

aileron

tip

and pounded out like

mad: 'Landed safe on ice cap'-But

I guess no one was

near

enough to

read

this message. I shut off this

piece

of

equipment, and we got

ready

to

go.

We

put

on

our heavy

boots, parka, took a rifle and some

pemmican. and started to walk to

our base on the Strornfjord. To make

it short, it took us 14 days to walk to

Dr. Hobbs' camp, all tired from this

healthy walk over the ice cap. We

re-

alized then that we two barnstorm

ers should have remained at home."

The

flight never

reached

Stock

holm,

but Fish proved his point.

Today, commercial jet airliners are

using

that

very same route ... thanks

to pioneer Bert R. J. "Fish" Hassell.

You

would

have

had to

have

known

Fish

to

fully appreciate that

short story. He was a man of will,

determination , and faith in

his

fellow man.

I'll

never

forget

the

story he told me

about the pig

and chicken farm he had in Goose

Bay

Labrador-during

his service

in World War

II

I t goes something

like

this:

"You see, we

had

about

1,500 GIs and officers stationed on

the

base, and

most

of

them

were

farm boys from the Midwest. Then,

we had all

those

crews coming in

daily on

their

ways overseas-or

coming

back

from a

tour of

duty.

Having powdered eggs and Spam for

breakfast was not much of a morale

builder, so I requested a couple dozen

hens and roosters and some pigs."

When the

brass

in

D.C.

heard

about the

request, they figured 01

'

Fish had flipped

The

first request

was ignored, but when they received

the second one-which was worded

in

the typical Fish Hassell vernacu

lar-wheels started

to

turn . A team

of

brass flew to Goose Bay to find

out

firsthand what was behind this

odd

request.

They

were

met

by

Col. Hassell, and the first thing he

greeted

them

with was, "Where are

my pigs

and how much

booze

is

on

board?"

When the brass regained their

composure, Fish explained his rea

son for the pigs

and chickens.

To

make a long story

longer,

he got

his pigs and chickens and a guar

anteed ration of booze for his men.

His farm

boys buiit

a

hen house

and a pig pen-not only did this

makeshift farm provide fresh ham

and

eggs for breakfast,

but

it turned

out

to

be the

main

attraction at the

base for incoming crews and solved

the garbage problem. It also gained

VINT GE IRPL NE


8/36

worldwide fame and public

ity for Fish . Like he said, "I

was the

only Air

Force com

mander that

gained

popu

larity through chicken- "

Besides that, the pigs gave the

base a homey smell.

There are many more in

teresting and humorous sto

ries about Fish that you can

read firsthand by picking up

a copy of his book,

The Hik-

ing Viking over 400 pages

of aviation history and hun

dreds

of never

before

pub

lished photos.

The

famous Stinson

"Greater Rockford," NX-5408,

was recovered from

the

ice

cap 40 years later by Fish 's two

sons,

Vic

and John, and

Rob

ert Carlin, district manager of

National Airlines

in

Houston,

Texas,

and an antique aviation

buff and a native of Rockford.

A Sikorsky helicopter oper

ated

by,

I believe, Greenland

Air picked the Stinson off the

ice and a Hemisphere Aircraft

Leasing

Corporation

C-46

flew it back to Rockford where

thousands of people lined the

fence

to

cheer

the return

of

the "Greater Rockford. " I was

one of the privileged persons

who helped unload

the

Stin

son from the C-46.

BELIEVE

YOU-ME, it was an honor and

a thrill to grab that Hamilton

Standard prop and guide that famous

bird out of the doorway of the C-46.

It

is also ironic that the Stinson was

flown home in a Curtiss product.

After all the

ceremonies

were

over, Pop

as the

family called him)

asked me

to

remove a spark plug

from the J-5 just to see if i t would

come out. Much to our

surprise,

the number one

cylinder plug

came

out with no

strain , using a

regular plug wrench.

I

then

de

pressed

the

Alemite fitting, and be

lieve it or not, yellow grease oozed

out The aluminum tanks looked

like

new with no

traces of corro

sion at all and the wicker seats were

MAY 2 5

money to restore the "Greater

Rockford" but none of

them

panned

out. Fish

had hoped

to

have

the

aircraft made a

memorial to his son Peter

who lost his life flying

an F

100 while in the Air Force.

Eventually

,

the

aircraft was

gust

of

1928.

sold to

the

new

SST

Museum

located near

Kissimmee,

Florida, where

it

was put on

display, awaiting restoration.

On

May

5, 1971, Bert

"Fish" Hassell

and

John

H.

liVingston

were

enshrined

into the OX-5 Aviation Pio

neers Hall of Fame at Ham

mondsport, New

York

. I

had

the honor and

privilege

of

giving Fish his last airplane

ride.

John

Tasso,

chief

pilot

With the tail

section of the Greater

Rockford

are

,

for

Hartzog Aviation

, and

from

left

, Vic

Hassell

; Robert Carii

n,

fonneriy of

Rock

·

myself flew Fish

and

his fam

ford and now

o

Houston, Texas; Burt

R

.

(Fish)

Has·

ily

to the

Hall of Fame cer

sell; and

John

Hassell.

emonies at Hammondsport.

A

fond farewell to Fish

Hassell,

a great

av

i

ation

pioneer.

Addendum

from

Big

Nick

For you eagle-eyed read

ers, refer to the caption for

the

middle

photo

on

page

11 of

the

February 2005

is

sue of Vintag Airplane The

third

man

from the

left

is

The

Greater Rockford arrives back

in

Rockford via

C-46

after

40

years

on the Greenland

ic

e

cap

.

in equally good shape. The yellow

life raft was inflated,

and

it held

air with

no

leaks. The "Rockford to

Stockholm" sign

on the

cowl was

like

new

. The only fabric left after

40

years

of

winds

and

snow was

located on

the

rudder-with

the

"NX-5408" still very bright.

The

airplane

was

later trucked

to

Machesney Aircraft and placed

in the hangar from which it left 40

years before. That was

in

1968, and

since then the steel parts have rusted

badly and some additional damage

has resulted from all

the

moving

around from display to display.

Attempts were made

to

raise

not

Gordon Israel as stated.

Also, change "Walter French"

to

Walter Frech,

who

is

now

with the FAA in Los Angeles. I only

had the negative available when

I listed

the men

in the

photo

and

had to

put i t up

to the

light and

guess at the figures. Also, change

"earl Sting" to

Earl

Stine.

...",..

2005 Addendum :

After

this

was

written

in 1974

there was a suc

cessful fund-raising drive, and the

Greater Rockford was restored

and placed

on

display at the Mid

way

Village

&

Museum Center, 6799

Guilford

Road

, Rockford,

L 61107

,

phone:

815

/

397

-

9112

website:

www midw yvill ge

com

6

http:///reader/full/www.midwayvillage.comhttp:///reader/full/www.midwayvillage.comhttp:///reader/full/www.midwayvillage.comhttp:///reader/full/www.midwayvillage.com


9/36

Unhh Loop-de-loop Radio,

is 10 out. Which runway ya

..

.

unhhh

and do you have

right-hand traffic?

Hearing that

announcement

the

CTAF

(Common Traffic

while

flying

downwind

leg in

the

traffic pat

I thought

it

was the

perfect

for

my

client and

me to take

lunch break

after

our

landing.

I

so sure I wanted

to

be shar

the

sky with any pilot who

had

made an

announcement

like

I

had

just heard.

I hope you don't

think

I'm being

but we all know that

idair collisions occur either

the traffic pattern or within 10

of

an

airport. I've experienced

a few things in airplanes,

a midair collision is not one of

and

I am going

to

do my best

is

We

have many tools

to

aid our

where

other

aircraft

in

relationship to us.

Good

resource management

will

draw on as many of

as possible. Our eyes are

primary tools,

but certainly the

the radio is key How

the

improper

use of commu

radios can easily lead to

the pattern.

While my client and I enjoyed a

lunch,

we discussed

what

was

about what

we had heard

made me

want

to get on

the

To

begin with

I

didn' t

DOUG

ST

WART

Patterns,

Part III

know what

kind

of

aircraft I

might

be

looking

for. I

only

knew its tail

number,

and

as

my vintage

eyes

might not

be able to read

a tail

number before I

am

closer to the

aircraft in question

than

I might

wish

to

be, knowing just the

num

ber did nothing to

help me

.

If

on

the other hand, I

knew

what kind

of aircraft I was looking for, I would

be

much

better equipped to see it.

We have

to

remember that

the primary

purpose of

posi

tion

reports

in the

nontowered

environment

is

to aid in

the visual

identification

of aircraft.

Next, I knew that the pilot was

10 out. But the question re

mained,

10

out where?

Out

to

lunch

would be

my

guess. (In fact,

that

's

what

made

me think about

a

lunch

break

in the

first place.)

Remember that when

a tower

asks

you to

give a

position report

at

a certain distance, the tower al

ready knows

the

direction

from

which

you will

be approaching

. I

know, I know,

the FAA doesn

't like

us

to

use

the

term

uncontrolled-it

prefers

nontowered-but

radio an

nouncements like the one we are

discussing

certainly

diminish any

control there might have been.) But

when

you make a position report in

an

uncontrolled environment, you

should

absolutely

include the di

rection from

which

you

will be ap

proaching. To not do so means that

every

pilot who's looking

for

you

will have to scan all four corners of

the compass to spot you-and that

they

might be unsuccessful in that

endeavor.

The fact that the pilot was re

questing from radio whether

there was left- or right-hand traffic

indicated several things . To begin

with it

meant

that

the

pilot

was

unfamiliar with the airport. That

is not a

danger

in and of itself. As

long

as we follow good procedures

in entering

the

pattern (discussed

last month), there is no increase in

the risk exposure for anyone in the

pattern. It also showed that the pi

lot didn't understand that we use

the term radio when contacting

an FSS (Flight Service Station). The

proper term is UNICOM. More

importantly

it indicated

that

the

pilot

had

obviously not

done

his

homework.

Nor

did he know how

to use

the

tools

he

should have

had

VINTAGE IRPL NE

7


10/36

with him in

his cockpit.

Even if the

approaching

aircraft

did

not

have an

AFD

or

similar

source

of information

(and let's

remember that

the regulations say

that

we will have obtained

all

avail

able information

prior to

flight)

or

i f

that

source was

out

of

reach

somewhere

in the

back of

the

cock

pit

(I've sure seen that

more of

ten

than

I care

to

recount), did he

not have a

current

sectional chart

handy? Sectional charts have

been

indicating

nonstandard

(Le., right

hand)

traffic patterns

for quite

some time

now. In fact, i f you are

flying with a chart that

does not

have

that

information, you could

probably

sell it

on

eBay as a vin

tage chart.

About

the

only thing

the

pilot

of

the

approaching aircraft did that

was correct was

to

make a position

report at 10 miles out, as

recom

mended in

the AIM

But

nothing

else

in the

communication

did

anything to facilitate the see and

avoid concept of collision preven

tion. We have to remember that the

primary purpose of position reports

in the non towered environment is

to aid in the visual identification of

aircraft. But often, based on much

of

what

I hear on the UNICOM fre-

quencies, it would appear that any

thing

but

that is the

purpose.

We

also

have

to remember that

the

frequencies

available

to

UNI

COM are limited. The primary

ones in

use are 122.8, 122.7, and

123.0.

With

so few frequencies

to

be shared by airports

that

are some

times

in

rather

close

proximity to

each other, it

doesn't

take

long at

all, especially

on

a

good

weather

weekend, for

the

frequencies to be

come congested

to the point

of be

ing virtually worthless. Quite often

all

that

can be heard are

the

squeal

and

screech of numerous transmis

sions blocking each

other out

.

With this

in mind

I would like to

offer a few suggestions for pilots to

consider prior to using

the

push-to

talk switch. Spend a little

time

lis

tening

prior

to transmitting.

How

M Y 2 5

often

do

I

have

to hear someone

request

the runway in use when

it

has just

been

self-announced

by

not on

ly

the departing

aircraft

on

the runway,

but

the aircraft

on

downwind and

the one

on

base as

well?

Communication means

the

exchange

of information

between

individuals . ... That entails listen

ing

as

well

as

speaking.

. use the

same sterile

cockpit concept

whenever

you

re

flying with

others . . .

When you self-announce, keep it

short, sharp, and succinct. Loop

de-loop traffic,

Aeronca

Champ,

10 west, 3,000, inbound for

land

ing, requesting advisories says not

only

the

type of aircraft making

the announcement, but also states

where

it is

three-dimensionally

in

relationship

to the airport and the

intentions

of

the

pilot. I t says it

concisely, thus

minimizing

the us

age of the frequency. Furthermore,

before you transmit be sure that no

one else is transmitting. I f

some

one

else

is

transmitting at

the

same

time,

it's

quite

likely

that

neither

transmission will be heard.

There's one last thing

I

would

like

to

discuss

about

flying

in the

traffic

pattern

or

in

the

terminal

area for that matter. Earlier

in

this

article

I

alluded to

CRM.

Proper

CRM

will use all

the

tools available.

Our

passengers

can

certainly

be

among

those

too

l

s but only i f they

have been properly briefed.

The

airlines are mandated to

maintain

a

sterile

cockpit

un

til reaching

10,000 feet

MSL.

This

means that

all

crew

communica

tion

is to

be flight-related only. No

ta

l

king

about

the

ball game,

the

wife

and

kids, or

the

scenery. I real

ize

that

the majority of you reading

this rarely, if ever, get up

to

10,000

feet,

but that doesn't mean

you

shouldn't use

the

same sterile cock

pit concept whenever you are flying

with others in

the cockpit. Instead

of using a 10,000-foot

reference

point, use the terminal area instead.

Instruct your

passengers not

to

distract you

anytime

you

are fly

ing within

10 miles of

an

airport

(or

any other

congested area for

that matter) with

any

conversation

other than

safety-related concerns.

Without the distraction of idle chatter

you will be much better prepared to

spot that potential midair collision.

I know two pilots who, while

fly-

ing together

in the same airplane,

survived a midair

collision that

occurred

on

final

approach. They

descended

into an

airplane

below

them. (Miraculously, the pilot of

the other

airplane survived

as

well.)

They admitted

to

me that

they had

both been

distracted

from the job

at

hand-that being scanning for

traffic-because of unnecessary

conversation. They also confided

that they were on the wrong fre

quency-again because they were

chatting

instead of concentrating.

To sum

up, we have

to

be aware

that

the

closer we're flying to an air

port, the greater the risk involved.

Anytime we're flying within 10 miles

of an airport we have to be vigilant

and use all the tools

available

to

us to avoid a midair collision. It

means

we

have to

fly

proper and

approved

procedures.

I t means

we

have to

use

proper radio

pro

cedures.

I t

means

we

have to

ab

solutely minimize any

possible

distractions. And it

means

we

have

to

keep

our

eyes

open and

outside

of

the

cockpit, always

scanning

for

other

traffic.

lf we all

share in this

task, we

should all be able to keep flying

on

into

our

vintage years. Won't you

join me?

Doug Stewart is the

2004

National

CFI

of

the

Year

a Master CFI

and

a

DPE . He operates DSFI Inc.

(www.

dsflight.com)

based at the Columbia

County Airport

lBI).

. . . . . . .

http:///reader/full/dsflight.comhttp:///reader/full/dsflight.com


11/36

IMenasco

i

In Part

I

we left

AI Menasco

as

he

and

Art

Smith were preparing to

tour the Orient with three

automobiles and a trio of

airplanes

built by AI. Before

he

returns

to

Ai s narrative,

Chet

Wellman fills us in

about more

of Menasco s

remarkable career.

iation

neer.

••

Part

Reprinted from

Vintage irplane

May 1985

CHET

WELLM N

PHOTOS COURTESY

OF L

MENASCO

EXCEPT AS NOTED

A

Al said he

had

been

tinkering with re-pair

ing

rebuilding

and

building engines all his

ife because he was fas-

cinated by them at

an

early age. After

the

disastrous experience

with the

French Salmson

engines

as

men-

tioned in his speech

Al

determined

that he would build his own engines

stronger

and

better

than

any others.

Future events proved

that Al

would

succeed in this desire.

AI

said he did

not

invent inverted

engines. He painted out the Euro

peans had inverted several engines

and

the Army Air Corps under the

VINT GE

IRPL NE


12/36

command of Col. Dargue, was plan

ning a

South

American

good

will

tour in Loening

amphibians

and

had ordered the

Allison

Machine

Shop in Indianapolis, Indiana, to in

vert some Liberty engines. This was

done so

the

pilot could see

out

over

the engine

and also

to

get

proper

clearance for the props. Thus started

the Allison Engine Co., now known

as

Allison Gas Turbine Engine Man

ufacturers, a fine company still

10

cated in Indianapolis.

In 1929, AI s friend Jack Northrop,

who

was

experimenting with the

fly

ing wing concept, convinced Al of

the advantages of an in-line, inverted

engine.

Al

readily agreed

and

com

menced work

on

the design. The air

craft was almost finished,

and

Jack

wrote the Cirrus

and

de Havilland

companies in England, asking

if they

had considered an inverted design of

their engines. The replies were

both

negative, and

the

de Havilland reply

was

quite emphatic.

To expedite the aircraft tests,

Al

decided

to invert one of the Cir

rus engines until

he

could produce

one

of his

own

models

in

the

90

to 95-hp range required. The Cir

rus inversion served its purpose

to

expedite various

ground

tests

with

the Northrop Flying Wing until the

first Menasco

A-4

was finished

and

installed for flight tests. These were

to be held at Muroc Dry Lake, Cali

fornia, now Edwards

Air

Force

Base.

After the ground tests the plane was

returned to

the

new Northrop han

gar in Burbank.

At

this time Northrop

turned

its

full attention to the

production

of

the

Alpha. This

plane

was

an

im

proved air mail design that became

the leader in its field,

both as

a mail

carrier and

as

a passenger design. The

flying-wing development was

put

in

a corner of the hangar to be contin

ued when time permitted.

Al

produced five of

the

Menasco

A-4 engines that were

installed in

various aircraft before tooling up for

production of the 95-hp engine with

improvements that were also incor

porated in later engines such

as

the

1 M Y 2 5

six-cylinder B6 model.

The

A-4 engines were

named

Pi

rate,

and the

first

such engine is

now on display

in

the Dallas office

of Menasco

Inc.

The horsepower

then

was increased

to

95,

and the

first of

this model is on

display

in

the Smithsonian's National

Air

and

Space Museum. The success of this

engine necessitated moving from AI s

garage to a small factory on McKin

ley Avenue in

Los

Angeles.

His

work

force increased

to

30 people. From

the outset, Menasco Motors tested

its engines

at

125

percent

of rated

power for 100 hours.

Al also pioneered the high

pressure

supercharging of

aircraft

engines,

using manifold

pressures

double those of

other

engines. This

with the inverted designs, small fron

tal area, and large propellers are usu

ally cited

as the

reasons

behind

AI s

ability to get higher performance from

an engine with a small displacement.

Al purchased all new manufactur

ing tools and machines and in a short

while assembled the finest and most

complete machine shop west of Chi

cago. This equipment later played an

important part

in

the transition

of

the

company

from an engine man

ufacturer

to

the

world s

foremost

maker of landing

gears.

The

Me

nasco engine became

an

immediate

success, and

AI s

shop was soon self

contained, making

all

parts in-house,

including the gears. His only compe

tition in later years was Fairchild, and

Sherman Fairchild became a lifelong

friend. Menasco engines were never

intended

for racing, but because of

their ruggedness, reliability, power,

and inverted configuration, race pilots

found

them

perfect for race planes.

The fact that Al used ball bearings

instead of bronze bearings wherever

possible also gave his engines an edge

for racing.

He

learned this friction

saving trick from the German engine

designer Maybach.

Al

said he

had

always been a free

soul, under no restraints and able to

do what he wanted-like

a pirate.

So he

named his engines Pirate,

Swashbuckler, Freebooter, Cor

sair, and the

C6S-4

Buccaneer

(su

percharged), which

Al

said was his

finest engine.

Bill Boeing was

on the

Menasco

Board, and

Al

said he

carried the

company

during

the

Depression.

However, in 1937,

as

with most other

companies,

things were

not good

with Menasco. The company was still

making a

few-very

few-aircraf t en

gines and had taken to making small

countertop washing machines, jacks,

security valves, etc.

In 1938,

Al had

a

disagreement

with the

board

as to the

direction

the company would

take. He left

the

company,

but

remained it's larg

est shareholder. Shortly thereafter,

the

Air

Force asked the Menasco Co.

to build

landing gears, largely be

cause of its complete machine shop

and skilled workers. That contract

brought with i t unlimited

financ

ing. Because

of

the war,

business

exploded,

and

Menasco became

the

largest manufacturer of landing

gears-including gears for

the

space

shuttle-and remains so today. Next


13/36

fly

commercially, chances

you will take off and land

on Me-

nding gears.

Menasco engines enjoy

an

envi

as

racing engines. In 1933

as

many races in the United

as

all other engines combined.

e airplane was powered by a

C6S

engine. This model, the

was the result of

six

years

It was sold as

but the racers

to

heart. In 1937,

Me-

both the Greve

Race (550 cubic inches) and

on Trophy

Race,

the 200

While Menasco-powered planes

there

few

twin-engine designs, in

the American

the November

in

Vintage

Air-

The plane was designed by

who authored

a de

the July 1964

port Aviation Two C4S Me-

in

After leaving the company,

Al

not remain

idle for long, so

a Ford

auto dealership

City, California, with

success

until

World War II,

he

received a commission

as

major

in

the U.S. Government

Command.

Al

was stationed

in Detroit

for

of World War

II,

assigned to

and assembled

nation's major automakers

as

He

returned to

Angeles in 1945 and

opened

a

Al

remembers

industry and that

the

great movie stars were

his close personal friends.

Clark Gable visited

AI s

ranch on sev-

eral occasions.

In the middle 1950s,

Al

decided

to

get out of

the auto

business and

into the wine business.

So

he sold

his dealership on contract

and

pur

chased a ranch and vineyard in the

beautiful Napa Valley,

north

of San

Francisco.

This engaged

him

for

many years. He recently sold

the

vineyard, retaining

more than

an

acre

on

which his residence is lo

cated. He lives there today with his

lovely wife, Julie,

who

is a talented

and devoted golfer and has headed

several women's golf associations.

While

Menasco

powered planes were

a

single-engine

design, there

were

a

few

twin engine

designs

. . .

Julie took an active part in Ron

ald Reagan's campaign and election

as governor of California and

to

two terms

as

president of the United

States. She has received special com

mendation for her efforts. Julie and

Al make a good team, and she tends

to keep Al on an even track. Al is al

ways thinking of new projects to do

because, at heart,

he is

still the kid

who

skipped

school to

see

the

air

meets in

Los

Angeles.

AI,

at 88,

is as

energetic

as

a

man

of

SO

.

He

has a keen mind and

is

in

terested in everything.

He is

engaged

in creating a small museum in a

re-

modeled barn behind his and Julie's

cozy residence in St. Helena, Cali

fornia.

Al

has boxes of

photos

and

memorabilia of

the

old days. Many

photos are already on the walls, and

Al

has

an

interesting story for each

of them.

Al

is extremely proud of his part

in the evolution of the aircraft indus

try.

One notes when conversing with

him that his recall of each event is

immediate and accurate.

His friendship

with

aircraft

piO-

neers such

as

Donald Douglas,

Bill

Boeing, Lindbergh, Doolittle, Hai

zlip, Claude Ryan, and almost every

early aviation great is clearly re

membered. One feels

that

the events

he

describes so vividly could have

happened yesterday.

It has

been

more

than

70 years,

and Al has moved from bicycles and

models to motorcycles; from home

made race cars to stick and wire,

open pusher Wright

flyers;

and from

biplanes

to

the moon

and space

shutt

les . And, Albert

Sidney

Me

nasco, the pioneer who was there to

experience

it

and ac tually be a force

in the birth of it all, is still here to

tell it like it was.

Following is the conclusion of AI s

story as told in his own words in a

speech he made on January 29, 1969,

to the Menasco Manufacturing Com

pany's California Division Manage

ment

Club.-C.W.

It took me from Monday morn

ing until Wednesday to arrive in

San Francisco, closing out my shop

and

everything in Los Angeles, ar

riving in San Francisco

on

the

USS

Yale or Harvard, I forget which,

that cost 10 bucks from San Pedro

to San Francisco.

That started an association that

lasted a long time.

We

went to Japan

first-but I am getting ahead of my

story-we

started to build the cars

and planes in a shop in

San

Francisco.

We

never finished

them

because the

boat schedule caught up with

us,

and

I spent the last hectic days and nights

without sleep, making a catalog of all

the parts and materials and checking

them aboard ship.

We took off for

Japan

March 4,

1916, as scheduled

on the Chiyo

Maru-a big liner for

the

Pacific of

22,000 tons. Down

in

the engine

room they had

a

machine

shop,

including a

lathe,

drill press, and

shaper. I

did not

see

much of

the

Pacific, because for 17 days I was

down there machining

the unfin

ished parts.

We

had

differentials on

the

jack

shafts

with chain

drive

to

the rear

VINT

GE

IRPL NE


14/36

wheels, somewhat of a reverse from

the new front-wheel drives on

the

cars today. The steering gear, hubs,

and axles for the cars and parts for

the airplanes were all semi-finished

incidentally

we

had rack-and-pinion

steering that is

so highly touted to

day for sports cars. I did most of the

finish

machine

work

in the

engine

room of the Chiyo Maru. I wish you

could have seen the equipment. I can

still remember it all today.

When we arrived in Japan, every

thing was semi-finished.

We had

a

big team of six racing car drivers, in

cluding myself, and an organization

of 23 members assembled

in

Japan,

including advance men, photogra

phers, etc.

It took

six weeks

in

To

kyo before we had three cars and one

airplane ready for the first show

at

Aoyama Parade Grounds

at

Tokyo.

Two

hundred

twenty-five

thousand

people paid admission to

the

parade

grounds, and I am sure

that

most of

the 5 or 6 million other residents of

Tokyo at least saw Art Smith in the

sky. And from then on, he

was

taken

into the hearts of the Japanese.

He was

a

little

guy, 5

feet

6

i n c h e s ~ b o u t the stature of most

Japanese-and was always pleasant

and even tempered. He just clicked

with them-that was all. We made

a tour over most of Japan. I stayed

in Tokyo most of the time after we

were well organized

and built up

the second airplane and finished the

eight cars.

With

our

new Curtiss 90-hp

eight-cylinder engines and

other

improvements,

the

aircraft perfor

mance enabled Art to fly from fields

that were impossible before.

We

would arrive at a field with Chinese

laborers pulling five crates, which

contained

the

airplane. We assem

bled it ready to fly in an hour and a

half. From the time he landed, it

was

back in the crates in 45 minutes.

Our controls were the same as

today, except we used the wheel to

control

the

rudder,

with

ailerons

controlled with the feet.

We

used an

altimeter

the size of a pocket watch

strapped around the pilot's leg and a

2

M Y 2 5

tachometer alongside the seat. That

was the instrumentation. A ground

wire from the magneto to a switch

on

the wheel and a foot throttle

on

the

aileron bar were the engine controls.

The

ground

wire was disconnected

from the magneto in disassembly.

II

At

the

show

in

Sapporo,

the

ground wire

was

installed badly, caus

ing it to short

on

takeoff. Attempting

to avoid a landing among spectators,

Art crashed and was severely injured,

and

we

had to

ship home, washing

out the tour. Financially we came out

about even-steven by the time we

re

turned to San Francisco.

II Art's injuries,

including

his left

leg broken in three places, required

his being sent to a hospital

in

Chi

cago, while I stayed

in

San Francisco

and rebuilt the equipment.

We

re

turned to

Japan

six months later a

little bit smarter.

We did not take a big crew, just

Art

and

myself, his mother, and one

Japanese assistant. Japanese promot

ers

had contacted us meanwhile, and

money

was

deposited

in

the banks at

Yokohama before dates were assigned

by our Japanese manager in

Tokyo.

We

were booked ahead in Korea,

Manchuria, China, Formosa, and the

Philippines besides returning to all

the cities of Japan. There was not

an end in sight-Singapore and be

yond. Our lowest fee for the smaller

towns was 5,000 yen-$2,500 for

two flights-the larger cities were ne

gotiated upon gate receipts, and the

money was rolling in.

We

had

two sets of

equipment

which we could grasshopper over each

other-our Tokyo office lined them

up so

that we

averaged as

many

as

five different cities a week. When the

United States declared war, we decided

to come home and join the Army.

II Art took time out to

give

me some

very expensive flying lessons, can

celing about

five

dates to do so. We

laid over at Niigata on the west coast

of Japan. We used the home stretch

of a mile racetrack there for takeoffs

and landings and simulated landings

on a beach

nearby

until I had 180

minutes of instruction, which Art

deemed sufficient.

I

had

previously had acrobatic

lessons, being

one

of

the

very few

who learned to loop before the art of

taking off

and landing. We had our

last show in Shanghai, where

we had

a good field enabling me to solo, and

I

was

considered a full-fledge aviator.

We arrived back

in

San Francisco

in November,

both volunteering for

the

aviation branch of

the

Signal

Corps.

They

turned me down be

cause of my

bad ears-maybe

they

were right, because my hearing is

still bad-and sent Art back

to

the

new Langley

Field, Virginia, as a

test pilot.

I joined

the

Canadian Royal

Fly

ing Corps in Vancouver after being

turned down by the Navy.

At

Toronto

the

RFC was adopting United States

procedures, so again I was grounded,

and I finally wound up at Langley

Field also, where I was

put

in charge

of engine testing and instruction for

the Signal Corps as an aeronautical

engineer with

a civil service salary

of $1,800 a

year-that

was a great

thing-I

was

an engineer.

liMy

work embraced some correc

tions

to the Hispano-Suiza engines

then

being built as the choice for a

fighter program,

which led me to

joining the builders-the Wright

Martin Co.-who was

the

licensee

in the United States. Wright-Martin

later became the present Curtiss

Wright Co. who built the Wright

J-5

engine

that

Lindbergh flew the At

lantic with.

I

decided to come

home

after

the war-we had trained 18,000 pi

lots in Jennys, and you could buy a

surplus Jenny for $350. Pilots were

a

dime

a dozen, giving passenger

rides for $5 from cow pastures all

over the country.

I took a job as a machinist in a

shop on West Pico St. for 60 cents

an hour. Art stayed on, and the in

fant air mail was born. He flew the

mail. From the shop in Los Angeles,

I graduated to selling machine tools,

then started my own shop building

air compressors.

To be

continued.

. .


15/36


16/36

By one of those coincidences

in

life that

ultimately

seems

to have

been

destiny,

the

latest manifes

tation of Jim's obsession with aes

thetics

is

believe it

or

not,

an

early

Howard . that was built

in

1938

and is painted orange

That Howard,

a

285-hp Jacobs

L-5 powered DGA-9, NC18207,

serial number 206, emerged from

Benny Howard s small factory in

Chicago on February 28, 1938,

but

someone mistakenly stamped the

data plate 9-28-38 instead of 2-28-38.

William D. Owens of

Atlanta,

Georgia, became

the

first owner of

4 M Y 2 5

NC18207. The bill of sale and, pre

sumably, his

check

for $10,487.50

were signed on March I, 1938. The

base price for a DGA-9 was $9,800,

but Owens had ordered a

number

of

options

that

bumped up

the

price an

additional $687.50, including a 37

gallon aux

tank

to go with

the

stan

dard 60-gallon

main

tank, flares, a

steerable tail wheel, Pioneer com

pass, a Lear transmitter and receiver,

and a trailing antenna. Surprisingly,

wheelpants were not included.

18207

was

involved

in

an

acci

dent on September 29, 1939, that

smashed a good part of the leading

edge

of

the right

wing

all the way

back

to the

main spar

and bent the

Curtiss Reed

propeller

beyond re

pairable limits.

Southern

Airways

in Atlanta

made

the

wing repairs, replaced the

prop, and signed the Howard back

in

service on November 24, 1929.

On

December 14,1940, NC18207

was sold

to R.J. White of

Atlanta...

who

sold

it eight

months later, on

August 16, 1941, to James

R.

Har

http:///reader/full/10,487.50http:///reader/full/10,487.50


17/36

r ington,

doing

busi

ness as Harrington Air

Service of

Mansfield,

Ohio.

On

January 28,

1942,

the

plane's Cur

tiss

Reed prop

was

re

placed

by

a Hamilton

Standard

2B20-209

con

trollable propeller,

which

allowed an increase in

gross weight from 3,600

to 3,800 pounds.

On

May I, 1942, James

Harrington pu

t the

Howard in his company's

name,

possibly to reduce

his personal liability, be

cause

the airplane was

heavily mortgaged

for a

time.

That was probably

a good move, because it

was involved

in

another

Somehow,

though, im

says, I figured

that eventually

1

would

be able

to get my hands

on

the airplane

and correct that

front end.

acciden t on

January

5, 1943, re

quiring

a rebuild of the left wing

that

included

a splice in the main

spar. In November of 1943 the air

plane was signed back in service,

following a repair to the right wing,

including another spar splice, and

in April

of

1945,

the

propeller,

which

was

bent within

limits for

cold repairs, was refurbished by

the

Ford Motor Company at the Ford

Airport in Dearborn, Michigan.

E.C. Patterson Jr.

of

Chatta

nooga,

Tennessee

, bought 18207

on April 28, 1945,

and

sold it the

following

August 3

to

Ed Milam

of

Milam

Charter

Service

in

Lake

land, Florida. On February I, 1946,

the

Howard was sold to another

Lakeland company,

Florida Fresh

Air Express Inc.

Apparently, Florida Fresh flew

the

airplane

straight

to

Decatur,

Georgia (Atlanta), where Aircraft

Major

Overhaul Inc. converted it

from a DGA-9

to

a DGA-ll by re

moving

the

Jacobs L-5 and re

placing it with a firewall

forward

installation

of

a 450-hp Pratt &

Whitney R-985-AN-l-everything:

engine mount,

engine, all accesso

ries,

and

cowl. Many of the parts

were new DGA-15P (NH-l/GH-l)

spares sold as surplus by

the

Navy

in October of

1945.

Aircraft Ma

jor Overhaul had bought it all as

five tons of scrap aluminum

and

eight

tons

of scrap steel.

In addition to the P&W R-985,

the Howard had its entire electrical

system rewired

to

DGA-15P specs;

had the

later-type rudder pedals,

the 15P's heavy-duty brakes and

larger

wheelpants installed; and

the propeller blades were shortened

2.5 inches and re-indexed for more

pitch travel. The new empty weight

was 2,731

pounds, and

gross in

creased to 4,100 pounds. Max level

speed increased from 172

mph

true

to 200, but the redline was reduced

from 288

to

270 mph true. A

third

belly fuel

tank

holding 30 gallons

was added, which brought the total

capacity to 127 gallons. All of

this

was a testament to the structural

integrity of the DGA-8 through-12

airframes-the fact

that

they could

handle

this much additional power

and weight without modification.

Florida Fresh Air Express

sold

18207

to

U.S. Airlines Inc. of St.

Petersburg, Florida,

on

Septem

ber 26, 1946, for $11,000. The fol

lowing summer,

on

July

5, 1947,

the

Howard was sold to Dr Joseph

J. Locke of St. Petersburg-he im

mediately had

the

elevator torque

tube repaired and all the fabric on

the underside of the

airplane

re

placed. In February of 1948 he had

the

steerable tail wheel modified

to automatic full swivel with an

additional

lock-controllable

from

the cockpit.

Dr

Locke was

the

commanding

officer of the Pinellas

Squadron

of

the Civil Air Patrol in St. Pete, and

he either donated or sold the How

ard to the squadron

on

October 10,

1951. Then, a couple of years later,

he bought it back

and

sold it

the

same day,

June

3, 1953, to St. Pe

tersburg Aviation Services.

T B

and H.R. Holman of Vera

Beach, Florida,

bought

18207

on

October

6,

1954-with

the

total

time at 2,887.11

hours.

They had

the rudder and fin recovered with

Grade A cotton in February of 1957,

then sold

the

airplane

the

following

November 30 to Maurice

E

Brown

of Ft. Pierce, Florida, for $2,250.

Brown, in turn, sold

the

Howard

to

Robert

D

Bleifield of Coal City, Illi

nois,

on

October 13, 1963.

William H.

Wright

Jr.

of

Tulsa,

Oklahoma, bought

18207

on

June

29, 1970 .. only to have it severely

damaged when a tornado collapsed

the hangar in

which

it was stored.

The

fuselage

was

crushed

just

ahead

of

the tail

down

to about

eight to

10

inches in height, and

the left wing was

rotated

back and

down, breaking

the

main spar and

twisting

the

big strut attach fitting

on

the fuselage. Amazingly, how

ever, the

wing

struts themselves

were not damaged.

Robert L

Younkin of

Fayette

ville, Arkansas , Jim Younkin ' s

brother, Bob-bought the wreck

age from Bill Wright on August 30,

1971. Bob operated several aviation

businesses and thus had the facil

ities

and

resources to rebuild the

Howard. After

the

airframe repairs

were made and a freshly

majored

R-985 was installed, the airplane

was

recovered

in

Grade

A

cotton

and

finished

as

you

might

imag

ine

in

orange dope.

Bob made one trip in the How-

VINT GE IRPL NE 5

http:///reader/full/2,887.11http:///reader/full/2,887.11


18/36

ard,

to

Blakesburg

in 1979, and ended

up placing it in the

Arkansas Air

Mu

seum in Fayette

ville, which

he

and

brother Jim helped

found in the

late

1980s. Between

the

two

of them, they

had

enough antique

airplanes to virtually

fill the museum's re

stored

World War

II

hangar

from

day one.

On

De

cember

28, 1997, Bob

formally

signed over ownership of

the

Howard to the museum.

Jim Younkin had his

Mr.

Mulli

gan and Travel

Air

Mystery Ship in

the museum, so he was frequently

in and

out

of the facility. And

on

every occasion, his aesthetic sensi

bilities were offended by the big,

blunt DGA-15P cowling and large

wheelpants

on

what he considered

to be the otherwise sleek, narrow

fuselage, high-firewall NC18207 .

Jim was well versed

in

the

his

tory of the early production How

ards

and,

in particular,

how the

prototype DGA-11 came about ...

and how it looked. That airplane,

NC14871, serial

number

72, was

in his opinion the most beautiful of

all Howards .

. .

of all airplanes ..and

that's how he

thought

18207 should

be made to look.

When

Benny Howard conceived

of Mr. Mulligan

and had

Gordon

Is

rael engineer it, he was already look

ing ahead to a production version

...

and, indeed, it

soon

appeared in

the form of the DGA-7 Mr. Flani

gan. Unfortunately, however, that

airplane could

not

be certified

in

its

original configuration. The problem

was its relatively small vertical tail,

which was very similar to that of

Mr.

Mulligan. The feds had come

up

with a new rule

that

required

an

air

plane to recover, power and hands

off, from a six-turn spin in one-and

a-half

additional

turns,

and to

re

cover from a six-turn spin

entered

with

crossed controls

within an

ad

ditional six turns, again with power

6

M Y

2 5

and hands off. Flanigan would read

ily recover with normal anti-spin

control input,

but not hands

off un

til a much taller, high-aspect-ratio

vertical tail was installed. This was a

problem

encountered

by a

number

of

new

mid-1930s aircraft designs,

including the Rearwin Speedster,

Spartan Executive,

and

Harlow,

and

all ended up with significantly larger

vertical tails.

The reconfigured DGA-7 Mr.

Fla

nigan was certified on July 15, 1936

(ATC #612). Redesignated as a DGA

8, it was the first of a batch of about

a dozen airplanes produced by How

ard Aircraft

s

work force of some 25

30 employees. After Mr. Flanigan,

the

first

production

DGA-8 was

the

Wright 320 powered NC14871, serial

number 72 which would have a

further role

to

play

in

Howard Air

craft history, and a significant bear

ing

on

our story.

In

1937

How

ard Aircraft

certi

fied

the

DGA-9

and

DGA-12.

These

were DGA-8 air

frames powered

with

less expensive

285-

and 300-hp

Jacobs engines

economy mod

els the company

hoped

would in

crease sales. It was

not a successful venture, how

ever. All the Howards were very

expensive airplanes-the DGA

8s had a base price of $14,850

at

a time

when the

average

American physician

made

just

over

$4,000

per year-so the

reduction in

price

of the

DGA

9s

and

-12s meant little

to the

very few

who

could afford such

aircraft.

They

preferred

higher

performance,

which was why

Howard quickly got back to re

ality

and

plugged a P&W R-985

into the

nose of its airframes to

create the DGA-11 series.

The

prototype

DGA-11 was

actually

a

retrofit of

the first

DGA-8 (after Mr. Flanigan), the

aforementioned

NC14871, se

rial number 72,

which

was

owned

by the Morton Salt Company. Its 320

Wright

was replaced by a P&W R

985, but, uniquely, its tapered cowl

ing and small 7:50-by-1O wheelpants

were

retained-at

least long

enough

for the photo on page 251 in Jupt

ner's U.S. Civil Aircraft, Vol.

7,

to be

taken. Later

DGA-lls had blunter

cowls and 8:50-by-1O wheelpants.

It was that aircraft, the prototype

Documents

Vintage Airplane - May 2005