vintage airplane - aug 1997

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Aug 1997

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2/36

August 1997

Vol.

25

, No_ 8

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL STAFF

Publisher

Tom

Poberezny

EdHor- in-Ch ief

JackCax

EdHor

Henry

G .

Frautschy

Managing EdHor

GoldaCax

Art Di

rector

Mike

Drucks

Co

mputer

Graphic Spe cialists

Olivia

L.

Phillip

Jennifer Larsen

Mary Premeau

Associ

ate

Ed

i

to

r

Narm

Petersen

F

eature

W

rite

r

Dennis Parks

Staff Photographers

Jim

Koepnick

LeeAnn

Abrams

Ken

Lichtenberg

Advertising/EdHorial Assistant

Isabelle Wiske

EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC

DIVISION

,

INC

.

OFFICERS

President

VlC

e -

Presidenf

Espie "Butch"

Joyce

George

Daubner

P.O. Box 35584

2448 Lough Lone

Greensboro.

NC 27425

Hartford. WI 53027

910/393-0344

414/673-5885

Secretary

Treasurer

Steve Nessa

ChariesHorris

2009 Highland Ave.

7215 East 46th SI.

Albert Lea. MN 5f:I:X)7

Tulso. OK 74145

507/373-1674

918/622-MOO

DIRECTORS

John

8efendl

GeneMonis

7645

Echo

Point Rd.

115C Steve

Court

,

R.R.

2

Connon Falls, MN

5fI:XJ'I

Roanoke.

TX

76262

507/263-2414

817/491-9110

Phil

Coulson

RobefI

C. "Bob- Brauer

28415 Springbrook Dr.

9345 S.

Hoyne

Lawton

. M149065

Chicogo. IL 60620

616/624-6490

312/7792105

John

S.

CopeIood

55

Ookey Av .

Joe Dickey

28-3 Wdliamsburg CI.

Lawrenceburg,

IN

47025

Shrewsbury. MA 01545

812/5379354

508/842-7867

stanGomol

7724

Shady

Hill

Dr.

Date

A. Gustafson

1042

90th

Lone.

NE

Indianapolis.

IN

46278

Minneapolis. MN

55434

317/293-4430

612/784-1172

'Jeannie

HiI

1708

Boy Ooks

Dr

P.O. Box 328

Albert Lea. MN 5f:I:X)7

Robert

Ucktelg

Harvard, IL 60033

507/373-2922

815/943-7205

Dean RIchardson

RobefI D.

"Bob

-

Lumley

6701

Colony Dr

.

1265 South 124thSt.

Madison, WI 53717

Brookfield

WI

53005

Page

13

Page

14

I Straight & Levell

Espie "Butch" Joyce

lC News

4 AeroMail

5

ACNolunt

eerslTrish Dorlac

8 From The Arch ives

13 Altitude Record A

ttempt IDon

Lee

14 Sentimental Jouroey/Nonn Petersen

18

Th

e Al

aska

Robi

n!

H.G. Frautschy

24 Mystery PlanelH.G. Frautschy

26 Pass I t To Buck!

E.E. "Buck" Hilbert

Page

18

27 Welcome New

Members

29 Calendar

30 Vintage Trader!

Membership Information

FRONT

COVER

. . .

Ed

Gelvin

and

his

son Stanley took

a

vacation

in

the lower

48 from

their

Central.

Alaska home in Ed

' s newly

restored"Alaska Robin

. - a Curtiss

Robin Ed

restored

from a

wreck he

was

able

to

recover

from

the Yukon

river valley . EAA

~ ~ p

~ ~ = = =

photo

by Jim Koepnick. shat

with a

Canon

EOS-ln

equipped with an 80 200

mm

lens. l/tIJ sec .

@

f

9

on 100

ASA

slide

E-6

slide film

.

BACK COVER Winner of 0 Par Excellence

award

in the 1997 EAA Sport Aviation


3/36

STR IGHT & LEVEL

by Espie Butch Joyce

This

August

issue of VINTAGE

AIRPLANE is printed so that it can

be given away to a new

or

renewing

member at

the

EAA

Oshkosh

Convention

. Therefore, the Conven

tion will be underway or history when

most

of

you will be reading this issue.

There are

a

great number

of

aviation events that take place around

the country each year. These events

take on a great variety

of

definitions .

You have local

events, statewide

events, regional events, national events

and international events. The scope

of

each event f1y-in is generally left to

the sponsoring party, i.e., chapter or

local organization. There has been an

effort to standardize the definition, but

this effort has fallen short

of

its goal.

The reason for this shortfall

is

that

in

regional

event that

it is , it

simply

points out that

a

successful fly-in

requires organization and hard work to

make

it

happen.

As you

move around the USA, each

region has its own landscape, weather

and aircraft. This is a variable that

makes

each

fly-in

have

its own

personality. One item that we can

control throughout all of these different

fly-ins is the judging

of

aircraft.

I have seen over the last 20 years

how the judging system has been the

force that has elevated the quality

of

restorations to an all-time high. I have

had some tell me that we should not be

judging, etc., but at Oshkosh this

is

an

expected

activity.

Often

it

is

responsible

for

a number of award

winners being brought to Oshkosh that

program, and also for the person who

is

restoring an aircraft in hopes that

it

might win an award someday.

This year, as always, we will have

some new and interesting Antiques,

Classics and Contemporary airplanes,

and we will be reporting to you about

these aircraft in the future issues

of

VINTAGE for your enjoyment. By

being

a

member of

the EAA

Antique/Classic Division, you are able

to enjoy the VINTAGE AIRPLANE

magazine

2

months each year. This

is

the only magazine totally devoted to

information

of

interest

about the

Antique,

Classic

and

Contemporary

category

of

aircraft that is published

each month on a regular basis.

I

would

really

like

to

thank

everyone for their support

of

our

o


4/36

A /C NEWS

compiled by H.G. Frautschy

n the order of finish :

~ / 1 ~ f ?

1.

Ro

scoe Turne

r.

L

TR-1

"Meteor",

#29

2. Earle O

rt

man. Marcoux

Bromberg R-3,

#3

3. Steve

Wittm

an. "Bonzo",

#2

4.

Lee Wade. Military HNB-, #41.

ABOUT THAT BACK COVER

PAINTING .

The top award winning painting in the

1997

Sport Aviation Art Competition

is

"Photo Op., 1938" an oil painting by Nixon

Galloway, ASAA. Nixon's

artwork

was

chosen as the winner

of

a Par Excellence rib

bon.

I depicts the great Roscoe Turner with

his Laird-Turner

Meteor

at the National

Air Racing Championships at Cleveland just

prior to the Thompson Trophy race in 1938.

e

won this race and set a new closed course

world speed record

in

283.43 mph. He won

it again the next year and together with his

win in 1934, became the only person to win

the Thompson Trophy three times.

It

is in

deed a photo opportunity, for as

he

poses for

photographers (you can see their shadows

in

5. Joe

Mackey. Wedell-Turner, #25.

6.

Joe

Jacobson. Rider

R-6

"8-Ball",

#18

7. Art

Chester. "Goon",

#5.

8. Harry Crosby

. Crosby CR-4, #52

Artist Fellow member and past president

of

the American Society of Aviation Artists.

When not working in his studio, he can often

be found on the ski slopes, or racing his sail

boat

in

Southern California waters.

MORE 80 OCTANE AIRPORTS

Our thanks to members who have sent in

these reports regarding the availability

of

80

octane fuel. We'd suggest calling ahead to

confmn before heading off

on

a cross-country.

CALIFORNIA

Madera (MAE):

Barber Aviation (209-675-0183)

24-br self-service pump island.

Corona (AJO, formerly L66)

Corona Airport Fuel

Pump island (not yet self-service).

ZLiN TYPE

CLUB

David Sutton, 8 Knollwood Rd., Hack

ettstown, NJ 07840, 908/813-3164 runs the

Zlin Association. They provide owner net

working for Zlin owners and enthusiasts and

maintain close factory ties

in

the Czech Re

public.

THE MOONEY X

A few

weeks

ago I

received

an E-mail

from an EAA member who was looking for

information on the one and only Mooney X,

a one of a kind Mooney apparently built in

the late 1940's . If anyone has information

regarding the airplane, you can E-mail the

member

at gjenny

I@

ix.netcom.com, or

write us here at EAA HQ. We have no in

formation

on

the Mooney X here at EAA.

WIRE ENDS

For almost

an

entire

century, the

name

Mc Whyte Co. of Kenosha, WI meant brace

wires. If you were building an airplane

or

creating a restoration, one

of

the first things

you

had

to

do was send

in

your order

for

brace wires. The lead time for those highly

stressed, finely manufactured items was

measured in weeks,

then

months

and at

times it was measured

in in

years. To many

restorers and builders, it appeared in recent

times that McWhyte was not really inter

ested in making wires, at

least

when you

looked at how long it could be before an or

der was filled.

McWhyte has decided to cease manufac

turing aircraft wires, leaving U.S. consumers

with no domestic manufacturer to fill their

needs. Fortunately, there is a manufacturer

interested

in

supply aircraft wires,

and in

fact ,

they

have been

doing

so

even longer

than McWhyte . Brunton Shaw Limited of

Scotland has agreed to purchase the assets

used in the manufacture

of

aircraft wires at

Mc Whyte.

The

irony

of

the transaction is

that Bruntons originally sold this exact same

equipment

to McWhyte back after the turn

of

the century so McWhyte could enter into

supplying aircraft wires to the then new air

craft industry.

Bruntons Aero Products division, located

in Musselburgh, Scotland, will take posses

sion

of

the former McWhyte equipment and
http:///reader/full/[email protected]:///reader/full/[email protected]:///reader/full/[email protected]:///reader/full/[email protected]:///reader/full/[email protected]


5/36

NEW AVIATION STAMPS ISSUED BY POST OFFICE

The U.S. Postal Service is honoring a wide variety

of

historical aircraft

with their

new

.32 stamps. They

went

on sale

July

21 , 1997.

"With these stamps, the Postal Service

for

the

first time

pays

tribute to

the

first

50 years

of American aviation history with a full range of inspiring examples of human ingenuity

and know-how," said Postmaster General Marvin Runyon.

The sheet of 20 stamps was designed by Phil Jordan of Falls Church, VA , and illustrated

by

aviation

artist

William Phillips. The stamps are sold on ly in sheets

of

20, and the

list

of

aircraft depicted are:

In the header, on the left is a Curtiss Model D Pusher, and on the right, an F-86 Sabre.

From left

to

right, starting

at the top

,

we

have:

P-51 D Mustang, Wright Model B, Piper

J-3

Cub, Lockheed Vega, Northrop Alpha,

Mart

in

B-10, Chance-Vought F4U Corsair, Boeing B-47

Stratojet

, Gee-Bee Super

Sportster

,

Beechcraft

C17L

Staggerwing ,

Boeing B-17 Flying Fort

r

ess

,

Boeing Stearman

,

Lockheed Constellation, Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Boeing Peashooter, Ford Tri-Motor,

Douglas DC-3, Boeing 314 Clipper, Curt iss

IN-4

Jenny and the Grumman

F4F

Wildcat.

You can order first day

of

issue postmarks by mail

or

by phone. Call1-8oo/STAMP24,

or

you can affix the stamps to the envelopes

of

your choice, address the envelopes (to

yourself

or

others) and place

them

in an larger envelope addressed to:

CLASSIC AMERICAN AIRCRAFT STAMPS

POSTMASTER

1111 EAST 5TH ST

DAYTON OH 45401-9991

There is no charge

for this

service,

but

all requests

for

this

first

day issue

postmark must

be postmarked on

the

larger envelope by

August 19, 1997.

BUGATTI100

After nearly six months of effort by EAA staffer Bruce Jovaag, the Bugatti

100

speed ship has been completed for static display and hoisted into

position in

the

Fergus plaza of

the

EAA Air Adventure Museum. Donated

to

the

EAA Foundation

by

Dr. Peter Williamson of Lyme, NH it had been

partially restored

by

Les and Don Lefferts of Ridgefield, CT. The futuristic

look

ing racer, designed for an attempt

on the world

speed

record

, never

flew

in 1940, as

the

invading German

military

put an end to

the

project

only

weeks

before it

was

to fly.

A

complete

clean

up of the structure and the many fittings

,

was done by

by Bruce

,

and each of the various tubes

,

linkages

,

etc

.

were

reinstalled.

The machine work originally done by the machinists in France is quite

extraordinary, and

is something

to

behold.

In the larger photo, Bruce (far left) Bauken

Noack

(center) and Museum

Curator John Gaertner hoist

the

Bugatti to a spectacular viewing location

in

the

Fergus Plaza. In

the

inset cockpit shot,

you can

see the pair of

Jaeger

tachometer

replicas made

by

Bauken, and

some

of

the instruments that

still

remained

with the

airframe

when the aircraft

was received

by

EAA. Unfortunately,

many

of the instruments were

missing.

Most interesting is the

square hole

near the

center of the

panel. The

only photo

we have

of the cockp

it area as it was in 1940

does not show the

panel clearly

enough to make out the

individual

instruments

.

On the far left are the

throttle

controls for the 4.7 l iter Bugatti engines, and one of

two triple pressure gauges delineated in atmospheres. The

other

is located on the

lower left corner

of

the

panel.

Just

above

that

and also

to

the right

are

the landing

gear annunciator lights. One

the far right

is an another gauge, and

the instrument

in

the center remains a bit of a mystery. At

the

top are a

pair

of blue lights, and at bot

tom are a pair

of

red lights, with the

word

ROUES

at the

top, and

the letter

G on

the

left

and D on the

right

,

with

pointers running a range between

the

two lights.

Forward of

the

panel you can see one

of the

two

air tanks

used to

actuate the

Ratier

propellers. The

control stick

is

poking up

and

pointing at the pressure instrument

just

forward of the

throttle levers.


6/36

Gentlemen:

In

yo

ur

Ap

ril issue, page 25, the picture

of

the Curtis BT on a ramp with an arched

bridge in the background. This pic ture was

taken from the Norfolk Naval Air Station.

The bridge and breakwater were erected for

the 1907 Jamestown Exhibition. There are

other pictures of the bridge from the ocean

side with some seaplanes on the beach and

rows of white tents behind.

I

ta

lked today with Mr. Joe Judge at

th

e

Nava

l

Museum in

Norfo

lk and he sa id

there were pictures at the museum not on

display which could be seen by visitors if

requested.

The area where the plane was beached

VINT GE

AeroMail

was later fill ed in and is now par t of th e

present Naval Air Station. A powerful hur

ricane in the 193 0s washed up a long sand

spit whi ch formed the present Willoughby

Bay, protecting the pictured area of the Air

Station from h

eavy

seas. This sheltered

area became a seaplane base during and af

te r WW II .

I enjoy your publi cation. Keep up the

good work.

Sincerely yours,

Donald D Watt

EAA 433990, AlC 20720

Hampton, VA

Dear Frautschy,

Please excuse this paper, it 's not very

formal.

The reason I m writing is to try to

fmd out what this tail wheel fits . It' s the

craziest thing

I ve

seen in years, but is

really well made. The casting is superb,

and the welding is first-rate.

It ' s hard to imagine a factory would

have an exotic affair such as this for a

tail wheel.

the photo is publishable, maybe

our membership can help on the origin.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Joe Locasto

447 State St

San Mateo, CA 94401-1605

Dimens ions: Length , 10 inches;

Width

of

Fork

, 3 1/8

inches (inside)

;

Width, Steering Lugs, 6 inches; Width

of Casting, 2 1/8 Inches (Front) and I

7/8 inches (Rear); Rubber Biscuits (3), 2

inches diameter,

2

inches thick.


7/36

MEET

THE DIVISION

OFFICERS

DIRECTORS

AND

ADVISORS

One of the major reasons some members serve the organization as Officers Directors and Advisors is

to

serve their

fellow

enthusiasts lending their personal skills to

the

operation of

the

Division. Recognizing

members and

the

ir individual achievements is one of

the

many fun

tasks

they get to do

during the

annual


8/36


9/36

During the 25th anniversary celebration of the Division in 1996,

past officers and Directors were inv ited to share their experi-

ences. Past president AI Kelch (with microphone) speaks

while (from left to right) Gene Ruder, Don Straughn Bill

Hazelton, and Kelly and Edna Viets listen and reminisce.

quarterly board meetings held

in

Oshkosh. Many live close enough

to Oshkosh that they are there practically every week end to help

with building or whatever else needs doing throughout the year. I

admire this group

of

individuals for their willingness to share their

experience with the rest

of

us, their desire to help preserve our avi

a-

tion heritage, and their actions as volunteers which sets

an

incredi

bl

e

example for the rest

of

us to fo

ll

ow

This year when you see a board

mem e

r, be

sure

to let th

em

know that their work is appreciated Like the rest

of

us volunteer

s,

your words

of

praise and encouragement are the only pay they re-

ceive hey certa inly deserve it

Butch Joyce (right) confers with Advisor Steve Krog (left) and

Director Robert Dobbie Lickteig (center). Steve and Roger


10/36

Four

times

a year,

the Directors

travel

at

their own expense to Oshkosh for

a

Board meeting

,

where

Division

business is con ducted

and

policy is

set.

Decisions regarding

Convention

activities,

magazine content and

expenses

and all of the other

aspects

of running the Division

for

the benefit of the

members are discussed.

Directors

Stan Gomoll

and Dale

Gustafson

work preparing

the

trim

on one of

the new

information booth

that

will be stationed on

each side of the

new

Antique/Classic arch.


11/36

E ANTIQUE CLASSIC

IVISION

BOARD OF

DIRECTORSOFFICERS

PRESIDENT . . Espie "Butch" Joyce

VICE-PRESIDENT George Daubner

SECR

ET

ARY. . . .steve Nesse

TREASURER

. .Charles Harris

DIRECTORS

John Berendt

Gene Morris

Phil Cou lson

Robert " Bob" Brauer

Joe Dickey

Jack Copeland

Dale Gustafson

Stan Gomoll

Robert

Li

ckteig

Jeannie

Hill

Dean Richardson

Robert "Bob" Lumley

S.H. "Wes" Schmid

Geoff Robison

George York

DIRECTORS EMERITUS

Gene Chase

E E "Buck"

Hilb

ert

ADVISORS

Steve Krog

Ro ger

Gomoll

David Bennett

You can often find a work party happening during the spring and

summer weekends here in Oshkosh. After the spring Board of

Director's

meeting, this group headed

over the the

Convention site

to work

on the

two new information

booths.

They are: Janet and

David

Bennett

(David is

our

newest

AlC Advisor) Directors

Stan

Gomoll,

Bob Lumley, Bob Brauer,

Jack Copeland and Dale

Gustafson.


12/36

y

H G Frautschy

From the collection of Clyde C. Wellons, Fayetteville, NC we have these two shots

of a Sikorsky S-388 Amphibion. As listed in

Juptner s

U.S. Civil Aircraft, it is S N

114-29. Equipped

with

a pair

of Pratt

Whitney 425

hp

Wasp engines,

it could e

configured as a

transport with

10 seats,

or with

as few

as four to

six seats in an

executive version. We can t tell you who the older couple is, nor the younger

fellows standing on the right. How do you like the

uniforms

of the men on the

left?

NC-159H was originally delivered with an NR registration while it served as a

Sikorsky test aircraft.

It

was later changed

to

an NC number while it was still

being used by Sikorsky, presumably

to

get

it

ready

for

sale

to

a private

owner

who

could very well be

this

couple.


13/36

The S V A . Floatplane Fighter

Long a favorite

of

modelers, the S.V.A. 5 (Ansaldo)

fighter is one

of the

prettiest looking

fighters of

WW

I

S.V.

A

stood

for

Savioia Verduzio

Ansaldo-

Verduzio

was the designer

of

the land

based

fighter, built in Genoa and Turin, Italy. This photo,

from

the December 1919 issue of Flying

shows

one

of

the S.V. A 5's after

it

had been fitted with a pair

of

wood floats

at the

Ansaldo plant

at

Spezia.

Powered by a Fiat motor, some 50 of the fighters

were equipped

with

floats during the First World

War. Later,

they were

converted back to land

planes. The

normal

compliment of

twin Vickers

machine guns was reduced

to

one

gun

to

offset

the additional weight

of

the floats.

When cars were automobiles and airships were, well,

AIRSHIPS, we have this photo of a Packard convertible

parked in front of the Graf Zeppelin during the great

dirigible 's

global flight

of 1929. The stopover in Los

Angeles, CA on August 26 nearly proved disastrous for

the Graf - a temperature inversion in the skies above

Mines Field meant that hydrogen had to be valved off in

order for the

huge airship

to

descend

to the stub mast

'erected by the U.S Navy. That action caused the Graf

Zeppelin to be so heavy it could not lift itself

from

the

airfield. Finally,

after the crew

, fuel and

water

ballast

had been pared to the minimum, as well as provisions

and cargo,

the

Graf was deemed to be 400 Ibs buoyant.

Even with the weight removed, the takeoff of the great

airship

was

difficult,

with

the giant hurtling at 60 mph

toward the

high

tension electr ic wires along the

perimeter of

the airfield. Only

at

the last instant, as Dr.

Hugo Eckener masterfully commanded the ship, did he

clear the wires by first forcing the tail down into ground

contact, which also raised the nose, and then as the

wires

p s ~ e d

below

the ship, the opposite elevator

command was given, forcing the tail up to clear the

wires. Only

then after

clearing the wires,

could

the rear

most engine be

started

and

was

the

airship able to

climb

into the

warmer air

mass above where

it

could

gain lift as the hydrogen warmed. We don t have any

identification of the Navy personnel pictured.


14/36

HOW RD

MAYES

U E

RE ORD

TTEMPT

by Don Lee

Above) September 6,1936, Huntington, West Virginia - Howard

G

Mayes, Sr.

congratulates

his son

Howard

Jr.

after setting

a

P

new

F I Class 1 altitude record of 19,997 ft.

There weren't many airports around

when Howard Mayes, Jr. started flying . In

1931 his father, Howard Mayes, Sr., leased

the airport at Chesapeake, Ohio, just across

the Ohio river from Huntington, West Vir

ginia.

Prior to the Mayes era, Embry Riddle

ran it but went on to

greater

t

hin

gs.

Howard, Sr. flew Jennys in WW I and then

managed Wertz Field near Charleston, WV

until he moved to Chesapeake. Howard, Jr.

learned to fly at the tender age of 12, and


15/36

(Below) The stick grip and

Scott brake

ped

als are

not

original

but

everything else is

Now

on display at EAA's Pioneer Airport, the single-place C-2N

is often mistaken for a

C-3.

The C-2N was the best of both

worlds - for $1545, you got

the lightweight

C-2 airframe mar

ried

to

the higher

horsepower Aeronca

E-113

engine

(36 vs 26

hpj. Out of nearly 200

C-2 s

built,

only four

of

the

C-2N

models

were ever constructed. NC13089 left the factory as

a

float

plane

equipped

with Warner aluminum floats

and

established

itself

as

a

record breaker, flown by

Ben

King, Howard Mayes

and Irene Crum,

among

others.

NC13089

was donated

to

the

EAA by

John

H.

McGeary,

Jr. December 28,1976.

After

its

restoration

was

completed, it

was

placed on display in

the

EAA

Air Museum

in Hales Corners,

and

then it was

hung above

the

Fergus Plaza

in

the new EAA Aviation

Center. Later, it

was

transferred

to

Pioneer

Airport, where it can

be

viewed

with the

many

other historic airplanes on display.

(Right) This shot of

the

C-2N at Hales Corners

was taken

by then

museum director

Gene Chase,

not

long

after its restoration was completed.

"Now we needed a barograph to record

the altitude and a qualified observer, who

happened

to be

Gordon Chain, who lived

in

Huntington.

We got the barograph and

found a sensitive altimeter which were very

expensive instruments back in those days.

I hung the altimeter up over the strut where

I could look up and see it

Next, we needed oxygen and did not

want

to

carry a standard heavy oxygen tank

with

me

. We had a small, lightweight tank

that was a water and oil separator from an air

compressor. To increase the pressure capa

bility, we wound safety wire around it and

same thing happened. I stuck the hose in

my mouth and turned it on and there was

not much oxygen there, but

it

helped a bit.

"When I got up to 18,000, I had the hose

in my mouth and the valve wide open and

was sucking on it Nothing was happening,

but I

stayed

with it and got up to

what

I

thought was 20,300 feet. I remember that I

could not quite coordinate things. The al

timeter was overhead and I leaned my head

back like this and it

stayed

there. Truth

fully, that

is

the last I remember until I was

back to 12,000 feet. At 12 ,000 I wondered

what

I was

doing

there . Now it was too

So, Junior made an altitude record attempt.

"Irene Crum made an altitude record for

women in the same plane," he said. She

learned to fly at Lawrence County Airpark

which was known

as

Mayes Field then .

She went on to be a WASP and ferried mil

itary planes during WW

II

."

The young Mr. Mayes was pictured on

the front page

of

the local paper, the Herald

Dispatch . Joining him in the photo was

Irene, who had set her record at Gallipolis,

OH on August 23, 1936. Crurn flew the C

2N to an altitude

of 19

,425.814 ft. Irene

and Howard had to share the headlines dur


16/36

Sto

ry

and Photos

by

Norm Peter

se

n

It

is really

surprising

the

number

of

birds that are singing at 5:30 in the morn

ing

at a

quiet Wisconsin

grass landi ng

strip. My wife had graciously driven me

and a large load of stuff' to "Earl 's Inter

national" north

of

Oshkosh, WI, where my

1946 J-3 Cub, NIOXS, waited patiently .

We, my Cub and I were heading out to

attend the 12th Annual Sentimental Jour

ney to Lock Haven, P A, the place where

over 17,000 Cubs were built.

It

was to be

the very first visit to Lock Haven for me

and also the first ever for my Cub - it was

built on

November 21,

1946, in

Ponca

City, OK. The original factory N num

ber was N3675K, SIN 22366, which has

since been changed to N IOXS - which

stands for "One Old Ex Sprayer" in defer

ence

to its

first

twenty years as a crop

sprayer

in

Parkston, SD, when it was flown

by veteran EAAer Cliff Adkins (EAA 717

lC 2241 .

Putting most of my camping gear in the

baggage compartment, I hoisted my

(heavy) duffel bag into the reat seat and

fastened it down with the seat bel

t.

Con

nt l

1997

From the

air the

entire Lock

Haven Airport

is

visible

with

the Susquehanna River

in

the

background

. The

former Piper Aircraft fac

tory

can

be seen on the lef t side of the

photo

with the town of Lock

Haven

behind

it. Several

aircraft

are waiting for takeoff

from

the parallel grass strip with one jus t

starting

a

takeoff

run. A

larger

twin-engine

aircraft readies for takeoff

on

the main Run

way 9.

The

Sentimental Journey grounds

are on

the

near side

surrounded

by trees

and campers.

Bill Schaefer Jr. lifts NC1402N off the

grass runway after a very short

run

.

The Wh

i

taker Tandem Gear is pulled

slightly nose-up by bungee cords,

much like a pair

of skis. Landings

are

much akin

to

landing

in

a

field

of

marshmollows

Watching the

sun rise over

Lock

Haven

the Schaefer

Cub NC1402N SIN 22926

sits

proudly on the Whitaker

Tandem Gear ready to

go for

a

demonstration

flight.


17/36

Winner

of

the

Grand Cham

pion Awafd at

Sentimental

Journey

was this beautiful

1946 J-3 Cu b ,

NC98868,

S N 19127, f lown in by

Steve Logue, Mon

toursville, PA. Displayed

as

an

example

of Randolph

Products, the Cub was

bril

l iantly

restored by

Dave

Liebegott

and

crew

in his

Classic Magic Aviation

at

Duncansville, PA.

Winner of

the

Reserve

Grand

Champion Award was

this

1936 Piper

J-2

Cub, NC16667,

SIN 682,

f lown

in

by Bob

Stewart

of Erie

, PA. The

workmanship on this restora

tion

is

quite

remarkable and a

joy to

behold.


18/36

This

Kinner-powered

Fleet 16, NC343SF,

S N

343,

was flown in from

Wilmington,

DE, for

the

fly-in.

A

considerable num ber

of

lucky

people received rides

in

the Fleet during the

event.

This model

uses

the

160

hp

Kinner

R-56

five-cylinder

engine.

One of

the treats

of

the fly-in was meeting

people

like Robert

Peterson

of

Lock

Haven,

former Piper employee, who not

only

worked

for

years

at

Piper,

but

also

flew

the

company supplied

Cubs during

evenings

and

weekends

for

the standard price of

$1.12

per hour

- wet

This temporary control tower helps

to

advise

pilots

on field

information, traffic

and

conditions. The skeleton hangingby a

rope

had a sign

below it that

read,

This pi

lot

forgot to tie down

his airplane " The

point was

well

taken

and

quite

graphic


19/36

(Above)

A real surprise was this 1930

Bellanca

CH-400

Skyrocket, NC779W,

SIN 617, flown

in

by its restorer,

Richard Schriebmaier, of Sugarloaf, PA. A

former

Alaskan

bush

plane

with

Pollock

Flying Service,

the big six-place

Bellanca was used on wheels, skis and floats. Richard

spent over

8,000 hours in

the total restoration with the

big

bird

making i ts

f irst fl ight in 1994

after a

rest of

37

years This is

the only

CH-400

known to

be flying.

(Left)

Instrument panel

photo

of

Richard Schriebmaier's

beautiful

Bellanca CH-400. Note the control

stick

instead

of a control wheel.


20/36


21/36

1 ,AI k,n

[mnli h

long

h n

, pi ,

who

moo

d

women had to be self-sustaining. Being able to take care of your

own and maybe help a fellow Alaskan along the way have been a

part of

life in

the North for

as

long

as

anyone

can

remember.

Among the many who can do just that, one man often stands out.

Ed Gelvin (EAA 204406) of Central, Alaska has been known as a

man who could mine gold, saw wood, build a sled or a house, and

hunt and trap. In a land where some

just

do what they have to to

get something to work, Ed Gelvin

is

thought

of

as one

of

the most

capable people others have ever met. Author John McPhee quoted

one of Ed's neighbors as saying, " Every move he made he was do

ing something. There were no dead moves."

Just doing it isn' t enough for Ed.

If

you're going to bother to do

a task, you might as well do it properly That ' s a great motto to

live by anywhere and it takes skill and know-how to make it work.

But when he saw the Robin, even he wasn't sure it would be possi

ble to

restore and fly

it

The Robin arrived in Alaska

in

1939, spending the next

21

years

ferrying men and supplies around the wilderness. Back in 1950,

Ed

Gelvin, of Central, Alaska

The triangular window in the forward cabin of the Curti

ss

Robin

has long been one of its most identifiable features. The landing

gear had to be completely built, and a set of Cessna 310 wheels

and brakes, couple with a pair of De aviland Canada) Beaver

tires m ke it possible to land the Robin wherever

Ed

Gelvin

would choose.


22/36

Wide stance landing gear, good ground clearance, large, boxy

fuselage

- Hmm, I'll

bet this

would make a good bush plane .

(Above) The

cockpit of the

Alaska Robin had its

in

strumentation

held

to

a

minimum, with

a

transpon

der, radio and a portable GPS used

to handle to

modern duties of

communicat

ion. The lever on

the

lower

left is for

the

effective elevator trim . You can

see

the built

in

forward viewing windows

that

allow

the

pilot to see

past the nose of either

a

air-cooled

radial

or water-cooled

OX-5 engine.

(Right) A Scott tail wheel

and a brand-new shock

absorber are mounted

on the tail of the

Robin

for unimproved strips.

The sharp looking Cur

tiss Robin lettering and

artwork

were

painted by

Ed's

daughter

Carol.

(Left) The fuel tanks

each

have

a

substan

t ial

sump to ensure

consistent fuel flow.

Howard Fowler landed the Robin on the tundra north of the Yukon Also done to make the airplane a capable machine was the in


23/36

River, about 300 miles east

of

Fairbanks. He walked away from

the forced landing to fly

another

day.

Howard

has long since

passed away, but the indications were that the airplane was under

control as Howard landed on the soft surface. The landing gear

was tom off, and the rusting, rotting hulk that remained after sit

ting in the open until

1991

hardly looked like a prospective restora

tion project. As rusty as the fuselage was, I m not sure even a

scrap dealer would have been interested.

Ed Gelvin had known about the Robin for years, finding out

about it 10

years

after

he came to Alaska from the lower 48 in

1949. Almost as long were the tales

of

others who planned on

pulling the wreck out of the back country and restoring it. A fel

low from Texas even managed to obtain the paperwork for the

Robin from Fowler's widow, but he didn' t plan on going to Alaska

to

retrieve the Robin on the tundra.

After

semi -retiring back in the early

90s,

Ed was tooling

around the Yukon valley and decided to take a look at the wrecked

Robin. As bad as

it

was,

it

still intriqued the capable mechanic. In

his mind

he

formulated a plan

to

fly the Robin out, piece by piece,

but before he did that, he researched the FAA records to find out

if

the airplane was currently owned by someone. The fellow in

Texas still owned the paperwork, which Ed bought from him.

Now that he owned the pieces and paperwork for a Curtiss Robin,

the hard work began.

Ed Gelvin uses airplanes like many in Alaska, as a means to ac

complish whatever ends need to be met. While not a FAA certi

fied mechanic, his abilities far outshine those

of

most A&P school

graduates. A master welder and sheet metal man, Ed

is

known

in

Alaska as the best of the best.

He s

pretty ingenious, too . To get

the Robin off the Tundra, he flew in with his Bushmaster on skis.

A Bushmaster?

It s

a Piper PA-22 extensively modified to the

point it carries an Experimental airworthiness certificate . The

fuselage is lengthened, and a total of six feet are added to the

wingspan

.

One

of Alaska s

favorite engines,

the 180 hp Ly

coming, is installed inside the cowl. Ed collected parts and put

them inside the cabin, and those too long to fit inside, such as the

wing spars, were strapped onto the struts and hauled home, pickup

truck style. The fuselage was also one of the parts that

wouldn t

fit, so Ed solved that problem by cutting the fuselage lengthwise

and dragging it home one hal f at a time.

t

took four flights to get

all the parts home.

Flying and building airplanes is

a Gelvin family tradition. Ed s

daughter, Carol, married Scott Reymiller, an A&P with an AI.

Scott's a talented mechanic in his own right, and he d get to put

many of his acquired skills to work as he helped his father-in-law

restore the Robin, and handle the necessary

paperwork

for the

Robin's restoration.

About two-thirds

of

the steel tubing in the fuselage had rusted

to the point of being unusable, and of course, all of the wood in the

wings and fuselage had long since given up any semblance of air

worthiness . Still, between the drawings he had and the parts, Ed

stallation of a 220 hp W670 Continental radial engine driving a

Hamilton-Standard propeller. The engine, used heavily to power

military trainers during the second World War, ha s far more spare

parts and expertise available than the OX-5 or Curtiss Challenger

engines installed in the original Robins, not to mention a longer

TBO and greater reliability. Coupled with the exceptionally tough

Curtiss fuselage rebuilt by Ed, the Robin is actually one tough air

plane, not some dainty hangar queen meant only to fly

in

the calm

evening.

When he found the airplane, Ed found the wings intact, but

none of it was usable except as parts. The Robin has aluminum

ribs, and he had to build up a complete set of them, even going so

far as to proof test them to be certain they were built to withstand

the stresses specified on the factory drawings.

A new set of spruce spars supports the new wing ribs, and all of

it is covered in Dacron and finished with Poly Fiber' s Aerothane

polyurethane paint. Both the fabric and the expertly crafted sheet

aluminum parts were finished with Aerothane. Ginny Glevin, Ed's

wife, contributed to the project by spending some

of

her time pass

ing a rib stitching needle around each of the Robin's 38 ribs . After

the Robin was painted, the finishing touches were added by one

more family member, Ed and Ginny's daughter, Carol. Her exper

tise runs in an artistic vein, for she did the "Curtiss Robin" letter

ing and bird drawing on the rudder of the Robin, and the nicely

scripted lettering for the "Alaska Robin" on the boot cowl forward

of the triangular

cabin window. Carol

is married to Scott

Reymiller, and they have an aviation minded youngster, Darwin,

who enjoys playing with the carved wood model

of

the Robin his

grandfather gave him.

As we mentioned, Ed has always intended for the Robin to be

flown, and he meant it. This past spring, he and his son Stanley

hopped in the Robin and headed south.

t

was a balmy 35 F when

they left Central, AK on March 24, and went to Dawson in the

Northwest Territories. The next morning, it was 28 below Fortu

nately, they had planned ahead and had filled the oil tank with

multi-weight aviation

oil. A

series

of

hops southeast across

Canada brought them to Cut Bank, Montana. I'l l let Stan tell you

what happened.

"When we landed at Cut Bank, it was blowing 40 mph, and we

not only ran into the wind, but I had to get out to tum downwind

and push the tail around and I rode the tail to keep it down. We

taxied right over some tiedowns, and there were a couple of guys

there. They were concerned about

us

being able to stay in one spot

once we stopped,

so

they got a hold of the wings and tied us down.

While we were there it started blowing 45 mph, gusting to 60.

When we got

ready

to

take off,

we

were

afraid

to

taxi

to the

pumps, so they got a pickup with a tank in it and brought the fuel

right to us. Then they held us, and since it was my tum to be

in

the

front seat, I got her running and right from the Customs house they

let us go - they were holding the wings, and I gave them the signal,

and I had the engine really turning and we just took off right from

Pennsylvania and the hills and valleys be


24/36

The

author gets

ready to go aviating w ith Dan

Knutson

AIC judge) to get

some

aerial

photos

of

the

Lock Haven

irp

ort and

surrounding

countryside. The clear

day on Fri-

day made for

some spectacular

views of the area.

JOURNEY Continued from

p

17)

speed

of

87 mph really moved us along.

Passing the huge Horicon Marsh, I noted a

pair of white swans flying over the marsh

in echelon right formation, their long necks

plainly visible as their big wings

slowly

pumped along. The sight almost made me

feel sorry for the "high-speed" flyers

f

you have never flown over rural Wisconsin

with its lush green June foliage, at 80 mph,

you have a treat coming . It reminds

me of

the sign coming into

Northfield,

Min

nesota, " Home

of

Cows, Colleges and

Contentment."

Crossing

the

Illinois border,

we (the

Cub and

I) pass

over

Dick

and Jeannie

Hill's beautiful home and landing strip as

we follow the line on the map. The huge

chunk

of

Class A airspace allocated to

O'Hare Airport passes by the left wing as

the Cub ticks off the miles towards our des

tination

of

Sandwich, IL.

Owned by George Pearce, a pilot, real

estate developer and a real friend

of

avia

tion, the Sandwich Airport features a hard

surface runway, a grass cross runway and

is the home of Dr. Bern Yocke 's excellent

aircraft restoration shop. Besides that, they

Gene and his crew goodbye and headed the

Cub east.

The area south of Chicago is dotted with

small airports and is a virtual haven for the

sport flyer. A light westerly wind pushes

the Cub along as we cross into Indiana and

head for Warsaw, IN, which is the world

headquarters for prosthetic devices. The

non-towered airport is managed by Lance

Ropte, who has really sparked a commu

nity feeling

of

pride in their facility .

It

is

neat as a pin and the service is top shelf.

(Can you imagine an airport courtesy car

with only 32,000 miles on it?) They were

busy getting ready for the coming weekend

Flight Breakfast and Airshow and the place

was really shipshape. A huge new corpo

rate hangar was going up on corporate

row ." The optimism displayed by Lance

and his crew was indeed refreshing

to

see

and feel.

With the sun at my back, the Cub heads

east across Indiana and into Ohio. I don't

ever recall seeing so much home building

going on, especially in the countryside.

Some of the huge swimming pools had div

ing decks up to thirty-three feet (ten me

ters) in height. Perhaps a future Olympic

come far more prominent - and the naviga

tion becomes more difficult. Luckily, the

90 hp Continental is purring away at 2350

RPM and the fuel is in good shape as we

make a few turns left and right to try and

locate Butler, PA. Eventually , I spotted a

Luscombe circling

up

ahead and decided

to

follow him a bit farther east. He led

me

di

rectly

to the small airport

owned

by the

Butler Farm Show. I landed the Cub and

taxied into the thickest infestation of EAA

people I have seen in years

The hangars

were

full

of

neat home

builts, Antiques, Classics and spamcans of

all kinds. One hangar had a Beech Stag

gerwing on wheels and another

Stag

on

floats Next

to

them was a mint Cessna 140

and a spectacular 125 hp polished Swift.

The man behind these beautiful airplanes

was Ranley Nelson (EAA 409613) of

But

ler, PA. In his shop was a pair of Champ

wings being readied for cover. When the

owner, John Lachendro, walked in, it was

like old home week. I had flown these very

wings while giving Champ rides at Beaver

Dam, WI.

The next

hangar

had a very nice Star

duster

Too

biplane undergoing

annual

(Condition) inspection. At the gas pump,

Wellie Forsythe helped me refuel the Cub,

helped me tie it down, drove me to a motel

and picked me up at 8 a.m. the next morn

ing so we

could

have breakfast together.

Not too shabby

Picked

up

Interstate

80

near

Clarion,

P

A

as the morning sun, streaming through

the windshield, warmed my chest. Down

below, four "Great Orange Pumpkins" (as

we call the Schneider Transportation trucks

from Green Bay) gave me

just

a tinge of

homesickness as they rolled along Inter

state 80 .

Before

long, we reached

the

Susquehanna River and turned left towards

Lock Haven.

It

was approaching noon on

Tuesday, June 24th, as I circled the airport

and lined

up for a

lefthand approach

to

Runway 9 (Runway 27 is a righthand ap

proach).

As

I came down over Lock Haven

with the airport ahead

of

me in the wind

shield and the huge closed Piper factory to

my right, I could feel my heart thumping

faster

than

normal - tears ran down my

cheeks - and the emotional experience of

finally coming home to where 17,000 Cubs

Whitaker Tandem Gear along with the air


25/36

plane when they bought it years ago. Be

cause the tandem wheels scrape and scrub

when the airplane is turned on hard surface,

they much prefer to bring the gear system

along and install it for special occasions.

On grass, the gear works very nicely and

can handle rough ground up to fairly good

sized rocks Each footprint supports only

hal f the normal load, so the wheels tend to

ride over most any surface. Alignment is

maintained by cables and a bungee cord,

nearly the same as skis, and attached to ski

fittings on the landing gear. During the fly

in, the Schaefers made several demo flights

for the benefit

of

the crowd, most

of

which

had never seen a Whitaker Tandem Gear

in

action on a J-3 Cub. (Small world dept. :

Bill, Jr. lives on the very same block where

I grew

up

in Tyler, MN )

On the end

of

the same row

of

Cubs was

a '47 J-3 modified for short takeoff events

with the name, "White Hawk," on the cowl.

Flown all the way from Burlington, W A,

by its owner, Jerry Burr (EAA 289379), the

airplane features a we

ll-

tu

ned 0-200 under

the PA-

Il

cowl, extended wings, drooping

ailerons, flaps extended to the fuselage,

vortex

generator

kit, l

ead

ing

edge wing

cuff, Demer drooped wingtips, Super Cub

fuel ta nks and balanced J-3 Cub elevators.

Cruising at 90 mph, t he White Hawk has

won any number

of

short takeoff and land

ing contests including the famous Gulkana,

AK, event. The best takeoff recorded is 17

feet with the shortest landing recorded at

24 feet Jerry says when the airspeed hits 9

mph, the airplane wi

ll

fly. Continental al

lows 3,000 RPM for five seconds on take

off, however, Jerry says that at one and a

half

seconds, he is

off

the ground and re

ducing power. The airp lane is licensed in

normal category and flown all over the

country.

On Tuesday evening, a reception was

held at the Cal Arter home on the Clinton

County Golf Course (Cal's father donated

the land for the go lf course). The perfect

evening, magnificent surroundings, excel

lent food and aviation people from all over

the country made for an outstanding gath

ering. Cal is one

of

the movers and shakers

for Sentimental Journey and his contribu

tions are legendary.

Wednesday morning, the fly-in began in

From the fine community of Lodi, WI, came this father/son team of Judges for Senti-

mental Journey. On the left s Dick Knutson (EAA 37410, AlC 8462) and the driver is

Dan Knutson (EAA 402120, AlC 18753). What this team doesn t know about airplanes,

especially Piper airplanes, could be stuffed

n

a very small sock.

The old Piper Engineering building on

the airport has been purchased to make it

into the Piper Aviation Museum which will

tell the world about the fantastic history of

the Piper

Aircraft Company and Lock

Haven, PA. Harry Mutter is in charge of

co ll

ections

for the new museum and is,

without a doubt, the perfect person for the

job.

Besides leading the charge to get a

portion of the second floor ready for dis

play

at this

year's

Sent

imenta l

Journey,

Harry has also acquired the second "Round

the -World Piper

PA-l2

from 1947 that

was flown by George Evans. (The other

PA-12 is in the Smithsonian.) Harry plans

on restoring the PA- 12 an d flying it for a

spell before putting

it in

the new Piper Avi

ation Museum.

Meanwhile, a group of eighteen Stear

mans arrive en masse to brighten up the

day with the sound

of

radial engines and

spread the aura of brightly colored biplanes

in the pattern. When parked in straight

rows, Stearmans make a very pretty sight,

especially for the camera folks.

Arriving from

Salisb

ury, MD,

were

longtime EAAers, Pau l and Ell ie Ennis

dition, Clyde Smith, Jr. held forth at his

booth each day, answering questions that

on ly a man of his cali ber can answer.

Clyde's Fabric Restoration of Pipers forum

was held on Friday morning with an over

flow crowd in attendance. I, for one, have

never heard Clyde speak without learning

something. His straight forward, knowl

egeable and humble approach endears him

to the audience who, in turn, soak up infor

mation like a sponge.

A forum on the 1947 Round-the-World

flight by two PA-l2 Super Cruisers was

he ld Friday afternoon with Harry Mutter

ha ndling the mike in a most interesting

talk. Having one of the PA- l2's on hand

for a

ll

to see in the lower level of the Engi

neering Building was a huge plus for Harry

and his audience.

A noteable addition to the fly-in was a

completely restored 1930 Bellanca CH-400

"Skyrocket," NC779W, SIN 617, that was

flown into Lock Haven by Richard Schrieb

maier

of

Sugarloaf, PA. The only known

Skyrocket still flying, it spent about twenty

years flying the Alaskan bush with Pollock

Flying Service from 1938 to 1957 when it


26/36

by

H G Frautschy

The May Mystery Plane resulted in a

nice number of responses, with a variety

of

guesses as to the identity

of

the low

wing, open

cockpit monoplane. We ll

start off with the response of Paul Schid

ing, York, P

A.

Your Mystery Plane this month looked

very

familiar

. Way

back

about 1934-35,

Mr. Jason Moore

of

Lancaster, PA brought

his Westbrook Sportster

to

the York Airport

for repairs. The

8xl0

photo (facing page,

left) was taken at that time. Shortly there

after he crashed, killing himself and his fe

male passenger.

Back

in 1981,

Mauno

Salo,

of

the AAHS (American Aviation His

torical Association) was looking

for

infor

mation and photos

of

the Westbrook Sport

ster and 1 corresponded with him. He sent

me the two smaller photos (right) and the

info sheet I

am

enclosing.

Here s what Mauno Salo wrote about

the Sportster:

Designed in 1929 by Neil Westbrook

Perdew

(MIT)

and Carroll

H.

Mattson

NYU)

as

a low-wing, 2-place sport trainer

monoplane featuring cantilever, plywood

covered wooden folding wings, a steel tube

fuselage and powered by an upright, in-line

4 cylinder engine.

Our Mystery Plane for

August

is this

hot little number from the collection of

Msgt.

Charles

N.

Trask of York

Haven,

PA. Some

of

you folks might accuse me

of

taking it easy on you with this one, but

the fact is you don t see too many of these,

so

we ll

give the younger

generation

a

chance to puzzle over this one. Send your

answers into EAA HQ no later than Sep

tember 2S, 1997 for inclusion in the No

vember issue of Vintage Airplane.

Plane


27/36

Penn Valley Hobby Cente

r,

Lansdale

, PA is

reproduc

ing

a seri e s o f kits

f rom

t

he

heyday

of th

e

nickel

a

nd

dime sc

al

e k it s sold

in t

he

1930 s by Comet ,

Megow s a nd others .

This is a sample of

one

of their offerings

,

the

Al

lied

Sport

as

o r

iginally

ki tted by Comet,

a

later

vers

ion o f the

West

brook Sportster.

With

th a t long nose and

nicely

proportioned

wing , i t should be a

f ine f lyer on rubber

power

.

See

the text

for more

information

on Penn Valley s kits.

- -----.c

and a tail skid, and that it was "hotter" to fly

than the airplanes he was used to as a stu

dent.

Other correct answers were received

from Wayne VanValkenburgh, Jasper, GA;

'nickel' and 'dime '

kits

with print wood

balsa sheets, machine cut prop are available

at inflated, but relatively low cost from:

Penn Valley Hobby Center

837-B West Main St.

nati, OH; Charley Hayes, New Lenox, IL;

Cedric Galloway, Hesperia,

CA;

Robert

Kaelin, Riverhead, NY and Mike Morton,

Elizabethtown, P

A

In closing, eagle-eyed George T . Smith


28/36

by

E.E. "Buck"

Hilbert

EAA 21 le 5

P.O. Box 424, Union, IL 60180

He

re

s

one

more

look at

the

prop we

'

re

PASS

db

BUCK

sories - Stromberg carburetor, and Bendix

mags instead of the old BTH British mags.

The

TBO

was somewhat

less

than the

British engine. I remember the props had

the

spinner built

onto it. The Ryan PT

props had spinners built into it but this prop

is

too short to a 165 hp Kinner. Same goes

for OX-5, all of them were about 9

ft.

long.

So I take my first statement back to 90 %

and that will leave me a "bugger factor" of

10%.

Back to you,

"Ace" Cannon

Winterset, IA

P.S.

I

don't know

if

the bolt pattern is

the same for small Menasco and the Wright

Gipsy. f so, it might

fit

on a

small

Menasco - just guessing?

RAISING

TH

E FLAGG

Dear Buck,

Enc losed are the latest pictures of my

Flagg F -13 restoration project. As can be

seen, it is finally getting to the "exciting"

stage although a lot

of

work remains to be

done. One big step was getting the flying

wires ordered from Steen Aero Lab. Now

the last major cost will be the overhaul of

the 145 Warner (and a prop - ouch ).

The engine cowl will have bumps when

completed. They have been formed and

are ready for installation. The cowl itself

was originally spun for a Great Lakes. We

shrunk the aft portion and smoothed it out

on a friends English Wheel.

The rest

of

the

cowling

is all

0.032

2024-T3 with millions of nutplates in

stalled. I am now looking for some ex-

truded aluminum to

stiffen the cockpit

Here is Terry's Flagg F-13

restoration

of

the

original

homebuilt.

It

sure looks

like

a barrel of fun

Look

closely in

the back

ground

and you can

se

e a bit of the

Chastain

family

' s Rawdon T-1, a 7 t ime


29/36

WELCOME

NEW MEMBERS

Michael

J. Aliison ..........................

Fairfax

,

VA

James

P.

Hanson .......... ....

..

.... .Albert Lea, MN Philip O'Reilly ........

.. ..

.. ...........

MALVERN

, PA

Theodore Armstron

g

......

........

.......

Lincroft,

NJ John

Harrick ...............................Norwalk, CT

Linda

M. P

eacock

..........

.... .. .... ..

Bessemer,

AL

Russell G.

Ashbaugh ..

................Concord, NC David H.

Haywood

.....................

Anthony, FL

Michael M. Penrose ...... .............. Ketc

hum

, ID

Bob T.

Bales

.......... ................Morristown,

TN

Jea

nne

H. Henry ...........

..

.......... Brade

nton

,

FL Josep

h G. Peschke ........

..

.... ....

Crystal

Lake,

IL

Jonathan Baron .... ..............Chariottesville,

VA

Earl Hibler .......................... ..

.....

Hayward , CA

John

W. Pohly ...... ........ .. ..........Berthoud, CO

Larry

Barrett

............

..

.................

Montros

e, MI

Robert

L. Hill ..........................Rensselaer,

NY

Ni ge l Ramsay

..............Lyndhurst,

Hampshir

e,

Great Britain

David

D.

Be

nnett

.........

Colorado

Sprin

gs, CO

Bruce

T. Huntley.............woodland Hills,

CA

Holland Redfield .... ...... ..........

Cutchogue, NY

Timothy

Boland ............

..

........

.5cottsdal

e, AZ Jim E. Irving .................................. .....Erie,

CO

Lin

Reichel ...... .............. ........ .............

Eri

e, PA

Phil Bonin

e ...................

..

.......

Kalamazoo

,

MI Larry E.

I

saac

....

.. ..

........

..

..............

Lamar

, MO

James

F.

Riley

......

..

............

..

....

...

Sa

ratog

a,

CA

Robert

L

Braun .......... ............Springfield, OH Dick Jackson.... .... ...... .. ...... .... .... ..S

eatt

le, WA

Jim

Robbin

s

..

...... .... ...... ....

..

....Lake Orion, MI

Brian Buda

........

........ ..

Hilton Head

Island,

SC Scotty L Jergenson .......................Cheney, KS

Ve

ldon Robinson

.......... ...... .

Span is

h

Fork

,

UT

Jonathan M.

Burk

e ........

..

...........

St

Loui

s,

MO

Howard B. Johnson ...... .. ....

........

.Dun edi

n,

FL

Curtis

L

Rose .......... .... ..........

..Anchorage,

AK

Randal P.

Camp

....

.. ..

...............Shreveport, LA Matthew

C Kawczynski

......

..

...... .Buffalo, NY

John Santonocito .... ...... ....

..Cheektowaga

,

NY

Arthur Cazares

....................

...

Hend

e

rson, NV

Rafael

Linares

......

.. ..

....

..

.......... Des

Pla

in

es, IL

Mary

Beth Schwaege

l

.... ....

....

......

Phoenix

,

AZ

Sherman

Clemens

...... ................ .windsor, CT Stan H.

Lumsden

.... ............... Bloomfield, MO

Bill

C Scott ..

........ ......

..

..............

Kingston

,

TN

Shelley

Cruden Thomas

I. Masterson ................ ......

Chico, CA

..........

Armadale, Western

Australia, Australia

Grover N. Sensabaugh

Gregory

W. McCormick .. ..............Athens, AL

..

.....................................

...

.westminster, MD

Lee Dan ie ls .... .. ...... .... ...... ................Boise, ID

Jack M. McGahey

..

.... .......... ....Brookin gs, OR

Robert

H. Shafran

..

.... .... .........

Columbus,

OH

Sal DiFabio

.............. ....

.......New

Hartford, CT

Peter

M.

McKevitz ........................Clinton,

MI

Don

Sharp

......................

..

...... ........

Dallas

,

TX

Richard

L Dixon

..........

.... .....Owensboro

,

KY

Johan C Meiring

..

Wingate Park, South Africa Dou glas

Smith ..

.... ......

..

.................Arcata , CA

James S. Dixson

............

..

......

..

..........Catlin, IL

Chris

Mihok .......................... Dahlone

ga, GA

Wayne M.

Spani

....

.. ..

....

..

........San Diego,

CA

William

R. Edwards ...... .. ...... ....

Nashville ,

TN

Fred U. Miller ................ .... ...... ....Coppell , TX Helmut Tuemmel .. .......... ................Greer, SC

JOURN Y

Continued/rom

p

23)

different type of music. The food purvey

ors

were doing

a l

and office

bu

siness

all

ney, for the award.

My

only sad feeling is

that

I d idn't

have

the

smarts

to

attend

the


30/36

SHARE T

HE

EXCITMENTOFEAA 'S

membership renewal.

ANTIQUE/CLASSIC

DIVISION

WITH A

FRIEND

Use

the new member application

form

enclosed within this issue of Vintage Airp lane

If you love the airplanes

of

yesteryear, chances are

to sign up your new member.

Don't miss this chance to enroll a

friend!

across the field

by John Stahly

to

Hangar

No.1, which is

the

FBO on

the field.

In

the back part of the hangar, there is a min i

museum of

Piper artifacts

along with a

rather large storage area for Piper company

records. John has been doing considerable

volunteer work

in this

area wh

ich

merely

adds to his encyclopedic knowledge of

Piper history. From a large file,

he

handed

me a bundle of

delivery

tickets

about

five

inches thick and asked

me to go

thro

ugh

them. I noticed the serial numbers were at

the top of the tickets and proceeded to keep

looking for SIN 22366 - my Cub. In about

ten minutes,

I

hollered "Bingo "

J

ohn

came

over

and confirmed that I had found

the

delivery ticket

for

my J-3

C u

b,

NC3675K, SN

22366, mfg. 11-21-46,

Weight: 707, E.C.G. at 15.6 inches, color:

Yellow and Black. The aircraft was deliv

ered

to

DePonti Aviation Co

., Inc.,

Wold

Chamberlain Field, Minneapolis, Minn. I

made several copies of the ticket before re

placing it in the bundle (in sequence) and

having John Stahly return it to the

proper

file.

(It surely

is

exciting

to

find such

a

record after nearly fifty-one years have

passed by. I took John out for a cup

of

cof

fee to calm

myself

down )

Each evening

of

the fly-in, a different

band would perform in the main building

on the

"Midway" with

substantial crowds

gathering to hear

the

music and talk air

planes.

The

festive

atmosphere was most

congenial and each type of

band

brought a

NEW MEMBER

CAMPAIGN

week

long for two basic reasons: their food

was excellent and

the

prices were

reason

able. A huge breakfast was $2.50 to $3.50

to

give

an example

and

the people

were

very accomodating.

Noted author,

Beverly But

l

er, from

Maribel, WI, was busy during the

entire

fly-in selling

his

book, "Piper Cub Era,"

which for those

of

us

who

grew

up in the

post WWII era, hits the nai l on the head for

accuracy as to

how

it

was

in

those

days.

Reader after reader stopped

by

with

kind

comments on the book and Bev is working

hard on the third printing updates. Recom

mended reading for all Cub drivers.

The Saturday evening Awar

ds

Banquet

was held in a large tent right on the grounds

with a full house in attendence. Roscoe Mor

ton, who handled the microphone during the

entire fly-in, was Master of Ceremonies and

did an excellent job. Our table included Billie

Henderson and his lovely wife, Adair

(of

Sun

'n

Fun fame) who flew up to Lock Haven in

their Piper Pacer. This energetic couple has

been a major help in getting Sentimental Jour

ney started and have added considerable ex

pertise to help the fly-in grow over the past

twelve years.

Perhaps the toughest part of the banquet

was

discovering

that I

was

the

oldest

J-3

Cub pilot to fly a Cub to Sentimental Jour

ney '97. That really smarted

for a

while

(badly bent ego), but once

the

success

of

the fly-in was realized, it turned out to be a

real

prize.

Thank you, Sentimental Jour-

Help

BAA's

Antique/Classic

Division

Grow

first eleven Piper fly-Ins.

The fina

l

ta

lly

for

the

four

day

fly-in

was

88

Piper

J-3

Cubs and abo

ut

450

air

planes total.

This

was the year

of

the J-3

and they were the featured airplane.

Next

year, in 1998, the featured airplanes will be

the

Piper

J-4

Cub Coupe and

the

Piper

J-5

Cub Cruiser. Therefo re, those lucky folks

that have these models should

make

a spe

cial effort to

atten

d

Sentimental Journey

'98.

If you

want

to

enjoy

a fantastic four

day adventure at the birthplace of the Piper

Cub, don't miss Sentimental Journey next

June.

It

will be an unforgetable experience.

I

know

- I was there in 1997

O n

Sunday forenoon,

I

fired up

01'

N 1OXS, waved goodbye to a fine group

of

friends and fe llow pilots and headed home.

The

first stop

was at Yo

ungstown,

Ohio's

El

ster Airport for

fuel

along with

a

Lus

combe and

an

Aeronca

Champ.

The good

weather and slight

tailwind

allowed

me to

make Warsaw, IN, by 5 p.m. where I spent

the night and enjoyed more hospitality with

the airport gang.

By

8 a.m., I was following the finger on

the map across Illinois to my favorite small

strip in Sandwich, IL. A fill of autofuel from

George Pearce and I was

off

to Oshkosh with

a nice tailwind. At : 5 p.m., the yellow Cub

was back in the hangar at Earl's International

on the north

side

of

Oshkosh

and the

tach

showed 23 .3 hours for the entire trip. As they

say in the

TV

ad, It

just

doesn't get any bet

ter than this "


31/36

Fly-In

Calendar

REGIONAL FLY-INS

SEPTEMBER 67 MARION

, OH

-

Mid

Eastern EAA Fly.ln MERFI) . Call Lou

Lindeman, 513/8499455.

OCTOBER 912 - MESA,

AZ

-

Copperstate

Fly-In. Call Bob

Hasson

, 520/228-5480.

OCTOBER

1012

-

EVERGREEN, AL

Southeast Regional Fly-In. Call Harold

Bubba

Hamiter, 334/765-9109.

OCTOBER 1012 - WILMINGTON

,

DE

East

Coast EAA Fly-In .

Call

Andrew

Alvarez, 302/738-8883.

OCTOBER

1719

-

KERRVILLE, TX

Southwest Regional

Fly

-In . Call Stu

McCurdy, 51

2/388 7399.

AUGUST 10

MENDOTA

, IL

Grandpa's Airport, 1-1

/2 mi l

es south of

town. EAA Chapter

263

Fly-

In brea

k

fast 7 - 11 a.m. Held

in

conjuction with

the Swee t Co rn fes ti val, there wi ll be

transportation ava

il

a

bl

e to take you into

t

ow

n for the

af

ternoon parad

e.

For

in fo:

815/539-68 15

or 815/539-5378.

AUGUST

16

LITTLE FALL S,

MN

Mo rr ison Co unty Airport. Charl

es

A.

Lindbergh 70th Annive rsary fl

y-

in ce le

brat io n. Young Eagl

es

fl ig

hts,

EAA

Spirit of St. Louis re

pli

ca, sta

ti

c di s

pl

ays.

In

fo:

ca

ll

the airport at 320/632

2413 or Karl Kiefer 320/632

-1

978

AUGUST 16 17 WA

KEFIELD

,

MI UP)

Th

ir

d annu al S

und

ay Lake Seap lane

Fly- In. Good food and programs bo th

days.

In fo: 906/224-71 11 .

The following list

of

coming events

is

furnished to our readers as a matter

of

nfor

mation only and does not constitute approval, sponsorship, involvement, control or

diredion

of

any event (fly-in, seminars, fly market, etc.) listed.

Please

send the i n o ~

mation to EAA, Att: Golda Cox, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086.

Information should be received four months

prior

to the event date.

AUGUST

30

MARION, IN - 7

th

annual

Fly- In/Cruise-In Breakfast sponsored by

the Marion High School Band Boos ters.

Antiques/Classics/Hom e

builts, as

we

ll

as

Antiqu

e/

Classic

ca

rs welcome. Info:

Ray Johnson, 3 17/664-2588

AUGUST 31 ZA NESVILLE, O H

Rive rs

id

e

Airp

ort. EAA Chapter 425

Annual Labor Day W

ee

kend Br

eakfast.

8

a.m.-3 p.m. Panca ke breakfas t all day.

Sandwiches, sn

ac

ks 11 a. m.-3 p.m .

Res tored Antiqu

e/

Class ic airplan

es

on

di

splay.

EAA Ch

a

pt

er

4

25 hats to the

first

25

PIC.

Pl

ea

se

r

eg

ister.

In f

o: Don

Wahl 614/453 -00

03.

SEPTEMBER 6 OSCEOLA, WI -

L

O.

Simenstad Field . 17th annual vil lage

wide Wh

ee

ls Wings Air Fa

ir

.

Tr

ain

rid

es

, aviation book sa l

es

, 500 classic

ca r show, pancake breakfast fly- in, civil

ian/military static disp l

ays

, arts and crafts

and fair.

Free

shuttle bu

s.

CTAF

11

8.

2,

check

class

NOTAMS

fo

r special air

port conditions. In fo: 1-800/947-0581.

SEPTEMBER

12-14

BEL

VDE

RE

,

IL

Popl

ar

Gro ve A irport (C77) 14th

Annual Stinson Reunion.

In

fo: Suzette

Selig, 9

S.

324

Aero

Drive,

Naperv

il l

e,

IL

60564, phone 630/904-6964.

SEPT. 13 ZANESV

ILL

E, OH -

Ri

ve rside

6154 Riv

er Fores t Dr. , M ana ssa s, VA

2011 2.

Ca

ll 703-590-2375 for info.

SEPTEMBER 19 20 BARTLESVILLE, OK

Fr

ank Phillips Field. 40th Annual Tulsa

Regional Fly-In . For in fo ca ll

Ch

a

rl i

e

Harri

s

918/622-8400.

SEPTEMBER

1921 SELMA , CA 15 th

annual W

es

t Coast Travel A ir Fly-In .

Old

fas

hi

oned fl

y-

in where aviators do

what comes naturall y. Flying even

ts,

memora

bili

a auction, gr

ea

t food. In fo:

Jerr y Impel/ezze

ri

, 408/356-3407 or

Bob

Lo

ck 209/638

-4

235.

SEPTEMBER

20

SULPHUR S

PRINGS

, TX

-

EAA

Chapter 1094 3rd annual Fall Fly

In . Coin c

ides

w ith the 28th annu al

Hopkins

Co

un ty Fa

ll

Fes tiva l and World

Champion

St

ew

Co

n

test. In

fo: 908/885

5525 or 903/439-32 1

2.

SEPTEMBER 27 28 ZANESVILLE, OH

John 's Landing Air F

e

ld. 6th annual EAA

NC

Chapter

22

Fa ll Fl

y- In

breakfast and

lunch bo

th

days. Hog

roast

Sat., Fr

ee

pa r

ticipation pla

qu

es. In fo: ca ll Virginia at

614/453-6889.

SEPTEMBER 28 HINKLE Y IL-(0C2) EAA

Chapter

24 1

Fly-In, Dri

ve

-In Br

eakfast,

7

a.

m.

-N

oo

n. In

fo:

Alan

Abe

ll

847)

888-29

19.

OCTOBER 4 DENVER, CO Front

Range Airport. (

FR

G) Fl

ea

ma rk

et,

Fly


32/36

MEMBERSHIP

INFORMATION

E

Membership in the Experimental Aircraft

Association,

Inc.

is $35

for

one

year,

including

12

issues

of

SPORT AVIATION. Family

membership

is

available for

an

additional

$10 annually.

Junior

Membership (under 19

years of

age) is available

at $20

annually

. All major credit

cards

accepted

for

membership.

ANTIQUE/CLASSIC

Current

EAA

members may join the Antique/

Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIR

PLANE

magazine

for

an

additional

$27 per year.

EAA

Membership, VINTAGE

AIRPLANE

mag

azine and one year membership in the

EAA

Antique/Classic Division

is

available

for

$37 per

year

(SPORT AVIATION magazine not

included).

lAC

Current EAA

members may

join the Intemational

Aerobatic Club, Inc. Division and

receive

SPORT

AEROBA TICS magazine for an additional $40

per year.

EAA

Membership, SPORT AEROBATICS

maga

zine and one year membership in

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AVIATION

magazine not included) .

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Current EAA members may join the EAA

Warbirds of America Division and

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WAR

BIRDS magazine for an

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year.

EAA Membership, WAR BIRDS

magazine

and

one year membership

in the

Warbirds Division is

available

for

45

per year

(SPORT AVIA

TlON

magazine not included) .

EAA

EXPERIMENTER

Current

EAA

members may receive EAA EXPER

IMENTER magazine for an additional

$20

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year.

EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER

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Please submit your remittance with a check

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P.

O.

Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086, or fax your ad and

your credit card

number

to 414/426 4828. Ads

must be

received by the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue

the second month following (e.g., October 2 th for the

December issue.)

AIRCRAFT

Seeking bids for rare 1944 DH89A Mk IV Rapide

with overhauled Gypsy 6 Series III engines .

Aircraft disassembled and in need of extensive

restoration. Organization looking to sell aircraft to

collector who will return it to flying status. Please

contact

the

EAA Aviation Museum Director

at

414/426-4842 .

Travel Air 2000 Plans - Fabricated assemblies to

fit

your

needs. Prototype Travel Air 2000.

Currently in process of 40 hour test-flight pro

MISCELLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manu

facture, STC-PMA-d, 4130 chromoly tubing

throughout, also complete fuselage repair.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC.

(J.

Soa

vintage airplane - aug 1997

Documents